China 25 March 2005

Journalist and cyber-dissident Zheng Yichun held on subversion charge.

eporters Without Borders today condemned the detention of dissident
jourlist Zheng Yichun, whose arrest on 3 December for writing articles
for publications and websites based abroad has only just emerged.

Zheng, who faces a heavy sentence on a charge of "subverting state power,"
is one of five dissident journalists to be arrested in the past four months,
along with Zhang Lin, Shi Tao, Yang Tianshui and Li Boguang.

Reporters Without Borders said it was outraged by Zheng's arrest and the
subversion charge, as his only crime was to express his views in articles
published abroad. "This wave of arrests of dissident journalists confirms
the virulence of the government's current campaign against liberal ideas
and intellectuals," the organization said, calling for Zheng's release.

Following his arrest by the Public Security Bureau on 3 December in
Yingkou in the northeastern province of Liaoning, Zheng was initially held
in a hotel. He was transferred to Panjin's No.1 prison, in the same province,
on 20 December. His lawyer, Li Ming-Chang, has been able to see him since
his arrest.

His family was notified of the subversion charge by the Yingkou prosecutor's
office on 31 December. Relatives were warned that there would be reprisals
if they informed the press or human rights organizations about his arrest.
They only decided to talk about after his arrest was reported in a Yingkou
daily newspaper on 24 February.

The Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) has learned that the prosecutor's
office is citing 63 of Zheng's articles as evidence for the charges against him.
They were among 300 articles which the police confiscated from his home.

Aged 48 and a member for the Korean minority, Zheng has had four collections
of poems published in addition to some 200 political essays. Dozens of his
articles have recently been published in newspapers such as Da Ji Yuan
(Epoch Times) and websites such as Boxun and Min Zhu Lun Tan
(Democratic Forum), which are all based abroad. Prior to his arrest,
Zheng was also an English teacher at Liaoning university.

oing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful

Things took the top overall blog prize.

BBC NEWS: The prize for the best British

blog and the lifetime achievement award

went to plasticBag.org, a site dedicated

to musings about people and new media.

The winners from 30 categories were

announced at the SXSW Interactive

Festival in Texas, US.

Boing Boing is written by Cory Doctorow,

Xeni Jardin, Mark Frauenfelder, and

David Pescovitz, and started life five years

ago as a paper-based magazine.

"We honestly didn't expect this, and we are deeply moved and grateful," Boing Boing's

Xeni Jardin said on the site.

"There were many other deserving blogs up for awards, backed by talented folks who

work very hard, and we raise our collective pirate-eye-patches in their honour."

Blogs have been highlighted as a growing trend amongst net users over the

last 18 months.

Most are easy and free to set up, require little technical knowledge. Many are blurring

the line between journalism and online commentary.

Gossip and politics

Gawker Media, a blog publishing house, and Dooce, written by one of the first people

to be fired for writing a blog, dominated the annual awards, picking up four prizes each.

Heather Armstrong, a web designer, gained notoriety when she was fired from her job

for what she had written on her blog about her workplace and colleagues.

She helped coin the phrase "dooced", which means to be sacked because of a weblog's

content.

Her site ended the night as the best US, most humorous, best taglined, and

best-written blog.

Gawker Media, which runs several

high-profile blog sites, won best

entertainment blog for Defamer,

a gossip site.

It also picked up the award for best

technology blog, which was handed

to Gizmodo. Gawker's Wonkette

blog was also named best political blog.

The site rewarded for its "community"

efforts was technology blog Slashdot.

Flick, the photo sharing and community

site which lets people upload, tag, share and publish their images to blogs, won

recognition for the best "meme" - a "replicating idea that spread about weblogs".

The organiser of the Bloggies, Nikolai Nolan, said there had been a lot more new finalists

this year. Several entries reflected specific news events, like the Asian tsunami.

naming "blog" word of 2004.

Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks more than seven million blogs and says that

more than 12,000 are added daily.

But a recent Gallup survey revealed that only one in four Americans were either very

familiar or somewhat familiar with blogs.

More than half, 56%, said they had no knowledge of them. Among internet users, only

32% said they were very or somewhat familiar with them.
Blogs in the annual Bloggies are chosen and voted for by the public.

amsung Electronics Co. Ltd. unveiled the world's first mobile phone

with a powerful 7-megapixel camera on Wednesday, providing a potential

competitive threat to manufacturers of digital cameras.

Samsung has been stepping up development of increasingly sophisticated

phones for high-end users looking to access games, music and movies on

their handsets. It launched the world's first 5-megapixel phone in October.

But while top digital camera makers such as Japan's Canon Inc. and

Sony Corp. are likely to see the model as a new threat, its popularity may

depend on how much of an improvement the camera can deliver over

existing units.
There is a growing consensus among consumers that 3 or 4 megapixels,

the measure of how many million picture elements are captured in a digital

snapshot, are enough for a decent shot.Some of the best-selling digital

cameras feature 4 or 5 megapixels.

The new phone, which also has an MP3 player and business card reader,

would go on sale as early as the first half, though a price had yet to be set,

Samsung said in a statement.Samsung aims to sell 100 million mobile phones

this year, up 16 percent from 86 million sold last year.

The SCH-V770 phone will make its international debut at CeBIT, the world's

biggest tech and telecoms trade show, in Hanover, Germany on Thursday.

Shares in Samsung, Asia's most valuable technology company with a market

value of $81 billion, ended down 0.4 percent at 500,000 won, versus a 0.85

percent rise in the broader market.

Authorized by Sharon:
Israel Plans To Hit Natanz Plant

ONDON, March 13--Israel has drawn up plans for a combined air

and ground attack on Iranian nuclear installations if diplomacy fails

to halt Tehran's atomic program, London's Sunday Times said.

The newspaper said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and

his inner cabinet had given "initial authorization" for a unilateral

attack on Iran at a private meeting last month, Reuters reported.

US officials have indicated they would not stand in Israel's way if

international diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear projects fail,

the paper said.

Tehran, which does not recognize the Jewish state, says its nuclear

activities are aimed only at electricity generation but Washington and

the European Union suspect Iran could use its program to make atomic

bombs.

The Sunday Times said Israeli tactics included raids by elite commando

units and air strikes by F-15 jets using bunker-busting bombs to

penetrate underground facilities.

It said Israeli forces had been simulating attacks on a mock-up of

Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant in the last few months.

Israel, which says Iran is very close to being able to make a nuclear

bomb, played down the report.

Asked if there was a possibility that Israel could attack Iranian nuclear

installations, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said: "I don't think so."Israel

is believed to be the only country in the region with nuclear weapons,

though it has not confirmed or denied their existence.Israeli warplanes

bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in a daring raid in 1981 to prevent

it from making atomic bombs.Tehran says it is prepared to confront any

threats and that it would protect its nuclear sites.

"We will defend our nuclear sites with all our strength and we are ready

to ward off any possible aggression," Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani

told the semi-official ISNA students news agency on Saturday.

More...

ICHITA, Kan. -- From the day the news

broke of BTK's existence more than 30 years ago,

the media have played a key role in the investigation.

Journalists passed on communications from the serial killer

to authorities, often honoring police requests to suppress

information. They served as a mouthpiece for BTK.

Now that a suspect has been charged, some of those same journalists

are examining the choices they made.

"I have regrets for holding things back," said Hurst Laviana, a

staff writer at The Wichita Eagle newspaper. His story about

the anniversary of the killings has been cited as the reason

the killer resurfaced after a quarter-century of silence.

BTK stands for bind, torture, kill.

"I wonder now whether we did the right thing, of editing the

evidence," Laviana said. "Would the police have been able

to find a suspect sooner? Did we do the public a disservice?"

This week, the Eagle and KAKE-TV, a local ABC affiliate, disclosed

communications they had kept hidden. The evidence the killer

sent to news outlets included a doll with a bag over its head and

its hands tied behind its back, postcards that seemed to refer

to packages from the killer, and a puzzle filled with clues

to his identity.

See more from Chicago Tribune here...

See Slideshow and all about BTK from YAHOO!...

he French government has violated all human rights conventions

by banning the Iranian television network Sahar-1 from broadcasting

in France, the director of the Iraq Information Dissemination Center,

Nazar Heydar, said on Monday.

The boxing drama was named best picture and
Eastwood pipped Scorsese to best director,
while its stars Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman won acting awards.




The Aviator took five prizes including best

supporting actress for Cate Blanchett.

The biopic of Howard Hughes led

the nominations with 11.

Jamie Foxx picked up best actor for playing

soul star Ray Charles in Ray.

Many expected this to be Scorsese's year -

but he was unsuccessful in the best director

category for the fifth time in his career.
He has never won despite being nominated

for such films as Raging Bull and Goodfellas.

Instead, Eastwood took his second Oscar for

best director after winning for Unforgiven

in 1993.
"It was a wonderful adventure," Eastwood

said. "To make a picture in 37 days, it takes

a well oiled machine. I am lucky to be here
and lucky to be still working. I've got a lot

of stuff to do yet."


Hilary Swank picked up her second best

actress Oscar for playing a female boxer in

Million Dollar Baby, beating stars including

Annette Bening, Kate Winslet and

Imelda Staunton.
"I don't know what I did in this life to deserve

this," she told the audience. "I'm just a girl

from a trailer park who had a dream."

Morgan Freeman beat actors including

Clive Owen, Jamie Foxx and Alan Alda to

the prize for best supporting actor.

He thanked Eastwood and described

the film as "a labour of love".

This was the fourth nomination of his

career but his first win. Backstage, he said:

"A lot of people say you're due - maybe you

are, maybe you aren't - it's an accolade."

Million Dollar Baby's success was the night's

biggest surprise after The Aviator seemed to

have the advantage until
the end of the ceremony.

Cate Blanchett, who won for playing late

screen legend Katharine Hepburn in

The Aviator, said her award was "an

indescribable surprise and honour".
Of Hepburn, she said: "The longevity of

her career is inspiring to everyone."
Blanchett also paid tribute to the film's

director Martin Scorsese, telling him:

"I hope my son will marry your daughter."

The Aviator's other awards came for

cinematography, film editing, art direction

and costume design.

And Jamie Foxx, who had two nominations

this year, paid tribute to the "beautiful legacy"

of soul legend Ray Charles, who died last year,

and thanked director Taylor Hackford.





"You took a chance, man," he said. "That love

for Ray Charles was deep down in the earth

somewhere and you opened it up.
"Everybody's drowning in this love. Thank you

for taking a chance and thank you for waiting

15 years to get me to do it."
He broke down in tears when speaking about

being whipped by his grandmother, whom he

described as his first acting teacher, when he

was young.

In other awards, cartoon hit

The Incredibles won best

animated feature and best

sound editing.

Bittersweet comedy Sideways

won best adapted screenplay

while the original screenplay

prize went toEternal Sunshine

of the Spotless Mind.

Born into Brothels, about

the children of

prostitutes in Calcutta, was

named best documentary,

The Sea Inside was named

best foreign language film

and Finding Neverland got

the accolade for

best musical score.

Spider-Man 2 triumphed in

the visual effects category,

Ray won best sound mixing

and Lemony Snicket's A

Series of Unfortunate

Events picked up

best make-up.

Former British TV presenter

Andrea Arnold, who hosted

children's shows Motormouth

and Number 73 in the 1980s,

won best short film

for Wasp.

Comedian Chris Rock, who

hosted the ceremonyfor the

first time, received a standing

ovation before getting the

show under way.