Tag Archives: CCTV

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India police release sketches of temple bomb suspect

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Indian police investigating bomb blasts at one of Buddhism’s holiest sites released sketches of a suspect on Tuesday and offered a reward for information about the attacks.

Ten small devices exploded on July 7 in the Bodh Gaya temple complex in the eastern state of Bihar, wounding two monks, while three others were defused at the historic shrine.

The National Investigation Agency released two sketches of a man suspected of planting the bombs at the complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which was not badly damaged in the blasts.

One sketch showed the suspect wearing a mask, while the second showed a clean-shaven face. The suspect was “wearing the dress of a Buddhist monk”, the agency said on its website.

It also announced a reward of one million rupees ($16,900) for information leading to the arrest of the bombers.

Police studied CCTV footage of the complex immediately after the early morning attacks and arrested a man for questioning, but no charges were laid.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But police say they had received intelligence that Islamic militants could target the site as revenge for Buddhist violence against Muslims in neighbouring Myanmar.

Along with temples, dozens of monasteries housing monks from around the world dot the Bodh Gaya complex, which is said to be the site where the Buddha reached enlightenment in 531 BC.

The centrepiece of the complex is the site of the holy Bodhi tree, under which Buddha is said to have meditated. A sapling of the original tree was undamaged in the attacks.

The complex, 110 kilometres (69 miles) south of Patna, contains one of the earliest Buddhist temples still standing in India.

Buddhists are rarely targeted in India but there have been tensions in the wider region recently following clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

In neighbouring Nepal, dozens of police have been mobilised to guard the country’s famed Buddhist temple complex as a precaution after the India attacks.

Police have doubled to 70 the number of security officers guarding the Lumbini temple complex, 250 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of the capital Kathmandu, local police official Surendra Bahadur Shah told AFP.

Thousands of pilgrims visit Lumbini each year to pay homage to the Buddha, who is said to have been born in the temple gardens in 623 BC.

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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China says more arrested after Xinjiang clash

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Chinese state media say police have arrested more suspects in connection with a clash between authorities and assailants that left 21 dead in the western region of Xinjiang.

Eight suspects already were in custody following last Tuesday’s clash, which killed 15 police officers and local government officials. Six of the assailants were killed. Authorities described the gang as terrorists.

China Central Television reported Monday that additional suspects had been captured and interrogated, though it didn’t say how many. It also said explosives were seized. The report quoted the state anti-terrorist office and Meng Hongwei, the vice public security minister.

CCTV broadcast images of a memorial service for the 12 men and three women police officers and officials killed in the clash.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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Quake jolts China's Sichuan, killing 56

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A powerful earthquake jolted China‘s Sichuan province Saturday near where a devastating quake struck five years ago, leaving at least 56 dead and more than 600 injured and prompting state media to warn of higher casualties.

The quake — measured by China‘s seismological bureau at magnitude-7 and the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6 — struck the steep hills of Lushan county shortly after 8 a.m. toppling buildings, many of them older brick structures. Tiles fell from roofs and walls collapsed, sending people into the streets in their underwear and wrapped in blankets.

Rescue workers turned a square outside the Lushan’s county hospital into a triage center with medical personnel treating the wounded, according to footage on China Central Television.

Hard-hit parts of the county remained unreachable by road, with phone services cut off, but with some text and Internet services continuing, state media said.

A person whose posts to a micro-blogging account “Qingyi Riverside” on Sina Corp.’s Twitter-like Weibo service carried a Lushan geotag said that many buildings collapsed and that people could spot helicopters hovering above.

Aerial photos released by China‘s military and shown on state television showed individual houses in ruins and some stretches of the county seat and villages flattened into rubble. The roofs of some taller buildings appeared to have slipped off exposing the floors beneath them.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that 56 people died. Xu Mengjia, Communist Party secretary for Ya’an, which administers Lushan, told CCTV that more than 600 people were injured.

The quake’s shallow depth, less than 13 kilometers (8 miles), likely magnified the impact and CCTV showed footage from local security cameras shaking. Xinhua said that the quake rattled buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu 115 kilometers (70 miles), to the east. It caused the shutdown of the city’s airport for about an hour before reopening, state media said.

Lushan, where the quake struck, is home to 1.5 million people where the fertile Sichuan plain meets foothills that eventually rise to the Tibetan plateau. The area is near a well-known preserve for pandas, Bifengxia, which Xinhua said was not affected by the quake. Dozens of pandas were moved to Bifengxia from another preserve, Wolong, after its habitat was wrecked by the 2008 quake.

Xinhua reported that more than 2,000

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/NkxN7jbxj1k/

News, Politics, Government

Boston Marathon blasts put world's cities on alert

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With more than 30 marathons being held this weekend alone and big events on the horizon, officials around the world are boosting security efforts in the wake of the fatal bomb blasts that shook Boston’s race.

Britain was it was making last-minute efforts to tighten measures for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher‘s funeral on Wednesday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is to be attended by hundreds of diplomats and dignitaries, including Queen Elizabeth II and Price Harry.

Russian sports officials said Tuesday they will beef up security in preparation for the Winter Olympics and other events.

Police in some major U.S. cities were monitoring landmarks, government buildings, transit hubs and sporting events. Law enforcement agencies also urged the public via Twitter and Facebook to report suspicious activity to the police.

“No matter how many days, months or years pass without a major terrorist attack, it only takes one such attack to bring us back to the cruel reality,” Interpol chief Ron Noble told The Associated Press early Tuesday, saying police would be on high alert.

Although security has been increased at some U.S. and European landmarks, overall terror threat levels have remained unchanged — in contrast to other recent bombings and thwarted attacks in which terror threat levels were raised and travel advisories put in place.

“The (Boston) attacks mean that we will be assessing our security protocols,” said a British security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to be publicly named. “There is some initial information coming out … but it is too early to draw any conclusions. There doesn’t appear at this point, however, to be a wider threat.”

Security was particularly tight for the big events in Britain, which has been at the heart of several terror attacks in the past decade, including suicide bombings in 2005 that killed 52 people. Several international terror plots have also been traced back to suspects in Britain.

Workers are inspecting some of the country’s 4.3 million CCTV cameras in high-traffic areas around London to ensure views are unobstructed and equipment is functioning. Workers in an underground bunker monitor the footage around the clock.

Boosting security may also include adding manpower, increasing air visibility and securing public transport routes. Police and counter-terrorism officials are also aggressively monitoring

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/y8zprTEMfnU/

Do it yourself

CCTV wiring

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By kmurali70

I am planning to install some security cameras on the entrance and on the roof of my home.
I need to fish my wires and bring it to behind the walls.
I looked at how I can fish the wires in the attic, but the place where I can fish the wires behind the walls is completely dark and very unreachable.

What tools should I get from my local home depot/lowes to have the wires fished out from a cable outlet in the wall with 1 person in the attic ?

Source: DoItYourself.com

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The Chinese Media Bashing Turns From Apple to Microsoft

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By Evan Niu, CFA, The Motley Fool

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First, there was Apple . Next, there was Microsoft . No, I’m not just talking about the initial rise of the PC decades ago; I’m referring to the Chinese media bashing tech companies over warranty practices.

For the latter half of March, state-owned CCTV in China ran a full-fledged smear campaign against the Mac maker, alleging that the company’s warranty practices favored consumers in other countries and that Chinese buyers of Apple gear were being treated unfavorably, particularly when it came to iPhone replacements.

Since China is Apple’s second-largest market by revenue with $26.6 billion in trailing-12-month sales, the company rightfully acted quickly, with CEO Tim Cook personally issuing an apology appealing directly to the Chinese public. In it, Cook acknowledged that there had been some miscommunication that could have contributed to the perception that Apple was being arrogant in not responding to media requests (which is really just standard practice for Apple). The apology was well received, and the Chinese media almost immediately changed its tune, praising Apple’s prompt reply.

Bloomberg reports that China‘s state-owned radio, China National Radio, is now targeting Microsoft. The issue at the heart of the attacks again relates to warranty practices, this time for the software giant’s Surface tablet. The device should be considered in the same category as notebook computers, in which case local laws require a one-year repair warranty covering the entire device along with a two-year warranty for crucial components. Microsoft currently only offers a one-year warranty for both.

A China National Radio reporter said the two stories were not related.

The big difference is that Microsoft has a lot less to lose than Apple does. Microsoft has always had difficulty in China due to rampant software piracy. Surface launched in China in October, and Microsoft’s sales can’t have grown that much since then (although Microsoft doesn’t disclose Surface figures).

The media bashing Surface may sting Microsoft, but the Middle Kingdom isn’t nearly as important to Steve Ballmer as it is to Tim Cook. Don’t expect any apologies from Ballmer.

It’s been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who’ve watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. He’s also providing regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Globecomm Announces New Media Services for Content Owners and Service Providers at NAB

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Globecomm Announces New Media Services for Content Owners and Service Providers at NAB


Media solutions, global connectivity, managed services, and best-in-class design, integration and life cycle support services

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Globecomm Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: GCOM), a leading communications solutions provider, announced today it will unveil new media broadcast solutions, including infrastructure for Over-the-Top services and Direct-to-Consumer solutions, and its interactive Tempo enterprise video platform. These new initiatives highlight Globecomm’s capabilities to provide extremely reliable and secure global connectivity, managed services and best-in-class design, integration and life cycle support services.

Brian Morris, Senior Vice President of Media and Entertainment for Globecomm, said: “Globecomm Systems realizes the opportunities associated with supporting content providers and service provider as they evolve their media services toward a world that demands media connectivity and consumption at any time, on all devices, everywhere—all while supporting and financially optimizing traditional delivery infrastructures and new media business models.”

Globecomm not only has the secure global network to support many types of services, but also the engineering innovation and applications for end-to-end, completely managed content delivery. “Our partnerships with market leaders in content production and live television we’re showcasing at NAB are just a few examples of the state-of-the-art solutions we’re implementing across the media and entertainment space,” added Morris. We look forward to telling our story, discussing your applications, and understanding how we can support your business.”

Globecomm is showcasing the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, a state-of-the-art mobile audio and HD video recording and production facility dedicated to providing students of all ages with hands-on musical opportunities. The bus is highly adaptable and designed to provide live multicamera video productions streamed to the web in real-time. During NAB, this innovative mobile studio will be on display at the Mirage Las Vegas, home of the Beatles Love production. VIP invitations for demos/tours of the bus will be available at the Globecomm booth, SU6221. The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus exemplifies Globecomm’s forward-thinking applications and services, enabling broadcast-quality content to be produced, distributed direct to end users, and most importantly, monetized with TodoCast (powered by Globecomm) services, an end-to-end live content delivery platform.

Globecomm is also highlighting its managed media infrastructure solution that actively supports NeuLion’s live television, chosen by major sports leagues and broadcast organizations globally such as Univision, National Football League, NCAA and CCTV in …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Apple's China Snafu: Epic Fail, or No Big Deal?

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By Adam Levine-Weinberg, The Motley Fool

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Apple CEO Tim Cook recently issued an apology to Chinese consumers after state-run media outlets (most notably China Central Television) subjected the iPhone maker to withering criticism about its warranty policies in China. The controversy centered around Apple’s policy of repairing broken products rather than replacing them, as Apple does in many other markets. Media outlets claimed that Apple was therefore taking advantage of Chinese consumers, and Apple was accused of “unparalleled arrogance.” In his apology to Chinese customers, Cook vowed to improve customer service and reiterated the company’s concern for customer satisfaction.

China is a very important market for Apple. “Greater China,” which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, is Apple’s second-largest market, and revenue has been growing rapidly there. In January, Tim Cook stated that he expects China to eventually surpass the U.S. as Apple’s top market by revenue. However, if the recent media campaign against Apple gives rise to a full-blown consumer backlash against the company, it could severely disrupt Apple’s growth trajectory there. Fortunately, I believe that Chinese consumers are by and large savvy enough to see through this “scandal,” which has been completely manufactured by the state-run media. Moreover, the media appear to be toning down their rhetoric in light of Cook’s apology.

How big is the risk?
On Monday morning, analyst Glen Yeung of Citigroup (a prominent Apple bear on Wall Street) compared Apple’s recent troubles in China to a similar campaign three years ago that targeted Hewlett-Packard . In that case, numerous consumers complained of overheating problems in their HP laptops. While HP offered extended warranties for some of the affected models in China, it was offering superior warranties in the U.S. This provoked complaints of discrimination in the media. According to Yeung, HP lost 42% of its market share in China in the 12 months following this fiasco. Yeung suggested that a similar backlash against Apple (if it materializes) could knock as much as $3.62 off Apple’s EPS.

Is the risk real?
However, many Chinese consumers seem to be taking a skeptical view of the media’s criticism of Apple. Numerous (Western) news reports have quoted Chinese citizens who believe that state-run media outlets are criticizing Apple in order to divert attention from the government‘s failings. This viewpoint was supported by the revelation that various celebrities had been recruited to criticize the company on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site. Others in China speculated that CCTV may have been trying to extort ad revenue from Apple. Many citizens also pointed to much more serious consumer rights violations by state monopolies that are ignored by the state-run media.

By Tuesday, Chinese media seemed to be ending their attack on Apple, praising the company for its quick apology and its promise to improve its warranty policies. Media outlets rightly noted that Apple is incredibly customer-friendly compared to other American companies operating in China (not to mention Chinese-owned companies).

Catastrophe averted — …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Apple Apoligizes in China Following Criticism by State Media

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By The Associated Press

Filed under: , , , ,

Eugene Hoshiko/AP

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

BEIJING — Apple apologized to Chinese consumers after government media attacked its repair policies for two weeks in a campaign that reeked of economic nationalism.

A statement Apple posted in Chinese on its website Monday said the complaints had prompted “deep reflection” and persuaded the company of the need to revamp its repair policies, boost communication with Chinese consumers and strengthen oversight of authorized resellers.

State broadcaster CCTV and the ruling Communist Party‘s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, had led the charge against the U.S. company. They accused Apple Inc. (AAPL) of arrogance, greed and “throwing its weight around” and portrayed it as just the latest Western company to exploit the Chinese consumer.

The attacks quickly backfired, though, and were mocked by the increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers who revere Apple and its products. State-run media also inadvertently revived complaints about shoddy service by Chinese companies.

Nonetheless, Apple responded with an apology from CEO Tim Cook.

“We’ve come to understand through this process that because of our poor communication, some have come to feel that Apple’s attitude is arrogant and that we don’t care about or value feedback from the consumer,” Cook’s Chinese statement said, as translated by The Associated Press. “For the concerns and misunderstandings passed on to the consumer, we express our sincere apologies.”

Although Apple enjoys strong support from Chinese consumers, the vehemence of the attacks and the importance of the Chinese market appeared to have persuaded the company to appear contrite.

The People’s Daily newspaper ran an editorial last Wednesday headlined “Strike down Apple’s incomparable arrogance.”

“Here we have the Western person’s sense of superiority making mischief,” the newspaper wrote. “If there’s no risk in offending the Chinese consumer, and it also makes for lower overheads, then why not?”

Chinese observers accused People’s Daily of gross hypocrisy and pointed out that the newspaper had maintained a stony silence when Chinese companies were implicated over food safety, pollution and other scandals. Meanwhile, CCTV was shamed when it emerged that celebrities had been recruited to blast Apple on Weibo, China‘s version of Twitter, in what had been billed as a grassroots campaign.

“The public responded in two ways to this incident,” popular commentator Shi Shusi wrote on his Weibo account. “One group supports this criticism but quite a number of people felt that there are state monopolies which have severely violated customer’s rights, but which are not being exposed.”

Poor Customer Service

Popular business magazine Caijing said its readers identified a long list of abusers, including state banks that lend to those with political connections while stiffing ordinary savers with low rates on deposits; a government oil company that sets gas prices and other rates as it sees fit; and state telecom providers notorious for …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Sydney seeks truck driver who dumped deadly waste near child-care centers

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Authorities in Australia are searching for a truck driver who dumped more than two tons of dangerous asbestos waste on a road near two child-care centers.

Sydney‘s city council on Tuesday released CCTV footage of the truck to enlist public help in identifying the driver, who faces a fine of up to 1 million Australian dollars ($1 million) and a seven-year prison sentence for illegal dumping of waste.

The CCTV footage shows the white Daihatsu Delta truck on Dec. 14 last year traveling over speed bumps with its tipping tray up and rear tailgate swinging over, dumping the demolition waste on the roadway in Wattle Lane in the inner-west suburb of Ultimo.

More than two metric tons (2.2 U.S. tons) of the waste was dumped near a playground and between two preschool child-care centers, council official Gary Harding said.

Parents who arrived to pick up their children from the childcare centers in the moments after the spill inadvertently drove over the asbestos, the council said in a statement.

The area was sealed off when asbestos was confirmed and toxic waste specialists cleaned up the mess. The area was declared safe two days later.

Asbestos cement becomes dangerous when sheets are cut or broken, releasing tiny asbestos particles that can be fatal if inhaled.

The council believed the dumping was deliberate and that cloth tied over the truck’s license plate was an attempt to avoid identification.

“City rangers have spent literally hundreds of hours trying to identify the person responsible for this really despicable act,” Harding said.

“It is hard to understand how anyone could do something like this deliberately in any area, let alone opposite some childcare centers,” he added.

Australia has the highest incidence of the fatal lung disease mesothelioma because of decades of mining asbestos and building with asbestos cement and other asbestos materials. All asbestos products have been banned in Australia for a decade and demolition of buildings containing asbestos is subject to strict safety controls.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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'Batman' hands suspect over to UK police

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A man dressed as Batman has brought a suspected burglar into a police station in northern England.

West Yorkshire Police said Monday that they do not know the identity of the man who appeared in “a full Batman outfit” and turned in a 27-year-old suspect to police in Bradford, England.

CCTV images released by police show a caped crusader — fully-clad with the comic hero’s boots, gloves and logo across his chest — standing alongside a man in a red hooded sweatshirt.

Police said the handover occurred on February 25 and the suspect will appear in court on March 8 charged with handling stolen goods and fraud-related offenses.

…read more
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China executes 4 foreigners over Mekong murders

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Chinese live television has shown four foreigners being led to their executions for the killings of 13 Chinese sailors, a throwback to the mass public execution rallies of past years.

State broadcaster CCTV showed live pictures of the four being led from their cells at a jail in the southwestern city of Kunming on Friday afternoon. They were then trussed with a rope binding their arms behind their backs and placed into court vans.

Accused ringleader Naw Kham and accomplices Hsang Kham, Yi Lai, and Zha Xiha were found guilty of the murder of 13 Chinese sailors in an Oct. 5, 2011, attack on the Mekong River. The four are of Myanmar, Thai, Laotian, and unknown nationality.

China has mostly abandoned the practice of parading condemned criminals before crowds.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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North Korea's defiant nuclear test could test ally China's patience

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North Korea‘s nuclear test Tuesday could push China to take a tougher stance against its longtime ally.

Beijing had earlier signaled a growing unhappiness with Pyongyang by agreeing to tightened U.N. sanctions after North Korea launched a rocket in December, surprising China watchers with its unusually tough line, which prompted harsh criticism from Pyongyang.

And while China isn’t expected to abandon its communist neighbor, it appears to be reassessing ties a year after new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took office. The question is for how long China, itself under new leader Xi Jinping, will continue to back North Korea‘s nettlesome policies.

“Perhaps Kim Jong Un thinks Xi Jinping will indulge him. Perhaps he’s in for a surprise,” said Richard Bush, Director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to faxed requests for comment on Tuesday, a public holiday in China marking the Lunar New Year.

China‘s state broadcaster reported on the earthquake that was the first indication that North Korea might have conducted a test. CCTV quoted residents living along the North Korean border in Jilin province as saying they felt the ground shaking for about one minute around the time the quake hit. North Korea later confirmed carrying out the test.

China is feeling spurned by Kim. Although China welcomed his ascension after his father died in December 2011 and maintained flows of aid and investment, Kim has ignored China‘s interests in a stable neighborhood with his two rocket launches and nuclear test plan. North Korea announced last month it would conduct a test to protest the toughened U.N. sanctions.

“At the start, China gave him a warm welcome and, I think, some aid. But we got no gratitude. They take us for granted,” said Jin Canrong, an international affairs expert at Renmin University in Beijing. “China tried to get closer to him, but it was not successful. China has become very disappointed.”

Yet Beijing also sees Pyongyang as a crucial buffer against U.S. troops based in South Korea and Japan. It also deeply fears a regime collapse could send swarms of refugees across its border. For those reasons, Beijing is unlikely to cut Pyongyang adrift, even if it pushes North Korea harder to end its nuclear provocations and reform its broken-down economy.

“China‘s not ready to turn the support to North Korea switch to `off’ at this stage,” said Roger Cavazos, a North Korea watcher at the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability.

North Korea‘s apparent reluctance to reform its economy ranks among Beijing‘s biggest frustrations, and the thorny nature of the bilateral relationship is on show along the frigid Yalu River, which forms part of the border Chinese troops crossed to rescue North Korean forces during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Last week, ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, dozens of North Korean trucks lined up at a customs checkpoint in the northeastern Chinese border city of Dandong, loaded with bags of rice, cooking oil, cheap electronics and other daily items …read more
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Fireworks cause deadly highway collapse in China

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An elevated portion of highway in central China collapsed on Friday after a truck loaded with fireworks for Lunar New Year celebrations exploded, killing at least nine people and sending vehicles plummeting about 100 feet to the ground.

The official Xinhua News Agency said nine people were confirmed dead and another 13 injured, including four in serious condition. It said the collapse smashed and buried at least 25 vehicles.

Earlier reports by China National Radio and some other outlets of 26 people killed were later removed from websites, without explanation.

An 260-foot stretch of the major east-west highway collapsed in Mianchi county in Henan province. It scattered blackened chunks of debris and shattered the windows of a nearby truck stop.

A truck driver interviewed on CCTV said he was only 20 meters (yards) away from the explosion.

“I heard a huge bang and immediately braked. I saw small fireballs falling down one by one,” said the unidentified truck driver, whose truck windshield was smashed from the impact of the blast.

“I then heard the sounds of clanking and exploding for five to six minutes,” the driver said. “My face was covered in dust.”

Photos posted online by Xinhua showed a stretch of elevated highway gone, with one truck’s back wheels perched at the edge of a shorn-off section of the highway. Other photos showed firefighters below spraying water on scorched hunks of concrete, wrecked trucks and flattened shipping containers.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the explosion. It occurred about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Luoyang, an ancient capital of China known for grottoes of Buddhist statues carved from limestone cliffs.

Fireworks are an enormously popular part of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities. To meet the demand, fireworks are made, shipped and stored in large quantities, sometimes in unsafe conditions.

A result is periodic catastrophe: In 2006, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, a storeroom of fireworks exploded at a temple fair in Henan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens more. In 2000, an unlicensed fireworks factory in southern China exploded, killing 33 people, including 13 primary and secondary school students working there.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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Turkey releases footage of NY woman before she disappeared

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Turkish police have released security camera footage of a New York City woman who has gone missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul.

Sarai Sierra, 33, has been missing since Jan. 21, when she was supposed to return to New York but was not on her flight back home. She arrived in Istanbul on Jan 7.

CCTV camera footage released Tuesday shows her eating alone at a shopping mall cafeteria near her hostel and walking around the mall. It was not immediately clear when the images were recorded.

The husband and brother of Sierra, a mother of two, were speaking Tuesday with Istanbul police who specialize in missing persons.

Before she went missing, Sierra told relatives she planned to take photographs at a tourist destination.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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CCTV footage released of missing US woman

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Turkish police have released security camera footage of a New York City woman who has gone missing while vacationing alone in Istanbul.

Sarai Sierra, 33, has been missing since Jan. 21, when she was supposed to return to New York but was not on her flight back home. She arrived in Istanbul on Jan 7.

CCTV camera footage released Tuesday shows her eating alone at a shopping mall cafeteria near her hostel and walking around the mall. It was not immediately clear when the images were recorded.

The husband and brother of Sierra, a mother of two, were speaking Tuesday with Istanbul police who specialize in missing persons.

Before she went missing, Sierra told relatives she planned to take photographs at a tourist destination.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

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Turkish police turn to camera footage in search for missing NY woman

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An official says Istanbul police are scanning CCTV security camera footage to trace a New York City woman who has gone missing while vacationing alone in the city.

Sarai Sierra, who is 33, arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 7. She was supposed to return to New York on Jan. 21 but was not on her flight home and has not been heard from since.

A police official said Monday authorities are reviewing security camera footage from around her hostel’s neighborhood. The official said no trace of her has been detected yet. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules.

Sierra’s husband and brother are traveling to Istanbul to help the search.

Before she went missing, Sierra told relatives she planned to take photographs at a tourist destination.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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Japanese envoy in Beijing to talk about islands

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China welcomed a Japanese envoy Tuesday for talks as both sides took steps to cool tensions over an island dispute that has raised fears of an armed confrontation.

In a sign of the importance Beijing attached to the visit, state media gave prominent coverage to the arrival of Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of a junior party in the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Yamaguchi, whose schedule has not been announced, is not a member of the government so his meetings in Beijing represent a type of quiet diplomacy that could allow for a franker exchange of views than official talks might.

Yamaguchi’s visit is part of China‘s “normal relations and contact with friendly Japanese political parties and organizations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters at a regularly scheduled briefing. “The dealings can help solve problems and move forward healthy relations,” Hong said.

Yamaguchi made no comments upon his arrival but told reporters in Tokyo he hoped his four-day trip would help ease months of friction over the uninhabited East China Sea islands that are controlled by Japan but claimed by China.

“It is important for us to have consultations to normalize our relationship,” Yamaguchi said.

However, he said Tokyo‘s assertion that the islands are Japanese territory is unchanged, rejecting Chinese demands that Japan acknowledge a dispute over their sovereignty. Both nations have called for dialogue recently, and Chinese state broadcaster CCTV led its noon news broadcast with a live report on Yamaguchi’s arrival.

Chinese media reported that Yamaguchi would deliver a letter from Abe addressed to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Tensions soared after Japan‘s government bought the uninhabited islands, known in Chinese as Diaoyu and Japanese as Senkaku, from their private Japanese owners in September. Trade and tourism between the countries have dropped off sharply and almost all bilateral meetings between their officials have been canceled.

The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and have a potential wealth of gas, oil and other undersea resources. For China, they also mark a strategic gateway to the Pacific Ocean and represent the deeply emotional legacy of Japan‘s conquest of Chinese territory beginning in 1895, as well as its brutal World War II occupation of much of the country.

Placed under U.S. control after World War II, the islands were returned to Japan in 1972, although Beijing says they have been Chinese territory for centuries. Taiwan also claims the islands.

Japan‘s nationalization of the islands sparked violent anti-Japanese rioting in China and prompted Beijing to dispatch marine surveillance ships to them on a regular basis to confront Japanese coast guard cutters assigned to protect the area.

That standoff has also moved to the skies. Earlier this month, both sides scrambled fighter jets to trail each other’s planes — underscoring the potential for accidents or miscalculations sparking a clash that could draw in Japan‘s treaty partner the United States.

Beijing has since ratcheted down its verbal attacks on Japan and last week hosted a visit by China-friendly former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for informal talks on the dispute.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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China authorities apologize over rapid cremations

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Authorities in southern China have apologized for rapidly cremating the remains of 46 landslide victims without first consulting relatives.

Reports on Tuesday said officials had hoped to avoid spreading disease and spare relatives the trauma of viewing the mangled remains. They also said the morgue in the remote part of Yunnan province had no refrigerator, requiring that remains be dealt with swiftly.

Residents who usually bury their dead after elaborate funerals protested the move, prompting the unusual apology that was reported by the official Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV.

Local Chinese authorities sometimes seize the bodies of accident victims to prevent emotional scenes and to simplify compensation procedures. The cause of Friday’s landslide amid steep, snow-dusted mountains remains under investigation, with some villagers blaming a local mining operation.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News