A UN weapons inspection in Syria has confirmed that sarin
gas was used against civilians, including children, in three rebel-held
suburbs. The UN has described this attack as a “war crime.” Although the Syrian government insisted that
the weapons inspectors should not attempt to identify the perpetrators, the weapons
inspectors stated that the gas was delivered by five rockets, of types held by
the Syrian government, that are difficult to use without appropriate training.
Furthermore, the trajectories of two of the rockets were identified, and the US
secretary of state has said that they came from government-held areas.
Researchers from Which? tested touchscreens on tablets and
phones to see if they were contaminated. One tablet screen was found to have 30
times as many diarrhoea-inducing bacteria as a typical toilet seat.
The methods by which Edward Snowden obtained so many
classified documents from the US National Security Agency have begun to be
revealed. The NSA had outsourced its systems administration to contractors, and
Snowden was one of these sysadmins. He therefore had a perfect excuse to work
around security systems, and virtually unlimited access to files, including the
ability to log into the accounts of people who had higher security clearance
than him – and all from an office in Hawaii, 5000 miles away from the NSA’s
headquarters. The NSA is now bringing its systems administration back in-house.
A gay American man who had a rare genetic defect that made
him immune to Aids has died, apparently from suicide. The man’s partner was one
of the first to die from Aids in 1978, but he never contracted the disease
despite remaining sexually active, and scientists eventually established that
his white blood cells were immune. However, his sister said that he suffered a
great deal of survivor’s guilt because of the number of his friends who died of
the disease.
Gavin Henson, the much-travelled rugby winger and Strictly
Come Dancing also-ran, appears for Bath against one of his former sides,
Saracens, this weekend. Saracens have offered any fans with a Bath postcode a full
refund of their ticket if Henson scores any points.
The much-anticipated video game Grand Theft Auto V was
released at midnight on Monday – and stolen for the first time shortly
afterwards, when a 23 year old man who had purchased the game was mugged and
stabbed while walking home with it.
An 18-year-old woman in Ohio was shot at by her ex-boyfriend
after she refused to abort his baby. Fortunately, the bullets lodged in the
door of her car. One survey estimates that 64% of abortions in the USA are
coerced by boyfriend/husband, parents, or other sources.
And finally, some new churches are about to be started – for atheists. The Sunday Assembly was launched
in London by two comedians who lost their faith but missed the sense of community
that comes with churchgoing. It is now planning to expand from 4 to 20 venues,
several of which are in the UK. Their meetings promise “the best bits of church
with no religion and cracking pop songs”. The “best bits” include singing,
listening to a talk, and tea and cake afterwards.
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