Dawn News Group Pakistan

Dawn News was Pakistan's 24-hour Urdu news channel. Based in Karachi, the station is a subsidiary of Pakistan Herald Publications Limited (PHPL), Pakistan's largest English-language media group. The test transmission of the station occurred on May 25, 2007, and the channel went live on July 23, 2007. On May 15, 2010, Dawn News converted into an Urdu news channel after successful test transmission of four hours a day. The conversion is mainly due to its financial crisis and thin viewership in the country. Now Express 24/7replaced it as the Pakistan's only English news channel for a brief time, which was also then shut down by Express Media Group for financial reasons.

Dawn News' Test Transmission was launched by former President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. The complete launch of the channel coincided with the result of the Supreme Court case which cleared the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who had been suspended by General Musharraf. The channel was initially housed in Haroon House, the head-office of PHPL, but later moved to its current premises in West Wharf, Karachi.

The channel has an online stream available on its web site for foreign viewing.

History

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah launched the Dawn newspaper in the 1940s- it is the oldest English language newspaper in Pakistan.

The Dawn Media Network launched DawnNews, Pakistan’s first English language news and current affairs television channel, according to DawnNews they vow to "provide its viewers with a medium that is responsible, credible and balanced.

After a brief test transmission, the channel went live on July 23, 2007. Over past three years the channel has established its fame being the most credible voice in the murky pool of electronic media, in Pakistan.

Probably, the most talented and hardworking journalists of present time have been associated with the channel since the beginning. Some of them left to pursue their career in the same profession. Nonetheless, with superb hard-work and dedicated they converted the dream into a reality.

Keeping in view the public demand, DawnNews has decided to launch a separate Urdu news channel. But before launching the separate channel, it has started a three-hour Urdu transmission within its English channel’s airtime. The purpose is to get valuable feedback from the viewers. So far the feedback is tremendous.

DawnNews has broken a number of big stories. It was DawnNews which exclusively broadcast the footage of the assassin of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It was DawnNews that got official confirmation from Pakistan that lone surviving gunman of Mumbai terror attacks – Ajmal Kasab – was a Pakistani.

Besides, DawnNews has covered major events including Lal Masjid operation, lawyers’ movement, military operations in tribal areas and 2008 general elections. Most of the time, the channel beat its rivals despite limited resources.

Dawn News transmission is watched in all urban areas of Pakistan. It also has access to the rural population, wherever the cable reaches. Dawn News is in agreement with several satellite TV channels, which include BBC World, Sky News, ABC News and Al-Jazeera and can be watched in the US, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In U.K. it can be accessed through Sky cable at Channel 845.

Programs

• Khabrain
• News Night with Talat
• Mast Mornings with Maira
• Equinox
• A Taste of Fusion
• The First Blast
• No Reservations
• Sport Zone
• Maximum Masala
• Doosri Kahani
• Reporter
• Raid
• Mano ya Na Mano

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_News

President Obama to mark 50 years since King's 'Dream'

Martin Luther King Jr. waves from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Bells will ring on the anniversary of his "I Have a Dream" speech, in which he said: "Let freedom ring." — File Photo

Words from the first black US president and bell ringing around the world on Wednesday will mark 50 years to the minute that civil rights leader Martin Luther King ended his landmark “I have a dream” speech.

Capping a week long celebration of King's historic call for racial and economic justice, President Barack Obama will speak at the Lincoln Memorial, site of King's address on Aug. 28, 1963.

The “Let Freedom Ring and Call to Action” ceremony comes as almost half of Americans say much more needs to be done before the color-blind society King envisioned is realized.

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also will address the crowd at the ceremony, which includes bell-ringing at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), 50 years to the minute after King ended his clarion call of the civil rights movement with the words “let freedom ring.”

About 50 US communities or organizations have said they will ring bells. The Swiss city of Lutry and Tokyo are also taking part, said Atlanta's King Center, one of the event's organizers.

Other organizers include the National Action Network of civil rights leader Al Sharpton, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the National Council of Churches. The ceremony follows an interfaith service at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, organizers said.

Obama's address will wrap up more than a week of Washington events around the anniversary. They included a march on Saturday that drew thousands of people urging action on jobs, voting rights and gun violence.

King, a black clergyman and advocate of non-violence, was among six organizers of the 1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” where he made his address.

King's speech is credited with helping spur passage of sweeping civil rights laws. A white prison escapee assassinated the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1968.

Source: http://dawn.com/news/1038936/president-obama-to-mark-50-years-since-kings-dream-speech

Memories of Iraq delay Britain's plans for Syria strike

Prime Minister David Cameron's plans for an imminent military strike on Syria were thrown into disarray on Thursday after a protest by lawmakers warning him to heed the “lessons of Iraq”.

The prime minister was forced into an awkward position on Wednesday in the UK Parliament when members from the opposition Labour party and lawmakers in his own Conservative party said they wanted more evidence before voting for military action.

It was unclear how Britain’s internal political hesitancy regarding the strike would affect the plans of United States and France for an imminent strike.

The government published an opinion from one of its top advisers on Thursday, showing that it was legally entitled to attack Syria given the current circumstances.

It further stated that should the UN Security Council block action, Britain was still be permitted under international law to “alleviate the scale of humanitarian catastrophe in Syria”.

The intelligence dossier accompanying the publication stated that there was no doubt that chemical weapons had been used in the poison gas attack that killed hundreds last week.

However, the memory of the Iraq war effectively diluted support for the prime minister back home with regards to the proposed strike in Syria.

Almost a decade ago, Britain had helped the United States (US) to invade Iraq after asserting – wrongly, as it later turned out – that dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.

The country, already involved in war in Afghanistan, lost 179 troops in eight years of war after Iraq descended into savage sectarian conflict.

PUBLIC OPPOSITION

The potent memory, of Iraq, however, is reflected not only in party politics, but also in public opinion surveys.

YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm founded in the UK, published a poll on Thursday showing growing public opposition to the proposed strike in Syria.

According to the results, only 22 per cent of the British public favour the missile strike, while 51 per cent of the people oppose the proposition.

Opponents said Britain has neither the money nor the evidence to justify further military action in the Middle East.

Source: http://dawn.com/news/1039191/memories-of-iraq-delay-britains-plans-for-syria-strike

UN chief awaits Syria report as Assad vows to resist attack

US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he has yet to make a decision on hitting Syria over horrific attacks last week that activists say killed hundreds of people and threatened to draw the West into the brutal 29-month conflict.

A Western bombing blitz had appeared imminent earlier this week, but US allies were increasingly reluctant to act before hearing the results of a UN chemical weapons probe.

Ban said the UN experts – on a third day of inspections of alleged attack sites near Damascus – would leave Syria by Saturday and report to him immediately.

He appealed to divided international powers to work together to head off military action against Syria, where the UN says 100,000 people have been killed and several million made homeless since the conflict erupted in March 2011.

“Diplomacy should be given a chance ... peace (should) be given a chance,” Ban said.

With any US-led missile strike unlikely to have UN Security Council backing, key Damascus allies Russia and Iran again warned against any Western intervention, saying it could set off a wider regional conflict.

Assad himself declared: “Syria will defend itself in the face of any aggression,” and said any attack would result in “victory” for the Syrian people.

Source: http://dawn.com/news/1039196/un-chief-awaits-syria-report-as-assad-vows-to-resist-attack

Google Street View Driver Detained by Thai Villagers

If you were ever angry at Google for photographing your house and putting it up in Street View for all the world to see, learn that you are not alone. And then maybe send a nice gift basket to the people of Sa-eab village, northern Thailand.
About 20 Sa-eab residents stopped a Google Street View car and detained the driver, accusing him of being a government agent who was working for a controversial dam project.
The Thai villagers did not wait for the authorities to intervene and decided to take matters into their own hands. First they took the driver to a local office to interrogate him.
The man must have given the right answers, as the 20 Sa-eab residents then took him to a temple, where they asked him to swear on a Buddha statue that he was not spying on them on behalf of the dam project, according to Thai news website Prachatai.
Eventually, the villagers released the Google Street View driver and apologized both to him and to Google for the misunderstanding. They even apologized to the entire Thai nation and the world and explained that there had been many repeated cases of agents trying to survey the area in disguise.
Google responded by acknowledging the fact that any new project, including Street View, may encounter unexpected challenges and insisted that their mapping project fully respects Thai laws and only features images taken on public property.
Sa-eab, Phrae province, is located about 385 miles north of Bangkok and is known for its opposition to dam projects, both by environmental groups and by local villagers.
Thailand was the 35^th country in the world to have Google Street View available and in 2011, the local tourism authority actually partnered with Google for a joint initiative to promote tourism by displaying images of top attractions and streets in several major cities.

This is not the first time the Google Street View project has had problems. The project is aimed at mapping the world with the help of photographs taken from passing cars, but its technology also picks up Wi-Fi signals. UK authorities recently ordered Google to delete all personal data gathered that way or otherwise face a lawsuit.

Source: http://techbeat.com/2013/08/google-street-view-driver-detained-by-thai-villagers/

Telescope captures dramatic moment of starbirth

The glowing mass is called a Herbig-Haro object, 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Vela.

FLORIDA (AP): This is one baby picture you won t want to miss. The ALMA telescope in Chile has captured a close-up of the glowing material spewing from a newborn star. The stunning images show material streaming from the baby star at incredible speed, glowing as it plows into the surrounding gas and dust.

Astronomers say the illuminated jets are spewing out faster than ever measured before and are more energetic than previously thought. The glowing mass is called a Herbig-Haro object, named after U.S. and Mexican astronomers. This one is 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Vela. 

ALMA is an array of 66 antennas and is relatively new. It s located in one of the driest places on Earth, the Atacama desert.
 

Source: http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Technology/188653-Telescope-captures-dramatic-moment-of-starbirth

Palestinian hacker earns job offers

The stunt cost the 30-year-old Palestinian the bounty, but earned him praise and numerous job offer.

YATTA, West Bank (AP) - After discovering a privacy bug on Facebook, unemployed Palestinian programmer Khalil Shreateh said he just wanted to collect the traditional $500 bounty the social network giant offers to those who voluntarily expose its glitches.

But when Facebook ignored his first two reports, Shreateh took his message to the top and hacked into CEO Mark Zuckerberg s personal page to prove his point.

"Sorry for breaking your privacy," he wrote the Facebook founder, "I has no other choice to make after all the reports I sent to Facebook team ... as you can see I am not in your friend list and yet i can post to your timeline."

The stunt cost the 30-year-old Palestinian the bounty, but earned him praise and numerous job offers.

for being able to get to the boss of the world s most ubiquitous social network.

Shreateh, who lives near the West Bank city of Hebron and has been unable to find a job since graduating two years ago with a degree in information technology, told Facebook that he found a way that allowed anyone to post on anyone else s wall. "I told them that you have a vulnerability and you need to close it," he told The Associated Press. "I wasn t looking to be famous. I just wanted to make a point to Mark (Zuckerberg)."

In a message posted to the Hacker News, a user-driven security news site, Facebook software engineer Matthew Jones said the initial report was poorly worded, although he acknowledged that the company should have pressed for more information.

"As a few other commenters have pointed out, we get hundreds of reports every day," Jones wrote. "Many of our best reports come from people whose English isn t great though this can be challenging, it s something we work with just fine and we have paid out over $1 million to hundreds of reporters. However, many of the reports we get are nonsense or misguided, and even those ... provide some modicum of reproduction instructions."

Nevertheless, he said, "we should have pushed back asking for more details here."

He went on to say that Shreateh would not be paid from Facebook s bounty program because he d violated the company s terms of service namely by posting items to the Facebook pages of users he should not have had access to.

"The more important issue here is with how the bug was demonstrated using the accounts of real people without their permission. Exploiting bugs to impact real users is not acceptable behavior for a white hat," he said, using an industry term for ethical security experts.

Jones added that the bug was fixed Thursday. Facebook declined to comment beyond the post.

The bug and Facebook s response to it has become a talking point in information security circles, with many speculating that the Palestinian could have helped himself to thousands of dollars had he chosen to sell the information on the black market.

Shreateh said he was initially disappointed by the Facebook response but that after being inundated by job offers from all over the world he is pleased with how things worked out.

"I am looking for a good job to start a normal life like everybody," he said. "I am so proud to be the Palestinian who discovered that exploit in Facebook."

Source: http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Technology/188551-Palestinian-hacker-earns-job-offers