MI6 hacks al-Qaida site and adds tasty recipes. British spies swap cupcake recipes into al-Qaida magazine. Readers of al-Qaida's "Inspire" magazine got a tasty surprise thanks to British intelligence operatives: recipes, courtesy of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," for mini cupcakes.
British spies reportedly hacked into the website of the English-language quarterly published by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula last year, swapping in the cupcake recipes to replace the bombmaking how-to guides set to appear in an article entitled "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."

Opposition attack injures Yemen's president. The president of Yemen been hurt in an attack on a mosque in his compound in the capital Sanaa, officials say, as fighting continues between the government and armed tribes.

Ali Abdullah Saleh was in hospital "in good health" and would "soon" speak publicly, officials said.

The PM and speaker of parliament were hurt and three guards killed.

Earlier troops shelled the home of the brother of the tribal leader whose supporters they are fighting.

Thousands meanwhile attended a funeral for 50 people killed in the violence, and there were huge demonstrations after Friday prayers.

In the southern city of Taiz, at least three members of the security forces and two protesters were killed in clashes, officials and doctors said.

It was not clear if the security forces were soldiers or police. One report said they had been killed by a rocket-propelled grenade.

A crackdown on protesters in Taiz on Sunday left more than 50 demonstrators dead.
The US has sent an envoy to the Gulf to discuss ways of stopping the violence, which has brought Yemen to the brink of civil war.

The White House condemned the recent bloodshed, including the attack on the presidential palace.

"Violence cannot resolve the issues that confront Yemen, and today's events cannot be a justification for a new round of fighting," spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

More than 350 people have been killed since the uprising started in January, but at least 135 of them have died in the past 10 days.

Western and regional powers have been urging Mr Saleh to sign a Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered deal that would see him hand over to his deputy in return for an amnesty from prosecution.

He has agreed to sign on several occasions, but then backed out.

GCC Secretary General Abdulattif al-Zayani called for an end to the fighting and said the council was ready to do all it could to help, Reuters news agency reported.
'Scratches'

There has been heavy fighting in the northern Sanaa district of Hassaba since last week between Mr Saleh's forces and tribesman loyal to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, the head of the powerful Hashid tribal confederation.

Read More:BBC

US files new charges against accused 9/11 planners. U.S. military prosecutors have filed new charges against the self-described mastermind of the September 11 attacks in 2001, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four alleged co-conspirators held at the Guantanamo detention camp.

The conspiracy and mass murder charges were expected to be announced later on Tuesday, according to sources involved in the war crimes tribunals at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

During President George W. Bush's administration, all five defendants had been charged in the tribunals with plotting the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

The charges, which carried the death penalty, were dropped while President Barack Obama's administration tried to move the trials into the federal civilian court in New York, near the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the attacks by hijacked aircraft.


Obama yielded to political opposition and announced in April that the prosecutions would be moved back to Guantanamo.

The official overseeing the Guantanamo tribunals, retired Vice Admiral Bruce MacDonald, must sign off on the charges before the case can proceed to trial.

In addition to Mohammed, an al Qaeda leader captured in Pakistan in 2003, the defendants include his nephew, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, as well as Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi.

Source:Yahoo

Egyptian military performs 'virginity tests'. Egypt women protesters forced to take 'virginity tests'. A leading rights group says the Egyptian army arrested, tortured and forced women to take "virginity tests" during protests earlier this month.

Amnesty International is calling on the authorities in Cairo to investigate.

It says at least 18 female protesters were arrested after army officers cleared Tahrir Square on 9 March.

It says they were then beaten, given electric shocks and strip searched.

The army denies the allegations.
'Utterly unacceptable'

A 20-year-old woman, Salwa Hosseini, told Amnesty she was forced to take off all her clothes by a female prison guard in a room with open doors and a window.
She said that male soldiers looked in and took photographs of her while she was naked.

The demonstrator said a man in a white coat later carried out a 'virginity check' on her and she was threatened with prostitution charges.

"Forcing women to have 'virginity tests' is utterly unacceptable. Its purpose is to degrade women because they are women," a spokesperson for Amnesty International said in a statement.

"Women and girls must be able to express their views on the future of Egypt without being detained, tortured, or subjected to profoundly degrading and discriminatory treatment."

Egypt's military has been criticised by activists for detaining people involved in the mass protests and abusing them.

The military denies using torture against civilians.

Last week, the head of the military police told an Egyptian newspaper that video footage had been fabricated by individuals wanting to create divisions between the people and the armed forces.

Human rights groups have also criticised Egypt's new rulers for continuing to put civilians on trial before military courts. They say these have a track record of unfair trials and severely restrict the right to appeal.

Reporting on the military in Egypt is difficult. A law passed in 1956 prevents writing about the army.

Source:BBC