Pakistan Altered Missiles Given By US To Target India

Washington: Pakistan illegally modified missiles given by the US for its defence to expand capability to strike land targets, a potential threat to India, a media report said on Sunday. The charge, which set off new tensions between the US and Pakistan, was made in an unpublicized diplomatic protest in late June to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials, The New York Times reported.
At issue is the detection by American intelligence agencies of a suspicious missile test April on 23 - a test never announced by the Pakistanis - that appeared to give the country a new offensive weapon. American military and intelligence officials say they suspect that Pakistan has modified the Harpoon anti-ship missiles that the US sold in the 1980s, a move that would be a violation of the Arms Control Export Act. The accusation comes at a time, when the administration is asking the US Congress to approve USD 7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next five years, and when Washington is pressing a reluctant Pakistani military to focus its attentions on fighting the Taliban, rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India. While American officials say that the weapon in dispute is a conventional one, the subtext of the argument is growing concern about the speed with which Pakistan is developing new generations of both conventional and nuclear weapons. "There is a concerted effort to get these guys to slow down," one senior administration official was quoted as saying. "Their energies are misdirected." Pakistan has denied the charge, saying it developed the missile itself. Whatever their origin, the missiles would be a significant new entry into Pakistan's arsenal against India. It would enable Pakistan's small Navy to strike targets on land, complementing the sizable land-based missile arsenal that Pakistan has developed, the paper said. That, in turn, would be likely to spur another round of an arms race with India that the US has been trying, unsuccessfully, to halt. "The potential for proliferation and end-use violations are things we watch very closely," said another senior administration official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to New York Times. "When we have concerns, we act aggressively." A senior Pakistani official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the US accusation was "incorrect". The official said that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India.

Pakistan Blast 'Kills 14 Cadets'

A suspected suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley has killed at least 14 police recruits and injured others, officials say.

Disguised as a recruit, the suspected bomber walked into a police base where the cadets were being trained.
No-one has claimed the attack - the deadliest since the recent Pakistani army offensive there which officials said had driven out Taliban militants.
The Taliban have threatened to avenge the killing of their leader this month.
Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack.
See a map of the region
Some two million people were displaced from the Swat valley when the three-month-long conflict was at its height. Isolated skirmishes continue. Residents began returning home last month.
Big blast
The explosion targeted recruits for a community police force as they trained in Mingora, the valley's main town, provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said.
We will not allow the enemies of the country to succeed in their evil designs
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani
Reports from the area say there was a big blast followed by bursts of gunfire. A local hospital official said 14 bodies in police uniforms had been brought in.
Television footage from the scene showed bodies being recovered from outside the police base, which has been the target of previous attacks.
Security forces in Mingora were put on high alert and nearby shops and markets closed for business, officials said.
Responsibility for the latest bombing has not yet been claimed but BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad says suspicion is likely to fall on the Taliban, after new leader Hakimullah Mehsud vowed revenge for the death of his predecessor.
The attack came a day after the army said it had destroyed a major training camp for suicide bombers in the area.
After the blast, a local official said occasional incidents were to be expected but it was believed that the Taliban's back had been broken during the army's offensive.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani condemned the killings and ordered an inquiry into the attack, adding that the government was determined to carry on the fight against militancy.
"We will not allow the enemies of the country to succeed in their evil designs," he said in a statement. On Thursday, 22 border guards were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Khyber Pass, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Senator Edward Kennedy Buried With Full Honours

Arlington National Cemetery on a grassy hillside beside his two assassinated brothers, President John F Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

The senator's remains were flown to Washington for a final journey past the white marble Lincoln Memorial and across the Memorial Bridge to their final resting place. Crowds had earlier lined the streets of rainy Boston where the funeral was held earlier in the day.
As evening fell on a humid summer day, only the Kennedy family and a few close friends - including the Vice President Joseph Biden attended the burial.


Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket from the hearse to the grave site. Seven riflemen then fired three volleys in a traditional military funeral ritual for a member of Congress, and a bugler sounded taps. Lightning flickered across the sky and the man known as the "lion of the Senate" was buried.
Arlington National Cemetery is where the nation's military heroes and prominent historical figures are buried. It overlooks the Potomac River with the grand monuments of Washington stretching away in the distance.
An eternal flame indicates President Kennedy's grave nearby, and Robert Kennedy's is marked by a decorative fountain. Senator Kennedy was a regular visitor to the site, coming at least six times a year to his brothers' graves, often by himself.
Earlier the funeral cortege stopped briefly at the US Capitol, to witness an extraordinary outpouring of emotion, when applause echoed around the imposing grounds for over three minutes. Hundreds of people, including senators and congressmen, friends and staff members gathered on the steps to bid farewell The hearse bearing the flag-draped coffin halted briefly on the last leg of the senator's final journey. It was the same flag which had flown from the Capitol building on the final Senate session in Mr Kennedy's 47 years in office.

Two Koreas To Restart Family Reunions

SEOUL — South and North Korea agreed Friday to restart a reunion programme for families divided by their 1950-53 conflict, in the latest sign of an easing of tensions after more than a year of hostility.
The reunions will be held from September 26 to October 1, the two sides said in a joint statement on their third day of talks. They will be the first for two years.
The hardline communist North suspended the programme after a conservative South Korean government took office in February 2008 and announced a tougher line on cross-border relations.
"The South and the North will continue to cooperate on the issue of separated families and other humanitarian issues involving the Red Cross," the statement said after talks at the North's Mount Kumgang resort where families will meet.
In a programme organised by each side's Red Cross, families will meet just before Korea's Chuseok (Thanksgiving) day, one of the year's two most important holidays.
Yonhap news agency said earlier the South had withdrawn its demand that the statement refer to South Korean prisoners of war and to civilians believed kidnapped by the North during the Cold War era.
Seoul says 494 of its people, mostly fishermen, were seized in the decades following the war and more than 500 prisoners of war were never sent home in 1953.
Pyongyang insists it is not holding anyone against their will even though some abductees have escaped to the South.
"I believe our position has been sufficiently explained to the North through these talks," unification ministry spokesman Chun Hae-Sung said in Seoul.
"Here, we will focus on the most pressing issue of arranging the Chuseok reunion, but our efforts will continue with patience."
Seoul also dropped demands for the reunions to be held on a regular basis so that many more elderly people can meet loved ones before they die.
The North and South agreed to select 100 people on each side and locate their relatives across the border.
Tens of thousands of families have been separated by barbed wire and minefields since the war. There are no civilian mail or telephone services between the two countries.
The reunions normally last for three days.
The programme began in earnest after the first inter-Korean summit in 2000 eased tensions between the historical enemies.
More than 16,000 Koreans from both sides of the border have held face-to-face meetings since then while 3,200 others communicated through video links.
The North's leader Kim Jong-Il and a visiting Seoul business chief agreed this month the reunions should resume around Thanksgiving. They also agreed to restart tourist trips to the North by South Koreans.
In another conciliatory gesture Kim last weekend sent a team to Seoul to mourn ex-president Kim Dae-Jung and to hold talks with current leader Lee Myung-Bak.
The overtures follow a year of sabre-rattling, including missile launches and a nuclear test this year which brought tougher United Nations sanctions.
The North is also trying to ease tensions with Washington. This month it freed two US reporters after ex-president Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang.
It has expressed willingness for talks with Washington to end the nuclear standoff.
US special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to Asian capitals soon but not to Pyongyang, the State Department said Thursday.

India In Nehru Cup Final Under AFC Rules

New Delhi, Defending champions India will take on Syria in the final of Nehru Cup international football tournament here irrespective of the results of their last round-robin fixture against the West Asians tomorrow and today's match between Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan.

India may still get more than six points if they either draw or beat Syria tomorrow but even if they lose by whatever goal margin they will make it to the final for the second consecutive time.

If Sri Lanka beat Kyrgyzstan by a huge goal margin today they will get six points -- the same as India -- but the island country cannot make it to the final as they had lost to the home team 1-3 in their last round-robin match on Wednesday.

In Pics: Sub-Rs 20K BlackBerry Curve 8520

Research In Motion, the maker of BlackBerry devices, has refreshed the Curve line-up in India with the launch of BlackBerry Curve 8520. Priced well under Rs 20K, this is the company's low-cost offering in the already crowded smartphone market. With its launch, the phone also replaces the BlackBerry’s traditional trackball navigation and becomes the first BlackBerry device to sport dedicated music keys. Here's further into the specs, features, camera and pricing.

NetApp Unveils Cloud Soln Data ONTAP 8

MUMBAI, INDIA: NetApp unveiled Data ONTAP 8 along with other new technologies and solutions that will serve as the cloud infrastructure foundation.
Rajesh Janey, president, sales, India and SAARC, NetApp, said: "Customer dynamics are changing in the face of increased economic pressures as IT executives are tasked with doing more with less. As a result, the make-up of the data centre is drastically changing, as companies choose to take advantage of applications, infrastructure, and platforms delivered in the form of services."
Data ONTAP 8 will build upon these proven cloud capabilities with enhanced functionality for virtualized and shared infrastructure environments, including non-disruptive data mobility, dynamic growth through scale-out architecture, and 64-bit storage aggregates to support multipetabyte deployments. Data ONTAP 8 will also provide customers with improved data management capabilities and tighter integration with data centre orchestration and management systems, enabling the storage, server, networking, and application layers to interface with one another.
NetApp shares its cloud strategy with Tata CommNetApp will also be sharing its cloud strategy with IT vendors and enterprise value added resellers. According to an IDC study, around 40 percent of Indian enterprises are considering the adoption of cloud services to save costs and compete in the challenging market environment.
NetApp's announcement was made along with Tata Communications, who are providing cloud infrastructure on NetApp platform. Global service providers and system integrators are also leveraging NetApp technology to create cloud service offerings for their own enterprise customers.
Alok Bardiya, VP, managed services, marketing & alliances, Tata Communications, said: "Tata Communications has built its global hosting, on-demand storage services based on leading technologies and industry practices. Using NetApp for our cloud-based services allows us to easily manage and monitor our infrastructure to provide secure, 24x7x365 availability and lower costs for our enterprise customers, while relieving them of the day-to-day management of their IT infrastructure."

Bernanke Is Nominated For Second Term As Fed Chief

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who led the biggest expansion of the central bank’s power in its 95-year history to battle the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, was nominated to a second term today by President Barack Obama.
“Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall,” Obama said in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with Bernanke at his side.
Bernanke’s nomination for a second four-year term starting Jan. 31 requires Senate approval and was endorsed by the head of the Banking Committee, Christopher Dodd. The Fed chief will still face tough questioning from lawmakers who say he was slow to recognize the severity of the mortgage crisis and didn’t do enough to protect American consumers while leading bailouts of financial firms including Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc.
“While I have had serious differences with the Federal Reserve over the past few years, I think reappointing Chairman Bernanke is probably the right choice,” Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said yesterday in a statement. “There will be a thorough and comprehensive confirmation hearing.”
Bernanke Pledge
Bernanke today pledged to work toward restoring stability to financial markets and the economy.
“I will work to the utmost of my abilities -- with my colleagues at the Federal Reserve and alongside the Congress and the administration -- to help provide a solid foundation for growth and prosperity in an environment of price stability,” he said.
In the latest evidence of an economic recovery, home values in 20 metropolitan areas decreased at a slower pace than forecast in June. The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index declined 15.4 percent from a year earlier, the smallest drop since April 2008, the group said today in New York.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to 1,028.83 at 9:37 a.m. in New York.
Obama decided to reappoint Bernanke because he wanted to keep together the team that had weathered the crisis, an administration official said. The official said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and National Economic Council Chairman Larry Summers all recommended Bernanke be reappointed.
Bernanke, 55, slashed the main interest rate almost to zero and pumped $1 trillion into the banking system to unfreeze credit markets. He now must guide the world’s largest economy back to growth and reduce unemployment approaching 10 percent while shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet to prevent a surge in inflation.
Challenges Ahead
“It’s not just that he’s done a great job of dealing creatively with the financial crisis,” said Richard Berner, co- head of global economics at Morgan Stanley in New York. “He has the capacity to deal with the challenges that lie ahead -- continuing to help the economy and markets heal and engineering the exit strategy when it’s appropriate to do so.”
Obama, a Democrat, continues a recent tradition of bipartisanship in his decision to nominate Bernanke, a Republican, to a second term.
Bernanke’s predecessor and fellow Republican, Alan Greenspan, served as Fed chief for 18 years while gaining renomination by three presidents, including Bill Clinton, a Democrat. President Ronald Reagan kept Paul Volcker, first selected by Jimmy Carter, for a second term.
Investor Survey
Almost 75 percent of investors surveyed in the first Quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll had a favorable view of the chairman in July. By almost a three-to-one margin, they said Bernanke had earned another four-year term.
“Wall Street can rest a little easier,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. “Having a new chairman come in at this late date would put the Fed-engineered solution to both the recovery and the exit strategy at risk.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has risen 52 percent since a recession low on March 9. The S&P lost 38.5 percent last year. Credit markets have also recovered: The London Interbank Offered Rate for three months loans in dollars fell to 0.39 percent on Aug. 24. The rate surged as high as 4.81 percent in October.
Bernanke’s nomination comes as the world’s biggest economy is poised for renewed growth.
The economy will expand 2 percent or more in the four quarters through June, the first such streak in more than four years, according to the median of 53 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Gross domestic product has fallen 3.9 percent since the recession began in December 2007.
Credit Markets
The Libor-OIS spread, a gauge of financial stress, fell to 20 basis points Aug. 24. The spread soared to 364 basis points on Oct. 10 last year after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse. Greenspan said in a June 2008 interview he wouldn’t consider credit markets back to “normal” until the spread was at 25 basis points.
Companies have sold a record $794 billion of dollar- denominated investment-grade corporate bonds this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s up from $599 billion in the same period last year.
“Prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” Bernanke said in an Aug. 21 speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole. Still, he warned of “critical challenges” ahead and added: “We have an enormous amount of work to do.”
Economists predict the unemployment rate, now 9.4 percent, could climb above 10 percent, curbing consumer spending and limiting the strength of the recovery.
MIT Degree
Ben Shalom Bernanke grew up in Dillon, South Carolina, where his family owned a pharmacy opened by his Austrian immigrant grandfather. He went north to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics, then received a doctorate in economics from the neighboring Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979.
A self-described “Great Depression buff,” Bernanke joined the central bank as a governor in 2002 after serving as chairman of Princeton University’s economics department. President George W. Bush appointed Bernanke chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in 2005 before naming him a few months later to the top Fed post.
“I did spend a lot of my career studying the Great Depression and other financial crises,” Bernanke said in a town-hall-style meeting on July 26 organized by PBS television. “And I didn’t expect it would be so helpful, so useful, as it has been.”
Mortgage Meltdown
By his own admission, Bernanke was slow to recognize the severity of the mortgage meltdown at the heart of the recession.
“I and others were mistaken early on in saying that the subprime crisis would be contained,” he said in an interview last November with the New Yorker magazine.
In August 2007, the collapse in credit markets forced Fed policy makers to lower the discount rate just two weeks after declaring inflation was their paramount challenge. The next month, the Fed cut its benchmark federal funds rate for the first time in four years.
Bernanke came under fire for failing to prevent the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered the biggest drop in the S&P 500 Index since Sept. 11, 2001, and deepened the credit freeze.
“The sentiment all over the world was that such a dramatic bankruptcy of a signature institution was impossible,” said Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, in a June 15 interview.
‘Unavoidable’ Failure
Bernanke called Lehman’s failure “unavoidable” in his Jackson Hole speech. No buyer could be found, he said, and the investment bank didn’t have enough collateral to qualify for a Fed loan large enough to save it.
Two days after Lehman’s bankruptcy filing, the Fed took control of AIG in an $85 billion bailout designed to prevent the worst financial collapse in history.
As Lehman’s collapse sent shock waves through financial markets, Bernanke launched unprecedented programs -- one to contain fallout from a run on money-market funds, and another to buy short-term debt from companies such as General Electric Co.
Bernanke also supported then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s proposal for a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, initially intended to buy toxic assets from banks and later used to purchases equity stakes in the lenders themselves.
Zero Rate
In December, with the economy contracting, the Fed’s key interest rate was slashed almost to zero, where it has remained. In the following months, the Fed launched programs to pump money into the economy through purchases of mortgage-backed debt, U.S. Treasuries and securities backed by auto loans, credit cards and commercial-property mortgages.
“This last couple of years has been clearly a move through uncharted territory, and as we’ve seen it’s taken a lot of unconventional moves to try to deal with the situation,” said Robert Parry, former president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. “There’s been a lot of innovation that’s gone on, and it seems to me that much of it has been successful.”
Yet the expansion of Fed authority has put Bernanke in the crosshairs of critics in Congress. Some lawmakers have accused the Fed of overstepping its authority and failing to properly supervise the financial firms that packaged and sold the mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the crisis.
‘Regulatory Malfeasance’
“I’ve been astounded and shocked by certain regulatory malfeasance of the Federal Reserve and the reserve banks in the regulatory process in the last several years,” said Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee.
Other lawmakers accused Bernanke of improperly pressuring Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis to proceed with its planned acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed and released dozens of Fed e-mails and other documents. Bernanke told the panel in June that the central bank acted with the “highest integrity.”
The Fed chairman “has stepped on some landmines,” said Raymond Stone, managing director at Stone & McCarthy Research in Skillman, New Jersey. “Some were his fault, most weren’t.”
There’s little indication that Bernanke would fail to gain Senate approval. The Fed chief has cultivated relationships with key members of Congress, winning their respect while they criticized some of the central bank’s actions.
Senator Charles Schumer, a member of the Banking Committee and a New York Democrat, endorsed Bernanke’s reappointment, calling him “the right choice for these tough times.”
The recession “could have been considerably worse without Ben Bernanke’s strong and resolute actions,” Schumer said in a statement.

Formula One Is Not A Sport, Says Sports Ministry

According to sources, the ministry of sports in January 2009 wrote to JPSK Sports, the promoters of Formula One in the country, that their request for getting approval for remittance of $36.5 million (about Rs 177 crore) to be paid to Formula One Administration (UK) for holding an F1 race in India had been rejected on the grounds that "it (the race) would have no impact on the development of sports in the country". JPSK had first gone to the Reserve Bank of India, which asked them to get the ministry's approval. The basic premise of the ministry is that F1 is not needed in India and the money can be spent on development of disciplines which have a wider base in the country, ministry sources said. "F1 is not purely sports. It is entertainment and this venture by JKSP is a commercial initiative," said a ministry source. In fact, the letter states that F1 will not have an impact on Indian sports "in terms of either participation, broad-basing or promotion of excellence". "The proposed F1 race does not satisfy conditions which focus on human endeavour for excelling in competition with others, keeping in view the whole sports movement from Olympics downwards," said the source. Sameer Gaur, MD, JPSK confirmed to TOI that their request had been rejected by the sports ministry.

Akram Among Candidates For KKR Coach's Job

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, former Indian batsman Pravin Amre and ex-India coach John Wright will make their presentations for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) coach's post in Mumbai on August 30.
Sourav Ganguly, who is tipped to regain the captaincy next season, indicated that his presence at the meeting had not been finalised yet. "Akram is part of the final few coaches who have been called on August 30," Ganguly told PTI. "He, Wright and Amre have been called."
The coach's post was left vacant after KKR sacked John Buchanan, the coach for the first two seasons, following a bottom-placed finish among the eight teams in the second season held in South Africa.
Akram's candidature, however, is not expected to carry much weight because, as one franchise official said, the former Pakistani legend would essentially be a bowling coach. It is learnt that Akram himself is less keen on a full-time coach's job and would like to work as a consultant.
One round of interviews was concluded last weekend. Matthew Mott, who was Buchanan's assistant at KKR, was interviewed because the franchise owners are keen to start on a fresh note and felt that he should be given an opportunity to present his case. Also interviewed were Richard Pybus, Michael Bevan, Dermot Reeves and Duncan Fletcher, while former Indian batsmen WV Raman, Ashok Malhotra and Lalchand Rajput made their presentations in front of principal owner Shah Rukh Khan, co-owner Jay Mehta and Ganguly earlier this week.
Amre, was assistant coach of the Mumbai Indians for the second season of the IPL and his expertise would, no doubt, be extremely valuable. Wright, who is also keen on coming "back to India" is currently in Chennai with the New Zealand A side that is playing in the Buchi Babu Tournament.
However, any final decision will be taken only after the franchise owners meet Wright, who was initially touted as a strong frontrunner for the job because of his past association as India coach and rapport with Ganguly, the then captain.
The franchise owners have subsequently played down Wright's chances and insisted that the team is looking for a coach with Twenty20 coaching experience, which has shifted the spotlight to Pybus and Reeve. But the fact that Wright will be one of the last of a reported 18 candidates to be interviewed indicates and that his role with New Zealand Cricket was recently revised to a consultancy capacity indicate that the former opener is still very much in the frame.

Prosecutor Named to Probe CIA Prisoner Abuses

WASHINGTON - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday named a special prosecutor to probe CIA prisoner abuse cases, a move that could distract President Barack Obama from his drive to reform the healthcare system.
Holder's decision, which promises political headaches for Obama, came after the Justice Department's ethics watchdog recommended considering prosecution of Central Intelligence Agency employees or contractors for harsh interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan that went beyond approved limits.
"I fully realise that my decision to commence this preliminary review will be controversial," Holder said in a statement. "In this case, given all of the information currently available, it is clear to me that this review is the only responsible course of action for me to take."
Career prosecutor John Durham will head the probe, adding to the one he is already doing of the CIA's destruction of videotapes showing harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects.
As Holder made his decision, new details emerged about "enhanced" interrogation techniques used after the September 11 attacks on the United States under then-President George W. Bush but subsequently scratched by Obama when he took office.
Bush officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have denied that torture was used and defended their interrogation practices as legal.
But they went beyond sleep deprivation, withholding food, and so-called waterboarding, a move to simulate drowning, of a handful of suspects. They included "unauthorized, improvised, inhumane and undocumented" techniques, a CIA report said.
In one instance, interrogators told alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that his children would be killed if any further attacks on the United States occurred, according to new details released from the CIA's inspector general's 2004 report.
The White House reiterated in a statement Obama's desire to "look forward, not back" but said "ultimately determinations about whether someone broke the law are made independently by the attorney general."
The administration also on Monday revealed it was setting up a new group to interrogate terrorism suspects in accordance with established rules and it will be overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, replacing the CIA in the lead role.
The practice of rendition will continue as allowed under U.S. law, an administration official said.
POLITICAL STORM AT A CRUCIAL MOMENT
These decisions coupled with more graphic details about interrogation practices which Obama ordered halted when he took office in January were likely to ignite a political storm at a crucial time in Washington.
Republicans will likely accuse Obama of being soft on national security while some liberal backers will be upset if the probe is limited to those who conducted interrogations while excluding the officials who approved the policies.
The debate, which could distract lawmakers, comes as Obama runs into strong political headwinds in his bid to advance his top legislative priority -- overhauling the $2.5 trillion (1.52 trillion pound) health care system.
"It will be painful and obviously politically risky for Obama to do this now -- he'll take a lot of flak that he's undermining morale among the clandestine service in the CIA," said Stephen Flanagan, an international security expert at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued to have the CIA report released and called for Holder to go further and probe "senior officials who authorized torture or wrote the memos that were used to justify it."
Bush administration officials including Cheney argued that some of the techniques yielded valuable information. But in one case -- a mock execution -- was later judged "not effective because it came across as being staged," the CIA report said.
THE BATTLES OF YESTERDAY
The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Pete Hoekstra, slammed Holder's decision as "distracting from the CIA's current counterterrorism efforts."
CIA Director Leon Panetta tried to soften the blow, sending a note to employees urging that they keep their eyes on the future, calling the report details an "old story." There have been concerns the release could hurt intelligence gathering.
"For the CIA now, the challenge is not the battles of yesterday, but those of today and tomorrow," he said.
Holder's decision reverses an earlier determination by the Bush administration which decided against pursuing prosecutions after the CIA first referred its inspector general's findings to the Justice Department.
When Obama took office, he ordered government agencies to abide by interrogation limits in the U.S. Army Field Manual, which do not include waterboarding.
Obama has decided to establish a new group of experts to handle interrogation of terrorism suspects as recommended by a task force to review policies, the White House said on Monday.
They would be limited to the Army manual and techniques used by law enforcement officials. The group will be housed at the FBI but will answer to the National Security Council, giving the White House more direct say over its actions.

Bopara Upbeat Over England Future

Essex batsman Ravi Bopara is adamant he will bounce back and earn an England recall after being dropped for the Ashes decider at The Oval.

The 24-year-old saw his place taken by Jonathan Trott, who marked his Test debut with a century as England looked to clinch a series win over Australia.
But Bopara told BBC Radio 5 live's Sportweeek: "I usually take things on the chin and get on with it.
"I am not a guy to make a fuss. I will come back a better player."
He responded to the disappointment of being dropped by smashing a double century for his county this week against Surrey.
"That's my way of answering," he said. "When I got to 100 I said to myself I am not getting off this pitch until I come back with 200."
Bopara managed an average of just 15 for England from seven innings against Australia, batting at number three in the first four Tests, but says his confidence has not been affected.
"I was surprised I went through seven innings without getting a massive score or a big score," he said. "I did feel as if there was a score around the corner."
Bopara, who hit three consecutive centuries against the West Indies earlier this year, says he still feels part of the England squad and is hopeful of winning a place on the forthcoming winter tour of South Africa.
"England selector Geoff Miller came to visit me this week in Colchester," Bopara explained. "We had a little chat and the conversation was that my form wasn't great and they had to look elsewhere.
"I can't complain about that - the only thing I can go out and do is score big runs and get back into the England side.
606: DEBATE
No so long ago he joined a select company of batsmen who managed to score three consecutive centuries
trustworthybilal
"He said I am part of the future of English cricket, which is pleasing - it shows faith in me.
"I've always got on really well with the management and that is what it is all about, building a squad that goes out and plays for the next six or seven years.
"If we want to be the number one team in the world then our squad has to be quite tight. I would love to be a part of it and I think I am a part of it.
"I'm not quite sure at the moment which position suits me best for England. I will just bat anywhere, anywhere I am told."
Bopara admitted there is a big gulf in class between county and Test cricket but is sure he can make the grade.
"The bowlers in Test cricket are a lot more drilled and can put the ball where they want it - they are relentless at times," he added.
"In county cricket, the bowlers are probably not as accurate which gives you the chance to release pressure and score runs at a frequent pace. "Test cricket is tough work but the toughest survive and go on and do well. Have I got what it takes? I certainly have - I scored my three hundreds to prove it and I will do it again."

Hurricane Bill Spinning Past New England Shores

EDGARTOWN, Mass. — Hurricane Bill taunted the New England coastline from a distance Sunday, after closing beaches and setting off a string of safety warnings for weekend boaters, swimmers and surfers along the eastern seaboard.
President Barack Obama took no chances and planned a later arrival for his family vacation at Martha's Vineyard, which remained under a tropical storm warning early Sunday.
Forecasters said that the hurricane was moving away from the New England coast offshore and closer to Nova Scotia, and was expected to approach Newfoundland by Sunday night. By early Sunday, it was about 275 miles (445 km) south-southwest of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and about 185 miles (300 km) east of Nantucket, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the Massachusetts' coastline and a storm warning covered Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast.
Even as it weakened to a Category 1 hurricane Saturday, the tempest churned up rough seas and dangerous rip tides.
Dozens of arrival and departure flights at the Halifax airport in Nova Scotia were canceled Sunday, and a ferry service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland was suspended for the day.
Provincial parks in Nova Scotia were shut down and people were advised to stay clear of beaches.
"The waves, they're very pretty to look at but very dangerous," said Barry Manuel of the Halifax Emergency Management Office.
The Canadian Hurricane Center said southwestern Nova Scotia could get whipped by 55 mph winds Sunday, while eastern regions of the province and Cape Breton Island of could see gusts of more than 60 mph.
On Monday, the storm is expected to make landfall in Newfoundland, where tropical storm watches are in effect for the entire province, with the lone exception of the Northern Peninsula.
Early Sunday, the storm had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 kph) and was moving 26 mph in a north-northeast direction.
The Obamas delayed their planned Sunday morning departure from Andrews Air Force Base to Sunday mid-afternoon because of the weather, White House aides said. The worst of Bill was expected to pass east of Martha's Vineyard before the Obamas arrival.
As plans changed Saturday for the first family, nearly all south-facing beaches on the island were closed to swimmers and large signs blocked roadways to shorefronts. Lifeguards used caution tape to rope off access points, and police patrolled the beach to enforce the closings.
"The concern we have now is that the riptides are very strong," said lifeguard James Costantini. "There's a very strong undertow."
But longtime Vineyard vacationer Jack DeCoste, 69, of Plymouth, Mass., was unimpressed with the storm as he lounged in a beach chair in Edgartown.
"I don't think it's going to impact things that much," DeCoste said. "I think it'll be in and out of here fairly quickly."
At Robert Moses State Park in New York, the beach was shut down as the high tide submerged the sand, though the beach opened later for sunbathing. Along some beaches in Delaware and New Jersey, no swimming was allowed.
"It's just too dangerous right now," Rehoboth Beach Patrol Capt. Kent Buckson said.
The same high waves that worried safety officials, however, had surfers buzzing.
In Atlantic City, N.J., surfers gathered Saturday on beaches where 20-foot waves were expected. But only a few were willing to take their boards into the big swells.
Atlantic City Beach Patrol Chief Rod Aluise told The Press of Atlantic City that some surfers just stood on the beach "with their eyes popping out" at the size of the waves.
"This is only for experienced surfers," Aluise said.
The stormy conditions were expected to last through the weekend.
"It takes a while for the ocean to relax" after strong storms, said Gary Conte, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "Until it does, riptides will make dangerous sport" for surfers and swimmers.
Hurricane Bill moved past Bermuda earlier Saturday, leaving behind sunny skies, debris and flooding, but no casualties. The storm cut power to about 3,700 customers and flooded some roads. All ferry service was canceled until Sunday.
Meanwhile, forecasters said Sunday that Tropical Storm Hilda had strengthened slightly far out in the Pacific but was not threatening land. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was about 2,025 miles (3,260 km) west-southwest of the tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, and 1,125 miles (1,810 km) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii.

Pakistani Taliban Choose New Chief

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban have appointed a new chief, militants said Saturday, selecting a top commander known for his ruthless efficiency in staging attacks, including a major hotel bombing and a deadly assault against the Sri Lankan cricket team.
The appointment of 28-year-old Hakimullah Mehsud could herald an increase in attacks as the group tries to prove it is still intact and operational, analysts say. It comes after weeks of speculation and reported infighting among Taliban commanders to replace Baitullah Mehsud, the group's former chief who was reportedly killed in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike in northwestern Pakistan.
Several top Taliban commanders have insisted Mehsud is alive, but have provided no proof. U.S. and Pakistani officials are almost certain he was killed in the strike.
The government said it was investigating the reports that Hakimullah Mehsud had been chosen as the new Taliban leader.
Two close aides to another commander, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, told The Associated Press that a 42-member Taliban council, or shura, appointed a new head because Baitullah Mehsud was ill.
"I do confirm that a shura held Friday ... has elected Hakimullah Mehsud (as) the new chief of the Taliban," said one of the aides, Bakht Zada, adding that it was a unanimous decision. "Now all these talks of differences should end. There have not been any differences ever."
Mohammad had announced earlier this week that he had taken over interim control of the Taliban until a shura could pick a new leader because Baitullah Mehsud was too ill to lead. Beyond the statements of Mohammad's aides, there was no other confirmation about the new appointment. The commander himself was not reachable.
Pakistan's Taliban is a loose alliance of disparate groups and tribal factions that Baitullah Mehsud had managed to unify, rather than a cohesive unit. If true, the selection of Hakimullah Mehsud is likely an attempt to shore up an organization reeling from the loss of its leader, said Kamran Bokhari, director of Middle East analysis with Stratfor, a global intelligence company.
"It's an attempt to stabilize the group after the initial reports of infighting. ... I think that the group is trying to emerge out of a crisis," Bokhari said, noting that the loss of Baitullah would have been "a massive blow to the organization."
As military chief of Baitullah's Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban Movement, Hakimullah commanded three tribal regions and has a reputation as Baitullah's most ruthless deputy. He had been considered one of the top contenders to take over. He first appeared in public to journalists in November 2008, when he offered to take reporters on a ride in a U.S. Humvee taken from a supply truck heading to Afghanistan.
Authorities have said he has been behind threats to foreign embassies in Islamabad, and there is a 10 million rupee ($120,000) bounty on his head. His men have been blamed for attacking U.S. and NATO supply convoys traveling through northwestern Pakistan en route to Afghanistan, and he claimed responsibility for the June 9 bombing of the Pearl Continental hotel in Peshawar, and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore earlier this year.
He had also threatened suicide bombings in Pakistani cities in retaliation for a recent army offensive in the Swat Valley, which has been winding down in recent weeks.
While it is unclear whether he will be able to maintain unity within the Pakistani Taliban like his predecessor, he was likely chosen for his operational capabilities, said Bokhari, the analyst, adding that a revival to some degree of suicide bombings could be expected.
"At this point the goal of the TTP is to let the outside world know that it's very much alive and kicking, and how it will do that will be based on its ability or inability to stage suicide bombing attacks," he said.
More attacks would demonstrate that the Pakistani Taliban was intact and able to operate despite recent setbacks, he explained.
"I think that the decision of the shura to appoint this particular individual is based on that consideration."
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government had received intelligence reports about Hakimullah's appointment "as the chief terrorist" but that there was no official confirmation.
Zada said the shura had spoken by phone to Faqir Mohammad and Maulana Fazlullah, the notorious commander of the Taliban in Pakistan's northern Swat Valley, to offer them the slot, but that they both refused citing personal reasons. He said the two said they were not young enough to assume the leadership of the militants. Mohammad is believed to be in his 50s, and Fazlullah between 35 and 40, while Hakimullah is just 28 years old.
Another close Mohammad aide, Sher Zamin, also confirmed that Hakimullah had been elected as the new Taliban chief.
"It is a consensus among all Taliban that Hakimullah Mehsud is the best choice," he told The Associated Press.
Separately, security forces prevented a suicide bomber from entering a civilian area in the town of Kanju in the Swat Valley, the army said. The bomber blew himself up to evade capture after security forces gave chase, killing three soldiers and wounding one more, said spokesman Lt. Col. Akthar Abbas.
Also Saturday, a car bombing in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar killed at least two people. Senior police official Nisar Ali Khan.
Khan said officers were trying to determine the identity of the victims, who were believed to be members of a militant group, Ansarul Islam. The group has a long-running enmity with Lashkar-e-Islam, and both are accused of trying to impose their own Taliban-style rule in the Khyber region near Peshawar.

World's Muslims mark Ramadan

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun for most of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims.
Ramadan, the month when Muslims traditionally fast from sunrise to sunset, began on Saturday for most in the Middle East and Asia.
Fasting began a day earlier in Libya, Turkey and for some Lebanese Shias.
Muslims in France, which has the largest Muslim population in Europe, began Ramadan on Saturday, with the long summer daylight hours meaning they must fast for nearly 16 hours each day - the longest in the world.
In Iraq, Sunnis and Shias began Ramadan at the same time for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader ousted in a US-led invasion in 2003.
Self-discipline and reflection
Muslims believe Ramadan to be the month in which the first verses of the Quran, Islam's holy book, were revealed to the Prophet Muhammed more than 1,400 years ago.
In pictures

Ramadan across the world
Ramadan begins with the first sighting of the the new crescent moon in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, during which Muslims practice sawm, or fasting, from before sunrise to after sunset for the entire month.
Families and friends get up early for suhoor, the last meal eaten before the sun rises, and at the end of a day of fasting, gather for iftar, the breaking of the fast at sunset.
Self-discipline and reflection are primary objectives of the fast in which all physical contact between husband and wife is also abandoned in daylight hours for the duration.
Fasting is also an opportunity to practice self-control and to cleanse the body, which Muslims see as helping their spiritual devotion.
'Mutual respect'
Muslims around the world also consider the month is one of blessing, marked by prayer and charity.
In many Muslim countries, offices are required by law to reduce working hours and most restaurants are closed during daylight hours.
Barak Obama, the US president, released a video message to the world's Muslims in a bid to re-cast the United States' engagement with a number of Islamic countries.
"All of these efforts are part of America's commitment to engage Muslims and Muslim-majority nations on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect," Obama said."And at this time of renewal, I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world."

ICC Betraying Cricket To Protect India's Interest

Legendary New Zealand all-rounder Sir Richard Hadlee has hit out at the ICC for "betraying the game of cricket" by protecting the interest of India, who are the largest generator of revenue, ahead of the sport itself.Hadlee was particularly worried for the future of Test cricket, saying the growth of Twenty20 and the huge financial lures for players from the IPL meant International Cricket Council needed to exercise its authority."We are in grave danger of having the decision makers betraying the game of cricket," said Hadlee during a nationwide tour to promote his latest book 'Changing Pace' which summarises his last nine years of cricket research, thought and experience."We all know now that Asia, and more particularly India, have a more powerful say (at ICC level) because they generate that much more a higher percentage of revenue, which other countries benefit from.

Baitullah Mehsud Aide Omar Arrested

Pakistani security forces have arrested Moulvi Omar, a senior aide to Baituallah Mehsud, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban who is believed to have been killed in a US drone attack earlier this month.


Quoting official and intelligence sources, Online news agency reported that Omar, who carried a bounty of Rs 10 million, was arrested from a village in the Mohmand agency along the Afghan border Monday night as he was travelling in a car with two of his associates, including Waheed Gull and Hameed Gull.
Tribal elders assisted the Frontier Constabulary (FC) in locating Omar, who was in the limelight as the spokesperson for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), telephoning journalists to claim responsibility for dozens of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
The FC, while confirming Omar's arrest, said it had begun a major operation against the Taliban in the Mohmand agency.
Military sources also claimed to have arrested Omar, saying he had been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.

Afghanistan Hit by Attacks Ahead of Election

KABUL, Afghanistan — An apparent suicide car bombing and two explosions rocked Kabul on Tuesday, and a suicide bomber killed three soldiers in the south of the country in what seemed further indications of Afghanistan’s precarious security situation just days before elections on Thursday.
Black smoke rose from the road linking Kabul with the eastern city of Jalalabad after suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of foreign troops there, Reuters reported.
Citing unidentified Afghan officials, The Associated Press reported that three civilians had been killed in that attack and that several vehicles had been set ablaze.
Earlier two projectiles struck an area near the presidential palace, but there were no immediate reports of death or injuries.
“We understand that two mortars or rockets — as we call it, indirect fire — hit somewhere in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the Ministry of Defense,” said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military.
The deputy presidential spokesman, Hamid Elmi, who spoke to The Associated Press, said the palace was not seriously damaged and President Hamid Karzai had not been hurt.
In an another attack Tuesday morning, in Uruzgan Province, in southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber walked up to an Afghan National Army checkpoint and detonated his explosive vest, killing three soldiers and two civilians, according to the provincial police chief, Juma Gul Himat.
In recent weeks, American and NATO forces have been moving against the Taliban, mounting a major offensive in southern Helmand province designed to thwart an insurgent threat to disrupt the elections
But NATO forces said Tuesday they would suspend offensive operations on election day, deploying coalition and Afghan troops to protect voters, election monitors and polling stations.
“In support of the Afghan National Security Forces who lead the security efforts during the electoral process, only those operations that are deemed necessary to protect the population will be conducted on that day,” the NATO-led coalition said in a statement.
The Afghan government had earlier called for a truce during Thursday’s voting.
Mr. Karzai, who is running for re-election to a second five-year term, said his principal goal is to bring peace and security to the country and has promised to double the size of the Afghan police and army by the end of his next term.
But violence has been increasing and the security situation from Kabul to the provinces remains tense and fragile.
In southern and eastern Afghanistan, in the heavily Pashtun areas where the reach of the Taliban is particularly strong, many Afghans have been unable to register to vote. Some places in the grip of the insurgency will have no polling stations at all.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing of NATO headquarters in Kabul last Saturday. A suicide car bomber struck the front gate of the NATO compound, where the top U.S. commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is based. Seven people were killed and 91 wounded.
Nine days ago, Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers seized a five-story building in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar Province, south of Kabul. The militants battled Afghan and U.S. troops for several hours in a firefight that left at least four people dead.

Samsung Omnia HD and Omnia Pro B7320 lands Indian market

New Delhi: Samsung India mobile phone manufacturing has now come up with its two new HD mobile phones.Samsung has named then as Omnia HD and Omnia Pro B7320 in the Indian market.Samsung omnia HD has been crammed with 8MP camera which is seems to be the first handsets along with features like 720Pixels high definition (HD) video recording and 9.4 cm Amoled screen, Bluetooth capabilities, Wi-Fi connectivity, support for DLA, a built-in GPS receiver, high speed internet access of (HSUPA) 5.76Mbps and (HSDPA) 7.2Mbps.Samsung has jam-packed with an internal memory of 16GB which can also be extended till 48GB.While when we talk about the second handset then this model is a Window Mobile 6.1 supporting handset along with a squashed design. Omnia Pro B7320 works with a 1 GHz processor and has features like Screen with 16M colors display, dual stereo speaker, 3 MP camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE and FM radio. Omnia Pro B7320 offers an internal memory of 70MB which is expandable up-to 16GB.The price estimated for OmniaHD 8 MP camera phone is about Rs 33,990 and for the second model Omnia Pro B7320 is priced at Rs 16,500.

The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels are alleged to have disappeared in mysterious circumstances which fall beyond the boundaries of human error, piracy, equipment failure, or natural disasters. Popular culture has attributed some of these disappearances to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings.
A substantial body of documentation shows numerous incidents to have been inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerous official agencies have stated that the number and nature of disappearances is similar to any other area of ocean.

The Triangle area


The area of the Triangle varies by author
The boundaries of the triangle cover the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean island area and the Atlantic east to the Azores; others[who?] add to it the Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar triangular boundary in most written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlantic coast of Miami, San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.
The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean, and South America from points north.
History
Origins
The first article of any kind in which the legend of the Triangle began appeared in newspapers by E.V.W. Jones on September 16, 1950, through the Associated Press. Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door", a short article by George X. Sand covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine. It was claimed that the flight leader had been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was also claimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars." This was the first article to connect the supernatural to Flight 19, but it would take another author, Vincent Gaddis, writing in the February 1964 Argosy magazine to take Flight 19 together with other mysterious disappearances and place it under the umbrella of a new catchy name: "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" though the first name was The Waters of Despair. He would build on that article with a more detailed book, Invisible Horizons, the next year. Others would follow with their own works: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969, repr. 1973); Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974); Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974), and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.
Larry Kusch

Leawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved (1975) has challenged this trend. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier recounted by Berlitz as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents which have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was simple: he would go over period newspapers of the dates of reported incidents and find reports on possibly relevant events like unusual weather, that were never mentioned in the disappearance stories.
Kusche concluded that:
The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious; furthermore, Berlitz and other writers would often fail to mention such storms.
The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not have been reported.
Some disappearances had in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to have taken place in 1937 off Daytona Beach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papers revealed nothing.
The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery... perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism.
Further responses
When the UK Channel 4 television program "The Bermuda Triangle" (c. 1992) was being produced by John Simmons of Geofilms for the Equinox Programme, the marine insurer Lloyd's of London was asked if an unusually large number of ships had sunk in the Bermuda Triangle area. Lloyd's of London determined that large numbers of ships had not sunk there.
United States Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.
The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentation contradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker SS V. A. Fogg in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodies, in contrast with one Triangle author's claim that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup.
The NOVA / Horizon episode The Case of the Bermuda Triangle (1976-06-27) was highly critical, stating that "When we've gone back to the original sources or the people involved, the mystery evaporates. Science does not have to answer questions about the Triangle because those questions are not valid in the first place. ... Ships and planes behave in the Triangle the same way they behave everywhere else in the world."
Skeptical researchers, such as Ernest Taves and Barry Singer, have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or inaccurate, but its producers continue to market it. Accordingly, they have claimed that the market is biased in favour of books, TV specials, etc. which support the Triangle mystery, and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint.
Finally, if the Triangle is assumed to cross land, such as parts of Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda itself, there is no evidence for the disappearance of any land-based vehicles or persons.[citation needed] The city of Freeport, located inside the Triangle, operates a major shipyard and an airport which annually handles 50,000 flights, and is visited by over a million tourists a year.
Supernatural explanations
Triangle writers have used a number of supernatural concepts to explain the events. One explanation pins the blame on leftover technology from the mythical lost continent of Atlantis. Sometimes connected to the Atlantis story is the submerged rock formation known as the Bimini Road off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definitions. Followers of the purported psychic Edgar Cayce take his prediction that evidence of Atlantis would be found in 1968 as referring to the discovery of the Bimini Road. Believers describe the formation as a road, wall, or other structure, though geologists consider it to be of natural origin.
Other writers attribute the events to UFOs. This idea was used by Steven Spielberg for his science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which features the lost Flight 19 as alien abductees.
Charles Berlitz, grandson of a distinguished linguist and author of various additional books on anomalous phenomena, has kept in line with this extraordinary explanation, and attributed the losses in the Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces.

Natural explanations

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Compass variations
Compass problems are one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. While some have theorized that unusual local magnetic anomalies may exist in the area, such anomalies have not been shown to exist. Compasses have natural magnetic variations in relation to the Magnetic poles. For example, in the United States the only places where magnetic (compass) north and geographic (true) north are exactly the same are on a line running from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. Navigators have known this for centuries. But the public may not be as informed, and think there is something mysterious about a compass "changing" across an area as large as the Triangle, which it naturally will.
Deliberate acts of destruction
Deliberate acts of destruction can fall into two categories: acts of war, and acts of piracy. Records in enemy files have been checked for numerous losses; while many sinkings have been attributed to surface raiders or submarines during the World Wars and documented in the various command log books, many others which have been suspected as falling in that category have not been proven. It is suspected that the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918, as well as her sister ships Proteus and Nereus in World War II, were attributed to submarines, but no such link has been found in the German records.
Piracy, as defined by the taking of a ship or small boat on the high seas, is an act which continues to this day. While piracy for cargo theft is more common in the western Pacific and Indian oceans, drug smugglers do steal pleasure boats for smuggling operations, and may have been involved in crew and yacht disappearances in the Caribbean. Piracy in the Caribbean was common from about 1560 to the 1760s, and famous pirates included Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Jean Lafitte.[citation needed]


False-color image of the Gulf Stream flowing north through the western Atlantic Ocean. (NASA)
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Straits of Florida, into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and like a river, it can and does carry floating objects. It has a surface velocity of up to about 2.5 metres per second (5.6 mph). A small plane making a water landing or a boat having engine trouble can be carried away from its reported position by the current.
Human error
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is human error. Whether deliberate or accidental, humans have been known to make mistakes resulting in catastrophe, and losses within the Bermuda Triangle are no exception. For example, the Coast Guard cited a lack of proper training for the cleaning of volatile benzene residue as a reason for the loss of the tanker SS V. A. Fogg in 1972[citation needed]. Human stubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailing yacht, the Revonoc, as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958. Many losses remain inconclusive due to the lack of wreckage which could be studied, a fact cited on many official reports.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are powerful storms which are spawned in tropical waters, and have historically been responsible for thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.
Methane hydrates
Main article: Methane clathrate


Worldwide distribution of confirmed or inferred offshore gas hydrate-bearing sediments, 1996.Source: USGS
An explanation for some of the disappearances has focused on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates (a form of natural gas) on the continental shelves. Laboratory experiments carried out in Australia have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water; any wreckage consequently rising to the surface would be rapidly dispersed by the Gulf Stream. It has been hypothesized that periodic methane eruptions (sometimes called "mud volcanoes") may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning.
Publications by the USGS describe large stores of undersea hydrates worldwide, including the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast. However, according to another of their papers, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.
It should also be noted that other areas of undersea methane hydrates aren't reported to give rise to similar incidents as the Bermuda Triangle, also that bubbles of underwater gas wouldn't account for aircraft disappearances.
Rogue waves
In various oceans around the world, rogue waves have caused ships to sink and oil platforms to topple. These waves are considered to be a mystery and until recently were believed to be a myth. However, rogue waves don't account for the missing aircraft.
Notable incidents
Main article: List of Bermuda Triangle incidents

Flight 19
US Navy TBF Grumman Avenger flight, similar to Flight 19. This photo had been used by various Triangle authors to illustrate Flight 19 itself. (US Navy)
Flight 19 was a training flight of TBM Avenger bombers that went missing on December 5, 1945 while over the Atlantic. The squadron's flight path was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base, but they never returned. The impression is given that the flight encountered unusual phenomena and anomalous compass readings, and that the flight took place on a calm day under the supervision of an experienced pilot, Lt. Charles Carroll Taylor. Adding to the intrigue is that the Navy's report of the accident was ascribed to "causes or reasons unknown." It is believed that Taylor's mother wanted to save her son's reputation, so she made them write "reasons unknown" when actually Taylor was 50 km NW from where he thought he was.[33]
Adding to the mystery, a search and rescue Mariner aircraft with a 13-man crew was dispatched to aid the missing squadron, but the Mariner itself was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion at about the time the Mariner would have been on patrol.
While the basic facts of this version of the story are essentially accurate, some important details are missing. The weather was becoming stormy by the end of the incident, and naval reports and written recordings of the conversations between Taylor and the other pilots of Flight 19 do not indicate magnetic problems.
Mary Celeste
The mysterious abandonment in 1872 of the 282-ton brigantine Mary Celeste is often but inaccurately connected to the Triangle, the ship having been abandoned off the coast of Portugal. The event is possibly confused with the loss of a ship with a similar name, the Mari Celeste, a 207-ton paddle steamer which hit a reef and quickly sank off the coast of Bermuda on September 13, 1864. Kusche noted that many of the "facts" about this incident were actually about the Marie Celeste, the fictional ship from Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (based on the real Mary Celeste incident, but fictionalised).
Ellen Austin
The Ellen Austin supposedly came across an abandoned derelict, placed on board a prize crew, and attempted to sail with it to New York in 1881. According to the stories, the derelict disappeared; others elaborating further that the derelict reappeared minus the prize crew, then disappeared again with a second prize crew on board. A check of Lloyd's of London records proved the existence of the Meta, built in 1854; in 1880 the Meta was renamed Ellen Austin. There are no casualty listings for this vessel, or any vessel at that time, that would suggest a large number of missing men placed on board a derelict which later disappeared.

USS Cyclops
The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy not related to combat occurred when USS Cyclops, under the command of Lt Cdr G. W. Worley, went missing without a trace with a crew of 309 sometime after March 4, 1918, after departing the island of Barbados. Although there is no strong evidence for any single theory, many independent theories exist, some blaming storms, some capsizing, and some suggesting that wartime enemy activity was to blame for the loss.
Theodosia Burr Alston
Theodosia Burr Alston was the daughter of former United States Vice President Aaron Burr. Her disappearance has been cited at least once in relation to the Triangle. She was a passenger on board the Patriot, which sailed from Charleston, South Carolina to New York City on December 30, 1812, and was never heard from again. The planned route is well outside all but the most extended versions of the Bermuda Triangle. Both piracy and the War of 1812 have been posited as explanations, as well as a theory placing her in Texas, well outside the Triangle.
Spray
S.V. Spray was a derelict fishing boat refitted as an ocean cruiser by Joshua Slocum and used by him to complete the first ever single-handed circumnavigation of the world, between 1895 and 1898.
In 1909, Slocum set sail from Vineyard Haven bound for Venezuela. Neither he nor Spray were ever seen again.
There is no evidence they were in the Bermuda Triangle when they disappeared, nor is there any evidence of paranormal activity. The boat was considered in poor condition and a hard boat to handle that Slocum's skill usually overcame.


Schooner Carroll A. Deering, as seen from the Cape Lookout lightship on January 29, 1921, two days before she was found deserted in North Carolina. (US Coast Guard)
Carroll A. Deering
A five-masted schooner built in 1919, the Carroll A. Deering was found hard aground and abandoned at Diamond Shoals, near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on January 31, 1921. Rumors and more at the time indicated the Deering was a victim of piracy, possibly connected with the illegal rum-running trade during Prohibition, and possibly involving another ship, S.S. Hewitt, which disappeared at roughly the same time. Just hours later, an unknown steamer sailed near the lightship along the track of the Deering, and ignored all signals from the lightship. It is speculated that the Hewitt may have been this mystery ship, and possibly involved in the Deering crew's disappearance.
Douglas DC-3
On December 28, 1948, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft, number NC16002, disappeared while on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. No trace of the aircraft or the 32 people onboard was ever found. From the documentation compiled by the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation, a possible key to the plane's disappearance was found, but barely touched upon by the Triangle writers: the plane's batteries were inspected and found to be low on charge, but ordered back into the plane without a recharge by the pilot while in San Juan. Whether or not this led to complete electrical failure will never be known. However, since piston-engined aircraft rely upon magnetos to provide spark to their cylinders rather than a battery powered ignition coil system, this theory is not strongly convincing.
Star Tiger and Star Ariel
G-AHNP Star Tiger disappeared on January 30, 1948 on a flight from the Azores to Bermuda; G-AGRE Star Ariel disappeared on January 17, 1949, on a flight from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica. Both were Avro Tudor IV passenger aircraft operated by British South American Airways.Both planes were operating at the very limits of their range and the slightest error or fault in the equipment could keep them from reaching the small island. One plane was not heard from long before it would have entered the Triangle.
KC-135 Stratotankers
On August 28, 1963 a pair of U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft collided and crashed into the Atlantic. The Triangle version (Winer, Berlitz, Gaddis) of this story specifies that they did collide and crash, but there were two distinct crash sites, separated by over 160 miles (260 km) of water. However, Kusche's research showed that the unclassified version of the Air Force investigation report stated that the debris field defining the second "crash site" was examined by a search and rescue ship, and found to be a mass of seaweed and driftwood tangled in an old buoy.
SS Marine Sulphur Queen
SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker converted from oil to sulfur carrier, was last heard from on February 4, 1963 with a crew of 39 near the Florida Keys. Marine Sulphur Queen was the first vessel mentioned in Vincent Gaddis' 1964 Argosy Magazine article, but he left it as having "sailed into the unknown", despite the Coast Guard report which not only documented the ship's badly-maintained history, but declared that it was an unseaworthy vessel that should never have gone to sea.
Raifuku Maru
One of the more famous incidents in the Triangle took place in 1921 (some say a few years later), when the Japanese vessel Raifuku Maru (sometimes misidentified as Raikuke Maru) went down with all hands after sending a distress signal which allegedly said "Danger like dagger now. Come quick!", or "It's like a dagger, come quick!" This has led writers to speculate on what the "dagger" was, with a waterspout being the likely candidate (Winer). In reality the ship was nowhere near the Triangle, nor was the word "dagger" a part of the ship's distress call ("Now very danger. Come quick."); having left Boston for Hamburg, Germany, on April 21, 1925, she got caught in a severe storm and sank in the North Atlantic with all hands while another ship, RMS Homeric, attempted an unsuccessful rescue.
Connemara IV
A pleasure yacht found adrift in the Atlantic south of Bermuda on September 26, 1955; it is usually stated in the stories (Berlitz, Winer) that the crew vanished while the yacht survived being at sea during three hurricanes. The 1955 Atlantic hurricane season lists only one storm coming near Bermuda towards the end of August, hurricane "Edith"; of the others, "Flora" was too far to the east, and "Katie" arrived after the yacht was recovered. It was confirmed that the Connemara IV was empty and in port when "Edith" may have caused the yacht to slip her moorings and drift out to sea.