Beijing
Cyberspies attack: China denied reports that Chinese hackers had stolen sensitive data from thousands of computers across the world. A report last week by the Information Warfare Monitor, a Canadian watchdog group, said a Chinese spy ring had hacked classified documents from governments and organizations in 103 countries. The group said the hackers could take complete control of computers, even activating microphones and cameras to spy on people in the vicinity. “China pays great attention to computer network security and resolutely opposes and fights any criminal activity harmful to computer networks,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. “Some people outside China now are bent on fabricating lies about so-called Chinese computer spies.”
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Khmer Rouge apology: The head of torture for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, on trial for genocide in a U.N.-sponsored tribunal, has issued an apology for his atrocities. Kaing Khev Iev, known as Duch, presided over Tuol Sleng prison S-21, where more than 12,000 people were tortured before being executed in the notorious killing fields. “I apologize to the survivors of the regime and also the loved ones of those who died brutally during the regime,” Duch said. He said he had feared for his family’s life if he failed to follow dictator Pol Pot’s orders. During three years of ultra-Maoist rule in the late 1970s, more than 1.5 million Cambodians were killed by execution, overwork, or starvation. It took decades to set up the U.N. tribunal to try Khmer Rouge officials. Pol Pot died in 1998.
Queensland, Australia
Cane toad carnage: The state of Queensland held its first cane toad slaughter this week, killing more than 3,000 of the poisonous amphibians in what could become an annual event. Cane toads, which have poison glands in their skin, were imported from South America in 1935 to control beetles on sugar-cane plantations, but they have become a scourge. At the Queensland event, billed as a family barbecue, participants brought as many cane toads as they could catch and watched while the animals were weighed and killed with carbon dioxide. “The children really got into the character of the event,” said local politician Vern Veitch.
Lahore, Pakistan
Taliban threats: The militant Islamist group that mounted a brazen assault on a Pakistani police academy this week has threatened to launch attacks in the United States. Baitullah Mahsud, the leader of Pakistan’s Taliban movement, said the attack on the compound was in retaliation for U.S. strikes against militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas. In the commando-style raid, a dozen militants attacked cadets during their morning exercises with rifle fire and grenades. Eight cadets were killed, and after an eight-hour siege, one militant was captured and the rest escaped or blew themselves up. Mahsud, in an unusual round of telephone calls to news organizations, vowed to widen his campaign of attacks. “Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world,” he said. Asked about a $5 million American bounty on his head, he replied, “Martyrdom is our aim.”
Jerusalem
Gaza investigation closed: The Israeli military has closed its investigation into two cases of alleged killings of Gaza civilians, citing insufficient evidence. Unidentified soldiers had described the incidents in reports published two weeks ago, saying that one sniper had killed an old woman by mistake and that another had shot a woman and two children. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit, the army’s chief prosecutor, said the cases were based on hearsay and that the soldiers who spoke of the alleged killings had not actually witnessed them. “It will be difficult to evaluate the damage done to the image and morale of the Israel Defense Forces,” he said. Hundreds of civilians were killed in the January incursion into Gaza, which aimed to stop rocket attacks on Israeli towns.
Mayotte, Comoros Islands
Joining France: France got a little bit larger this week when the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte voted overwhelmingly to join the republic. Mayotte, most of whose 216,000 inhabitants are Muslim, has been a French protectorate since 1843. In the 1970s, it was the only one of the Comoros Islands that chose to stay French, rather than become independent. The change to fully French status, to be completed by 2011, will have many repercussions for residents. Traditional practices of polygamy and early marriage will have to be abolished. And while taxes will go up, the Mayotte people will enjoy French health care and social benefits. France has four other overseas regions: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Réunion.
