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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Scientologists banned from editing Wikipedia

Online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has decided to block "the Church of Scientology and its associates" from editing entries on its site, citing a "longstanding struggle" between admirers and critics of the controversial movement.Wikipedia has blocked the Church of Scientology from editing entries at the communally-crafted online encyclopedia due to an unrelenting battle over the group's image.A "longstanding struggle" between admirers of Scientology and critics of the group prompted Wikipedia on Thursday to bar online edits from computer addresses "owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates."An array of editors believed to have taken sides in a Scientology public-image war at Wikipedia have also been barred from tinkering with topics related to the church."Each side wishes the articles within this topic to reflect their point of view and have resorted to battlefield editing tactics," senior Wikipedia editors said in arbitration committee findings backing the decision."The worst casualties have been biographies of living people, where attempts have been repeatedly made to slant the article either towards or against the subject, depending on the point of view of the contributing editor."A church spokeswoman downplayed the development, saying the Wikipedia arbitration committee is part of a routine process for handling conflicts at the website."Do Scientologists care what has been posted on Wikipedia? Of course," said Karin Pouw. "Some of it has been very hateful and erroneous. We hope all this will result in more accurate and useful articles on Wikipedia."

Chelsea beat Everton 2-1 to win FA Cup

Chelsea have beaten Everton 2-1 to win the 2009 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. Louis Saha scored the fastest-ever goal in an FA Cup final, in just 25 seconds.Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink admitted winning Saturday's FA Cup final against Everton was the perfect way to end his brief tenure at Stamford Bridge.Blues boss Hiddink will resume his role as Russia coach on a full-time basis in June and the Dutchman was granted a farewell to remember at Wembley thanks to Frank Lampard's second-half winner.Chelsea's players presented Hiddink with an engraved watch and a signed shirt as a thank-you for his revitalising four-month spell in charge, but the only gift both the manager and his players really wanted was the cup.After Louis Saha's stunning goal just 25 seconds into the match, Chelsea showed the calmness that Hiddink demands of his players and equalised through Didier Drogba before Lampard hit the long-range strike that sealed a 2-1 win.Although he has enjoyed European Cup-winning success with PSV Eindhoven, as well as impressive World Cup campaigns with Australia and South Korea, Hiddink hailed the victory as one of his finest."It was one of the biggest achievements of my career, winning in the Mecca of world football, the FA Cup is something you cannot believe," Hiddink said."We were very tough and the team has showed after a setback they react always, which is what I like."I loved it so much, I enjoyed it so much working with big stars but they knew what it's all about. They showed in the Premier League and Champions League and here, a lot of character."When Hiddink replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February, Chelsea were a squad in danger of stagnating, but he led them to the Champions League semi-finals, third place in the Premier League and now their first piece of silverware for two years.

Iran Hangs 3 for Involvement in Deadly Mosque Bombing

Three people convicted of involvement in a mosque bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 25 were hanged Saturday, Iran's official news agency reported.The three men supplied explosives to the perpetrators who carried out the Thursday bombing in Zahedan, 1,000 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, said a statement issued by the judiciary.Ebrahim Hamidi, the head of the justice department in Zahedan, said that the men were actually arrested before the mosque bombing, but they had "confessed to importing explosives into Iran and providing them to the main person behind the attack."He added that the men, identified as Haji Nouti Zehi, Gholam Rasoul Shahoo Zehi and Zabihollah Naroui, were also involved in several other bombings including a bus attack in 2006.Jundallah or God's Brigade, a Sunni militant group believed to have links with Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.The group is composed of Sunni Muslims from the Baluchi ethnic minority who have been fighting a low level insurgency in southeastern Iran for years, complaining of persecution by the overwhelmingly Shiite and Persian Iranian government.

Pakistani Troops Retake Largest Town in Swat Valley

The Taliban have fled the Pakistani army's advance on the main town in the Swat Valley, delivering the military a strategic prize in its offensive against militants in the country's northwest, commanders said Saturday.Taliban fighters had dug themselves into bunkers built into hotels and government buildings in Mingora, and initially offered stiff resistance as troops first closed roads leading to the town then began moving in earlier this week, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said.Aid was being distributed to some of the estimated 20,000 who were trapped in Mingora, and water and gas supplies were being restored.But Abbas said it would be at least two weeks before power is switched back on, and refugees were not yet being encouraged to start returning to their homes.About 3 million people have fled the fighting in Swat, and the exodus has raised fears of a humanitarian crisis.Abbas said an unknown number of militant fighters were able to escape Mingora town despite the military having it surrounded, raising the prospect that they could return to the fight elsewhere.The military launched a major offensive about one month ago in the Swat Valley and neighboring areas to oust Taliban militants who had been extending their control over the northwestern region near the border with Afghanistan.U.S. and other officials say the lawless border region is being used by al-Qaida and the Taliban as a base to plan and launch attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan, and see the offensive as a test of Pakistan's resolve to fight extremism on its soil.Government troops had been advancing steadily into the Swat region for about a month, bombarding towns from the air and fighting house-to-house with Taliban gunmen in some places."When they realized that if they did not leave these areas the noose would tighten around them and they would not find a way to leave ... they decided to end the fight and leave," Abbas said.Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the number of people uprooted from their homes by the fighting had reached "around 3 million," and that more than 190,000 of them were living in refugee camps. The rest are staying with relatives or relying on goodwill from local residents.The widespread domestic support for the campaign so far could sour if the government is perceived to have failed the refugees, or if a high number of civilian casualties is revealed.Abbas said an emergency medical team had been flown to Mingora and would work to reopen the town's hospital and treat civilians wounded in the fighting.The Taliban has warned it will launch terrorist strikes in Pakistani cities in retaliation for the campaign, and claimed responsibility for last Wednesday's gun and suicide bomb attack in the eastern city of Lahore that killed at least 30 people. A day later, three suicide bombings killed at least 14 people in two cities in the northwest.Abbas said on Saturday that 1,217 militants have been killed in the Swat offensive and 79 arrested, and 81 soldiers have died. The military has not released civilian casualty numbers and says all care is being taken to protect the innocent.The figures could not be independently verified. The tally and the extent of destruction caused by the fighting is largely unknown because media have been restricted from traveling in the region.Abbas said he could not say how long the offensive would last.Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday defended the decision to launch the operation, saying it was necessary because the Taliban's advance from its stronghold of Swat into neighboring Buner last month was a direct challenge to the government."The very existence of Pakistan was at stake, we had to start the operation," Gilani told a group of workers at state-owned Pakistan Television.He promised cash payments to people forced from their homes and a massive reconstruction effort.

Number of displaced persons exceeds three million

Refugees make their way

The number of internally displaced persons (IDP) has crossed the three million mark, according to the NWFP government.Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at a press conference at the Officers’ Mess here on Friday that the number of IDPs now stood at 3.4 million — 2.8 million of them from Malakand division alone.He said the provincial government was determined to provide all possible facilities to the displaced people and a substantial number of lady doctors had been deputed to look after them.The minister said 11 doctors were attending to displaced people in Nowshera, 15 in Mardan, 13 in Swabi, two in Malakand, three in Haripur and six in Charsadda. In addition, 73 doctors had been appointed at basic health units set up in the camps.Mr Hussain claimed that security forces had dismantled the network of terrorists and they were on the run, but they would be pursued till their defeat and surrender.He said security personnel had arrested some militants from the IDP camps and they were being interrogated.He said earlier the militants had put leaders on their hit list, but now the government had announced head money on them. ‘We are thankful to the federal government for increasing head money on Malakand Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah from Rs5 million to Rs50 million.’The names of those who blew the whistle on militant leaders and warlords would be kept secret, the minister added.Referring to reports about thrashing of medical representatives of pharmaceutical companies in Dabgari area, he said militants wanted to scare people in different ways.He requested journalists not to give coverage to such events.When his attention was drawn to a threatening letter sent to an Urdu daily, he said only cowards could send threatening letters to shopkeepers and newspapers.

US warns N Korea of quick response

The US defence secretary has warned North Korea that the United States would be quick to respond if moves by the communist government threaten the US or its Asian allies."We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia - or on us," Robert Gates told defence and security officials from Asia and the Pacific Rim on Saturday.As he made the remarks in Singapore, media reports in South Korea suggested that the North was preparing to carry out a long-range missile test in the next two weeks."A train carrying a long-range missile has been spotted at the weapons research centre near Pyongyang," an unidentified intelligence source was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency."It is highly likely that the North may fire and South Korean and US intelligence authorities are watching closely," the source told Yonhap.Two US defence officials in Washington told the AFP news agency on Friday that US satellite photos had shown vehicle activity at two sites in North Korea, indicating that a long-range missile test could follow six recent short-range tests.

Armed groups 'threaten all Somalia'

Somalia's new foreign minister has warned that the al-Shabab group is controlling the fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, and poses a threat to the entire country.Mohamed Abullahi Omaar told reporters on Friday that Somalia lacks proper resources to tackle the group, noting that it would not be so hard to defeat if the government had access to the necessary technology and supplies."We have the men. We have the intelligence. We have the knowledge. We know the terrain. We know the politics. We know the clans. We know the leaders," Omaar said."What we need are the resources."Al-Shabab, in alliance with the Hizbul Islam group, has vowed to topple the government of Sharif Ahmed, the president, and has stepped up attacks in recent weeks.