Attacks kill 8 purported CIA employees, 5 Canadians in Afghanistan

(CNN) — An attack by a suicide bomber at a military base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday killed eight Americans believed to be CIA employees, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Also Wednesday, four Canadian soldiers and a Canadian journalist were killed when a roadside bomb hit their armored vehicle in southern Afghanistan, Canada’s defense ministry said.

The suicide bombing happened at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province, Afghanistan. The senior U.S. official who spoke to CNN said information indicates the bomber walked into a gym facility at the base and detonated a suicide vest. It is believed six Americans were wounded in addition to the eight killed. It’s not known how the bomber got past security.

A U.S. military source said that FOB Chapman was originally a base for the Khost Provincial Construction Team, but the team left some time ago.
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Don’t mess with us

No forgiveness; no quarter. Happy Christmas from China

A SEASON of good cheer in much of the world, late December saw a typically harsh apportionment of justice by China’s legal system, and a typically rigid display of governmental indifference to foreign opinion. On Christmas Day a Beijing court sentenced Liu Xiaobo, a veteran human-rights activist, to 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”. China swatted away all criticism about this as groundless meddling in its internal affairs.

In a separate case that was not entirely an internal affair, China’s reaction was not much different. On December 21st Akmal Shaikh, a 53-year-old Briton charged with smuggling drugs, had his death sentence upheld by China’s Supreme People’s Court. Rejecting pleas for clemency from Mr Shaikh’s family, international human-rights groups, and the British government, Chinese authorities executed him by lethal injection on December 29th in the north-western region of Xinjiang, where he was first arrested in late 2007 after carrying roughly 4kg of heroin into the country.
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Google loses Canadian Groovle domain name claim

A Canadian company behind a search engine called Groovle.com has won a case filed against it by online search giant Google.

Google said the domain name used by the small business, 207 Media, was too similar to its own, but mediators the National Arbitration Forum disagreed.

In the complaint, Google asked for the judges to rule that 207 Media transfer the domain name over to it.

But three judges appointed by the forum refused the request.

They said the name was not similar enough to confuse people and the word ‘groovle’ was more closely linked to “groovy” or “groove” rather than Google.
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Square-root reversal

America will recover, but too weakly for comfort

The American economy in 2010 will be torn between two opposing forces. The first is that deep recessions usually lead to strong recoveries. The other is that financial crises usually produce weak recoveries. The interplay of these two forces will produce a cycle that resembles not a V, U or W, but a reverse-square-root symbol: an expansion that begins surprisingly briskly, then gives way to a long period of weak growth.

Recessions interrupt the economy’s natural inclination to grow. They create pent-up demand for homes and other goods, and prompt businesses to slash production, payrolls and investment to levels well below what normal sales require. Ordinarily, the deeper the downturn, the more powerful the reversal of those effects. Based on experience, the American economy, which shrank by some 4% over the course of the 2007-09 recession, ought to grow by as much as 8% in its first year of recovery. The unemployment rate, around 10% in late 2009, should drop to about 8%.
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Woman maimed by suitor fears more reprisals

Zafarkey, Pakistan (CNN) — Fazeelat Bibi peels back the white bandage, exposing her mutilated face. In the place of her nose are two gaping dark holes surrounded by raw pink flesh in the final stages of healing.

“I cant sleep without fear,” she says, her hands twisting beneath her light colored chador. “Whenever I try to sleep, I see the whole brutal act in front of my eyes.”

The 22-year-old used to be the family jokester, the youngest girl out of her six siblings, and her mother’s favorite. But a chilling act of violence destroyed her life and killed her spirit.

These days she spends most of her time in silence, rarely venturing outside of the house. Her voice is strong, angry as she tells us she wants her story told.

It all happened in the small village of Zafarkey, outside of Lahore, surrounded by brick kilns and bright green fields.

Fazeelat’s cousin, Sher Mohammed wanted to marry her and came with family members to ask her parents for her hand. “My family refused,” Fazeelat told us.
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British man said to be mentally ill executed in China

A British man convicted of drug smuggling in China has been executed, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

Akmal Shaikh, 53, of London, had denied any wrongdoing and his family said he was mentally ill.

The execution took place despite repeated calls from his family and the British government for clemency.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was “appalled and disappointed”, and condemned the execution “in the strongest terms”.

Mr Shaikh is the first EU national to be executed in China in 50 years.

In a statement, Mr Brown said: “I am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted.

“I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken.

“At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh’s family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences.”

‘Inadequate interpretation’

Foreign Secretary David Miliband also condemned the execution.

He said the UK was opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, but also “deeply regretted” that his specific concerns in this case – over mental health issues and interpretation during the trial – had been ignored.
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Final pleas for life of Briton on death row in China

The UK government has made a final appeal to China to halt the execution of a 53-year-old British man who is thought to be mentally ill.

Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis said the execution would be “entirely inappropriate” after the talks.

Akmal Shaikh, of London, was reportedly told by his family that he faced death at 1030 (0230 GMT). It is not yet known if the sentence has been carried out.

He was convicted of drug smuggling, but has denied any wrongdoing.

The BBC understands that if the execution has gone ahead, the Chinese authorities will inform the British authorities at a senior level, and the British authorities will first let Mr Shaikh’s family know and then the media.

Just before the execution deadline, Mr Shaikh’s two cousins who visited him on Monday issued a statement at Beijing Airport repeating calls for leniency because of his mental state.

But at the same time an official statement from the Xinhua news agency reiterated a Supreme Court ruling that the evidence that Mr Shaikh suffers from mental illness was “insufficient”.
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Obama says disappointment over Copenhagen is valid

US president Barack Obama says people are justified in being disappointed by the outcome of the Copenhagen summit on climate change.

But he said in an interview with with US PBS television’s Newshour that at least there had not been too much “backsliding” on previous positions.

He said this was preferable to a complete collapse of the talks.

The summit ended with no binding deal, but with nations “taking note” of a need to limit temperature rises to 2C.

“I think that people are justified in being disappointed about the outcome in Copenhagen,” Mr Obama said.

“Rather than see a complete collapse in Copenhagen, in which nothing at all got done and would have been a huge backward step, at least we kind of held ground and there wasn’t too much backsliding from where we were.”
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Michael Schumacher targets eighth Formula 1 title

Michael Schumacher says he intends to crown his Formula 1 comeback by challenging for the 2010 title.

The seven-time champion announced his return for 2010 on Wednesday with Mercedes, the renamed Brawn GP team.

Despite three years out of the sport, he insists he can threaten the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button – the 2008 and 2009 world champions.

“I have won the title seven times and the team won both titles last year, so what do you expect,” said the German.

Schumacher, who turns 41 on 3 January, added: “Now Mercedes are team owners you cannot expect anything else other than the world title. That is what we aim for but we have to deliver and that is our job.

“Honestly I can’t wait until 1 February when we will officially run the car.”

Schumacher retired in 2006 after competing in 250 grands prix, 180 of them for Ferrari and he won 91 races, 71 for Ferrari, on his way to his multiple world titles.
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Brittany Murphy autopsy conducted

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — An autopsy on the body of actress Brittany Murphy was conducted Monday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

Authorities have said the 32-year-old appeared to have died Sunday of natural causes, and there was no sign of foul play or trauma.

“Naturally occurring diseases could be found in any person that could lead to death,” said Capt. John Kades of the coroner’s office.

The office is looking into Murphy’s medical history. A final report could take up to eight weeks. The cause of death will not be released until the toxicology report is concluded, said the coroner’s office. That process can take weeks.

Police also are conducting an investigation, which includes robbery and homicide detectives looking at what was in her home, said Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman Norma Eisenman.

Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT (1:04 p.m. ET) Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart said.
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