DANCING WITH THE STARS

Dancing With The Stars' Elimination: Kate Gosselin Bids Tearful Farewell

'She's a single mom, so I give her all the credit in the world for showing up,' partner Tony Dovolani says.

Fan favorite Kate Gosselin and her partner Tony Dovolani were sent packing on Tuesday night's "Dancing With the Stars," whittling the celebrity contestants down to seven.

Gosselin and Dovolani landed in the bottom two for the first time this week, and it was an emotional end to her run. In spite of continually receiving low scores, fans of the reality-TV mom voted for her to stay on the show week after week.

Well, you know, it is what it is," Kate offered when co-host Brooke Burke asked if she was surprised to be in the bottom two. "Kind of, maybe, but not really."

The judges didn't seem all that surprised, but they were baffled that Pamela Anderson and partner Damian Whitewood landed in the bottom two.

"It's crazy, and it's not right!" an animated Bruno Tonioli said.

Gosselin was so worked up, she initially was unable to speak upon learning that she had been voted off.

"I'm very proud of Kate, because I know she gets a lot of criticism out there and it is difficult — especially knowing my wife is watching with three kids — [Kate] has eight kids, and she's a single mom, so I give her all the credit in the world for showing up," Dovolani said. "As exhausted as she was, she still showed up every day. As a teacher, I'm very proud of you, because I thought you danced beautifully. You showed America that it doesn't matter how much things go against you, you still come out here and give it your best."

Finally, after crying for a bit, Gosselin could speak. "My gut feelings are always right, and it's OK," she said. "I had the opportunity; I'm very, very honored to have been here. I love everyone that I met. It was a great experience, and I'm sorry I'm crying. I'm a crybaby!"

APPLE

Analysts Raise Targets on Apple Post Results :

At least eight brokerages raised their price targets on Apple Inc Wednesday, a day after the company posted stellar quarterly profit on record iPhone sales and forecast strong third-quarter revenue.

Apple shares, which have risen 16 percent this year, were up about 6 percent at $258.50 in pre-market trade. They closed at $244.59 Tuesday on Nasdaq.

"Altogether, Apple is executing exceptionally well across all product segments and geographies and has given us increased confidence in the company's long-term growth outlook," Thomas Weisel Partners said.

BofA Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig said Apple's valuation is compelling, particularly based on the growth potential for its Mac and iPhone segments. These should outweigh the near term slowdown in iPod units.

The analyst raised his price target on the stock to $300 from $260 and maintained his "buy" rating.

Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey raised his price target on the stock to $270 from $240, but maintained a "neutral" rating, saying he considers the stock to be fairly valued.


The analyst said the substantial revenue and earnings upside in Apple's March quarter highlights the power of the company's expanding product line-up as well as the leverage in its model.

He expects the trend to continue through 2010 and into 2011 as the iPad and the next-gen iPhone ramp.

The iPad has sold more than 500,000 units of its wi-fi model in the United States, in the week after its April 3 launch. The high-speed mobile version of the iPad will hit store shelves on April 30, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank, which raised its price target to $350 from $325, said robust iPhone and Mac demand, international expansion and new product cycles should drive continued momentum.

It raised its iPhone estimates to 41 million from 37.8 million units in 2010 and to 50 million from 46 million for 2011.

VISA

UPDATE 1-Visa to buy online processor CyberSource :

Visa to pay $2 billion for e-commerce company
NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Visa Inc (V.N) said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy CyberSource Corp (CYBS.O), a technology company that processes online payments, in a bid to increase its e-commerce business.

Visa, the world's largest credit and debit card processor, will pay $26 a share, or about $2 billion, for CyberSource.

The deal, which is expected to close in Visa's fiscal fourth quarter, will dilute its earnings for that quarter by about 4 cents to 5 cents a share.

CyberSource currently helps process about 25 percent of all online commerce transactions in the United States. Visa said the deal would accelerate the growth of all online payments, including those made using Visa credit, debit and prepaid cards.

CyberSource's president and chief executive, Michael Walsh, is expected to remain with Visa and continue to oversee his company's operations after the deal closes.

DARNELL MCDONALD

McDonald makes instant impact in debut
After hitting game-tying homer, outfielder rips walk-off single


For more than 12 years, Darnell McDonald has been riding busses in the Minor Leagues. Sure, there have been some proverbial cups of coffee along the way, including a 17-game stretch with the Orioles in 2004, a four-game stint with the Twins in '07 and even a 47-game stay with the Reds last year.

But when the Red Sox asked McDonald to fly from Rochester, N.Y., (where Triple-A Pawtucket was playing) to Boston on Tuesday in the event that they might need to put him on the roster, how was he supposed to know it would evolve into the most storybook evening of his career?

ICELAND VOLCANO

Icelandic Volcano Continues To Wreak Havoc On World's Airspace :

Flights between U.S, Britain and some points in Europe were cancelled after a volcano sprayed large amount ash clouds in skies above Northern Europe. “There are no flights that are leaving or coming from the United Kingdom,” said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports.

On an average 600 flights fly between Europe and North America and almost all the flights have been cancelled for Friday. United Airlines said “we are experiencing major disruption to our services and timetable” at London Heathrow airport, and noted the situation was evolving after NATS restricted flights within affected areas. “This is an evolving situation,” it added, saying it had issued travel waivers for its customers to change their travel plans free of charge.

Further developments in operation of flights will depend on the volcano, if it continues then there is no other option than canceling the flights.

BRANDON MARSHALL

Dolphins offer Brandon Marshall a chance to keep shining :

I usually do not get too excited about big offseason moves (as evidenced by the string of posts on this page), but the Dolphins' acquisition of wide receiver Brandon Marshall looks like a great one for he and Miami.

Arguing against Marshall's skill is difficult. At 26, he has three consecutive 100-catch seasons and can be one of the more physically dominant receivers in the league. As evidenced by his 21-catch game last season, Marshall can take over any particular week.

One dead, 200 left on the street after seven alarm Chinatown inferno :

Firefighters found a body on the top floor of one of four Chinatown buildings on Monday night hours after they were gutted by a raging seven-alarm blaze, officials said.
The victim, an elderly man, wasn't immediately identified but is believed to be 87-year-old Sing Ho, who lived on the sixth floor.

Sources said firefighters entered an apartment at 285 Grand St., where He lived, and found the body on a bed.

The blaze started late Sunday in the next-door building at 283 Grand, which records show had racked up numerous violations in the past.

Ho's daughter Nina was too distraught to talk Monday night, but her daughter Kitty, 30, said, "We're so worried."

Family friend Vincent Poon, 26, said Nina was on the phone with her father as the fire raged around him.

"He said that there was a lot of smoke and he couldn't see," Poon said. "A couple of moments later, the line was disconnected. After that she went to the hospital, fire, cops and still had no info."

The blaze was under control by 2:20 a.m. Monday, but pockets of flame erupted throughout the day, officials said.

Four buildings went up, leaving more than 200 people homeless and 30 firefighters injured

Nuclear Security Summit

In Appeal for Diplomacy, Obama Invokes the Mushroom Cloud :

Nearly a decade ago, a President of the United States used the specter of a nuclear blast to argue his case for invading a foreign country. "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud," President Bush's then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told CNN in 2002, a sound bite that came to define the rationale for a pre-emptive war in Iraq despite the lack of proof that it presented a WMD threat.

This week, another U.S. President, Barack Obama, invoked mushroom-cloud imagery to argue for a major diplomatic initiative. "If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating," Obama said Sunday. He was speaking just hours before the start of the Nuclear Security Summit, arguably the largest diplomatic gathering on U.S. soil since the U.N.'s founding conference in San Francisco in 1945.

matt james death

Notre Dame recruit Matt James dies after fall from hotel balcony :

Notre Dame football recruit Matt James died while on vacation in Panama City, Fla. According to a story by the Cincinnati Enquirer, James fell off a third-floor balcony and died almost instantly.

James, who was one week shy of his 18th birthday, was a star offensive tackle at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati and considered one of the best players in the country. A first-team selection on USA TODAY's All-USA team, he was to enroll at Notre Dame in June.

Irish coach Brian Kelly recruited James as the coach of Cincinnati before taking the job at South Bend and making the lineman the centerpiece of his first recruiting class. He released a statement through the school.

Plants vs. Zombies for iPad gets hot and buttered

The iPad's bigger screen real estate has held some of the biggest promise for fans of tower defense games, and iPhone and iPod Touch best-seller Plants vs. Zombies from PopCap could be one of the best early examples.
The iPad version of the title, dubbed Plants vs. Zombies HD, was leaked last week along with a slew of other iPad games through Apple's iTunes Web interface for apps. At $9.99, it costs more than three times its smaller sibling.

However, the iPad-optimized version brings the game nearly up to parity with the versions found on PC and Mac computers, which cost twice as much. This includes the proper top placement (instead of the side) of all the weapons and resources you must work with to defeat your zombie foes, as well as survival mode, which lets players try to stay alive for as long as possible. For many of those who have finished the game's campaign, this is the mode of choice, and something that was sorely missing from the iPhone version.

Must-Have iPad Apps for Business Professionals

With less than 48 hours until the official launch of the Apple iPad, the App Store is beginning to populate with apps for the new tablet device. The first iPad apps include the requisite entertainment--like the Netflix movie-streaming app, or Need for Speed: Shift--but there are also a fair number of apps targeted specifically at business professionals.

I realize that there are techies out there who bristle every time the iPad is mentioned as any sort of business or productivity tool. To some, anything with a half-eaten fruit logo is--by default--not meant for enterprise endeavors. This group will no doubt hold out for a Windows 7 tablet like the HP Slate, or perhaps a tablet based on the upcoming Google Chrome OS.

Google-Topeka Trick Joins Historic April Fools' Hoaxes

So why's Google suddenly Topeka? Hang on, let me Topeka that for you ... So, it turns out it's an elaborate April Fools' Day hoax—and hardly the first corporate prank to tickle the masses on April 1.

The presumably temporary Google-to-Topeka name change mirrors the Topeka's unofficial adoption of "Google" as its new name, at least for the month of March. The Kansas city's switcheroo is a cry for attention from Google Topeka officials auditioning U.S. cities in which to test a fiber-optic broadband network.

Writing on Google's Topeka's official blog on April Fools' Day, chairman and chief executive officer Eric Schmidt noted potential confusion—yes, the Topeka Maps site will cover more than just the Kansas capital—and assured other competitors for the broadband experiment that the Google-to-Topeka name change "will have no bearing on which municipalities are chosen to participate."

Other Google April Fools' Day 2010 hoaxes include a new Google Wave feature that sends a man in a lab coat to physically wave at you when you have a new notification, text-only mode for Google's YouTube site, and the ability to upload keys and other 3-D objects to Google Docs.

While it may be eye-opening (or inspire eye rolling) in its scope, Google's April Fools' Day Topeka trick is only the latest big-time bamboozle perpetrated by fast food barons, straight-faced documentarians, pseudo-scientists, and other merry pranksters on April 1.

SCI/TECH 1

One more try to modernize US surveillance laws for the Internet age:

You may think that your communications with other individuals over the Internet may be protected from unreasonable use by US law enforcement without subpoena and due process. The truth is, judges have been loosening the interpretation of a 1986 wiretapping law, almost pretending that it did apply to present circumstances. But perhaps the greatest problem with the current Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) lay with its definitions, which at one point appear to be applicable (after several stretches of logic) to the Internet...and then, upon further review, does not.

who got kicked off dancing with the stars tonight

who got kicked off dancing with the stars tonight:



Erin and Maks performed a Foxtrot which had Bruno telling Erin that she was a natural adding that the dance had ease of movement. Len noted that the dance had fluid movement and Carrie Anncalled it a beautiful lyrical dance. Erin and Maks received a score of 34 for a total of 44 points.

On the Tuesday results show, which airs at 8pm, will feature the return of the Macy’s Stars of Dance, a performance by the Beach Boys, and the elimination of the first couple.

SPOTLIGHT

Branson spacecraft completes test flight

British billionaire Richard Branson's dream of space travel that thousands of people can afford took a leap toward reality with the maiden flight of the world's first commercial spacecraft over California's Mojave Desert.

Branson's company Virgin Galactic announced Monday that the VSS Enterprise had successfully completed what it called a captive carry flight attached to a carrier plane.
The spacecraft's developer called it a "momentous day."
"The captive carry flight signifies the start of what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program," said Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites, which built the spacecraft.

The VSS Enterprise remained attached to its carrier aircraft for the duration of the 2-hour, 54-minute flight, reaching an altitude of 45,000 feet, according to a statement from Virgin.

Eventually, the 60-foot long rocket plane will be taken 60,000 feet above the Earth by its carrier and fire rockets to propel itself into space.
The test-flight program is expected to continue through 2011, going first to a free glide and then to a powered flight before commercial flights begin.
"Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful, ground-breaking vehicles Burt and his team have developed for us," Branson said.
"Today was another major step along that road and a testament to U.S. engineering and innovation," he said.
Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week, with six tourists aboard. Each will pay $200,000 for the ride and train for at least three days before going. About 80,000 people have placed their names on the waiting list for seats.
"What we want to be able to do is bring space travel down to a price range where hundreds of thousands of people would be able to experience space, and they never dreamed that [they] could," Branson said last year.

He has said he hopes the technology will lead to a new form of Earth travel, jetting people across oceans and continents faster through suborbital routes.

SPORTS

NFL changes overtime for playoff games

ORLANDO, Fla. — Losing the coin toss for overtime in the playoffs might be a little less painful next season.

Far more swiftly than anyone predicted, including the competition committee that made the recommendation, the NFL changed its overtime rules for postseason games Tuesday. Starting with the 2010 season, if a team wins the OT coin toss and then kicks a field goal, the other team gets the ball. If the game becomes tied again after that next series, play will continue under the current sudden-death rules.
If the team winning the toss immediately scores a touchdown, however, the game is over.

Team owners voted 28-4 on Tuesday in favor of the proposal at the NFL meetings, with Minnesota, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Baltimore opposing the change.
"We knew it would be a hot-button issue when we got here," Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian said.

Its passage was helped by commissioner Roger Goodell's support, and by a spate of statistics indicating the coin toss had become too prominent in determining OT winners.
Since 1994, the team that won the overtime coin toss won the game 34 percent of the time on the first possession. Overall, the team that correctly called the coin toss won overtime games nearly 60 percent of the time in the last 15 years, or since kickoffs were moved back 5 yards to the 30.
Minnesota lost last season's NFL championship game in overtime to New Orleans. The Saints won the toss, drove downfield and kicked a field goal to win.
"I really believe the more you talk about the issue and see the stats and the change in our game, the more you see need for a change (in overtime)," said Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, co-chairman of the competition committee. McKay and Polian, a member of the committee, cited the improvement in accuracy and distance for kickers as a major reason for the statistical differences. "Modified sudden death is an opportunity to make a pretty good rule ... even better. Statistically, it needed to change. It wasn't producing the 'fairest result.'"
There was no consideration of ditching sudden-death for another OT system. And while the new rule applies only for postseason games, McKay said even that could change. Several owners expressed interest in further discussions at their May meetings in Dallas.
"Our thought is to take our time and study it a bit and make sure everyone understands the implications there would be for that," McKay said.
Neither McKay nor Polian believes the Vikings-Saints game had much of a role in the vote to modify the rule.
"That's interesting," McKay said. "One of the teams that voted against was in the game and, last I checked, I don't think they won."
McKay and Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher, the other competition committee co-chairman, said coaches quickly began favoring the change once they learned the details. It became such an important issue that the owners' vote was taken one day earlier than expected.
One of those coaches, Jack Del Rio of Jacksonville, did not favor the alteration, but owner Wayne Weaver supported it.
"I think what you're seeing (at the end of games) is the proficiency of offenses and quarterbacks who take their team down, and whoever has the ball last wins the game," he said. "All you're doing is extending that to OT. I'm not sure that's a good thing."
But it's a done thing, which might annoy the players' union.
The NFLPA has said it believes any change in overtime needs to be collectively bargained. Of course, the contract between the league and players expires next March. While the competition committee briefly discussed potential OT changes with the union in February, it was not consulted this week.

ENTERTAIMNET

Sandra Bullock's Up and Down Days

Did Sandra Bullock have a

breakdown at a recent family

dinner?

HEALTH

Obama Signs Health Care Into Law, Declares ‘A New Season in America’Wednesday, March 24, 2010By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

Washington (CNSNews.com) – The White House had the feel of a pep rally on Tuesday as House and Senate Democrats packed into the East Room for rousing ovations and chants before President Barack Obama signed the health care bill into law. Many lawmakers in attendance said that it was a historic day, and the president said the occasion marked “a new season in America.” When Obama and Vice President Joe Biden emerged, the Democrats began chanting “all fired up, ready to go,” reminiscent of the Obama campaign rallies in 2008. “History is made when a leader steps up, stays true to his values, and charts a fundamentally different course for the country,” Biden said. “History is made when a leader’s passion is matched with principle to set a new course. Well, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President, you are that leader.” The vice president continued, “Our children and our grandchildren, they’re going to grow up knowing that a man named Barack Obama put the final girder in the framework for a social network in this country to provide the single most important element of what people need -- and that is access to good health. And that every American from this day forward will be treated with simple fairness and basic justice.” Television cameras and the microphones picked up Biden embracing Obama and saying, “This is a big f---ing deal.” After it was reported that the vice president used the F-word, that same day, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Tweeted, “And yes, Mr. Vice President, you're right.” Democrats erupted in applause when Obama, celebrating the biggest legislative achievement of his presidency, came to the teleprompter. “It is fitting that Congress passed this historic legislation this week,” Obama said. “For as we mark the turning of spring, we also mark a new season in America. In a few moments, when I sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform.” The new $1-trillion law mandates that individuals purchase health insurance and that employers provide health insurance, or they will be penalized. It also establishes an exchange for consumers to choose from government-approved health insurance plans. The Internal Revenue Service is in charge of overseeing the mandates and collecting the financial penalties for non-compliance. Democrats say the new law will provide health coverage for 32 million uninsured Americans. The bill was signed into law over heavy public opposition. A CNN poll over the weekend showed 59 percent oppose the legislation.

SCI/TECH

Google faces backlash from China's state-run media

Google is facing a mounting backlash in China following its decision to shut down its Chinese search engine, with a fresh wave of crowing editorials from the country's state-controlled media denouncing the company.

The apparently orchestrated attacks against the San Francisco internet giant came as the US warned that Beijing should "carefully consider" the implications of the world's most recognisable brand refusing to operate in China.
However the English-language China Daily welcomed Google's departure, accusing it of spreading pornography and subversive content, adding defiantly that the Chinese web would "continue to grow in a cleaner and more peaceful environment" without google.cn.

The Global Times, a recently launched newspaper aimed at spreading China's soft power around the globe, said that Google had made a "huge strategic misstep" by pulling out of the Chinese market of 380m online users.
The People's Daily overseas edition went further, accusing Google of colluding with the US government security agencies and speculating whether the Google pullout wasn't the first round in a new US-sponsored internet war against China.
"For Chinese people, Google is not god, and even if it puts on a full-on show about politics and values, it is still not god," said a front-page commentary in the paper.
"In fact, Google is not a virgin when it comes to values. Its cooperation and collusion with the US intelligence and security agencies is well-known," it added.
"All this makes one wonder. Thinking about the United States' big efforts in recent years to engage in internet war, perhaps this could be an exploratory pre-dawn battle."
The editorials follow a similar series of nationalistic attacks last weekend apparently aimed at deflecting blame for the pullout away from China's draconian system of internet controls and onto the "arrogant" and futile attempt of the US company to impose its values on China.
The invective was in contrast to the Chinese government's less inflammatory official statements on Tuesday which promised not to let the row damage China-US relations, so long as the dispute was not politicised.
China had also still made no move so far to shut down Google's new search service – routed via an uncensored server in Hong Kong – choosing instead to censor unwanted search results through its Great Firewall.
The Obama administration said that while it opposed internet censorship it did not want to politicise Google's decision, reaffirming the value the US placed on its economic relationship with China after three decades of burgeoning trade.
"That said, were I China, I would seriously consider the implications when one of the most recognizable institutions has decided that it's too difficult to do business in China," added Philip Crowley, the US State Department spokesman.
Industry analysts are now watching closely to see whether Google's advertising, sales and mobile phone search business can thrive under the new Hong Kong arrangement.

At its China headquarters, where a few people laid flowers following the announcement of the pullout on Tuesday, Google said it was "business as usual", but admitted that staffing levels would have to be adjusted "according to business demand."
In the first sign of the difficulties that could lie ahead for Google, TOM Online, a provider of online and mobile services in China, said it would drop Google's search box from its site to avoid violating any Chinese laws, switching to homegrown search giant Baidu.com. Many analysts predicted that other Chinese companies could now shy away from dealing with Google to avoid being seen to support a company which has delivered such a public slap in the face to the Chinese government.

Google shares fell $8.50, or 1.5 per cent, to $549 on Tuesday, with the most pessimistic analysts predicting it could fall by as much as drop by as much as $50 - or about 10 per cent - in the coming weeks as the fallout from its China decision becomes clear.

BUSINESS

Google to phase out China search partnerships

BEIJING/HONG KONG: Two days after shutting its Chinese portal over censorship, Google Inc said it plans to phase out deals to provide filtered
search services to other online or mobile firms in China. It has already been shunned by at least one of those partner firms and was attacked by a state newspaper after pulling the plug on its mainland Chinese language portal Google.cn. It now reroutes searches to an unfiltered Hong Kong site. The Google dispute, which involves cyber attacks as well as Internet censorship, is one of many thorny trade, financial, political and security issues that are roiling US-China ties this year. On Wednesday, Google's search services remained erratic across Beijing, frustrating users unsure about the future of its other services -- from maps to music -- over two months after its bombshell announcement it may quit China. While Google is the world's top search engine, it held only an estimated 30 percent share of China's search market in 2009, compared with home-grown rival Baidu Inc's 60 per cent. Activists who gathered at Google's Beijing headquarters to show support appeared to be Google's only vocal allies in China. Google said it is not providing direct access to censored searches, but will fulfill existing contracts with other firms. "We have over a dozen syndication deals with partners in China. We obviously have contractual obligations to them, which we want to honour," a Singapore--based Google spokeswoman said. "Over time, we will not be syndicating censored search to partners in China. But we will of course fulfil our existing contractual obligations," she added. Google has already been taken off the popular tom.com portal, owned by Li Ka-shing, a Hong Kong billionaire who is one of the richest men in the world and has good ties to Beijing, according to Bloomberg. Many of Google's often well-educated, professional fan-base in China, who use the company's software for both work and play, said they were already suffering some fallout on Wednesday with erratic service. Several of Google's international search sites were failing to open, and when they could be accessed some users found that all searches, including for non-sensitive terms like "hello", were returning blank pages or error messages. Businesses, university students and people in private homes reported intermittent problems on the main Google.com site, the Google.co.uk site and Google.ca. "Google.com.hk is not currently being blocked, although it seems that some sensitive terms are. However, if you search for a sensitive term and trigger a government blockage, that may affect subsequent searches ... for a short period," Google said. ACTIVISTS SUPPORT Around 100 people, including human rights lawyers and other activists, gathered at Google's Beijing base late on Tuesday -- the day when news of the pullout reached China -- to pay tribute. After arguments with police, they approached the company's door to leave messages including "Google forever" and "Long live freedom!" at the company's door, said Teng Biao, a prominent activist who visited the building after a rights' meeting. "It will bring some inconvenience, but we really support this move by Google. They put freedom of expression ahead of business, and we hope that it will encourage more people to pay attention to human rights situation in China," Teng said on phone. But Google's move has angered the government, and on Wednesday an official Communist Party newspaper accused it of colluding with US spies, in China's latest blast at the company. "Google is not a virgin when it comes to values. Its cooperation and collusion with the US intelligence and security agencies is well-known," a front page commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily said. "All this makes one wonder. Thinking about the United States' big efforts in recent years to engage in Internet war, perhaps this could be an exploratory pre-dawn battle," the paper said.

NEWS,WORLD

David Miliband attacks 'intolerable' Israeli cloning of British passports

Relations with Israel are at a low after a Mossad spy was expelled from London over the ‘intolerable’ cloning of British passports during a plot to assassinate a senior Palestinian official.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Authority had concluded that there were “compelling reasons” to believe responsibility for the “misuse” of a dozen passports lay with the Israelis.
The passports were forged while their holders were passing through airports in the region, and the counterfeit documents used by a hit squad suspected of murdering a Hamas commander in Dubai.


In a statement to MPs, Mr Miliband said that he had asked the Israeli Embassy to send home a “senior diplomat,” widely believed to be a Mossad operative connected to the plot.
The Foreign Secretary refused to confirm the Mossad link, but added: “The request for an individual to leave, and the decision of the Israelis to accede to that, was made by us. It was linked ... to the investigations that have taken place.
“We’ve been very clear with the Israelis about the basis which we were asking the individual to leave.”

The expulsion was welcomed by Hamas officials in the Palestinian territories, but criticised by Israel, with some legislators accusing Britain of anti-Semitism.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the founder of Hamas's military wing, was assassinated in his luxury hotel room in January by a team of killers who were captured on security cameras wearing fake beards, wigs and other disguises.
Dubai officials have said that they are "99 per cent certain" that Mossad agents were behind the murder but Israel has refused to confirm or deny the link.

Telling MPs that British sovereignty had been compromised by the operation, Mr Miliband revealed that he had demanded written confirmation from the Israeli government that the safety of UK citizens would never again be put at risk.
The Foreign Secretary confirmed that Britain had no advance knowledge of the operation to clone passports while their holders were travelling through Israel and other countries. Other passports were stolen from Irish, German, Australian and French citizens.
Describing the passport holders as “wholly innocent victims,” the Foreign Secretary said that the misuse of passports represented a: "hazard for the safety of British nationals in the region.

He added: "It also represents a profound disregard for the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
"The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury.”
A spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said: "The relationship between Israel and Britain is mutually important. We therefore regret the British decision."
Members of the Israeli parliament likened the British government to “anti-Semitic dogs” and demanded the expulsion of Britain’s military attaché in Tel Aviv.

“I think the British are being hypocritical, and I do not wish to insult dogs here, since some dogs show true loyalty, [but] who gave the British the right to judge us on the war on terror?" said Arieh Eldad, a right-wing member of the Knesset.
Michael Ben-Ari added: "We have learned that a dog must be called by its name. This is anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism."

The expulsion was welcomed in Gaza, however. In a statement, Salah al-Bardawil, a senior Hamas official, said: "We in Hamas welcome the British position and the decision to expel the Mossad official in the Zionist embassy for his role in the criminal assassination. "
Mr Miliband disclosed that 11 of the 12 British citizens involved in the cloning operation had now received new, biometric passports.
The Foreign Office travel advice for Israel has been amended to highlight the risk to passports.