March 13, 2007

EXCLUSIVE: MySpace News Pics. Leaked screenshots from Fox Interactive Media reveal the face of MySpace's new Digg-style news site. [Wired News: Top Stories] 1:33:21 PM

A Canadian soldier awarded a Medal of Military Valour for braving enemy fire in Afghanistan is angry after he says was jumped from behind and taunted by four men who beat him up in a Morrisburg [eastern Ontario] bar on the weekend. Master Cpl.Collin Fitzgerald, who was awarded a Medal of Valour for heroic actions in Afghanistan by Governor-General Michalle Jean on Feb. 19, had his foot broken in three places and needed 10 stitches to close a cut above his right eye. The 27-year-old soldier also suffered a broken nose and two black eyes in the attack, which occurred after midnight Saturday morning. Master Cpl. Fitzgerald said Monday he had only been in the bar about 20 minutes when he was struck from behind. The attack did get front page coverage in the Ottawa Citizen. However no story in the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star or on the CBC and CTV websites.  Canada.com does have it. 6:44:27 AM

Despite the 'boycott' of the Hamas-led government aid to the 'Palestinians' actually increased last year. In the 14 months since Hamas won elections, Palestinian finances have descended into such chaos that there is now no way to confirm whether aid is going to its stated purpose, according to Salam Fayyad, 54, who is poised to start his second stint as treasury chief once the rival Hamas and Fatah factions finalise a "unity" government. An estimated £362.5 million has flowed into Palestinian government coffers from abroad since the election that brought Hamas to power and ushered in a period of internal conflict that came close to all-out civil war. The European Union alone provided £59.5 million last year and sent a far greater sum directly to hospitals, power generation projects and to families in need. Now, Palestinian Authority spending is out of control, salaries are being paid to workers who never turn up, and nobody can track where the money is going, according to Mr Fayyad. There was no way to be certain that aid was being used as intended, he admitted. "Please write this: no one can give donors that assurance. Why? Because the system is in a state of total disrepair."   6:33:56 AM