World News joined 0012

[JohnCenaFan28]

At least 25 people have been killed and more than 40 others injured in a suicide bomb attack in the Iraqi province of Diyala, police say.



The bomber attacked a queue of police recruits in the town of Jalawlah, just before midday local time (0900 GMT).

This is the latest in a series of attacks, launched mainly by Sunni Islamists in Diyala.

Last month, Iraqi forces detained hundreds of people in the province in operations against Sunni insurgents.

Stopped by police

The suicide bomber ran into a crowd of young Iraqis outside a police recruitment centre in the town of Jalawlah before detonating an explosive vest, according to local police.

The attacker is reported to have arrived at the recruitment centre by car, where his vehicle was stopped by police.

However, he is reported to have jumped out of the car and run into the crowd of recruits.

Diyala has emerged as one of Iraq's most dangerous regions.

Groups in the province linked to al-Qaeda regularly attack members of Sunni "Awakening" groups - former insurgents who have turned against al-Qaeda and which are supported and financed by the US military.

BBC News

[JohnCenaFan28]

The dollar has climbed back to a six-month high against the euro, as continuing fears about the European economy hit the single currency.



With a key German business sentiment survey posting its worst reading in three years, the euro fell as low as $1.4571 in Tuesday trading.

Data showing that the German economy contracted from April to June, also increased European recession fears.

Meanwhile, the pound fell to $1.8331, its lowest point since July 2006.

Deteriorating outlook

The US currency has benefited as the economic outlook has darkened in both mainland Europe and the UK.

Investment guru Warren Buffett said last week that he had no bets against the dollar - underscoring the currency's strength. The fall in the euro and sterling could help European exporters whose goods will now be cheaper overseas.

But it will hurt holidaymakers who have benefited from a strong pound when travelling to countries which use the dollar.

While the dollar resumed its rises on Tuesday, oil prices fell.

US light crude was down 67 cents to $114.44, while London's Brent fell 64 cents to $113.39.

BBC News

[John]

An investigation is under way into how a computer containing bank customers' personal data was sold on an internet auction site.

The computer, which was sold for £77 on eBay, had sensitive information on the hard drive.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its subsidiary, Natwest, have confirmed their customers' details were involved.

RBS said an archiving firm told it the computer had been "inappropriately sold on via a third party".

It said historical information relating to credit card applications for its bank and others had been on the machine.

Basic knowledge

The information is said to include account details and in some cases customers' signatures, mobile phone numbers and mothers' maiden names.



Andrew Champman on how he 'bought' bank customers' details
The problem came to light when IT manager Andrew Chapman, 56, from Oxford, bought the computer, noticed the data and raised the alarm.

He said: "I was appalled when I found the bank account information. That sort of thing shouldn't have been listed on there."

Mr Chapman said anyone with a basic knowledge of computer software would have been able to find the data fairly simply.

"The information was in back-up CDs and in ISO files so it would have been possibly quite easy to find if you know something about computers," he said.

Extremely regrettable
RBS and Natwest - two of the three businesses involved - said they were taking the issue very seriously and are working to resolve it "as a matter of urgency".

A spokeswoman for data processing company Mail Source, which is part of the archiving firm Graphic Data, said it was investigating how the computer equipment had been removed from a secure location.

"The IT equipment that appeared on eBay was neither planned nor instructed by the company to be disposed," she said.

The incident was extremely regrettable and the firm was "taking every possible step" to retrieve the data and ensure it was an isolated incident, she added
The Daily Mail said the computer contained one million bank customers' personal data.

A spokesman for eBay said they were currently looking into what had happened.

"Clearly such details should never have been included in the hard drive of the computer offered for sale on eBay," said the spokesman.

"We fully expect Mr Chapman to hand it back to Graphic Data as soon as possible. We will of course work with Graphic Data to establish how it came to be available for sale on our site."

A spokeswoman for the third company reported to be involved, American Express, said it took the security of its card members' data "extremely seriously".

"We are currently working as a matter of priority to establish exactly what data is impacted and identify the card members who may be affected," she said.

The Information Commissioner's Office said an investigation would be launched as soon as Mr Chapman had handed the computer in to them.

A spokeswoman said: "We are now investigating this potential data breach and will be seeking an urgent explanation from Graphic Data to establish what has gone wrong and the steps that are being taken to prevent a similar incident occurring."

Banks have an obligation under the Data Protection Act to keep all personal information secure.

Last year the Financial Services Authority fined the Nationwide Building Society £980,000 for a security breach, after a laptop containing customer data was stolen from an employee's home
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Source-Yahoo.com

[John]

Priest cancels nun beauty contest

An Italian priest who said he wanted to hold the world's first beauty contest for nuns has decided to cancel the project, saying he was misunderstood.

Antonio Rungi said he had never intended to put sisters on the catwalk, but had wanted to erase a stereotype of them as being old and dour.

He had wanted to hold the contest online on his internet blog.

Father Rungi said he changed his mind after the local religious authorities expressed their displeasure.

"My superiors were not happy. The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either," Father Rungi told Reuters news agency from the town of Mondragone, near Naples.

"It was interpreted as more of a physical thing," he said. "Now, no one is saying that nuns can't be beautiful, but I was thinking about something more complete."

He said he had intended to showcase the good works that nuns do, especially in education and health care, so as to boost interest in religious vocations.

"We have to draw more attention to the world of nuns, who are often not sufficiently appreciated by society," he wrote in his blog.

"Nuns are - above all - women, and beauty is a gift from God," he told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper before he cancelled the project.

He had wanted nuns to send their photos to him, so that internet users could then choose the winner.

Father Rungi said the idea of the contest had been put to him by nuns themselves.

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Provided by-bbc.com

[John]

Thanks for this! Its interesting who decided this and how this happens.

[John]

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - An elderly woman misunderstood instructions while checking in at Sweden's main airport and was whisked down a baggage shoot after she placed herself instead of her luggage on the belt, media reported Wednesday.

The 78-year-old woman, who was not named, was preparing to fly from Stockholm's Arlanda airport to Germany on Tuesday when she lay down on an unmanned baggage belt in the belief she was following check-in instructions, the Upsala Nya Tidning local daily reported on its website.

She was quickly swept off to the baggage handling centre, where staff members helped get her back on her feet.

The woman suffered no serious injury and caught her flight as planned.
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Source-Yahoo.com

[John]

A Thomas Cook Boeing 757 taking British holidaymakers to Spain's Canary Islands on Wednesday made an emergency landing in Faro, southern Portugal, airport sources said.

The sources described the landing as a part of "normal airport activity," saying it was usual for captains to land at the nearest airport when facing an "unforeseen situation."

The plane was carrying 210 passengers who had boarded it in London.

The emergency landing occurred one week after a Spanair plane en route to the Canaries crashed in the Spanish capital Madrid, killing 154 people
-topnews.in

[John]

Thanks for the read! Very interesting read!

[John]

Vienna - Former hurdler Elmar Lichtenegger was banned for life Wednesday by the Austrian athletics federation for a second positive doping test.

The ban will apply to all international and national sport, the federation ruled.

Lichtenegger, 34, retired from athletics in December last year a few days after testing positive for the banned substance Norandrosteron, a metabolite of the anabolic steroid Nandrolone.

He had been banned for 15 months in 2003/2004 for a similar doping offence. In both cases, Lichtenegger blamed tainted food supplements for the positive result.

Lichtenegger was a silver medallist in the 110-metre hurdles at the 2002 European indoor championships.
-Topnews.in

[JohnCenaFan28]

As many as 71 African migrants drowned after their boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea, eight of their companions have told Maltese police.



The survivors were rescued by a fishing vessel from a semi-submerged dinghy about 70km (40 miles) off Malta, then handed over to a Maltese military boat.

The ship and a military aircraft searched the area for other survivors but none were found, the police said.

Malta - the smallest EU member state - is a leading destination for migrants.

More than 1,000 have managed to reach the island so far this year, mainly from Libya and North Africa. On Sunday, more than 100 were brought ashore in two separate operations off the Maltese coast.

The last major loss of life off Malta's coast came in May 2007, when a small boat adrift went missing with at least 53 migrants on board.

"Notwithstanding that they know about [previous] tragedies, these desperate people still try and make the journey to Europe," Neil Falzon, a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Malta, told the AFP news agency.

Mr Falzon said that if the number of fatalities was confirmed, it would serve to highlight "the need for assistance to these people".

In June, the European Parliament passed a controversial set of EU rules for dealing with illegal migrants, which allow those caught to be detained for up to 18 months and face a five-year re-entry ban.

Lawmakers backed the measures by a large majority despite opposition from many Socialist and Green parties, and condemnation from human rights groups.

BBC News