Canada’s Libya-bound evacuation flight cancelled Canadian Press
A Canadian evacuation flight destined for the Libyan capital is staying in Rome, cancelled due to what one government official described as the “deteriorating security situation” in Tripoli. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Foreign Affairs officials told The Canadian Press that the air charter company’s insurance would not cover the flight into the volatile area. She said authorities were assessing the situation in Libya, where more than 200 protesters have been killed during pro-democracy demonstrations bent on forcing President Moammar Gadhafi to step down. Government officials were exploring their options, possibly including military flights and/or evacuations by sea. Foreign Affairs has said 344 Canadians are registered with the embassy in Tripoli and at least 213 have said they want out.

Gaddafi says Bin Laden to blame BBC
Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has told state TV that Osama Bin Laden and his followers are to blame for the protests racking his country. In a phone call addressed to residents of the town of al-Zawiya, Col Gaddafi said young people were being duped with drugs and alcohol to take part in “destruction and sabotage”.

Libya placed billions of dollars at U.S. banks-WikiLeaks Reuters
Libya’s secretive sovereign wealth fund has $32 billion in cash with several U.S. banks each managing up to $500 million, and it has primary investments in London, a confidential diplomatic cable shows. The cable, obtained by WikiLeaks and revealing the details of a January meeting between the head of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) and the U.S. ambassador in Tripoli, comes as the United States and European governments explored the possibility of freezing assets belonging to the Libyan government. LIA, the umbrella body for Libya’s sovereign funds managing oil windfall revenues, is estimated to manage assets of around $70 billion with stakes in European bluechips such as Italian bank UniCredit and British publishing group Pearson.

Germany shores up defenses against Internet attacks Deutsche Welle
Germany on Wednesday launched a security strategy aimed at shielding the country from Internet attacks. A so-called cyber defense center is to analyze threats and coordinate emergency responses to attacks. “The Internet has become a crucial infrastructure,” German Minister for the Interior Thomas de Maiziere said. “If it fails, it will be critical for the country. It’s like electricity or water – we depend on the Internet working properly.” “There are almost daily attacks on government authorities that we think almost certainly emanate from foreign countries,” de Maiziere explained. “As always in espionage, attempts are made to disguise who is behind it. And concealment on the Internet is particularly simple.”

Randy Quaid thanks Canada for ‘opportunity to live in peace’ USA Today
Looks like Randy Quaid and wife Evi will be staying put in Canada. Evi announced yesterday that she has received her Canadian citizenship and she filed an application to sponsor her husband. Evi proudly pinned her citizenship card to her lapel for a news conference in Vancouver. As a result, Canadian border officials say they have ended their efforts to send Randy back to the United States, where he faces criminal vandalism charges in a property dispute.

Ind. official fired for remarks on Twitter Associated Press
An Indiana deputy attorney general was fired Wednesday after he suggested — among many provocative remarks on a private Twitter account and blog — that police use live ammunition to clear union protesters from the state Capitol in Wisconsin. The Indiana attorney general’s office learned of the remarks after Mother Jones, a liberal nonprofit news magazine, published a story online Wednesday. The exchange started Sunday, when Jeff Cox, 39, tweeted “use live ammunition” in response to a Mother Jones tweet that riot police had been ordered to remove union supporters from the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison.

Best Buy Will Close All Retail Stores In China ChinaTechNews
American electronics retailer Best Buy has announced on its official website that it will close all of its nine stores on the Chinese mainland. The statement published by Best Buy said that the company will re-focus on the development of a profitable retail platform. With the launch of this new Chinese strategy, Best Buy will close all nine Best Buy-branded stores on the Chinese mainland. At the same time, the company will shut its regional retail headquarters in Shanghai and it will integrate its business in China into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Company. The company said that Five Star Appliance will integrate and introduce Best Buy’s retail advantages for its better expansion in China. Five Star Appliance plans to open 40 to 50 new stores during the 2012 fiscal year to increase the number of its stores to between 200 and 210 by the end of 2012 fiscal year.

Hollywood Studios Kill ‘Family-Friendly’ DVD Service Hollywood Reporter
A coalition of Hollywood studios has scored a victory against a company that has been marketing and distributing films stripped of objectionable content. In November, Paramount, Warner Bros., MGM, Disney, Universal and Fox filed a lawsuit against Family Edited DVDS, Inc. and its leader, John Webster, with claims that the company took such movies as Iron Man 2, The Hurt Locker, Prince of Persia and Date Night, altered them, and was distributing them to consumers as “family-friendly.” The studios alleged that by selling its films in DVD-R format and stripping away copyright protection measures, the company had violated copyright laws and made them susceptible to further infringement by pirates. The parties have come to a settlement. According to the terms of the agreement, Family Edited DVDS has agreed to pay $274,000 to resolve the claim. Per the agreement, a judge has also permanently enjoined the company from further distribution of unauthorized edited versions of its films.

Woman charged for ‘Dexter’-killing in Sweden The Local
A 21-year-old woman charged with killing her father told investigators in Sweden that some of the evidence against her can be attributed to her love of the US television series ‘Dexter’, which portrays a closeted serial killer. The woman and her 49-year-old father were last seen on surveillance footage when they left a Stockholm hotel together last autumn, the Metro newspaper reports. Investigators believe the father-daughter night out finished with the 21-year-old plunging a dagger through her father’s heart and slitting his throat. “He wanted it,” she said during an interrogation.

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February, 2011

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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