Pakistan Tests Nuclear Capable, Medium Range Missile

The Pakistani military says it has successfully test-fired a medium-range, nuclear capable ballistic missile.

A statement said the Shaheen-1 (Haft IV) missile was launched from an undisclosed location during a military exercise Friday.

It said the missile has a range of about 700 kilometers.

Speaking after the test, Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani dismissed fears that the country's nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of Islamic militants. He rejected the concern as "unrealistic" and said Pakistan's armed forces are "capable of safeguarding and securing nuclear assets against all categories of threat."

Pakistan's political turmoil and a rise in Islamic militant attacks across the country have sparked international concerns about the safety of its nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan and its arch rival India, routinely test various missiles.

The two countries are obliged to inform each other ahead of such tests under the terms of an agreement that aims to build confidence between the neighbors that have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Vegas resort casino fire fully contained

A fire charred the top of two of three wings of the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on Friday, causing no major injuries but forcing visitors and employees to evacuate, authorities said.

A bit over an hour after it began, the fire was fully contained, according to the fire departments in Las Vegas and Clark County.

Firefighters would remain at the hotel until "the fire is completely knocked out," said Clark County Fire Chief Steven M. Smith.

That would be at least through the afternoon, he said.

It was mainly an exterior fire, although there might have been slight damage to some rooms, he told CNN after a news conference.

The cause of the fire was unknown. Welders had been working on the roof.

No one was trapped, and there were no reports of major injuries, said Ed Cagalo of the Clark County Fire Department. The 32-floor building was completely evacuated.

The blaze was reported about 11 a.m.

Black smoke and flames poured from the fire, which roared through the building's exterior stucco and foam until firefighters were able to get on the roof and knock down the flames.

Most of the damage was to the top floor of the building. Falling debris ignited parts of an exterior ledge four floors below.

"High-rise fires are never easy to fight. As you can see with it being outside, our firefighters actually had to hang out the windows to try and cut the fire off. We directed our fire streams at an angle so we could make contact with the fire. ... It wasn't an easy fire at all," Smith said.

He urged motorists and pedestrians to avoid the area.

Earlier, the smoke was visible from more than a mile away, CNN producer Darian Billington said.

Billington said traffic was backed up on the Strip, and crowds of people were gathering to watch the blaze.

"It was horrible, there was fire everywhere," a hotel worker who watched the flames from a parking lot told CNN affiliate KVBC.

Four U.S. Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters with rescue crews were put on standby at Nellis Air Force Base during the afternoon to assist in any rescue efforts, but were not needed, a Nellis spokeswoman said.

The hotel has more than 3,000 rooms, including 211 penthouse suites, and conference rooms.

The more expensive rooms are on the top floors.

The hotel was built in 1996 for $344 million. It is in the heart of the resort corridor.

The Monte Carlo, a subsidiary of MGM Mirage, has about 3,000 employees.

In 1980, a fire across the street at the MGM Grand Hotel, now Ballys, killed 84 people and injured nearly 700.

Nevada tussle signals rancor for Dems

Hillary Rodham Clinton won her second straight victory in the contest for the Democratic nomination Saturday, winning a Nevada dogfight that seemed to set the stage for an increasingly rancorous campaign between her and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Her margin over Obama — Clinton led by just under 6 percentage points with about 98 percent of precincts reporting — was a convincing victory in a state whose most important player, the Culinary Workers union, endorsed Obama and pressed hard for victory.

Obama won the delegate count, however, earning 13 delegates, compared with 12 for Clinton, according to Associated Press projections. No national delegates were actually awarded Saturday; caucus-goers were technically choosing delegates to the county convention.

The vote was also a devastating crash for former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who had won substantial portions of the vote in Iowa and New Hampshire, but was headed toward winning under 4 percent of the delegates in Nevada.

The results reflected the key demographic realities that are coming to define the primary contest, according to early exit polls and observations. Exit polls showed 65 percent of Hispanic voters supported Clinton, while 83 percent of the state’s smaller number of African-American voters largely backed Obama.

That’s a trend that is likely to favor Obama in the next contest, on Jan. 26, in heavily African-American South Carolina and in some large states, like New York. But it could bode well for Clinton in other upcoming states with large Hispanic populations, notably California.

Clinton was also aided by a caucus in which more women — who heavily supported her — participated than men. More than 120,000 people took part, according to the state Democratic Party.

“I guess this is how the West was won," Clinton told cheering supporters after the caucus results became clear.

Obama campaign manager, David Plouffe, was far more pointed in a written statement that accused the Clinton campaign of "an entire week's worth of false, divisive attacks designed to mislead
caucus-goers and discredit the caucus itself."

The caucus fight began in earnest at a genteel debate in Las Vegas Tuesday at which Clinton and Obama both stepped back from the racially divisive politics of the New Hampshire battle and its aftermath.

But then, the two campaigns dove headlong into the mud. Clinton charged, without firm evidence, that the Culinary Workers union was intimidating its workers into supporting Obama.

Then, Obama appeared to call his recent words on racial harmony into question by tacitly sanctioning a Spanish-language radio advertisement aired by the Culinary Workers’ parent union, UNITE HERE.

“Hillary Clinton does not respect our people,” began the ad, which also said that Clinton “has no shame.”

Obama had attempted to use his life story to connect with Hispanic Nevadans, airing an ad that reminded viewers that his father came from Kenya and casting his message of hope in immigrant terms, as “the hope that brought you or your parents to this country.”

But as casino workers gathered at the Bellagio on the Las Vegas Strip to caucus, many immigrant voters wore Clinton buttons and carried Clinton signs.

"She's got more experience," said Reyna Wann, a cocktail waitress and union member who went with Clinton. "I love [Obama], but he can come back in eight years."

Wann, a member of the Culinary Workers, said she hadn’t experienced any of the intimidation of which the Clinton campaign had warned, and which several non-union workers said they saw at play. She also said she thought her union should have held an internal vote before its leadership chose Obama.

“She’ll have the support of her husband,” said Mexico-born Humberto Valencias, 48, who works in Bellagio’s guest services division. “Two brains are better than one.”

An Obama supporter at the Bellagio angrily blamed Clinton’s win on the fact that many women support her.

“If I was wearing a dress and a wig, maybe I’d be supporting her too,” said Anthony Edwards, a worker at MGM who said he thought a woman could not be elected in November.

Edwards flew from Nevada to Oklahoma Friday to continue campaigning, while Obama left the state Saturday for a rest in Illinois. Clinton, for her part, celebrated her victory at the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino, thanking workers for putting her over the top.

Inspired India end Australia's Test record bid

An amazingly entertaining game of cricket at the WACA proved the Yogi Berra adage: "It ain't over 'til it's over."
When it finally ended in India's favour, Australia's attempt to create a record of 17 consecutive victories had fallen 72 runs short. In years to come one line in the record book will never tell of the drama, joy and frustration that occurred over four pulsating days of cricket.

The most amazing thing about this match was that it ended in victory to India on the pitch where everyone thought they were least likely to win.

Nevertheless, India had the right man to do the trick; if you want a record-breaking run stopped "who you gonna call?" Not Ghostbusters, but V V S Laxman. The tall, elegant stroke-maker is a record-buster, having caressed his way to a match-turning 281 in Kolkata seven years ago and thereby halting Steve Waugh's team at 16 victories on the trot.

India's win on that occasion was a bolt from the blue, as Australia had enforced the follow-on, but that was but a blip on the Richter scale compared with the upset his classy second-innings 79 caused at the WACA.

Having equalled the record with a turbulent and controversial win at the SCG, Australia were expected to waltz to victory No 17 on the most over-hyped pitch in history. India were supposedly "doomed" on a surface that, according to the pre-match reports, was going to be as quick as Michael Schumacher's Ferrari and as bouncy as Marilyn Monroe's walk.

What transpired was an Australian side undone by some thoughtful swing bowling, just as they were in the 2005 Ashes series. However, Ricky Ponting's team are nothing if not gritty and on numerous occasions they managed to claw their way back into the game until Laxman finally put it out of their reach. Once Laxman had helped stretch the lead to 413, Ponting's team were destined to remain forever level with Waugh's side in the record books.

While Laxman again ruined the Australian party, an equally important contribution from Irfan Pathan was as unlikely before the game as an Indian victory in Perth.

As recently as the warm-up game in Canberra, Pathan was a talented and smart cricketer clinging by his fingernails to the lower reaches of the Eiger's North face having been in sight of the summit. Then, at the WACA, his swing suddenly returned and the odd delivery zipped through in the high 130s as wickets with the new ball boosted his confidence.

In India's second innings he strode to the wicket as a night-watchman and, after outlasting four illustrious partners, returned to the pavilion a bona fide top-order batsman. Suddenly the boy who was supposed to make Indians forget Kapil Dev was beginning to emerge from his funk.

There was also assistance from another impressive young fast bowler in Ishant Sharma. In the mould of West Indies giant Courtney Walsh with the way he hits a good length and attains extra bounce, he traumatised Ponting on the final morning. He swung the ball into the right-hander, had a couple of good lbw shouts turned down and eventually found the outside edge to produce a slip catch. Removing the Australian captain for the second time in the match was a deserved reward for the young bowler's persistence.

That dismissal swung the match dramatically in India's favour, but opposition captains tend to lose their marbles when Adam Gilchrist walks through the gate with a blade in his hand. Anil Kumble's field placings immediately became conservative and he was in danger of conceding the initiative.

Michael Clarke sensed an opportunity and went on the offensive, driving beautifully down the ground and through the offside. But in an inspired move Kumble called on Virender Sehwag, and his attacking off-spinners accounted for Gilchrist, bowled behind his legs, and then Brett Lee via bat and pad to silly mid-off. Sehwag is a good option as a change bowler because he always thinks wickets; nothing the ebullient right-hander does is conservative in thought and he made a huge difference to the attitude of the Indian team in Perth.

However, there was still one last twist to this match as Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark joined company with 160 needed. The futility of the situation didn't deter them and they crunched the ball to all parts. Sixes and fours flew off the bat as the deficit was quickly reduced and a wicket even fell off a no-ball.

However, the second new ball returned some sanity to the bowling and Pathan finally ended Clarke's assault. When Shaun Tait's off-stump was then uprooted it was over; the match and Australia's record run had come to an end at the most unlikely venue and at the hands of the most likely record-buster.

•?Ponting praised the Indian performance after the match, but dismissed suggestions that his team are on the slide.

"I was reading stuff like that in the paper - 'is the invincibility all over?' I wouldn't have thought so, but we'll see," Ponting said. "We'll go away and we'll work harder than anyone. Australian teams historically have been able to bounce back."

Social site Facebook buys Parakey

Social networking site Facebook has bought internet start-up, Parakey, run by two of the co-creators of the popular web browser, Mozilla Firefox.

Parakey is described as a platform that "bridges the gap between information on the web and the desktop".

As part of the deal, which is for an undisclosed sum, Mozilla Firefox founders Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt will help to develop the Facebook site.

A notice on Parakey's site says it hopes to makes consumers' lives easier.

"Computers are frustrating," the site says. "Creating documents, finding files, sharing information - why do everyday things still seem so tedious and counterintuitive?"

"Give your computer the bird," it concludes.

College favourite

Facebook was started in 2004 by then-undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg as a social site for fellow Harvard University students and later opened up to users of all ages.

Facebook, once largely confined to American colleges, has grown its audience by more than 500% in the last six months - making it more popular in Britain than in the US.

Facebook allows people to list their personal details online and communicate with other people through the website.

The site's appeal stems from the controls it gives users over who sees what personal details on each member's profile pages.

Firefox has been downloaded more than 300 million times by computer users worldwide and is the second most widely used web browser behind Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Parakey's founders see their browser operating system as a platform on which other applications could operate.

Facebook has recently decided to let hundreds of independent developers build software within the Facebook site, turning Facebook itself into a kind of operating system for internet users.

Facebook site faces fraud claim

Networking website Facebook is to face legal action on Wednesday in a suit brought by a rival site's founders.

Three founders of ConnectU say Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for the site while at Harvard.

Facebook has become a global phenomenon with about 31 million users, compared with ConnectU's 70,000.

A Federal case accuses Mr Zuckerberg of fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets, and asks for ConnectU to be given ownership of Facebook.

Last year, Facebook turned down a $1bn offer from Yahoo.

Facebook has asked a judge at a Boston district court to dismiss the case.

Copying claim

The ConnectU founders claim that while at college Mr Zuckerberg agreed to finish writing computer code for them, but that he stalled and eventually created Facebook using their ideas.

In court documents, Facebook's lawyers say that ConnectU's "broad brush allegations" had no evidence to support them.

"Each of them had different interests and activities," they said.

"Only one of them had an idea significant enough to build a great company. That one person was Mark Zuckerberg."

Like Facebook, ConnectU is designed to connect people online. Users create profiles and can post pictures and messages.

The legal action alleges that ConnectU founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narenda began developing a networking site in 2002.

They asked Mr Zuckerberg to help finish the code, which he agreed to, they claim.

"Such statements were false," the court documents allege.

"Zuckerberg never intended to provide the code and instead intended to breach his promise... and intended to steal the idea."

Facebook opens profiles to public

Popular social networking site Facebook has added a public-facing search function in a move which is likely to anger privacy advocates.

The function will initially allow anyone who is not registered with the site to search for a specific person.

More controversially, in a month's time, the feature will also allow people to track down Facebook members via search engines such as Google.

The firm said that the information being revealed is minimal.

Privacy erosion

The public search listing will show the thumbnail picture of a Facebook member from their profile page as well as links allowing people to interact with them.

But, in order to add someone as a friend or send them a message, the person will have to be registered with Facebook.

Users who want to restrict what information is available to the public or opt out of the feature altogether can change their privacy settings. They have a month to do so.

Despite assurances from Facebook, critics have expressed disappointment at the move.

"This move transforms Facebook from being a social network to being a quasi-White Pages of the web," commented technology writer Om Malik in his blog GigaOm.

Mr Malik, and others, are concerned about the data trail that people are routinely leaving behind them on social networking and other sites.

There are concerns that personal content will become aggregated for marketing or other purposes.

Security experts have pointed out the dangers of publicising your date of birth - one of the options in a Facebook profile - because of the way it has been traditionally used as a way of identifying bank customers.

Facebook began life as a way of keeping US college students in touch with each other. Devised by Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, the site now accounts for 1% of all net traffic and is the sixth most visited site in the US

The social networking site is thought to have about 39 million members. Numbers have jumped since the firm removed the need to have an academic e-mail address in September 2006.