WikiLeaks: World on brink of nuclear terror attack.

From Daily Mail:

Al Qaeda is attempting to stockpile ‘dirty’ radioactive explosives that could be used to target British troops or for a larger urban attack, it has emerged.

New diplomatic documents released by WikiLeaks show that U.S. intelligence personnel have been informed of terrorist attempts to acquire dangerous amounts of uranium and plutonium.

The cables warn of a large trafficking operation of chemical weapons material and threats of a ‘nuclear 9/11’ unless the West intervenes swiftly.

Security chiefs briefed a Nato meeting in January 2009 that Al Qaeda was planning a programme of ‘dirty radioactive improvised explosive devices (IEDs)’.

The IEDs could be used against coalition forces in Afghanistan but would also contaminate the surrounding land with nuclear waste for years to come.

In a separate development, the cables quoted in the Telegraph reveal that the FBI is tracking down a team of Qatari men suspected of providing assistance to the 9/11 bombers.

U.S. officials were warned by an Indian national security adviser that terrorist organisations now ‘have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb’.

British officials have also expressed fears of covert weapons development in Pakistan.

A leaked document regarding official defence discussions in 2009 highlighted 'deep concerns' that a rogue scientist could 'gradually smuggle enough material' out of the Pakistani nuclear programme to construct a weapon.

Coozer-Bits.

Aww: Cute story & video of a baby otter.

WWIII Watch: North Korea, South Korea exchange gunfire.

Eats: World's largest gummy worm on sale.

Science: 1 in 4 Sun-sized stars have Earth-like planets.

Feds probe 2nd report of Mexican military helicopters in US airspace.

From the Houston Chronicle:

The U.S. Department of Defense said it was investigating the second sighting within three weeks of a Mexican military helicopter flying in U.S. airspace over rural Zapata County.

“The incident did occur and it's still under investigation,” department spokeswoman Maj. Tanya Bradsher said, confirming that the copter, believed to belong to the Mexican navy, was seen Sunday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Rick Pauza earlier in March confirmed a Mexican military helicopter hovered as long as 20 minutes on March 9 over a residential area near Falcon Lake, a reservoir on the Rio Grande.

He said CBP officials who lived in the neighborhood were among those who saw it.

Pauza said the helicopter crossed back without incident and that once the sighting was reported up the chain of the command “that was the extent of it.”

North Korea ready to "blow up" the US.

From FOX News:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack.

South Korea and the U.S. — which normally dismiss such threats as rhetoric — began 11 days of drills across South Korea on Monday morning to rehearse how the U.S. would deploy in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea argue the drills — which include live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training — are purely defensive. North Korea claims they amount to attack preparations and has demanded they be canceled.

The North's People's Army issued a statement Monday, warning the drills created a tense situation and that its troops are "fully ready" to "blow up" the allies once the order is issued.

The North also put all its soldiers and reservists on high alert to "mercilessly crush the aggressors" should they encroach upon the North's territory even slightly, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

China executes mentally unstable Briton, despite UK plea.

Jeez, executing mentally challenged people from other countries... Who does China think it is -- Texas?? From ABC News:

China brushed aside international appeals Tuesday and executed by lethal injection a British drug smuggler who relatives say was mentally unstable and unwittingly lured into crime.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "appalled" at the execution of 53-year old Akmal Shaikh — China's first of a European citizen in nearly 60 years. His government summoned the Chinese ambassador in London to express its anger.

China defended its handling of the case, saying there had not been documentary proof Shaikh was mentally ill. Beijing also criticized Brown's comments, but said it hoped the case would not harm bilateral relations. The Foreign Ministry called on London not to create any "obstacles" to better ties.

Shaikh's daughter Leilla Horsnell was quoted by the BBC and other British media outlets as saying she was "shocked and disappointed that the execution went ahead with no regards to my dad's mental health problems, and I struggle to understand how this is justice."

Hackers steal S. Korean-US military secrets.

From Yahoo! News:

South Korea's military said Friday it was investigating a hacking attack that netted secret defense plans with the United States and may have been carried out by North Korea.

The suspected hacking occurred late last month when a South Korean officer failed to remove a USB device when he switched a military computer from a restricted-access intranet to the Internet, Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said.

The USB device contained a summary of plans for military operations by South Korean and U.S. troops in case of war on the Korean peninsula. Won said the stolen document was not a full text of the operational plans, but an 11-page file used to brief military officials. He said it did not contain critical information.

Won said authorities have not ruled out the possibility that Pyongyang may have been involved in the hacking attack by using a Chinese IP address — the Web equivalent of a street address or phone number.

China tightens Central Asia hold with new gas link.

From Reuters:

China's President Hu Jintao opened a pipeline linking a gas field in Turkmenistan with his country's Xinjiang region on Monday, extending Beijing's reach into Central Asia's natural resources.

The leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan joined Hu at a remote spot near the Turkmen-Uzbek border to commission the 1,833-km (1,139-mile) pipeline that snakes across Central Asia through their countries.

The pipeline, starting near a Chinese-developed gas field in eastern Turkmenistan, is expected to reach full annual capacity of 40 billion cubic metres by 2012-13 and help Beijing propel its explosive economic growth.

In the windswept settlement of Saman-Tepe, festooned with Chinese and Central Asian flags, officials cheered and hugged after the four presidents symbolically turned the pipeline tap, injecting the first gas with a loud humming noise.

A nearby gas plant, its metal chimneys sparkling in the sun, was adorned with huge portraits of Hu and Central Asian leaders.

"We have to join forces at a time when the world is going through a difficult period," Hu said at the ceremony. "I hope we will be not only good neighbours but also reliable partners."

China's foray into Central Asia represents a challenge to Russia which still sees the Muslim region as part of its sphere of influence. It is also a worry for Europe, which sees the energy-rich region as an alternative new supplier of gas.

Russia's doomsday device still ready for action.

Wonderful. From ABC News:

It's supposed to be the stuff of science fiction: A device that triggers a nuclear holocaust in the event of a U.S. strike against Russia.

But the "Dr. Strangelove"-esque technology isn't just fantasy. The Cold War-era Soviet "doomsday machine" was -- and might still be -- very much a reality.

From interviews with former Soviet arms officials and Defense Department documents, Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor for Wired magazine and author of "The Hawk and The Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War," learned that the system was built 25 years ago to ensure a nuclear retaliation if Russia were attacked by the U.S.

When triggered by an elaborate system of sensors placed around Russia, the program was designed to launch a fleet of missiles at major targets across the U.S. Some experts estimate that a Russian counter-strike could have killed more than one hundred million Americans.

And though the Iron Curtain was lifted more than a decade ago, it's believed that the "doomsday" system was never retired, according to Thompson.

"The Soviets really did fear that the U.S. was going to launch a nuclear strike," he said. "It's still in place, but it's not as though they're sitting around waiting for America to strike. It's on lower alert."

The top-secret Russian program, he continued, virtually guaranteed the ability to strike back, even if the entire chain of command had been wiped out.

Coozer-Bits.

Duh: Carradine killed by secret society of martial arts assassins.

WWIII Watch: Canadians angered over "Buy American" rules.

Creepy: Britney Spears goes topless in new video (NSFW).

Sad: Parking tickets pile up on car while dead driver rots inside.

Cthulhu Watch: Kite-surfer lands in two-mile patch of poisonous jellyfish.

Coozer-Bits.

Film: Disney execs are nervous about Pixar's new one, Up, because of its lack of commercialization.

Lame: Paris liberation made "whites only."

Creepy: EU forcing ISPs to store all internet user data, including emails and net phone calls.

Creepy: Israeli strips in supermarkets to protest the sale of bread.

Top 10: 10 things you might not know about eggs. (Lame list, actually - this article has little to do about eggs themselves.)

WWIII Watch: North Korea satellite made out of popsicle sticks fizzes out, lands in ocean. WWIII averted.

Misc: Stephen King finishes book in progress for 30 years.

Yipes: Colombia investigates 22,000 disappearances.

RUW: Your grandchild will be a robot.

Eats: Chocolate helps with math.

Tech: Viruses used to grow greener batteries.

Lame: 1,000 hipsters take over Wall Street with pillows.

WTF: Gisele and Tom Brady's bodyguards open fire on paparazzi.

Rush: 5 things you didn't know about Rush.

Duh: Nicotine is really, REALLY bad for you.

Aww: Dog overboard survives deserted island, returns to family four months later.

Japan to destroy North Korean rocket.

From BBC News:

Japan says it is deploying missile interceptors to destroy any parts of a North Korean rocket that might fall on its territory.

North Korea has said it will launch a satellite into orbit next month.

South Korea, Japan and the US say the launch is cover for a test of the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile.

The US said a launch would violate UN Security Council resolutions. Russia said North Korea should "abstain" from testing any missiles.

North Korea refuses US food aid over satellite row.

This is dumb. From BBC:

The US says North Korea has refused to accept any further food aid supplies.

Five aid groups have been told to leave the North by the end of March, the US state department and aid groups said.

The UN World Food Programme estimates that almost nine million people - more than a third of the North Korean population - are in need of food aid.

The aid block comes as the North is planning to launch a satellite, which some fear is a cover for testing long-range missile technology.

To add to the tension, North Korea recently closed its border with the South, leaving 400 South Korean workers in the shared Kaesong industrial zone stranded.

North Korea threatening "every necessary measure" to protect sovereignty.

This comes on the heels of North Korea vowing to attack the US, South Korea, and Japan if its new satellite is intercepted. (By the way, this satellite may be a ballistic missile test to see if it could hit the US with a nuclear warhead.) From Xinhuanet:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Wednesday it will take "every necessary measure" to protect its sovereignty, in response to a joint military exercise staged by South Korea and the United States.

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry accused the United States and South Korea of posing threat to the country by staging the DPRK-targeted war drills, when answering questions of the official KCNA news agency.

"This situation hardens the will of the DPRK to bolster up its defence capability in every way no matter what others may say," the spokesman said.

He specially lashed out at the U.S. Obama administration, blaming it was "working hard to infringe upon the sovereignty of the DPRK."

About 26,000 U.S. and South Korean troops are participating in the annual drills, code-named the Key Resolve and the Foal Eagle, which started Monday and will last till March 20.

The DPRK has ordered its army to be on combat readiness, after the United States and South Korea went ahead with the drills, in spite of the DPRK's repeated calls for canceling the military exercises.

Coozer-Bits II.

Duh: What sells in a recession: canned goods and condoms.

Funny: Protesters disrupt beauty pageant with stink bombs.

Follow-Up: Soldier charged with death of 16-year-old girl at army barracks.

Russian Crime Watch: Drunk cop hacks off subordinate's hand.

Science: Japanese astronaut to record the smelliness of his underwear. (Don't Japanese salarymen do this anyway?)

Local: American Airlines plane falls apart over Queens, makes safe emergency landing.

Science: Intelligence mapped in the brain.

Science: Researchers create "map of science."

Funny: Coulter, Maher spar in debates.

Lame: Phish narc'd on all their fans, even bankrolling 200 cops to make drug arrests. Oh, and their music sucks.

Sad: Man-made trash devastating world's oceans.

Lame: NASA won't commit to Colbert module. (I suspect the opposition is made up of Firefly fans who are pushing for "Serenity")

D'oh: Drunken man asks cop for hug, gets arrested.

WTF: Utah, Hawaii, and Wyoming top happiness poll.

Travel: With tourism down, Berlin launches a friendliness campaign.

WWIII Watch: Chinese president calls for "mighty" military support.

Russia threatens gas war with Europe.

Interesting article that delves into the shadowy, twisty world of Eastern European business, politics, and good ol' cutthroat corruption.

Russia's prime minister, Vladimir Putin, today raised the spectre of a new gas war in Europe and warned that Russia could cut off supplies to European consumers unless Ukraine paid its gas bill by Saturday.

Putin said that if Kiev failed to pay there could be a repeat of January's gas war, which saw much of Europe shivering without Russian gas. There would be "a suspension of the supply of our fuel both to consumers in Ukraine and to consumers in Europe," Putin told his government.

Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned gas company, claimed this afternoon that it had paid its debt for February to Gazprom, Russia's state energy company. Gazprom earlier said it had received $310m (just under £220m) but was still owed $50m.Ukraine now has to settle its bill every month.

Putin's threat follows a raid yesterday by armed secret service agents on the Kiev headquarters of Naftogaz.

The raid is part of a bitter power struggle between Ukraine's president, Viktor Yushchenko, and the country's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Yushchenko, who controls Ukraine's SBU security service, ordered the raid in an apparent attempt to seize the contract signed by Tymoshenko and Putin, which ended January's gas war.

The deal with Gazprom led to the resumption of transit gas supplies to Europe after Ukraine agreed to pay a price for its own gas approaching market levels.

Yushchenko is now trying to sabotage the deal in an attempt to undermine Tymoshenko, his former ally turned bitter adversary, analysts suggest.

The Putin-Tymoshenko deal eliminated the shadowy intermediary company RosUkrEnergo – whose owners have allegedly agreed to back Yushchenko's attempts to win re-election in next year's presidential election, they add.

Tymoshenko has furiously accused Yushchenko of corruption. Yesterday she criticised the raid on Naftogaz and said that the security forces loyal to the president were "out of control".

"The SBU is blatantly breaking the law and the president is covering up for them," she said, adding that the raid violated the constitution.

This morning a group of unarmed men turned up at the offices of Ukrtransgaz, the company that runs Ukraine's pipelines.

According to Naftogaz, the group left the company's premises an hour later after a standoff with members of parliament who had rushed to the scene. An SBU spokeswoman, Maryna Ostapenko, said its officers were conducting a criminal investigation into "abuses in the gas sector".

Yushchenko accuses Tymoshenko of effectively stealing $5bn worth of gas, transferred from RosUkrEnergo and gifted to Naftogaz.

And so on and so forth...

Coozer-Bits.

Creepy: Reusable toilet paper?

Yipes: Woman finds cell phone in bag of potato chips.

Lame: Staten Island Department of Education official caught sending racist jokes; asks "what's the big deal?"

WWIII Watch: China invades THE MOON!

Sad: 200 whales and dolphins beached and stranded in Australia.

Hot Cha Cha: Can people unlearn their naked shame?

WWIII Watch: Russia launches military satellite via proton rocket.

Hero: Man pulls car by his eyelids.

Yipes: Aussie teens go on machete rampage (no one injured).

Coozer-Bits.

Film: 10 sexiest non-sex scenes.

Yipes: Tokyo flight turbulence injures 47.

Aww: New mammal species found in the Philippines. Hopefully it won't be eaten to extinction.

Unlikely: Pentagon official: US is not developing space weapons.

D'oh: Man leaves thousands of $ in a bathroom.

Interesting: Anti-foreigner xenophobia in Italy leads to harsher rape penalties.

Sad: Coastal wetlands in eastern US disappearing.

WWIII Watch: Russian warship fires on Chinese cargo ship, does nothing while civilians drown.

Science: Huge gamma-ray explosion 12 billion light years away - largest ever spotted.

Politics: Kyrgyzstan evicts US airbase, vowels.

Awesome: The end of anonymous Swiss banking?

Nuclear trade ban lifted for India.

US now able to sell billions' worth of nuclear weapons and materials to India. Just forget the fact that India isn't part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, created to halt the spread of nuclear weapons to the black market. Who needs life when you've got money?

Anyway, 45 nations approved this deal, and if you're wondering why they acted so irresponsibly:

A European diplomat in the Vienna gathering said: "For the first time in my experience of international diplomatic negotiations, a consensus decision was followed by complete silence in the room. No clapping, nothing.

"It showed a lot of us felt pressured to some extent into a decision by the Americans and few were totally satisfied."

And you have to love Condoleezza Rice's Orweillian soundbite:

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "It's a really very big step forward for the non-proliferation framework."

Gyoza-Gate coming to a close?

If you've been following my blog, you know that no story is more interesting to me than the escalating tensions between Japan and China over a handful of contaminated frozen dumplings. China has finally admitted that it may have been their fault (duh). Here's the latest:

Chinese authorities have told Japan it is highly likely that frozen dumplings linked to food poisonings in China in June were contaminated by workers at the Chinese factory where they were made, sources close to Japan-China relations said Sunday.

Tokyo and Beijing have been at odds over where the "gyoza" dumplings were contaminated with a toxic substance, with both denying tampering in their countries.

China's effective acknowledgment came after authorities there interrogated 55 employees of Tianyang Food in Hebei Province, suspecting one or more may also have been responsible for separate food poisoning incidents that occurred in Japan, the sources said.

Iran: Attack on us will cause World War III.

Doubtful. It's a Coozer Prophesy that the next world war will be between the world and Canada, and it'll be over clean water and/or Moose Munch.

Should Israel or the United States attack Iran, it would be the start of another World War, Iranian Deputy chief of staff General Masoud Jazayeri warned on Saturday.

"Any aggression against Iran will start a world war," the Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted the top Iranian official as saying. "The unrestrained greed of the US leadership and global Zionism... is leading the world to the edge of a precipice."

"It is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything," he said.

The news agency also quoted Jordan's King Abdullah II as saying that if an attack was launched against Iran, it would fail to achieve its objectives.

Rest of the article here.