Tuesday, April 2, 2013

DECCAN HERALD 13

World
YouTube shuts, Google sniffs, Twitter slims
PARIS, AFP: YouTube is shutting down, Twitter users have to pay for the use of vowels, and the new Google Nose search engine will bring a whiff of wet dog or daisies right to your computer or smartphone.

New implant to monitor sugar levels in blood. P 14

World at a glance

Smells fishy? These Internet giants went all-out to try and bamboozle their users with April Fools gags on the most mischievous day of the year. YouTube, the worlds largest video sharing site, revealed it had merely been an eight-year contest to find the best video

and would be closing to review all the entries. The winner would be announced in 2023. We are so close to the end. Tonight at midnight, YouTube.com will no longer be accepting entries. After eight amazing years, it is finally time to review everything that has been uploaded to our site and begin the process of selecting a winner, said Tim Liston, named as competition director. In keeping with its prankster reputation, Google also unveiled a complex search engine

that would offer the sharpest olfactory experience available. The search engine claims to have a database of smells from all over the world. Users can search for new car smell, or Egyptian tomb, sniff their screen and even share it with a friend. Meanwhile micro-blogging site Twitter said it had decided to shave off even more characters by providing a new vowelfree service to users. Trd th nw Twttr yt? Mr tm fr mr twts (Translation: Tried the new Twitter yet? More time

for more tweets) the site announced. Of course, vowels would still be available but only to premium users willing to pay five dollars a month. Several recent newsmakers were targeted in April Fools Day pranks, with North Korea cropping up twice. South Africas Daily Maverick newspaper carried a story headlined Exclusive: Oscar Pistorius signs up for North Koreas inaugural Friendship Run. The paper said the doubleamputee paralympian sprint

star who is charged with killing his model girlfriend will lead SAs team in Kim Jong-Uns bid to build bridges between less understood world regimes and less understood global figures. Just days after being allowed to travel while on bail, Oscar Pistorius has received an unexpected honour: A personal invitation from North Koreas newly minted and beloved leader, Kim Jong-Un, to join the many worthy celebrities participating in his Friendship Run, a 10km race through the exquisitely manicured streets

of Pyongyang. When he heard of the invitation, Pistorius said: Ill take it. On hearing that the race was not going to be his favourite 400m sprint, but 25 times longer at 10km, Pistorius curtly replied: Ill be fine, the paper reported. Meanwhile German news website Tagesschau.de reported that actor David Hasselhoff, known for roles in Baywatch and Knight Rider, had been asked by the US State Department to mediate in North Korea.

A worker assembles wheels of a heavy duty BelAZ dumptruck at the assembly plant in the Belarus town of Zhodino, some 50km north of Minsk. AFP

Suicide bomber kills nine in Iraqs Tikrit

TIKRIT, REUTERS: A suicide bomber drove an oil tanker packed with explosives into a local Iraqi government compound on Monday, killing at least nine people, mostly policemen, in the northern city of Tikrit. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Muslim insurgents tied to al-Qaeda have been redoubling their efforts to weaken Iraq's Shiite-led government and stoke inter-communal conflict. The bomber drove the tanker inside a compound housing governmental administration offices in central Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, setting off a blast that left behind a large crater and badly damaged nearby buildings. The blast in Tikrit, once of the home of executed former president Saddam Hussein, killed at least nine people, including seven police officers, local officials said. Initial accounts reported the truck had been abandoned at the site. Police at the scene said compound guards may not have suspected the tanker because fuel trucks arrive every morning to deliver gas and oil to the government offices. The tank was stopped just behind the police administration building and partially damaged it. I was injured in my face and stomach by glass, police captain Mohammed Salih said. Suicide bomb attacks have been on the rise since the beginning of the year as the Syrian war nextdoor exacerbates Iraqs own security situation.

S Korea vows fast retaliation

N Korea says region on brink of N-war; US deploys stealth bombers
SEOUL, REUTERS: South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday, as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the US deployment of radar-evading fighter planes.

Princess Diana dressed as man to visit gay bar

Princess Diana dressed up as a male model to enjoy an anonymous night out with Queen singer Freddie Mercury and television entertainer Kenny Everett at a well-known gay bar here, a new book has claimed, reports PTI from London. The late Princess of Wales was a fan of the Kenny Everett Television Show and had struck up a friendship with him and his friend Cleo Rocos. The new book by Rocos, The Power of Positive Drinking, reveals the bizarre episode in which Diana,

North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test and a series of joint US and South Korean military drills that have included a rare US show of aerial power. The North, whose economy is smaller than it was 20 years ago, appeared to move on Monday to addressing its pressing need for investment by appointing a reformer to the countrys ceremonial prime ministers job, although the move mostly cemented a power grab by the ruling Kim clan. North Korea had said on Saturday it was entering a state of war with South Korea in response to the hostile military drills being staged in the South. But there have been no signs of unusual activity in the Norths military to suggest an imminent aggression, a South Korean defense ministry official said last week. If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations, President Park Geun-

wearing an army jacket, black cap and sunglasses, managed to order a round of drinks at Royal Vauxhall Tavern in South London in 1988. Mercury, Rocos and Everett played their part by soaking up the attention during the 20-minute visit - allowing the Princess to blend in undetected, the Mirror reported. The risky plan was hatched in 1988 after the friends had gathered at Kennys penthouse in London. Rocos had tried to warn off Diana by saying the pub was full of hairy gay men and sometimes there are fights outside.

Mandelas condition better

The condition of South Africas former President Nelson Mandela has improved further, the government said on Sunday, as the 94-year-old antiapartheid hero spent a fourth day in hospital receiving treatment for pneumo-

ON HIGH ALERT : South Korean K-200 armoured vehicles move over a temporary bridge during a river-crossing military drill in Hwacheon near the border with North Korea on Monday. AFP

nia, reports Reuters from Johannesburg. Nelson Mandela had a restful day, South Africas presidency said in a statement, adding doctors treating him had reported a further improvement in his condition.

hye told the defense minister and senior officials on Monday. The South has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul. Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event

of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang. Seoul and its ally the United States played down Saturday's statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang.North Korea stepped up its rhetoric in early March, when US and South Korean forces began annual military drills that involved the flights of US B-2 stealth bombers in a practice run, prompting the North to puts

its missile units on standby to fire at US military bases in the South and in the Pacific. The United States also deployed F-22 stealth fighter jets on Sunday to take part in the drills. The F-22s were deployed in South Korea before, in 2010. On its part, North Korea has cancelled an armistice agreement with the US that ended the Korean War and cut all hotlines with US forces, the United Nations and South Korea. Parks intervention came on the

heels of a meeting of the Norths ruling Workers Party Central Committee where leader Kim Jong-un rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip. The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting US dollars and they are...(not) to be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the (North) to disarm itself, KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.

UK PM turns sheep rescuer

He may be struggling with a string of political challenges, but British Prime Minister David Cameron has been hailed as a hero after he rescued a sheep in trouble, reports PTI from London. Cameron was on his way back from a visit to a farmer near his home in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire when he heard the bleats of the animal calling out for help.

He instantly jumped into the mud with his two armed police guards and waded through the freezing swamp to rescue the ewe, which had ventured into the mire to rescue a lamb when the Prime Minister came to its rescue. This ewe has been named Swampy and shes alive and well. Im not saying Im going to be a farmer, but I love the countryside, Cameron said.

Synagogue damaged, looted in Damascus

DAMASCUS, AP: A Jewish syn-

Afghan teenager fatally stabs US soldier playing with children

KABUL: An Afghan teenager

11 killed in flash floods in Mauritius

PORT LOUIS, AP: Police on Monday searched for survivors of flash floods that killed at least 11 people in the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Officials blamed climate change for the disaster that has left hundreds homeless in Port Louis. Most victims drowned in rivers of water that rose swiftly Saturday in a pedestrian underpass leading to the waterfront and an underground car park, officials said.

agogue in Damascus believed to be thousands of years old has been damaged and looted as clashes have consumed the surrounding neighbourhood, a Syrian official and an anti-government activist said on Monday. Damage to the Jobar Synagogue, which tradition holds was built by the biblical prophet Elisha, is the latest example of Syrias rich cultural heritage falling victim to the civil war between President Bashar Assads regime and rebels seeking his ouster. Syria is home to thousands of years of civilisations at the crossroads of the Levant and boasts important cultural sites dating back to the Bible, the ancient Roman empire, the Crusaders and the arrival of Islam. Before the Syrian conflict started two years ago, these sites attracted international tourists. Many have since been damaged as the conflict evolved into a civil war. Combatants have garrisoned in historic castles, turning them into targets. And street battles raged last month near Aleppos landmark 12th century Umayyad Mosque in the walled Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mosque itself was heavily damaged last year, soon after a fire gutted the citys famed medieval market. The Jobar Synagogue, in the neighbourhood of the same name in northeastern Damascus, is a relic of the areas once sizeable Jewish population. Tradition holds that the biblical prophet Elisha built the first structure on the site over a grotto in which his teacher, the prophet Elijah, had sought refuge.

killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials said Monday. The killing comes as the monthly US death toll rose sharply in March to 14 with the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks. Sgt. Michael Cable, 26, was guarding Afghan and Unied States officials meeting in a province near the border with Pakistan when the stabbing occurred last Wednesday, two senior United States officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. No insider attack The attack occurred after the soldiers had secured the area for the meeting, but one of the US officials said the youth was not believed to have been a member of the Afghan security

US Army carry team move a transfer case containing the remains of Army Sgt Michael Cable, 26, of Philpot at Dover Air Force Base. AP FILE

forces or in uniform so it was not being classified as an insider attack. The official said the attacker was thought to be about 16 years old, but the age couldn't be verified. The Afghan and American dignitaries were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan Local Police in Shinwar

district in Nangarhar province, senior district official Zalmai Khan said. Afghan Local Police, or ALP, recruits are drawn from villages and backed by the US military. The soldier was playing with a group of children outside when the attacker came from behind and stabbed him in the AP

neck with a large knife, Khan said, adding the young man had escaped to nearby Pakistan. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man was acting independently when he killed the soldier but had joined the Islamic militant movement since fleeing the scene. The Pentagon said in a statement last week that Cable, of Philpot, Ky., died from injuries sustained when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. At least 14 US soldiers died in March, compared with four in the previous two months, according to an Associated Press tally. The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan has dropped sharply as international forces increasingly take a back seat while preparing to end their combat mission by the end of 2014. But they continue to face dangers ranging from roadside bombs to attacks by their Afghan counterparts or insurgents disguised as government forces.

Fortunate pooch

Dog in Belarus village inherits $1 million

MOSCOW, PTI: This dog has

Heavy downpours Torrential downpours slammed Port Louis with some 152 mm (6 inches) of rain falling in less than two hours on Saturday, the meteorological office reported. It warned there could be more storms. Major roads were blocked as surging floodwaters dragged away cars, forcing motorists to abandon them. National TV showed people clinging to each other as they waded through hip-high water in a central street. Rivers of mud and debris covered the Canal Dayot suburb, where hundreds of families have been left homeless. Volunteers and charity workers helped shovel mud and handed out food and water to homeless survivors. Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam declared Monday a day of mourning.

A performer shows off a fire installation at Oudayas Kasbah in Rabat on Saturday. AFP

Relief for Maldives ex-prez

In a major relief for former President Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldivian High Court on Monday stayed temporarily the trial against him in a abuse of power case till it decides legitimacy of the bench of the lower court, reports PTI from Male. The temporary injunction was granted after Nasheeds counsel challenged the legiti

macy of the bench, asking the High Court to declare the composition of the Hulhumale Court bench unlawful. The High Court order comes three days ahead of Nasheeds hearing at the Hulhumale Court over the arrest and subsequent detention of Chief Criminal Judge Abdulla Mohamed during his term, Haveeru daily reported.

had its day! A canine from the small village of Budochka in Belarus has inherited a whopping $ 1 million from a US citizen. The ten-year-old dog named Zhulik inherited the fortune from the late John Fyodorov, who was born in Budochka but migrated to the United States after World War II, according to local newspaper Respublika daily.

Maria Protasenya, a lawyer from Minsk, confirmed that a special bank account opened for the dog currently boasts $993,700, Ria Novosti reported. Last will As per Fyodorovs last will, the dog now has its own room with a large bed and plasma TV, balanced meals - which must include no less than half a kilogram of meat - three times a

day, and walks in the fresh air and showers twice a day. The dog also has the right to travel once a year to any country around the globe, which the canine will choose by pointing its muzzle at a place on a map. Zhulik is due to take its first trip in July, and its owner Vasily Potapov said he hoped his pet would point its muzzle at Paris, the report said. Potapov said Fyodorov had vis-

ited the village in 2007 and said the dog reminded him of his dog Valet, who died. When Valet had fallen severely ill and Fyodorov had to decide between an expensive surgery for the dog to save its life and buying a ticket to Sacramento, he chose the latter. The dog later died and Fyodorov reportedly could not forgive himself for the death of the dog.

MARVIN

By Tom Armstrong