Japan's space agency probes possible data leak

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's space agency says it is investigating a possible leak of data about its Epsilon rocket due to a computer virus. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency says an infected computer was disconnected from its networks after a virus was found earlier this month. It is checking to see if any data was siphoned from it. JAXA said in a statement that information about the Epsilon, due to be launched next year, its M-5 rocket and H2A and H2B rockets may have been compromised. The agency said it is tightening security to prevent any further leaks. Japan is hoping to compete with the U.S., Russia, Europe and others as a satellite launch vehicle provider and has developed the Epsilon to reduce costs and speed up launch times.

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Guard says Manning protest annoyed brig staff

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — Some workers at a Marine Corps brig housing a soldier charged with sending U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks became annoyed at a demonstration on his behalf the day before a confrontation that led to tighter restrictions on him, a former guard testified Saturday. The testimony by former Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jonathan Cline undercut government efforts to show that Pfc. Bradley Manning's tight confinement conditions were justified to prevent him from killing or hurting himself. The defense claims the nine months Manning spent in virtual isolation, sometimes without clothing, amounted to illegal pretrial punishment. Manning and his attorneys want all the charges dismissed. Cline testified on the fifth day of a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. He was called as a prosecution witness to talk about a Jan. 18, 2011, incident in which Manning hid behind an exercise machine and wept after he was scolded by another guard for failing to respond properly to a command. Later that day, the brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Averhart, added "suicide risk" to Manning's maximum-custody conditions. That was after they had what Manning described as a heated argument about the incident. Manning testified Thursday that the guards seemed angry that morning as they escorted him in leg irons and handcuffs to an exercise room. He said their attitude made him nervous, culminating in his odd behavior. "I thought I was going to be attacked or assaulted or something like that," Manning said. Cline testified that some brig workers were annoyed that a pro-Manning protest a day earlier had closed Quantico's main gate, forcing them to take alternate routes home. Cline said he wasn't personally affected by it. Defense attorney David Coombs has implied the guards took out their irritation on Manning by bullying him. Cline and another former guard, Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Tankersly, both testified that except for the Jan. 18 incident, Manning was always compliant and respectful. Another former brig worker, Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. William Fuller, testified that Manning was often uncommunicative and withdrawn, possibly signaling a suicide risk. Fuller testified that before Jan. 18, he had considered recommending to Averhart that Manning be removed from "prevention-of-injury," or POI, status because of his improved behavior. Manning was on either POI or even more restrictive "suicide risk" status during his entire stay at Quantico in maximum custody. His behavior Jan. 18 "gave us cause for concern," Fuller said. "That kind of reset things, unfortunately." Manning was at Quantico from July 2010 to April 2011. Then he was moved to pretrial confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He has been held in medium custody since arriving there. The 24-year-old native of Crescent, Okla., worked as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010. He is charged with 22 offenses, including aiding the enemy and violating federal espionage and computer security laws. He could get life in prison. He is accused of sending to the website WikiLeaks more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, classified memos, Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, Guantanamo Bay prison records and a 2007 video clip of a U.S. helicopter crew gunning down 11 men. It was later determined that one of those men was a news photographer. The Pentagon said its troops mistook camera equipment for weapons.

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Brig counsellor: Manning's history, behaviour outweighed doctor's opinion of self-harm risk

FORT MEADE, Md. - An Army private charged with sending U.S secrets to the website WikiLeaks had a history of suicidal thoughts and aloof behaviour that outweighed a psychiatrist's opinion that he was no risk to himself, two former counsellors testified Sunday. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Jordan and Marine Master Sgt. Craig Blenis testified on the sixth day of a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. The hearing is to determine whether Manning's nine months in pretrial confinement at the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, were so punishing that the judge should dismiss all charges. The 24-year-old intelligence analyst is accused of sending hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the secret-spilling website in 2009 and 2010 when he was stationed in Baghdad. The counsellors, both of whom worked in the brig, sat on a board that recommended to the brig commander that Manning remain in maximum custody and on either injury-prevention or suicide-risk status — conditions that kept him confined to his cell 23 hours a day, sometimes with no clothing. Jordan said under cross-examination by defence attorney David Coombs that besides the mental-health report, he considered evidence that Manning had contemplated suicide six to eight months earlier after his arrest in Iraq. The evidence included a noose Manning had fashioned from a bedsheet while confined in Kuwait, and a written statement he made upon arrival at Quantico in July 2010 that he was "always planning and never acting" on suicidal impulses. Jordan acknowledged Manning had been a polite, courteous and nearly trouble-free detainee at Quantico. "Wouldn't his past six months of performance be an indicator of his potential for future behaviour?" Coombs asked. But Jordan maintained that Manning's unwillingness to converse with him and other brig staff was a warning sign he was at risk of self-harm. Jordan said he considered the opinion of the brig psychiatrist, Navy Capt. William Hocter, that Manning was no longer at risk of self-harm. But Jordan said the weight he gave to Hocter's views was diminished because another detainee had recently killed himself after his custody status was reduced on Hocter's advice. "I would consider it, but I would always consider it with care, sir," he told Coombs. Blenis, who spent more time with Manning, said Manning chose not to speak most of the time except for short, yes-or-no answers. He said Manning spurned his offers to play chess or work brain teasers by arrogantly responding, "They're a little below my level." "I've got a person not communicating with me that's sitting in his cell, not doing anything," Blenis said. He said he supported the brig commander's decision in March 2011 to strip Manning of all clothing at night and place him on suicide watch after Manning told another staffer that if he really wanted to kill himself, he could use the elastic waistband on his underwear. "If someone tells me they're going to shoot themselves in the face, I'm not going to give them a gun," Blenis said. Manning was moved in April 2011 to pretrial confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He's been held there in medium custody since then. Earlier Sunday, the military judge said Manning's trial, previously set to begin Feb. 4, would be pushed back to sometime in March due to lengthy pretrial proceedings. The hearing on Manning's confinement was to recess Sunday and resume Wednesday. Manning is charged with 22 offences, including aiding the enemy and violating federal espionage and computer security laws. He could get life in prison. He is accused of sending to WikiLeaks more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, classified memos, Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, Guantanamo Bay prison records and a 2007 video clip of a U.S. helicopter crew gunning down 11 men in Iraq. It was later determined that one of those men was a news photographer. The Pentagon said its troops mistook camera equipment for weapons. The case has spawned an international support network of people who believe the U.S. government has gone too far in seeking to punish Manning, who was a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad.

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China's Wanda in talks with "well-known" hotels for U.S. buys

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's privately-owned Dalian Wanda Group, the world's largest movie theater owner, is in talks with "well-known" hotel chains for acquisition opportunities in the United States, its chairman said on Monday. Wanda, which also has interests in real estate, tourism and department stores, bought U.S.-based movie theater chain AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion in September in one of China's biggest overseas entertainment investments, and an example of how Beijing is expanding its 'soft power' abroad. The company will invest $10 billion in the United States over the next decade and is in talks with famous hotel brands for acquisitions in the Washington D.C. area, New York and Los Angeles, Wang Jianlin, Wanda's chairman, told Reuters in an interview. "We are in discussions with hotel management companies in the United States and are seeking opportunities for mergers and acquisitions; and we are in negotiations with the city governments of Washington D.C., New York City and other American cities for the construction of hotels, department stores and commercial properties," Wang said. After completing the AMC buy, a studio executive said Wanda was nearing an agreement with Fox film studio to co-produce films in China. Wang told Reuters he will be working with 3-4 of the top-6 movie studios in the United States on deals to co-finance and co-produce movies. Though a cinema mogul, Wang says he does not watch movies often. As China's third-richest man, according to Forbes, Wang faced little backlash over his AMC acquisition. But other major Chinese companies have hit a brick wall of opposition when trying to buy foreign assets. Telecoms equipment makers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp were cited in October by a U.S. congressional report as being a potential security threat.

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Nokia Siemens venderá su unidad de redes de fibra óptica

FRANCFORT (Reuters) - El fabricante de equipos de telecomunicaciones Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) dijo el lunes que venderá su unidad de redes de fibra óptica a Marlin Equity Partners. NSN no brindó detalles financieros sobre la venta, pero dijo que se completaría en el primer trimestre del año que viene. Como consecuencia del acuerdo, unos 1.900 empleados, principalmente en Alemania y Portugal, serán transferidos a la nueva empresa, informó NSN en un comunicado. Nokia Siemens Networks, que compite con Ericsson, Huawei y Alcatel Lucent, está llevando a cabo un plan de reducción de costos que incluye el despido de un cuarto de su plantilla de empleados y la venta de líneas de productos, con la meta de concentrarse en la banda ancha móvil. La sociedad entre Nokia Oyj y Siemens AG ha implicado una fuga de beneficios para los dueños de las firmas, pero la misma reportó ganancias récord en el tercer trimestre, ayudada por las ventas de equipamiento para la cuarta generación de redes de alta velocidad LTE en Japón y Corea. Se espera que la reestructuración derive en un ahorro de 1.000 millones de euros (1.300 millones de dólares) en costos para fines de este año.

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Australia royal hoax radio station to review procedures

PERTH, Australia/LONDON (Reuters) - An Australian radio station under fire over a prank call to a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate said on Sunday it would review its procedures after a nurse's apparent suicide. New South Wales Police said they were in contact with London's police force and were ready to assist in any investigation, as the incident sparked fresh soul-searching over the behaviour of the media. Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found dead in staff accommodation near London's King Edward VII hospital on Friday after putting the hoax call through to a colleague who unwittingly disclosed details of Kate's morning sickness to 2DayFM's presenters. A recording of the call, broadcast repeatedly by the station, rapidly became an internet hit and was reprinted as a transcript in many newspapers. Public amusement at the prank turned to disgust after news of Saldanha's death swept around the globe. The station's owners pulled presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig off the air as leading companies cancelled advertising. The station's parent company, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), said it would fully cooperate in any investigations in a letter to the head of the King Edward hospital. "I can assure you we are taking immediate action and reviewing the broadcast and processes involved," SCA chairman Max Moore-Wilton said. "We are all saddened by the events of the last few days. They are truly tragic... The outcome was unforeseeable and very regrettable," he added. The station's presenters have come under attack from around the world on social media sites and were "extremely distressed", an SCA spokeswoman said. Both were keen to speak publicly about the incident, but were in too fragile a condition to do so, the spokeswoman added. The hospital's chairman Lord Glenarthur had described their actions as "appalling" in a letter to SCA on Saturday. Saldanha, married with two children, was originally from India and came to Britain around 10 years ago. Her husband's family in the southern Indian state of Karnataka said she had spoken regularly to them but neither she or her husband had mentioned the hoax call, they told Britain's Observer newspaper. A post mortem into the cause of her death will be held early next week, possibly as soon as Monday. An inquest will follow, and London police may want statements from the two presenters, although they had yet to make a formal request. "It's been indicated that the London Metropolitan Police may wish to speak to the people involved in the matter from 2DayFM," said New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas. "But we haven't been asked to do anything yet, and we certainly have not been asked to interview anyone, or line up any interviews for the Met," he added. The tragic fallout from the radio stunt has rekindled memories of the death of William's mother Diana in a Paris car crash in 1997 and threatens to cast a pall over the birth of his and Kate's first child. The couple's baby will be third in line to the British throne after William and his father Prince Charles. The royal family are enjoying a boost in popularity in Britain after a period when they were seen as dated and out of touch. William and Kate's wedding at London's Westminster Abbey last year rekindled public enthusiasm for royalty, which has been sustained during this year's jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's 60 years as monarch.

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EU leaders in Norway to pick up Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) — European Union leaders on Sunday hailed the achievements of the 27-nation bloc, but acknowledged they need more integration and authority to solve problems, including its worst financial crisis, as they arrived in Norway to pick up this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Conceding that the EU lacked sufficient powers to stop the devastating 1992-95 Bosnia war, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the absence of such authority at the time is "one of the most powerful arguments for a stronger European Union." Barroso spoke to reporters with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and the president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schulz, in Oslo, where the three leaders were to receive this year's award, granted to the European Union for fostering peace on a continent ravaged by war. Nobel committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland will present the prize, worth $1.2 million, at a ceremony in Oslo City Hall, followed by a banquet at the Grand Hotel, against a backdrop of demonstrations in this EU-skeptic country that has twice rejected joining the union. About 20 European government leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, will be joining the ceremonies. They will be celebrating far away from the EU's financial woes in a prosperous, oil-rich nation of 5 million on the outskirts of Europe that voted in 1972 and 1994 in referendums to stay out of the union. The decision to award the prize to the EU has sparked harsh criticism, including from three peace laureates — South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland and Adolfo Perez Esquivel from Argentina — who have demanded the prize money not be paid out this year. They say the bloc contradicts the values associated with the prize because it relies on military force to ensure security. The leader of Britain's Independence Party, Nigel Farage, in a statement described rewarding the EU as "a ridiculous act which blows the reputation of the Nobel prize committee to smithereens." Hundreds of people demonstrated against this year's prize winners in a peaceful torch-lit protest that meandered through the dark city streets to Parliament, including Tomas Magnusson from the International Peace Bureau, the 1910 prize winner. "This is totally against the idea of Alfred Nobel who wanted disarmament," he said, accusing the Nobel committee of being "too close to the power" elite. Dimitris Kodelas, a Greek lawmaker from the main opposition Radical Left party, or Syriza, said a humanitarian crisis in his country and EU policies could cause major rifts in Europe. He thought it was a joke when he heard the peace prize was awarded to the EU. "It challenges even our logic and it is also insulting," he said. The EU is being granted the prize as it grapples with a debt crisis that has stirred deep tensions between north and south, caused soaring unemployment and sent hundreds of thousands into the streets to protest austerity measures. It is also threatening the euro — the common currency used by 17 of its members — and even the structure of the union itself, and is fuelling extremist movements such as Golden Dawn in Greece, which opponents brand as neo-Nazi. Barroso acknowledged that the current crisis showed the union was "not fully equipped to deal with a crisis of this magnitude." "We do not have all the instruments for a true and genuine economic union ... so we need to complete our economic and monetary union," he said, adding that the new measures, including on a banking and fiscal union, would be agreed on in coming weeks. He stressed that despite the crisis all steps taken had been toward "more, not less integration." Van Rompuy was optimistic saying that EU would come out of the crisis stronger than before. "We want Europe to become again a symbol of hope," he said. The EU says it will donate the prize money to projects that help children in conflict zones and will double it with EU funds. The European Union grew from the conviction that ever-closer economic ties would ensure century-old enemies like Germany and France never turned on each other again, starting with the creation in 1951 of the European Coal and Steel Community, declared as "a first step in the federation of Europe." In 60 years it has grown into a 27-nation bloc with a population of 500 million, with other nations eagerly waiting to join, even as its unity is being threatened by the financial woes. While there have never been wars inside EU territory, the confederation has not been able to prevent European wars outside its borders. When the deadly Balkans wars erupted in the 1990s, the EU was unable by itself to stop them. It was only with the help of the United States and after over 100,000 lives were lost in Bosnia was peace eventually restored there, and several years later, to Kosovo.

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