Nuclear scientist loses his laptop
A LAPTOP belonging to an Iranian nuclear scientist and carrying confidential data about Iran's atomic facilities was stolen in Tehran.
"Foreign intelligence services" stole the computer, the Iranian Jahan News Web site said without giving further details.
Second pirate attack on US ship
SOMALI pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama yesterday for the second time in seven months, though private guards on board the US-flagged ship repelled the attack with gunfire and a high-decibel noise device. Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy SEAL sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a daring night-time attack.
Four suspected pirates attacked the ship again on Tuesday around 6.30am local time, firing on the ship with automatic weapons from about 300 yards, a statement from the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said.
Woman stoned to death for affair
A SOMALIAN woman was stoned to death and her boyfriend was given 100 lashes for having an affair. Judge Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman said the woman was killed in front of a crowd of 200 people near the town of Wajid.
Abdirahman said the 20-year-old woman had an affair with a 29-year-old unmarried man and gave birth to a stillborn child. The militants that control much of southern Somalia and have links to al-Qa'ida have instituted a conservative reading of Islam's Sharia law. The stoning death was at least the fourth for adultery in Somalia in the last year. It was the second time a woman has been killed.
Depp named sexiest man alive
'PIRATES of the Caribbean' star Johnny Depp was named 'People' magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive' yesterday, reclaiming a title he first won in 2003. Depp, whom 'People' described as "the king of cool with the killer cheekbone", succeeded 2008 winner Hugh Jackman. Other stars who have received the honour twice include George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
"Whether it's on screen in roles like Captain Jack Sparrow in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise or at home with his family on their private Bahamian island, the 46-year-old father of two with 25 years in show business still reigns as Hollywood's most irresistible iconoclast," the magazine said.
