ATHENS (Reuters) - A car ferry carrying 466 passengers and crew caught fire while sailing from Greece to Italy and its captain ordered its evacuation, coast guard officials said on Sunday.
In U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap, mystery surrounds the unnamed 53
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's most prominent dissidents say they have been kept in the dark by U.S. officials over a list of 53 political prisoners who will be released from jail as part of a deal to end decades of hostility between the United States and Cuba.
South Korea nuclear operator says cyberattacks continue, reactors safe
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's nuclear power operator said on Sunday that cyberattacks on non-critical operations at the company's headquarters are continuing but the country's nuclear power plants are operating safely and are secure from attack.
The Kremlin Continues To Ignore The Families Who Have Lost Loved Ones Fighting In Ukraine
Anton Tumanov’s grave in his home town of Kozmodemyansk, 400 miles east of Moscow, Russia (Tom Parfitt/The Telegraph)
Secret Dead Of Russia's Undeclared War -- The Telegraph
The Kremlin’s denial that Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine has left families of dead servicemen searching for truth and justice. Tom Parfitt reports
Anton Tumanov gave up his life for his country - but his country won’t say where, and it won’t say how.
His mother knows. She knows that Mr Tumanov, a 20 year-old junior sergeant in the Russian army, was killed in eastern Ukraine, torn apart in a rocket attack on August 13.
Yelena Tumanova, 41, learned these bare facts about her son’s death from one of his comrades, who saw him get hit and scooped up his body.
“What I don’t understand is what he died for,” she says. “Why couldn’t we let people in Ukraine sort things out for themselves? And seeing as our powers sent Anton there, why can’t they admit it and tell us exactly what happened to him.”
Read more ....
My Comment: Everyone in Russia knows that Russian soldiers are dying and/or getting wounded in Ukraine .... but the official line from the Kremlin remains the same ... there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine. This reminds me of the first Afghan war in the 1980s .... thousands of Soviet soldiers were killed, but Moscow continued to downplay the casualty rate .... even in the face of all the evidence that said otherwise. I have many beefs with Russia's political culture .... but this issue is near the top of my list.
Russia To Supply Coal And Electricity To Ukraine Without Prepayment
Russia Says To Supply Coal, Electricity To Ukraine -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Russia has agreed on a new deal to supply coal and electricity to Ukraine, which is struggling with a lack of raw fuel for power plants due to a separatist conflict in the industrial east, Russian officials said on Saturday.
The move comes a day after Kiev said it would suspend train and bus services to Crimea, effectively creating a transportation blockade to and from the region annexed by Moscow in March this year. Kiev has briefly cut off electricity to Crimea before.
Russia will supply coal and electricity to Kiev without advance payment as a goodwill gesture from President Vladimir Putin, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS news agency.
Read more ....
More News On Russia Offering To Supply Coal And Electricity To Ukraine Without Prepayment
Moscow to supply coal, electricity to Ukraine without prepayment -- RT
Russia ready to supply 500,000 tonnes of coal to Ukraine every month - vice-premier -- ITAR-TASS
Сoal supplies to Ukraine prove Putin’s goodwill for supporting Ukrainian people - Peskov -- ITAR-TASS
Russia Offers To Sell Coal To Ukraine -- Radio Free Europe
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 From Indonesia To Singapore Is Reported Missing (News Roundup)
AirAsia Flight QZ8501 From Indonesia To Singapore Missing -- BBC
An AirAsia flight travelling from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control, the company has said.
Indonesian media say more than 160 people were on board the Airbus A320-200.
The aircraft, flight number QZ8501, lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (00:24 GMT), AirAsia tweeted.
The company said that search and rescue operations were under way for the missing plane.
Read more ....
More News On AirAsia Flight QZ8501 From Indonesia To Singapore
AirAsia plane with 162 aboard missing in Indonesia: Live -- The Telegraph
AirAsia flight loses contact with air traffic control on route from Indonesia to Singapore: Live -- The Guardian
Live: AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore loses contact with air traffic control -- ABC News (Australia)
Live: AirAsia's Indonesia-Singapore flight goes missing, had asked for an 'unusual route' -- First Post
AirAsia flight carrying 155 people from Indonesia to Singapore missing: officials -- Reuters
AirAsia Plane With 161 Aboard Missing in Indonesia -- New York Times/AP
AirAsia plane with 162 on board missing en route to Singapore -- AFP
AirAsia Airbus A320-200 Goes Missing Over Pacific -- ABC News
AirAsia Indonesia Flight Bound for Singapore Goes Missing -- Bloomberg Busisnessweek
Singapore-bound AirAsia plane with 162 on board missing -- FOX News
AirAsia plane loses contact with traffic control in Indonesia -- CNN
Search, Rescue Operations Launched for Indonesia-Singapore Flight: AirAsia -- Sputnik
AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore confirmed missing -- RT
On Christmas Eve The NSA Releases Documents Detailing 12 Years Of Spying Violations
U.S. Spy Agency Reports Improper Surveillance of Americans -- Bloomberg
The National Security Agency today released reports on intelligence collection that may have violated the law or U.S. policy over more than a decade, including unauthorized surveillance of Americans’ overseas communications.
The NSA, responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, released a series of required quarterly and annual reports to the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board that cover the period from the fourth quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2013.
Read more ....
More News On The NSA Releasing Documents That Detail 12 Years Of Spying Violations
NSA reports detail decade's worth of privacy violations -- The Hill
NSA Reveals Improper Surveillance Incidents on Christmas Eve -- US News and World Report
NSA releases report on privacy violations -- on Christmas Eve -- UPI
The Switchboard: NSA released documents about improper surveillance on Christmas eve -- Washington Post
Report: NSA releases accounts of privacy violations -- FOX News
NSA releases 12 years of damaging oversight reports on Christmas Eve -- PBS News Hour
The NSA chose Christmas to detail 12 years of accidental spying -- Endgadget
NSA Admits Wrongdoing… on Christmas Eve When Nobody is Looking -- Sputnik
The NSA Dumped Its Spying Violations While You Were Waiting on Santa -- Gizmodo
On Christmas Eve, NSA quietly releases 12 years worth of internal reports -- Ars Technica
ACLU accuses NSA of using holiday lull to ‘minimise impact’ of documents -- The Guardian
Highlights From Newly Released NSA Oversight Reports Reveal Bumbling Ineptitude But No Evidence Of Systemic Abuse -- Elise Ackerman, Forbes
My Comment: Releasing these documents late Christmas Eve .... you just cannot make this stuff up.
Strict sharia forces gays into hiding in Indonesia's Aceh
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Overwhelmed by fear, members of the main gay rights group in the Indonesian town of Banda Aceh started burning piles of documents outside their headquarters in late October, worried that the sharia police would raid them at any moment.
Flight from Indonesia to Singapore loses contact: media
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, Indonesian media said, citing a Transport Ministry official.
Man from Ahmadi religious minority killed in Pakistan after Muslim leader calls them 'enemy'
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Gunmen in eastern Pakistan shot dead a member of the Ahmadi religious minority on Saturday, an Ahmadi spokesman said, five days after a Muslim leader denounced Ahmadis on a popular Pakistani television talk show.
DARPA Wants To Develop Super Agile Flying Drones
DARPA Taking Inspiration From Birds Of Prey To Create Agile UAVs -- Endgadget
The US military would like to use small drones a lot more, especially to gather intelligence inside buildings and other structures. The problem? Most drones aren't fast or maneuverable in tight places, to the point that even a kangaroo can take one out. Enter DARPA: the gadget arm of the military has just created the Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program to build fully autonomous UAVs that can get through "a labyrinth of rooms, stairs and... other obstacle filled environments." The drones would also have to move at 45 miles per hour in complex spaces without relying on GPS waypoints -- which is where the birds of prey come in.
Read more ....
More News On DARPA Wanting To Develop Super Agile Flying Drones
DARPA solicits tender for UAV urban operation algorithms -- Flight Global
DARPA puts out call for super-agile UAVs -- Gizmag
DARPA seeks to develop agile UAVs for urban missions -- Airforce-Technology.com
Ready To Enter Into Peace Talks With Rebel Groups -- io9
Speedy, agile UAVs envisioned for troops in urban missions -- Phys.org
Update: It should also be noted that DARPA wants a new generation of smarter insect-drones -- Pentagon's DARPA Works on New Generation of Smarter Insect-Drones (Sputnik)
Syria Ready To Enter Into Peace Talks With Rebel Groups
Hadi al-Bahra (L), head of the Syrian National Coalition, talks with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby (R) during their meeting in Cairo December 27, 2014.
Credit: REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih
Syria Ready To Discuss Russia Peace Plan Talks, Opposition Dismissive -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Syria said on Saturday it was willing to participate in "preliminary consultations" in Moscow aimed at restarting talks next year to end its civil war but the Western-backed opposition dismissed the initiative.
Two rounds of peace talks this year in Geneva failed to halt the conflict which has killed 200,000 people during more than three years of violence and there was little sign of the latest move gaining traction.
Syrian state television quoted a source at the foreign ministry saying: "Syria is ready to participate in preliminary consultations in Moscow in order to meet the aspirations of Syrians to find a way out of crisis."
Read more ....
More News On Reports That Syria Is Ready To Enter Into Peace Talks With Rebel Groups In Moscow
Syria says it's ready for new talks with opposition -- CNN
Russia to host Syrian opposition talks next month -- Middle East Monitor
Syrian Gov't 'Ready' For Peace Talks -- Radio Free Europe
Syria ready to discuss Russia peace plan talks -- Euronews
Syrian government 'ready' to meet opposition for talks in Russia -- The Telegraph
Assad expresses interest in Moscow consultations on Syria peace -- Jerusalem Post
Syria 'ready' for peace talks with opposition -- Al Jazeera
Syrian Authorities Ready to Meet With Opposition in Moscow: Damascus -- Sputnik
Man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II puts roses on his tomb
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The man who tried to kill former Pope John Paul II 33 years ago showed up at the Vatican on Saturday to put white roses on his tomb and said he wanted to meet Pope Francis.
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