U.S. denies launching attack on presidential computers
The U.S. Embassy in Paris on Wednesday categorically denied that the U.S. government had launched a cyberattack to read files on computers in the Élysée Palace toward the end of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s term, as reported in Wednesday’s issue of L’Express, a weekly French magazine.
The magazine quoted an unnamed source as saying that a computer worm had been introduced into Élysée computers in May and suggesting that the worm was similar to “Flame,” a virus aimed at Iran, and presumed to be the work of the United States and Israel.
In a statement, the embassy said that the report was untrue and that the charge against Washington was based on “a bundle of assumptions.”
European Parliament votes to approve E.U. health official
The European Parliament on Wednesday approved Malta’s foreign minister, Tonio Borg, as the European Union’s health commissioner after a corruption scandal led to the resignation of the previous commissioner.
Mr. Borg’s nomination was approved in a vote of 386 to 281, with 28 abstentions, after he face criticism from leftist lawmakers over the possibility that his conservative and Roman Catholic views could affect his work as commissioner.
The previous commissioner, John Dalli, also from Malta, resigned on Oct. 16 after the European Union’s anti-fraud office accused him of knowing about an attempt at corruption involving tobacco laws. Mr. Borg is expected to be confirmed by the council of 27 member states in coming days. — (AP)
Irish police arrest 113 in sweeping drug raids
The police in Ireland said Wednesday that they had arrested 113 suspects in raids against drug dealers and seized five marijuana growing facilities in the nation’s biggest-ever crackdown on drug-trafficking gangs.
The police said most of those arrested during raids, carried out on 236 properties on Tuesday and Wednesday, were Chinese and Vietnamese citizens involved in growing, smuggling and selling marijuana in Ireland. Many are connected to Hong Kong’s biggest crime syndicate, Wo Shing Wo, and are being directed by gang chiefs in Britain, the police said.
Those arrested are expected to face charges including drug trafficking, robbery, burglary, arms possession and handling stolen goods. — (AP)
Priest is arrested in prison sex case
The Roman Catholic chaplain for one of Italy’s biggest prisons has been accused of demanding sexual favors from inmates in exchange for cigarettes and necessities like soap. The chaplain, the Rev. Alberto Barin, 51, who worked at the San Vittorio prison, in Milan, was arrested on Tuesday. — (REUTERS)
Bomb kills 3 in North Caucasus
A bomb killed two police officers and a civilian on Wednesday in Dagestan, a mostly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus, the police said. The officers were investigating the site of an earlier bomb blast. — (REUTERS)
Briefly: Europe http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif
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