Tsunami warning for Alaska coast

  A major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday 107 miles east of Atka, Alaska, at a depth of about 25 miles, and a tsunami warning was in effect for coastal Alaska, warning agencies said.

A second quake of the same magnitude hit in the same vicinity and at the same depth a half-minute later, at 3:09am on Friday (UTC), the US Geological Survey said.

"A Tsunami warning is now in effect which includes the coastal areas of Alaska from Unimak Pass, Alaska (80 miles northeast of Dutch Harbour) to Amchitka Pass, Alaska (125 miles west of Adak)," the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre said.

The centre monitors tsunami risk only for the west coast of North America from the Mexican border to Alaska.

A tsunami warning means all coastal residents in the warning area who are near the beach or in low-lying regions should move immediately to higher ground and away from harbours and inlets, including those sheltered directly from the sea.

Earthquakes of this size magnitude are known to generate tsunamis. If a tsunami has been generated, the waves will first reach Adak, Alaska, at 8:12pm Adak, Alaska time (12:12am EDT on Friday).

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Hackers break into US Senate computers

Warning: CIA director said that a cyber attack could be the 'next Pearl Harbor'

The US Senate's website was hacked over the weekend, leading to a review of all of its websites, in the latest embarrassing breach of security to hit a major US-based institution. The loosely organized hacker group Lulz Security broke into a public portion of the Senate website but did not reach behind a firewall into a more sensitive portion of the network, Martina Bradford, the deputy Senate sergeant at arms, said on Monday. Despite the breach, the Sergeant at Arms Office, which provides security for the Senate, said that the breach had not compromised any individual senator's information. Lulz announced the hack on Monday. "We were responding to their allegations. Basically what we're saying that the server they got into is for public access and is in the public side," said Bradford. Lulz Security, who have hacked into Sony's website and the U.S. Public Broadcasting System, posted online a list of files that appear not to be sensitive but indicate the hackers had been into the Senate's computer network. "We don't like the US government very much," Lulz Security said at the top of their release. "This is a small, just-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov - is this an act of war, gentlemen? Problem?" The comment refers to reports that the US military had decided that it could respond to cyber attacks from foreign countries with traditional military force. Senate staffers were alerted about the breach late Monday. "Although this intrusion is inconvenient, it does not compromise the security of the Senate's network, its members or staff," Bradford said in a statement. "Specifically, there is no individual user account information on the server supporting senate.gov that could have been compromised." "The hackers may have done the equivalent of burglarizing the Senate and bragging because they managed to steal a bunch of souvenirs from the gift shop," said Stewart Baker, a former cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security. He is now with the law firm Steptoe and Johnson.

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Libyan rebels edge westwards out of Misrata

 

Libyan rebels edged slowly beyond their western stronghold of Misrata toward Tripoli, but faced supply shortages after shelling from Muammar Gaddafi forces hit a key refinery in the city. Any fighting over Zlitan would bring the rebellion closer to the capital Tripoli, the Libyan leader's stronghold which lies 200 km (124 miles) west of Misrata. A doctor in a field hospital to the west of Libya's third largest city said two rebels had been killed and a dozen wounded after the two sides traded heavy artillery fire. Rebels from Misrata say tribal sensitivities prevent them from attacking Zlitan, and they are instead waiting for local inhabitants to rise up. Late Monday, six rockets hit generators at the refinery near Misrata port leaving them heavily damaged. An engineer on site said it was unclear how long it would take to repair. The fighting east of Tripoli came during a lull in NATO bombardment of the Libyan capital. State television reported the alliance had bombarded targets in Al Jufrah in the center of the country. A rebel spokesman in Zintan, in the rebel-held Western Mountains range southwest of Tripoli, said the town had been quiet after being subjected to its heaviest bombardment by pro-Gaddafi forces in several weeks Sunday. "Today has been the quietest day for Zintan in three months, although we started to hear in the evening loud blasts coming from the east." he said. "We buried (on Monday) the 10 martyrs who were killed after Sunday's clashes."

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Blasts kill 20 in Afghan towns

A series of bombs and explosions killed 20 people in Afghanistan's southern and eastern flashpoints yesterday, among them at least eight children and four women, government officials said.

The attacks came as the UN said that May was the deadliest month for civilians in Afghanistan since at least 2007, with 368 deaths and 593 injuries of documented.

In yesterday's deadliest incident, a vehicle hit a mine in Arghandab district of the southern province of Kandahar.

"Today at 10:00am, 15 civilians were killed, including eight children, four women and three men," the ministry said.

The interior ministry said six civilians, including a woman and two children, were wounded by mortar bombs fired at a district police headquarters in the eastern province of Kunar.

In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber yesterday killed three people including the commander of a provincial Afghan police rapid reaction force and wounded 12 others, officials said.
Two policemen were also killed and nine wounded when two successive blasts hit the eastern province of Laghman, in the border with Pakistan.a

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Alonso quickest in Canada ahead of Vettel

 Formula One leader Sebastian Vettel smashed into the 'Wall of Champions' while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso set the practice pace on a crash-filled Canadian Grand Prix Friday.
Double world champion Alonso roared around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a best time of one minute 15.107 seconds offering hope that Ferrari, without a pole since Singapore last September, might be able to take the fight to Red Bull.
The sunny afternoon session was interrupted by several crashes with Sauber's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio for Virgin and Force India's Adrian Sutil all causing delays when they skidded off the track into the wall.
World champion Vettel, winner of five of the season's first six races and sure to be the man to reckon with again on Sunday, did his damage in the morning.
With 34 minutes remaining in the opening session, Vettel drifted wide coming out of the chicane into the home straight and joined a list of illustrious names to have hit the notorious wall over the years.
While the 23-year-old German was unhurt, the right side of his Red Bull suffered heavy damage.
Vettel was one of the first on track in the afternoon and set a time that immediately sent him to the top of the timing screens, remaining there until finally being nudged into second by Alonso.
The champion ended up with the day's second best time of 1:15.476.
Brazilian Filipe Massa was third quickest in the afternoon followed by the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton, a double winner in Canada, and fellow Briton Jenson Button.

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