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Sony Hack: US Slaps New Sanctions On N Korea

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 03 Januari 2015 | 16.15

By Sky News US Team

US President Barack Obama has authorised fresh sanctions against North Korea as the "first aspect of our response" to the Sony hack.

The measures target three North Korean entities, including a government intelligence agency and a North Korean arms dealer, the Obama administration said.

The US is also imposing sanctions on 10 individuals who work for those entities or the North Korean government.

President Obama said he had ordered the sanctions because of "the provocative, destabilising and repressive actions and policies of the Government of North Korea, including its destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December 2014".

In a letter informing congressional leaders of his executive order, he added the activities "constitute a continuing threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States".

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the Government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," Mr Obama added.

The US has blamed North Korea for a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures that leaked a trove of embarrassing emails and other internal communications, as well as unreleased films.

Pyongyang denied involvement, but has excoriated a comedy by Sony about a CIA plot to kill North Korea's leader.

Sony Pictures initially called off release of the film, The Interview, citing threats of terror attacks against US cinemas.

Mr Obama criticised Sony's decision at the time, and the picture was released last month in movie theatres and online.

The White House declined to comment last week on whether the US was behind a nearly 10-hour shutdown of North Korean websites last week.

Washington already has tough sanctions in place against North Korea over its nuclear programme.


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Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

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A dramatic rescue mission to bring an abandoned cargo ship carrying hundreds of migrants under control has been carried out by the Italian Air Force.

Six coastguard officers were airlifted aboard the ship after stormy seas made it impossible to reach the runaway vessel by boat.

They took control of the Sierra-Leone-flagged ship, the Ezadeen, which was abandoned by people traffickers as it headed towards the southern tip of Italy.

It is the second ship of its kind to be abandoned at sea in several days.

Rescue pilot Francesco Pastore told Sky News: "The mission was very difficult due to the conditions."

1/8

  1. Gallery: An Italian Coast Guard Patrol Plane Spotted The Vessel

    The Ezadeen cargo ship was stopped by Italian authorities after smugglers sent it speeding toward the coast in rough seas with nobody at the helm

The Sierra Leone-flagged vessel was towed to the Italian port of Corigliano after coastguard officials were lowered onto the ship by helicopter to secure it.

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  • Around 450 migrants were on board the ship, which apparently set sail from Turkey

    ]]>

  • The 197ft-long ship was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca

    ]]>

  • Most of the migrants were believed to be from war-ravaged Syria, Italian Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini said

    ]]>

  • The ship was towed by an Icelandic Coast Guard ship to Italy and arrived at the port of Corigliano hours later.

    The 197ft-long ship, which was carrying pregnant women and children, mostly thought to be fleeing Syria, was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca.

    Coastguard Commander Filippo Marini said one of the migrants on board was able to operate the ship's radio and pleaded for help saying: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no one to steer."

    Before losing power, the ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall on Thursday.

    The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

    The Tyr was able to draw alongside the runaway ship, but initially the weather conditions made boarding impossible.

    The drama comes two days after Italian sailors intercepted an unmanned freighter carrying more than 700 mostly Syrian migrants that had been heading for the rocks in Italy's Puglia region.

    The Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M cargo ship got to within five miles of a disaster before six navy officers were lowered on to the ship by helicopter and succeeded in bringing it under control.

    The vessel's human cargo included 60 children and two pregnant women, one of whom gave birth on board, according to the Italian Red Cross.

    Many of the migrants on the ship were treated for hypothermia and broken limbs.

    More than 170,000 people have been rescued by Italy in the last 14 months and it is estimated that hundreds, possibly thousands, have perished trying to make the crossing.

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    • Abandoned Migrant Ship Reaches Italian Port

    We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

    A dramatic rescue mission to bring an abandoned cargo ship carrying hundreds of migrants under control has been carried out by the Italian Air Force.

    Six coastguard officers were airlifted aboard the ship after stormy seas made it impossible to reach the runaway vessel by boat.

    They took control of the Sierra-Leone-flagged ship, the Ezadeen, which was abandoned by people traffickers as it headed towards the southern tip of Italy.

    It is the second ship of its kind to be abandoned at sea in several days.

    Rescue pilot Francesco Pastore told Sky News: "The mission was very difficult due to the conditions."

    1/8

    1. Gallery: An Italian Coast Guard Patrol Plane Spotted The Vessel

      The Ezadeen cargo ship was stopped by Italian authorities after smugglers sent it speeding toward the coast in rough seas with nobody at the helm

    The Sierra Leone-flagged vessel was towed to the Italian port of Corigliano after coastguard officials were lowered onto the ship by helicopter to secure it.

    ]]>

  • Around 450 migrants were on board the ship, which apparently set sail from Turkey

    ]]>

  • The 197ft-long ship was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca

    ]]>

  • Most of the migrants were believed to be from war-ravaged Syria, Italian Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini said

    ]]>

  • The ship was towed by an Icelandic Coast Guard ship to Italy and arrived at the port of Corigliano hours later.

    The 197ft-long ship, which was carrying pregnant women and children, mostly thought to be fleeing Syria, was rescued floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca.

    Coastguard Commander Filippo Marini said one of the migrants on board was able to operate the ship's radio and pleaded for help saying: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no one to steer."

    Before losing power, the ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall on Thursday.

    The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

    The Tyr was able to draw alongside the runaway ship, but initially the weather conditions made boarding impossible.

    The drama comes two days after Italian sailors intercepted an unmanned freighter carrying more than 700 mostly Syrian migrants that had been heading for the rocks in Italy's Puglia region.

    The Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M cargo ship got to within five miles of a disaster before six navy officers were lowered on to the ship by helicopter and succeeded in bringing it under control.

    The vessel's human cargo included 60 children and two pregnant women, one of whom gave birth on board, according to the Italian Red Cross.

    Many of the migrants on the ship were treated for hypothermia and broken limbs.

    More than 170,000 people have been rescued by Italy in the last 14 months and it is estimated that hundreds, possibly thousands, have perished trying to make the crossing.

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    'Big Objects Found' In AirAsia Plane Search

    Two "large objects" have been spotted in the Java Sea around 90ft (30m) underwater, says the man leading the hunt for the AirAsia plane that crashed six days ago.

    Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, chief of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters: "I'm confident this is part of the AirAsia plane."

    He said the agency was trying to get images of the objects for confirmation using remotely operated underwater vehicles, but high waves and strong currents were hampering efforts.

    One of the objects measured at 31ft by 15ft (9.4m by 4.8m), Mr Soelistyo said. The second, found nearby, was 24ft (7.2m) by 20ins (0.5m).

    Flight QZ8501 disappeared from radar screens over the Java Sea while en route from Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board.

    So far, the bodies of 30 victims have been recovered from the sea. No survivors have been found.

    Some of the bodies were discovered still strapped into their aircraft seats, officials involved in the search said.

    Among the victims recovered were two children, according to reports. Only four have been identified and their bodies returned to their families.

    There are now 65 ships, 14 planes and 19 helicopters involved in the search and rescue mission.

    The Singaporean defence minister Ng Eng Hen posted pictures of window panels recovered from the sea on his Facebook page on Friday morning.

    He wrote: "RSS Supreme recovered a piece of an aircraft this morning, likely to be a window panel. They have informed the Indonesian search authorities and will be handing over the item."

    Sonar equipment and metal detectors are being used to try to discover the black box, which will help investigators establish what caused the plane to smash into the sea.

    Bad weather is known to have contributed to the disaster, which came half way through the short haul flight.

    The pilot had asked air traffic control for permission to climb the Airbus A320 to a higher altitude to avoid storm clouds but heavy air traffic meant this request was denied.

    The black box data recorder contains crucial information such as engine temperature, vertical and horizontal speed.

    The search team is also hunting for the voice recorder, which will have captured conversations between the pilot and others in the cockpit.

    Mr Soelistyo estimated the fuselage would be lying at a depth of between 80ft-100ft (25m and 30m)

    The victims identified and returned to their families are Hayati Lutfiah Hamid, flight attendant Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi and passengers Kevin Alexander Soetjipto and Grayson Herbert Linaksita.


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    Could Take A Week To Find AirAsia Black Boxes

    Written By Unknown on Jumat, 02 Januari 2015 | 16.15

    Could Take A Week To Find AirAsia Black Boxes

    We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

    Investigators say it could take a week to recover AirAsia Flight QZ8501's black box flight recorders as rough seas continue to hamper the search.

    The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 162 people when it disappeared in a storm while flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday.

    Two more bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea, off Borneo, bringing the total to 10. They were taken to Surabaya where distraught relatives have gathered to identify the dead.

    AirAsia Indonesia's chief executive Sunu Widyatmoko wept as authorities handed over the body of the first identified victim, Hayati Luthfiah Hamid, to family members.

    The 49-year-old was buried in Desa Sawotratap, a few miles from the city, at an Islamic ceremony attended by relatives and neighbours.

    1/16

    1. Gallery: The Search For Missing AirAsia Plane

      Relatives at Surabaya airport weep as they receive news that bodies have been found in the hunt for the missing AirAsia plane

    There were 162 passengers on board, including one British man, Chi Man Choi, and his two-year-old daughter

    ]]>

  • Officials carry a family member of one of the passengers after she collapsed at Surabaya airport

    ]]>

  • The Indonesian air force shows objects retrieved from the sea

    ]]>

  • The search had included 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia

    ]]>

  • Three members of her family were also on board the doomed plane.

    Searches on Thursday spanned an area of 5,200 square miles and involved 19 ships, four helicopters and five planes, said Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency.

    A pilot has spotted a large shadow in the sea, which may be the wreckage, but the sighting is not yet confirmed.

    "Until now, there hasn't been a confirmed finding or sonar image of the plane body underwater," Mr Soelistyo said.

    Nearly 50 divers are waiting for calmer weather before they go down to investigate.

    Toos Sanitiyoso, from the National Committee for Transportation Safety, said better weather is expected in five days and it could take a week to find the black boxes, which are crucial to determining the cause of the crash.

    The sea where the shadow was spotted is around 50 metres deep, meaning divers will be able to get to it without specialist equipment.

    Investigators are working on a theory that the plane stalled as it climbed steeply to avoid a storm, about 40 minutes into the two-hour flight.

    "What is most difficult is finding the location where the plane fell - checking whether the aircraft is really there," said frogman commander Lieutenant Edi Tirkayasa.

    "With weather like this, who knows? We are still hopeful and optimistic that they'll find it. They must."

    As well as the 10 bodies, debris including suitcases, an emergency slide, a lifejacket and part of an AirAsia trolley have been recovered from waters near the suspected crash site.

    The plane was travelling at 32,000ft and the pilot had asked to fly at 38,000ft to avoid bad weather.

    When air traffic controllers granted permission for a rise to 34,000ft a few minutes later, they received no response.

    A source close to the investigation said radar data appeared to show the aircraft made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed.

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    • Could Take A Week To Find AirAsia Black Boxes

    We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

    Investigators say it could take a week to recover AirAsia Flight QZ8501's black box flight recorders as rough seas continue to hamper the search.

    The Airbus A320-200 was carrying 162 people when it disappeared in a storm while flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday.

    Two more bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea, off Borneo, bringing the total to 10. They were taken to Surabaya where distraught relatives have gathered to identify the dead.

    AirAsia Indonesia's chief executive Sunu Widyatmoko wept as authorities handed over the body of the first identified victim, Hayati Luthfiah Hamid, to family members.

    The 49-year-old was buried in Desa Sawotratap, a few miles from the city, at an Islamic ceremony attended by relatives and neighbours.

    1/16

    1. Gallery: The Search For Missing AirAsia Plane

      Relatives at Surabaya airport weep as they receive news that bodies have been found in the hunt for the missing AirAsia plane

    There were 162 passengers on board, including one British man, Chi Man Choi, and his two-year-old daughter

    ]]>

  • Officials carry a family member of one of the passengers after she collapsed at Surabaya airport

    ]]>

  • The Indonesian air force shows objects retrieved from the sea

    ]]>

  • The search had included 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia

    ]]>

  • Three members of her family were also on board the doomed plane.

    Searches on Thursday spanned an area of 5,200 square miles and involved 19 ships, four helicopters and five planes, said Fransiskus Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency.

    A pilot has spotted a large shadow in the sea, which may be the wreckage, but the sighting is not yet confirmed.

    "Until now, there hasn't been a confirmed finding or sonar image of the plane body underwater," Mr Soelistyo said.

    Nearly 50 divers are waiting for calmer weather before they go down to investigate.

    Toos Sanitiyoso, from the National Committee for Transportation Safety, said better weather is expected in five days and it could take a week to find the black boxes, which are crucial to determining the cause of the crash.

    The sea where the shadow was spotted is around 50 metres deep, meaning divers will be able to get to it without specialist equipment.

    Investigators are working on a theory that the plane stalled as it climbed steeply to avoid a storm, about 40 minutes into the two-hour flight.

    "What is most difficult is finding the location where the plane fell - checking whether the aircraft is really there," said frogman commander Lieutenant Edi Tirkayasa.

    "With weather like this, who knows? We are still hopeful and optimistic that they'll find it. They must."

    As well as the 10 bodies, debris including suitcases, an emergency slide, a lifejacket and part of an AirAsia trolley have been recovered from waters near the suspected crash site.

    The plane was travelling at 32,000ft and the pilot had asked to fly at 38,000ft to avoid bad weather.

    When air traffic controllers granted permission for a rise to 34,000ft a few minutes later, they received no response.

    A source close to the investigation said radar data appeared to show the aircraft made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed.

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    Most Cancers Simply Down To Bad Luck - Study

    The majority of cancers are down to bad luck more than anything else, according to scientists in the United States.

    They say two-thirds of cancer types are down to random DNA mutations rather than heredity or bad habits such as smoking.

    Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore looked at 31 cancer types and found that 22 could generally be explained in this way.

    These included leukaemia and pancreatic, bone, testicular, ovarian and brain cancer,

    The other nine types, including skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma and smoking-related lung cancer, were more heavily influenced by heredity and environmental factors.

    Overall, they attributed 65% of tumours to random mutations in genes that can spur cancer growth.

    "When someone gets cancer, immediately people want to know why," said oncologist Dr Bert Vogelstein, who conducted the study with Johns Hopkins biomathematician Cristian Tomasetti.

    "They like to believe there's a reason. And the real reason in many cases is not because you didn't behave well or were exposed to some bad environmental influence, it's just because that person was unlucky. It's losing the lottery."

    Dr Vogelstein added that people who live a long time without getting cancer, despite being long-time smokers or being exposed heavily to sunshine, do not have "good genes".

    "The truth is that most of them simply had good luck."

    Mr Tomasetti said harmful mutations occur for "no particular reason other than randomness" as the body's master cells, called stem cells, divide in various tissues.

    He said the study, published in the journal Science, indicates that changing one's lifestyle and habits like smoking to avoid cancer risks may help prevent certain cancers, but may not be as effective for others.

    "Thus, we should focus more research and resources on finding ways to detect such cancers at early, curable stages," he added.

    The researchers charted the cumulative number of lifetime divisions in the stem cells of a given tissue - for example, lungs or colon - and compared that to the lifetime cancer risk in that tissue.

    Generally speaking, tissues that undergo more divisions - thus increasing the probability of random mutations - were more prone to tumours.

    The study did not cover all cancer types. Breast and prostate cancer were excluded because the researchers were unable to ascertain reliable stem cell division rates.


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    Second Ship Carrying Migrants Abandoned At Sea

    An unmanned cargo ship with hundreds of migrants on board is heading towards the southern tip of Italy - the second vessel of its kind to be abandoned at sea in several days.

    The Italian Air Force has sent a helicopter carrying coastguard officials to bring the Ezadeen, a Sierra-Leone-flagged vessel, under control.

    "Because of the difficult weather conditions the ship can only be boarded from the air," the air force said in a statement.

    The 197ft-long ship is floating around 40 miles off Capo di Leuca in choppy seas.

    Coastguard Commander Filippo Marini said one of the migrants on board was able to operate the ship's radio and pleaded for help saying: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no one to steer."

    It is not clear how many people are on board, but the ANSA news agency said there could be as many as 450.

    Prior to losing power, the ship had been moving at a brisk seven knots and had been spotted by a coastguard plane 80 miles offshore shortly after nightfall on Thursday.

    The coastguard asked for assistance from Icelandic patrol boat Tyr, which was in the area on a mission with Frontex, the European Union's border agency.

    The Tyr was able to draw alongside the runaway ship, but the weather conditions made boarding impossible.

    The Icelandic vessel has three doctors on board who will be winched on to the merchant ship by helicopter to treat any ill passengers, the air force said.

    The drama comes two days after Italian sailors intercepted an unmanned freighter carrying more than 700 mostly Syrian migrants which had been heading for the rocks in Italy's Puglia region.

    The Moldovan-registered Blue Sky M cargo ship got to within five miles of a disaster before six navy officers were lowered on to the ship by helicopter and succeeded in bringing it under control.

    The vessel's human cargo included some 60 children and two pregnant women, one of whom gave birth on board as the boat headed towards catastrophe, according to the Italian Red Cross.

    Many of the migrants on the ship were treated for hypothermia and broken limbs.

    More than 170,000 people have been rescued by Italy in the last 14 months and it is estimated that hundreds, possibly thousands, have perished trying to make the crossing.


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    North Korea's New Year Summit Offer To South

    Written By Unknown on Kamis, 01 Januari 2015 | 16.15

    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has delivered a New Year's speech saying he is open to more talks with Seoul or even a summit with his South Korean counterpart.

    But Kim stressed North Korea will continue to strengthen its military amid an atmosphere of distrust and tension while trying to diversify its economy and raise the national standard of living.

    His call for improving inter-Korea relations comes as Pyongyang is facing heightened criticism over its human rights record.

    North Korea also has souring ties with Washington over allegations it was involved in the massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures.

    The allegation has caused major economic damage to the company and clouded the release of "The Interview," a dark comedy that portrayed an assassination attempt on Kim.

    North Korea has denied involvement, but said the hack was a "righteous deed" and suggested it might have been carried out by sympathisers or supporters abroad.

    "We believe we can resume suspended senior-level talks and hold other talks on specific issues if South Korea sincerely has a position that it wants to improve North-South relations through a dialogue," Kim said in the nationally televised speech.

    "And there is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks if the atmosphere and conditions are met."

    Meeting such conditions has proven to be virtually impossible in the past.

    The two countries have not held a summit since 2007 and, despite Kim's remarks, the likelihood of one happening again soon is very low given the deep distrust that remains between the two countries.

    Some experts in the South, however, cautiously welcomed the possibility of increased talks at lower levels.

    South Korean officials say they are basically open to any form of talks with North Korea.

    Seoul is waiting for the North to respond to its earlier proposal to hold talks this month to discuss a range of issues needed to prepare for the unification and other issues of mutual concern.

    South Korea made the proposal earlier this week.

    In his speech, Kim noted that this year is particularly significant because it marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

    Both sides claim to hold reunification as a fundamental goal.

    But a vast gap remains over how that should be accomplished and under what form of government a unified Korea would be administered.

    1/19

    1. Gallery: Sky News On China's North Korea Border

      Sky News has filmed rare pictures across the Chinese border into North Korea. The images demonstrate the poverty inside the country and the degree to which China cooperates with its old ally

    At the border town of Ji'an only a narrow river separates China with North Korea

    ]]>

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    Retrial Ordered For Al Jazeera Journalists

    Three Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt are to face a retrial.

    The decision, which was made by an appeals court after a hearing lasting a few minutes, has given families of the men fresh hope that they might be freed.

    However, there were mixed emotions among relatives at Egypt's Court of Cassation after the trio were denied bail.

    Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed have been held since December 2013 in a case that has provoked an international outcry and widespread calls for their freedom.

    The arrests followed the ousting of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and their original trial was dismissed as a sham by rights groups.

    Fahmy and Greste each received a seven-year prison sentence, while Mohamed got 10 years.

    Egyptian authorities had accused the Qatar-based Al Jazeera of acting as a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood, which had swept to power after the country's 2011 revolution.

    Marwa Omara, the fiancee of Mohamed Fahmy, told Sky News the families were disappointed that the journalists had not been released before the retrial gets under way.

    She said her fiance was in poor health with hepatitis B, but is in "high spirits".

    "He's just a journalist who was doing his job," she said.

    "They were accused of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood, fabricating news and harming national security, and calling for a civil war in Egypt. All these accusations are faulty and there is no evidence whatsoever - we don't understand why they are in prison."

    Greste's mother, Lois, said: "We need some time to process. It's not as positive as we had hoped."

    Defence lawyer Negad Al-Borai said after Thursday morning's hearing that he hoped for a "happy end" to the case. There has been speculation that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi could pardon or deport the men.

    Sherine Tadros, Sky News' Middle East Correspondent, said a date for the retrial has not been set, but that lawyers could make a further request for bail on its first day.

    She said: "There's another opportunity that they could be freed and wouldn't have to spend the next trial behind bars, but because these are very serious charges - belonging to a terrorist organisation is essentially what they're charged with - it's unlikely that this would be granted."


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    Hunt For Killer Shark As Teen Victim Named

    Written By Unknown on Selasa, 30 Desember 2014 | 16.15

    Australian officials are hunting a shark that killed a teenager off Australia's southwest coast in the nation's second deadly attack in as many weeks.

    Jay Muscat, 17, was spearfishing with a friend on Monday off Cheynes Beach, on the south coast of Western Australia (WA), when he was attacked.

    The shark is believed to be a great white measuring between 4m and 5m (13ft and 16 ft) long, said Carlo Vittiglia, spokesman for the state fisheries department.

    There is a chance the animal was injured, Vittiglia said, as Mr Muscat's friend is thought to have fired a spear at the shark during the attack.

    His friend Matt Pullella wrote on Facebook that "the shark hit me first then attacked Jay", The West Australian reported.

    "The shark turned and came for me, I pushed the speargun down its throat and fired the gun!" he wrote.

    "This is something no one should ever have to see."

    Friends and relatives left tributes to the victim, including on social media.

    Rae Batten wrote on Facebook: "So very sad and so hard to believe. Highly respected young man by so many. Thoughts and prayers for the Muscat family."

    WA's Department of Fisheries said Cheynes Beach would remained closed while equipment was deployed from boats to try and catch the shark.

    If the shark is caught, it will be destroyed.

    "One of them (boats) will be setting (drum) lines, the other will be doing patrols in the nearby regions," Department of Fisheries spokesman Rick Fletcher told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

    The attack comes two weeks after an 18-year-old man was killed by a shark while spearfishing on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's east coast.

    Sharks are common off Australia's beaches, but fatal attacks are rare.

    The country has averaged fewer than two deadly attacks per year in recent decades, but experts say attacks are becoming more common as water sports increase in popularity.


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    Al Shabaab Leader Targeted In US Airstrike

    The US military has targeted a senior leader of the al Shabaab Islamist militant group in Somalia.

    "The strike took place in the vicinity of Saakow, Somalia," Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said in a statement.

    "At this time, we do not assess there to be any civilian or bystander casualties. We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information, when appropriate, as details become available."

    The airstrike came after a man identified as a senior intelligence official in the group, which is seeking to overthrow the Somali government, surrendered.

    Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi - the subject of a $3m bounty as part of the US State Department "Rewards for Justice" programme - reportedly handed himself over to government and AU troops on Saturday.

    He was said to have been hiding out in the Gedo region, which borders Kenya and Ethiopia.

    But al Shabaab claimed he had left the group more than a year ago.

    "All the information on military set up or plans he knew has been changed since he left, and therefore the so-called defector has no intelligence value to offer to our enemies,"a senior militant was quoted as telling AFP.

    Hersi was said to have been close to al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was killed in a US airstrike

    Al Shabaab - meaning The Youth - grew out of the Islamic Courts Union which controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia in 2006 before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.

    It has since been fighting a bitter war with government troops and the African Union forces. It has also been blamed for attacks in Kenya and Uganda.


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