Man apologizes for traffic jam via Twitter

SEATTLE -- A tongue-in-cheek way of documenting his ordeal on Interstate 5 got a bigger response than Michael Micheletti ever expected.

"Everybody is going to run into trouble at some point," said Micheletti, a designer from Shoreline. "And I guess my experience was good people were there to help me, so I'm really appreciative of that."
Micheletti's car stalled in the center lane of southbound I-5 Friday morning, just north of the Seattle Convention Center. He said he actually was headed to the BMW dealership because a service light had recently come on.
He missed it by two miles.
"I was driving on the highway, and many more lights came on on the dashboard and I wasn't quite sure what they all meant, and then the car slowed to a stop and stalled."
The stall caused traffic to back up as far north as Lake City Way.
"You know, I saw all those people behind me with their blinkers on trying to change lanes into swift moving traffic," Micheletti said. "I was in their way, it wasn't a good thing."
ck, he decided to post a message on Twitter. "I thought, 'Okay I'm here with traffic whizzing by, I can't do anything else, my car's non-functional, I'll send out a message,' and that was it. Just kind of poking fun at me as much anybody else," he said.
At 7:51 a.m., using his Twitter alias "MikeyM," Micheletti sent this out: "That black BMW stalled in the center lane of I-5? Yeah, that's me. Sorry, I don't like it either."
Within minutes, people were re-posting his message, including the Washington State Department of Transportation, which cautioned people to "give Mike some room."
The entire scene played out in less than 20 minutes, even though the traffic remained backed up for another half an hour past that.
Micheletti eventually used Twitter to post thanks to DOT workers who moved his car to the shoulder and to the AAA tower who took him the rest of the way to the dealership.
"Tony from AAA here to help me. I bet my BMW looks really stylish on this tow truck," he posted at 8:09 a.m.
Micheletti seemed amused at the attention he's received over his post. He said he's already added several new friends to his Twitter account. He said his situation makes him aware of the power of social media, even if it's just a small blip on a traffic radar.
"There's quite an intersection between news and social media," said Micheletti, "The revolution in Egypt... what's happening in Libya right now. I'm just a little thing that happened and amused people."
A service manager at the BMW dealership in Seattle said Micheletti's alternator was malfunctioning. It was fixed by late Friday afternoon.

Google flips Android kill switch, nukes evil apps

After it was made known that 50 or so rogue malicious apps had wormed their way into the Android App Market , Google immediately removed them. But this weekend it came to light that the company went a step further, and remotely deleted the dangerous apps from the phones of users who'd accidentally downloaded them.

Google's own Mobile Blog reported the remote surgery, and said that the company was also "pushing an Android Market security update to all affected devices that undoes the exploits to prevent the attacker(s) from accessing any more information from affected devices." Third-party security app Lookout also pushed an update to its users to curtail any further malware intrusion.
What kind of damage may have already been done? "For affected devices, we believe that the only information the attacker(s) were able to gather was device-specific," the blog reported. This would include "unique codes which are used to identify mobile devices, and the version of Android running on your device. But given the nature of the exploits, the attacker(s) could access other data." Assuming they were successful on all handsets, fixes should have cut off attackers from any further access.
The number of affected phones could be as high as 50,000, according to Engadget.
Google's blog linked to a June 2010 discussion of the "remote application removal feature," aka "kill switch," where they first used it to get rid of some improperly deployed (but not malicious) developer software. Tim Bray of the Android Developers blog remarked, at the time, "While we hope to not have to use it, we know that we have the capability to take swift action on behalf of users' safety when needed."
By now, it's clear that this tool isn't just a precautionary measure but a necessary feature, one that, unfortunately, may get quite a bit of exercise in the future.

Israel cabinet OKs new high-speed Internet firm

Israel's cabinet approved a plan on Sunday to set up a third high-speed Internet infrastructure using state-run Israel Electric Corp's (IEC) power grid.
Under the Communication Ministry's plan, IEC would hold 49 percent of the new communications company while a private investor would own the remaining 51 percent, the ministry said in a statement. The network would run in part on fibre optics.
"The cabinet's decision significantly advances the establishment of a new communications company," Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon said. "The project of broadband Internet for every home is essential for economic growth and to help the weaker sectors."
Consumers in Israel currently have two options for broadband Internet at home -- cable through HOT and via phone lines from telecoms sector leader Bezeq.

S.Korea's SK Telecom to offer iPhone on March 16

 SK Telecom, South Korea's top mobile carrier, said on Sunday it will begin service for Apple Inc.'s iPhone on March 16.
KT Corp, SK's smaller rival, has carried the device exclusively in the country, selling more than 2 million units since rollout in late 2009.
SK Telecom has carried Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S, selling more than 2 million units.

Libyan rebels beat back attack on Misrata - residents

 
Libyan rebels beat back the fiercest attack so far by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the town of Misrata, residents told Reuters on Sunday, and a doctor said at least 18 people were killed.
Government forces used tanks and artillery in what appeared to be their most concerted effort yet to retake the town, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, but were pushed back by rebels fighting Gaddafi's 41-year old rule.
"Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks," one resident, who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.
"They came from three sides and managed to enter the town from the west and south but when they reached the centre of Misrata the rebels pushed them back," he said.
Another Misrata resident said Gaddafi's forces had retreated to a military airbase 7 km from the town.
Misrata, with a population of about 300,000, is the largest population centre controlled by Gaddafi opponents outside the rebel-held east of the country.
If rebel soldiers are able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Gaddafi's principal stronghold.
"The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths," the second resident said.
A doctor at Misrata's main hospital said at least 18 people, including a baby girl, had been killed in the attack.
"Today the attack was fierce, I have not seen anything like that in my whole life," he said.
"We have 18 martyrs but the figure is not final. We also have many people wounded, I cannot even count them," he said.
The United Nations' humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, called for aid workers to be urgently allowed into the town to treat the wounded.
"People are injured and dying and need help immediately," she said in a statement.
CELEBRATIONS

Knives, petrol bombs return to Cairo streets

 
Men in plain clothes armed with swords and petrol bombs attacked protesters in Cairo on Sunday night during a demonstration demanding reform of security services with a reputation for brutality, witnesses said.
Dozens of men wielding knives and machetes and hurling bricks and petrol bombs confronted protesters at the headquarters of Egypt's state security, a force whose abuses fuelled an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, they said.
It appeared to be the first time armed men in plain clothes had deployed in force against reform activists in central Cairo since Mubarak was forced to step down and hand power to the military, which has charted a course to democratic elections.
The scenes evoked attacks on protesters in Tahrir Square by men claiming loyalty to Mubarak during the 18-day uprising that led to his downfall. Since then, activists have pressed demands for deeper reform, including a major shake-up of the police.
Egyptian soldiers, on the streets since the start of the uprising, fired into the air for several minutes to disperse the protesters. As they ran, the protesters were confronted by men they described as thugs.
The state news agency said the demonstrators were trying to break into the building.
A branch of the Interior Ministry, critics of the state security apparatus say it functions as a domestic spy agency.
Its networks penetrated deep into society, monitoring citizens and tapping phone lines. Emergency laws give its officers wide powers to act against government opponents.
In the last two days, protesters have broken into 11 offices belonging to the state security apparatus across the country, seizing documents which they feared would be destroyed by officers to cover up abuses perpetrated by the force.

Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels

 
Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched counter-offensives against rebel-held towns on Sunday, increasing fears that Libya is heading for a civil war rather than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.
The Gaddafi government proclaimed sweeping overnight victories over what it called terrorist bands.
But after what residents said was a day of fierce fighting with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced they had fought off Gaddafi's forces in the towns of Zawiyah, to the immediate west of Tripoli, and Misrata to the east.
"Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks," one resident, who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.
"They came from three sides and managed to enter the town from the west and south but when they reached the centre of Misrata the rebels pushed them back," he said.
Misrata, with a population of 300,000, is the largest town controlled by rebels outside the rebel-held east of the country.
If rebel soldiers were able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Gaddafi's principal stronghold.
Rebel council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told a Benghazi news conference: "We would like to put the people of this great nation at ease...because the regime is spreading rumours.
"Both Zawiyah and Misrata are secured, liberated cities."
Gaddafi's troops, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters attacked positions near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, 660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.
Rebels were forced to retreat from Bin Jawad which is on the road to Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi who has ruled the OPEC oil and gas producer for 41 years.
"Gaddafi's cut us to pieces. He's firing on us with tanks and missiles. I don't know what we're going to do now," Momen Mohammed told Reuters.
One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from Bin Jawad was asked what he had seen.
"Death," he replied, too distraught to say any more.
Rebels said they planned another attack on Bin Jawad, which is only 160 km (100 miles) from Sirte, on Monday morning.

Yuvraj's all-round show helps India win by 5 wickets

Bangalore: Yuvraj Singh produced an impressive all-round performance as title contenders India really toiled hard in order to pull-off a five-wicket win over a spirited Ireland side in a group B encounter of the cricket World Cup, here today.

Yuvraj became the first player in the history of World Cup to take five wickets and score a half century (5/31 in 10 overs and 50 not out) as India huffed and puffed on their way to a modest victory target of 208 in 46 overs.

After restricting Ireland to a modest 207, courtesy his five-for, the southpaw batted sensibly on a slow track for his half century as it came in 75 balls and had only three fours in it. India now have five points from three matches having notched up their second win.

‘World's sixth mass extinction may be underway’

Paris: Mankind may have unleashed the sixth known mass extinction in Earth's history, according to a paper released by the science journal Nature.

Over the past 540 million years, five mega-wipeouts of species have occurred through naturally-induced events.

But the new threat is man-made, inflicted by habitation loss, over-hunting, over-fishing, the spread of germs and viruses and introduced species, and by climate change caused by fossil-fuel greenhouse gases, says the study.


Evidence from fossils suggests that in the "Big Five" extinctions, at least 75 percent of all animal species were destroyed.

Palaeobiologists at the University of California at Berkeley looked at the state of biodiversity today, using the world's mammal species as a barometer.

Until mankind's big expansion some 500 years ago, mammal extinctions were very rare: on average, just two species died out every million years.

But in the last five centuries, at least 80 out of 5,570 mammal species have bitten the dust, providing a clear warning of the peril to biodiversity.

"It looks like modern extinction rates resemble mass extinction rates, even after setting a high bar for defining 'mass extinction," said researcher Anthony Barnosky.

This picture is supported by the outlook for mammals in the "critically endangered" and "currently threatened" categories of the Red List of biodiversity compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

On the assumption that these species are wiped out and biodiversity loss continues unchecked, "the sixth mass extinction could arrive within as little as three to 22 centuries," said Barnosky.

Compared with nearly all the previous extinctions this would be fast-track.

Four of the "Big Five" events unfolded on scales estimated at hundreds of thousands to millions of years, inflicted in the main by naturally-caused global warming or cooling.

The most abrupt extinction came at the end of the Cretaceous, some 65 million years ago when a comet or asteroid slammed into the Yucatan peninsula, in modern-day Mexico, causing firestorms whose dust cooled the planet.

An estimated 76 percent of species were killed, including the dinosaurs.

The authors admitted to weaknesses in the study. They acknowledged that the fossil record is far from complete, that mammals provide an imperfect benchmark of Earth's biodiversity and further work is needed to confirm their suspicions.

But they described their estimates as conservative and warned a large-scale extinction would have an impact on a timescale beyond human imagining.

"Recovery of biodiversity will not occur on any timeframe meaningful to people," said the study.

"Evolution of new species typically takes at least hundreds of thousands of years, and recovery from mass extinction episodes probably occurs on timescales encompassing millions of years."

Even so, they stressed, there is room for hope.

"So far, only one to two percent of all species have gone gone extinct in the groups we can look at clearly, so by those numbers, it looks like we are not far down the road to extinction. We still have a lot of Earth's biota to save," Barnosky said.

Even so, "it's very important to devote resources and legislation toward species conservation if we don't want to be the species whose activity caused a mass extinction."

Asked for an independent comment, French biologist Gilles Boeuf, president of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, said the question of a new extinction was first raised in 2002.

So far, scientists have identified 1.9 million species, and between 16,000 and 18,000 new ones, essentially microscopic, are documented each year.

"At this rate, it will take us a thousand years to record all of Earth's biodiversity, which is probably between 15 and 30 million species" said Boeuf.

"But at the rate things are going, by the end of this century, we may well have wiped out half of them, especially in tropical forests and coral reefs."

Bureau Report

Paris: Mankind may have unleashed the sixth known mass extinction in Earth's history, according to a paper released by the science journal Nature.

Over the past 540 million years, five mega-wipeouts of species have occurred through naturally-induced events.

But the new threat is man-made, inflicted by habitation loss, over-hunting, over-fishing, the spread of germs and viruses and introduced species, and by climate change caused by fossil-fuel greenhouse gases, says the study.


Evidence from fossils suggests that in the "Big Five" extinctions, at least 75 percent of all animal species were destroyed.

Palaeobiologists at the University of California at Berkeley looked at the state of biodiversity today, using the world's mammal species as a barometer.

Until mankind's big expansion some 500 years ago, mammal extinctions were very rare: on average, just two species died out every million years.

But in the last five centuries, at least 80 out of 5,570 mammal species have bitten the dust, providing a clear warning of the peril to biodiversity.

Is gravity left-handed?

London: Is gravity left-handed? For years, physicists have been looking for a definitive answer that may provide a clue to a long-sought theory of quantum gravity. Now British scientists say it could be known by 2013.

General relativity describes gravity's actions at large scales. For tiny scales, however, a theory of quantum gravity, incorporating quantum mechanics, is needed.

General relativity doesn't distinguish between right and left, so one might expect gravity to be transmitted by both varieties. But the quantum world may play favourites.

When it comes to the ghostly particles known as neutrinos, the weak force only interacts with the left-handed variety.

To find out whether gravitons fall into the "ambidextrous" camp of general relativity or exhibit quantum asymmetry much like a neutrino, a team at Imperial College London suggests looking to cosmic microwave background, relic radiation from the big bang, the 'New Scientist' reported.

During inflation, the faster-than-light expansion of the nascent universe, powerful gravitational waves may have rippled through space-time, polarising the CMB's photons in a telltale pattern.

The team calculates that if gravity depended on just left or right-handed gravitons, that would have skewed the polarisation pattern in an obvious way.

What's more, inflation would have stretched these effects to astronomical proportions, making them easily visible to astronomers, according to Jojo Magueijo and Dionigi Benincasa, who led the research team.

The European Space Agency's Planck telescope will image CMB's polarisation and will release the data in 2013.

A theory called loop quantum gravity, an attempt to unite quantum mechanics and general relativity, suggests that an asymmetry might be embedded deep into the laws of the universe and that this should render gravity left-handed.

Evidence of left-handed gravitons in the CMB would be "a triple discovery", according to Lee Smolin of the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo. "It would confirm inflation, that gravity is quantum mechanical and that there is left-right asymmetry in quantum gravity," he said.

The findings are to appear in an upcoming edition of the 'Physical Review Letters' journal.

System that will warn of impending tsunami developed

Washington: Seismologists have developed a system that warns of an impending tsunami only minutes after the initial earthquake, thus helping minimise the death toll by giving locals valuable time to move to safer ground.

Researchers hope the system, known as RTerg, will prevent the huge death toll in calamities like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, including India, Indonesia and Thailand.

"We developed a system that, in real time, successfully identified the Sumatran earthquake (in 2010) as a rare and destructive tsunami earthquake," study leader Andrew Neman said, reports the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"Using this system, we could in the future warn local populations, thus minimising the death toll from tsunamis," added Newman, assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT).

Typically, a large subduction zone earthquake (collision of two oceanic plates) ruptures at a rate near three km per second, anywhere from 20 to 50 km below the Earth's surface, according to a GIT statement.

When these earthquakes occur in the ocean, the resulting waves may measure only about 20 cm high for a 7.8 Richter quake.

Tsunami earthquakes, however, are a rare class of earthquakes that rupture more slowly, at 1-1.5 km per second and propagate up to the sea floor.

This makes the vertical uplift much larger, resulting in wave heights of up to 10-20 metres.

Such was the case with Sumatran earthquake, with reported wave heights of up to 17 metres and causing a death toll of approximately 430 people.

Evidence of alien life on meteorite found

London: Maybe this is what an alien really looks like – a worm-like bacteria.

NASA scientist Dr Richard Hoover claims to have found life form, which may explain how life on earth started and what’s more, he challenges anyone to come forth and disprove his claim.

An astrobiologist with Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Hoover explains that travelling to Antarctica, Siberia and Alaska he has studied an extremely rare form of meteorites - CI1 carbonaceous chondrites – of which only nine are known to exist on earth.

Under microscopes, these meteorites showed numerous different fossils of bacteria – some which are similar to ones on earth and others which are well, alien.

According to him, life on earth could have been planted by bacteria in an asteroid hitting the planet in its infancy.

In one case he found on a meteorite an organism similar in size and overall structure to the giant bacterium Titanospirillum velox, an organism found here on planet Earth.

“I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth,” a newspaper quoted him as saying.

“The exciting thing is that they [the bacteria] are in many cases recognisable and can be associated very closely with the generic species here on earth,” he said.

He added, “There are some that are just very strange and don’t look like anything that I’ve been able to identify, and I’ve shown them to many other experts that have also come up stumped.”

In one of the remains, Hoover found no nitrogen.

“If someone can explain how it is possible to have a biological remain that has no nitrogen, or nitrogen below the detect ability limits that I have, in a time period as short as 150 years, then I would be very interested in hearing that,” he said.

“I’ve talked with many scientists about this and no one has been able to explain.”

Dr Rudy Schild, editor-in-chief of the journal Cosmology, said, “Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis.”

The findings are published in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology.

Now, a software to filter SMS spam

New Delhi:  Tired of junk messages flooding your cell phone inbox? Try SMSAssassin - software that segregates spam from regular messages.

Being a cheap option to reach the masses, SMSes are widely used by different companies for offering value added services and advertisement. However, these spam messages is a problem for mobile users as it clogs their inboxes.

Even the countermeasures offered by the government has failed to stop spam SMSes. According to available data, in India an estimate 100 million spam messages are sent every day.

Companies dedicated for SMS-based advertising solution have been launched and they are able to reach to 1,00,000 people in about Rs. 3,500.
"This is what inspired us to come up with SMSAssassin," Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Information Technology - Delhi, said.

"SMSAssasin performs the spam filtering automatically. It is designed to run on mid-range phones wherein it filters such spam messages and also gives user freedom to receive SMSes which are spams but still useful to him or her," he said.

Kumaraguru said a study conducted by his team of researchers in IIIT-Delhi found that an SMS is a spam or not, differed from person to person.

Since the spam SMS keywords and patterns keep on changing, SMSAssassin uses crowd sourcing to keep itself updated, he said, adding, "the software is currently designed to run on Nokias Symbian operating system, but the team is also developing versions for Google Android and Windows Mobile."

US ups pressure on Sri Lanka over slain civilians

Washington:  The United States is increasing pressure on Sri Lanka to investigate the deaths of thousands of civilians at the end of its civil war. Human rights groups contend a Sri Lankan government commission has demonstrated no intent of doing it.

The Senate passed a resolution this past week urging an international investigation of war crimes allegations. The State Department has yet to go that far, but said on Friday that pressure to do so would grow if Sri Lanka should fail to investigate the abuses properly.

The quarter-century-long Sri Lankan conflict had a bloody conclusion in 2009, when ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government forces cornered the last Tamil Tiger rebels on a sliver of land in the northeast of the island nation.

About 300,000 Tamil civilians were caught in the climactic battle. Amnesty International says 7,000 to 40,000 are estimated to have died in the final five months as the two sides exchanged artillery and other fire. No independent group can say with certainty how many perished.

Journalists, human rights activists and all but a few humanitarian workers were barred from the battle zone.

The government in Colombo appointed a "Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission" last year, which has taken evidence from ethnic minority Tamils, government officials, politicians, civil and religious leaders and former rebels. International rights groups have refused to testify before it, saying the commission is pro-government and has no mandate to investigate the killings.

Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said the U.S. wanted to see a proper investigation into abuses by both sides in the conflict and was giving the Sri Lankan commission the chance to do so.

"We hope the Sri Lankans will themselves do this, but if they are not willing to take the accountability issue seriously, then there will be pressure from the international community to look at some kind of international option," Blake, who was serving as U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka at the end of the war, told The Associated Press.

According to a diplomatic cable published by the WikiLeaks website, Blake's successor as ambassador, Patricia Butenis, reported in January 2010 that there was little hope of Sri Lanka pressing for accountability as responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with senior civilian and military leaders. That included President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who was army chief at the end of the war but is now a jailed opposition leader.

Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., who introduced the Senate resolution, said that a "state of denial" exists in the Sri Lankan government that is "not helpful" in achieving accountability for the bloodshed. He said the government, including its leaders, "has to be willing to subject itself to scrutiny."

Sri Lanka's External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that "motivated groups" target influential bodies such as the Senate to persuade them "to adopt ill-founded positions." A ministry statement defended the Sri Lankan commission's work and said the attorney-general could institute criminal proceedings based on material it collects.

But Jim McDonald, Sri Lanka specialist for Amnesty International USA, said there was little point in waiting for the commission to complete its work, due in May, before opening an international probe. McDonald said the commission was failing even to challenge official assertions that government forces did not kill civilians.

"It's not really looking hard at what happened during the war and the thousands of civilians killed." McDonald said. "The commission is being used by the Sri Lankan government to deflect international pressure."

Egyptians turn anger toward state security agency

Cairo:  Three weeks after President Hosni Mubarak's ouster, Egyptians are turning their anger toward his internal security apparatus, storming the agency's main headquarters and other offices Saturday and seizing documents to keep them from being destroyed to hide evidence of human rights abuses.

What to do with Egypt's tainted security agencies remains one of the most contentious issues facing the military rulers who took charge after Mubarak was forced to step down on Feb. 11 after an 18-day popular uprising.

The 500,000-strong internal security services are accused of some of the worst human rights abuses in the suppression of dissent against Mubarak's nearly 30-year rule. The protesters are demanding the agency be dismantled and its leaders face a reckoning.

The ruling military council's bind was evident on Friday and Saturday when thousands of protesters -- including some people who said they were victims of abuse by security agents -- marched on several state security buildings in Alexandria, Cairo and other cities.

Protesters stormed inside at least six of the buildings, including the agency's main headquarters in Cairo's northern Nasr City neighborhood, confronting officers face-to-face and attacking some in a surreal reversal of roles.

"We are inside, hundreds of us," Mohammed Abdel-Fattah, one of the protesters who barged into the Nasr City compound on Saturday, said in a telephone interview. "We are fetching documents and we are looking for detainees."

Che Guevara's motorcycle companion dead

London:  Marxist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara's motorcycle companion Alberto Granado has died in Cuba at the age of 88, media reports said. Granado died of natural causes in Havana; his body is to be cremated, and according to his wishes, the ashes are to be spread in Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela, the BBC quoted the Cuban state television as saying.

The pair's eight-month journey around Latin America in 1951 exposed the two medical students to deep poverty and social injustice and awoke Guevara's revolutionary convictions. After helping Fidel Castro overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Guevara invited Granado to Cuba. After arriving in Cuba in 1961, Granado taught biochemistry at Havana University.

Granado was born in Cordoba, Argentina, on 8 August 1922 and met Guevara as a child. Their journey around Latin America on the motorcycle they called La Poderosa (The Powerful) was immortalised in the 2004 film 'The Motorcycle Diaries', as it was based on diaries both men kept. Guevara was killed in Bolivia in 1967 as he tried to lead a revolution there.

Court to rule on Muhammad Yunus' dismissal

Bangladesh's High Court was set to rule Sunday on the legality of a government order dismissing Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as head of the microfinance bank he founded, a move that prompted concern at home and abroad.

Bangladesh's central bank ordered Yunus out of Grameen Bank on Wednesday, saying he violated the country's retirement laws. Yunus said he was still holding the post and went to the court, which heard arguments challenging the legality of the order.

Deputy Attorney General Karunamoy Chakma said the ruling was expected later Sunday.

The government holds 25 percent share of the bank and the remainder is owned by its borrowers.

Yunus' bank, founded in 1983, pioneered the concept of reducing poverty by making tiny loans to the poor. His work spurred a boom in such lending across the developing world and earned him and the bank the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

Yunus, 70, an outspoken government critic, has recently been under pressure at home, where he has long had frosty relations with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She has accused Grameen Bank and other microfinance institutions of charging high interest rates and "sucking blood from the poor borrowers."

She reportedly was angered by Yunus' 2007 attempt to form his own political party, backed by the country's powerful army.

The move to oust Yunus from Grameen has sparked criticism in Bangladesh and abroad. Borrowers and supporters of the bank held human chain protests in parts of Bangladesh on Saturday to demand withdrawal of the government order, local media reported.

In Washington, Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concern over efforts to remove Yunus and said the international community would watch the situation closely. He said he hoped both sides could reach a compromise that maintains Grameen Bank's autonomy and effectiveness and that Yunus' "lifelong work to reduce poverty and empower women through microloans has deservedly received worldwide attention and respect."

Controversy surrounded Yunus after a Norwegian television documentary that screened in December accused him of transferring Norwegian development funds from Grameen Bank to another venture without prior approval in 1996.

Pressure by the Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka resulted in the funds being transferred back in 1998, and the Norwegian government has said there was no indication Grameen was engaged in corruption or embezzlement.

Grameen Bank currently has nearly 9 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. Many use their small loans to make ends meet or to start small businesses.

Nearly 40 percent of Bangladesh's 150 million people earn less than a dollar a day, the World Bank says.

Fierce battle for key Libyan city of Zawiya

Tripoli: 

Government forces in tanks rolled into the opposition-held city closest to Tripoli after blasting it with artillery and mortar fire, while rebels captured a key oil port and pushed toward Muammar Gaddafi's hometown in a seesaw Saturday for both sides in the bloody battle for control of Libya.

With the Gaddafi regime's tanks prowling the centre of the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, residents ferried the wounded from the fierce fighting in private cars to a makeshift clinic in a mosque, fearing that any injured taken to the military-controlled hospital "will be killed for sure," one rebel said after nightfall.

The rival successes - by Gaddafi's forces in entering resistant Zawiya, and by the rebels in taking over the port of Ras Lanouf - signalled an increasingly long and violent battle that could last weeks or months and veered the country ever closer to civil war.

Rebels in the east advanced from their eastern stronghold toward Sirte, setting the stage for fierce fighting with pro-Gaddafi forces that hold sway in the tribal area.

Western leaders focused on humanitarian aid instead of military intervention, and the Italian naval vessel Libra left from Catania, Sicily, for the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, with 25 tons of emergency aid, including milk, rice, blankets, emergency generators, water purifying devices and tents. It is due to arrive early Monday.

The crisis in Libya has distinguished itself from the other uprisings sweeping the Arab world, with Gaddafi unleashing a violent crackdown against his political opponents, who themselves have taken up arms in their attempt to remove him from office after ruling the country for more than 41 years. Hundreds have been killed.

Gaddafi has drawn international condemnation for his actions. President Barack Obama has insisted that Gaddafi must leave and said Washington was considering a full range of options, including the imposition of a "no-fly" zone over Libya.

The storming of Zawiya, a city of some 200,000 people just 30 miles (50 kilometres) west of Tripoli, began with a surprise dawn attack by pro-Gaddafi forces firing mortar shells and machine guns.

"The number of people killed is so big. The number of the wounded is so big. The number of tanks that entered the city is big," the rebel in Zawiya said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he feared government reprisal. The rebels vowed to keep up the fight in the city.

Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone with gunfire and explosions in the background said the shelling damaged government buildings and homes. Several fires sent heavy black smoke over the city, and witnesses said snipers shot at anybody on the streets, including residents on balconies.

The rebels initially retreated to positions deeper in the city before they launched a counteroffensive in which they regained some ground, according to three residents and activists who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

By mid- afternoon, the rebels had reoccupied central Martyrs' Square while the pro-regime forces regrouped on the city's fringes, sealing off the city's entry and exit routes, the witnesses said. Members of the elite Khamis Brigade named for one of Gaddafi's sons who command it, have been massed outside the city for days.

The pro-Gaddafi forces then blasted Zawiya with artillery and mortar fire in late afternoon before the tanks and troops on foot came in, firing at buildings and people, witnesses said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Qaid said "99 per cent" of Zawiya is under government control.

"The situation in Zawiya is quiet and peaceful right now," he said Saturday at a news conference. "We hope by tomorrow morning, life will be back to normal."

The rebels fared better in the east, capturing the key oil port of Ras Lanouf on Friday night in their first military victory in a potentially long and arduous westward march from the east of the country to Gaddafi's eastern stronghold of Tripoli.

Witnesses said Ras Lanouf, about 90 miles (140 kilometres) east of Sirte, fell to rebel hands on Friday night after a fierce battle with pro-regime forces who later fled.

"Go to Tripoli!" one of the fighters yelled in English.

Another brandished a bayonet, pointed to its blade and said: "I need head Gaddafi! Head Gaddafi I need!"

An Associated Press reporter who arrived in Ras Lanouf Saturday morning saw Libya's red, black and green pre-Gaddafi monarchy flag, which has been adopted by the rebels, hoisted over the town's oil facilities.

One of the rebels, Ahmed al-Zawi, said the battle was won after Ras Lanouf residents joined the rebels.

Al-Zawi, who participated in the fighting, said 12 rebels were killed in the fighting, in which rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns were used.

Officials at a hospital in the nearby city of Ajdabiya, however, said only five rebels were killed and 31 wounded in the attack. The discrepancy in the figures could not immediately be explained.

"They just follow orders. After a little bit of fighting, they run away," said another rebel at Ras Lanouf, Borawi Saleh, an 11-year veteran of the army who is now an oil company employee.

A witness in Ajdabiya said rebels had begun their push toward Sirte, reaching the town of Nawfaliyah, 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Ras Lanouf. The witness said he was going to join them and expected fierce fighting with pro-Gaddafi forces.

Also Saturday, witnesses said a Libyan jet fighter crashed near Ras Lanouf. They were displaying pictures showing the pilot's body and twisted wreckage from the plane. The cause of Saturday's crash couldn't immediately be determined.

Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a number of airstrikes against rebel targets as they seek to put down the 19-day-old rebellion.

In Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, funerals were held for some of the 26 people killed in an explosion Friday at a large arms and ammunition depot outside town. The massive blast levelled flattened buildings, cars and trees in an area three times the size of a soccer field.

It also deprived the rebels of arms and ammunition. It was not immediately clear how the depot blew up, but suspicion immediately fell on Gaddafi agents.

Hundreds lined the streets to pay their respects to the dead before starting chants against Gaddafi.

Yuvraj's fiver-for keeps Ireland to 207

Bangalore, March 6: Yuvraj Singh notched up the best figures for a left-arm spinner in world cups with 5/31 to help bowl out Ireland for 207 in 47.5 overs. After a poor start, Ireland got in a couple of good partnerships with Niall O'Brien (46) and William Porterfield (75) putting on 113 runs. But then the spin of the south-paw lead to their undoing as Ireland underwent a protracted collapse from the 25th over onward.

As Ireland began their innings, there was drama straight away. In the third ball, William Porterfield edged Zaheer Khan to be put down by Yusuf Pathan at second slip. Then in the very next ball, Zaheer cleaned up Paul Stirling for a golden duck. Porterfield counter-attacked by cover-driving Munaf Patel for a four, but in the next over Zaheer returned to get Ed Joyce caught behind for 4. Ireland were in trouble at 9/2 in 2.3 overs. Off-spinner Yusuf Pathan then bowled a maiden followed by score-less over from Zaheer.

In an apparent bid to preserve their wickets and also due to some tight bowling from Bhajji and Pathan, Ireland were scoring at just over 3 reaching 51/2 in 15.5 overs. Then Porterfield and O'Brien took 7 runs off a Yusuf Pathan and squeezed 15 runs from Piyush Chawla's first over which included 5 no-balls and a free-hit six from Porterfield.

The batting duo moved into a stronger position, reaching 100 in 23 overs. They then motored along, each taking a four off Pathan. Then Porterfield smacked Chawla for a boundary to notch up his 50 off 67 balls. At the end of 25 overs, Ireland were 118/2.

Then in the 27th over, Niall O'Brien was run out for 46 off 78 balls. His wicket triggered a bit of a middle-order collapse as slow-left-armer Yuvraj Singh had Andrew White caught behind for 5 and the a couple of over later, caught and bowled the dangerous Kevin O'Brien for 9 off 13 as Ireland slumped to 147/5.

Then Alex Cusack and Porterfield took their side to 150 in the 35th over. Chawla continued to be expensive, going for 9 runs in the 37th over. But the Irish captain was the next to depart when in the following over, he was caught by Harbhajan Singh off Yuvraj Singh for 75 off 104. Ireland had lost their sixth wicket for 160.

But Yuvraj wasn't finished with business. In the 41st and 43rd over, he effected a strike each. He first removed John Mooney for 5 by trapping him in front before doing the same to Alex Cusack for 24. With that last scalp, Yuvraj had picked up his 5th wicket of the innings and Ireland were 184/8 in 43.4 overs.

Then George Dockrell and Trent Johnston took Ireland past 200 in the 47th over with the latter striking two fours. But almost immediately, Zaheer had Dockrell caught behind for 3. Then Munaf Patel wrapped up the innings for 207 in 47.5 overs when he got Johnston lbw for 17 off 20 overs.

Canada to take on Kenya on March 7

Canada Vs Kenya
Starting time: 2:30 pm IST
Venue: Delhi

Delhi, March 6: The teams placed lowest in Group A gear up for an encounter that could be touted as a poor man's version of an exciting game. Kenya and Canada are both coming off three successive defeats and would both like to get come points on the table. After all who wants to languish right at the bottom after four games in a World Cup?

Canada hold the upper-hand against Kenya, not just because they dealt Pakistan a scare in the last game by bowling them out for 184 and then coming within 47 runs of the target. But also because they have beaten Kenya the last three times these two sides have met in the one-day arena. Kenya however lead them in the overall head-to-head 7:4, but most of the former's victory came 5 to 6 year ago when the side was a far more formidable unit.

Canada last faced off with Kenya in July 2010 in two matches that were part of the World League Division One itinerary. In those encounters, Canadian players like Ashish Bagai, Zubin Surkari, Harvir Baidwan and Rizwan Cheema made a mark, the former two with the bat and the latter two with the ball.

However, the Mapleleaf batsmen have had a poor time of it in the World Cup so far and are yet to find a groove. Jimmy Hansra has emerged their most successful batsman, averaging just 24.00 from three innings with a high of 43 against Pakistan. He is followed by Zubin Surkari who has an average of 19.66 and then Rizwan Cheema with 18.33. But Canada's most serious issues are at the top of the order with the openers almost never getting into double figures.

Kenya's willow-wielders have had an equally dire time in the Cup. One-down batsman Collins Obuya stands out as the lone saviour with an average of 37.66 from 3 matches and a fifty to his credit. Meanwhile, his brother David also has a fifty, but has played in just one match. Opener Seren Waters who hit a ton in the warm-up matches, has been off colour since the cup started, averaging just 12.00.

As far as the bowling is concerned, Canada rates far higher than the Kenyans in this World Cup 2011. Canada's two most impressive bowlers have been seamer Harvir Baidwan, who has taken 7 wickets from 3 matches at 20.14 runs per scalp, and leg-spinner Balaji Rao, who has 6 wickets under his belt, at an average of 26.00.

In contrast, Kenya's bowlers appear a woeful lot. Thomas Odoyo is their highest wicket-taker with 3 wickets from 2 matches at a-not-so-great average of 32.00. The other bowlers are not even worth mentioning.

But it appears, the team that bats better on the day will prevail. This is because, the evidence shows that batting has been both their main concerns. Neither of these sides have been able to last out a full 50 overs, nor have they crossed 142 runs. While Canada has notched up team totals of 122, 123 and 138, Kenya has managed an equally shocking 69, 112 and 142.

It's therefore not difficult to see why both Canada and Kenya have been pulverised by their respective oppositions in the tournament thus far. Hopefully, they can rise above mediocrity and give us an involving game on Monday, March 7.