CHINESE INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS CHARGED WITH JET ENGINE DATA HACK
WASHINGTON : Chinese intelligence officers conspired with hackers and company insiders to break into private companies’ computer systems and steal information on a turbo fan engine used in commercial jetliners, according to a US indictment released on Tuesday. The indictment said at the time of the hacks, a Chinese-state owned aerospace company was working to develop a comparable engine for use in aircraft manufactured in China. Chinese-made jets, including the C919 and ARJ21, currently use foreign engines but the country has been trying to develop a competitive homegrown alternative. The 10 people charged conspired to steal sensitive data that could be used by Chinese entities. REUTERS
Russia probes terror after teen suicide attack
MOSCOW : Russia launched a terrorism probe on Wednesday after a 17-year-old student blew himself up at the regional headquarters of the FSB security agency, wounding three employees. Several minutes before the suicide blast in the northern city of Arkhangelsk, a post on an anarchist forum warned of an imminent explosion. Investigators said they were checking whether the suspected bomber was a member of any banned organisations and talk to his friends and relatives to “find out the motives for the crime”. An explosive device detonated in the FSB building before 9:00 am.
American missionary killed in Cameroon amid conflict
YAOUNDE : An American missionary died Tuesday after being shot in the head amid fighting between armed separatists and soldiers in northwestern Cameroon, the director of the regional hospital said. Charles Trumann Wesco, a missionary from the U.S. state of Indiana who had been in the region for two weeks, was rushed to the hospital in Bamenda after he was gravely wounded while in his car, hospital director Kingue Thomson Njie said. “He died in our hospital after all attempts to save his life,” Njie told The Associated Press. Wesco’s wife, Stephanie, and eight children were still in Bamenda, he said. AP
Afghan Army helicopter crashes killing 25 on board
KABUL : An Afghan Army helicopter crashed on Wednesday in bad weather in the western Farah province, killing all 25 people on board, including the deputy corps commander of the western zone, a provincial spokesman said. Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the Farah governor, said the helicopter crashed around 9:10 a.m., shortly after taking off from the mountainous Anar Dara district heading toward the nearby Herat province. On board were the corps commander, Gen. Naimudullah Khalil, and two members of the Farah provincial council, its chairman, Farid Bakhtawar, and Jamila Amini, one of only two women on the nine-member council.
Hungarian woman who kicked migrant acquitted
BUDAPEST : A Hungarian television camerawoman who made headlines in 2015 after tripping and kicking migrants fleeing police was acquitted on Tuesday by the country’s Supreme Court. “The video reporter was acquitted owing to the lack of a violation,” a court statement said, after judges ruled that Petra Laszlo had not been correctly charged by lower courts. Laszlo made headlines in September 2015 when she tripped a man who was sprinting with a child in his arms, and kicked another running child near the town of Roszke, close to the border with Serbia.