North Korea, amid global warnings and hard-hitting criticism, launched a rocket from the western coast, showing its might and following what it had pronounced a few days earlier.

As reported earlier, North Korea was preparing to launch a missile, and recently Pyongyang turned that declaration into reality by launching a missile into orbit. This rattling-down action was exercised when North Korea launched a rocket named “Unha” from Sohae launch pad located in the North West of Pyongyang.

According to the BBC, “The launch of the second version of our Kwangmyongsong-3 (Unha-3) satellite from the Sohae Space Centre … on December 12 was successful” the state news agency KCNA said. “The Satellite has entered the orbit as planned.”

North Korean state media termed the launch as a “ground-breaking” mission that met the “last instructions” of Pyongyang’s late leader.

According to the Guardian, North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), said “ the three-stage Unha rocket had taken its expected southerly course, with its first stage falling into the Yellow Sea west of South Korea and the second landing in the sea east of the Philippines.”

According to Zee News “The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday condemned North Korea for launching a long-range rocket in defiance of UN resolutions.”

North Korea is currently banned from ballistic missile testing as per the UN resolution that was passed in the year 2009 following a second nuclear test. Criticism started flowing in from all corners of the globe over North Korean action that strongly ignored UN Resolutions. Furthermore, it can be said it’s an act that gathered huge condemnation and attention since almost all neighboring countries were displeased with it.

U.S Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said “No matter how the North Koreans choose to describe the launch it violates two council resolutions and shows that country is determined to pursue its ballistic missile program without regard for its international obligations.”

Britain’s foreign secretary William Hague said “I strongly condemn the satellite launch today. The UK government would summon the North Korean ambassador in London,” he added, “This provocative act will increase tension in the region. I deplore the fact that (North Korea) has chosen to prioritize this launch over improving the livelihoods of its people.”

There has been a war of accusations and defiance between North Korea and the world at large over the country’s ambitions of nuclear programs and ballistic missile technology over many years.

Following the launch, a statement was issued by UN Secretary-General that reads “The Secretary General has been urging the leadership in Pyongyang not to carry out such a launch and instead to build confidence with its neighbours while taking steps to improve the lives of its people.” It further said “the Secretary-General is concerned about the negative consequences that this provocative act may have on peace and stability in the region.”

The North Korean official KCNA news agency said that Foreign ministry spokesman expressed views like this: “No matter what others say, we will continue to launch satellites and thus actively contribute to the economic construction and improvement of people’s living standard.”

On the contrary there has been a growing reluctance by North Korea over the international community. Its objections finally surfaced with the launch of the rocket.

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The American multinational corporation Apple, has posted a written apology on several British papers saying, “Samsung Electronics did not copy the design of Apple’s product.”

The written apology by Apple was posted on Financial Times on November 1 and on the Daily Mail and the Guardian on November 2. A British court made the decision that Galaxy Tab, Samsung’s tablet PC, did not infringe the patent of the design of Apple’s iPad.

In the papers, Apple introduced the sentencing by a British court and said, “A British court has reached a verdict that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9, and Tab 7.7 did not infringe the patent of the design of Apple’s iPad, and the decision will be applied to all EU nations as well.”

The British courts already made this decision last July, ordering Apple to release official statement in the British papers to let people know the court’s decision.

Therefore, Apple posted an official statement on its British website on October 25, saying that Samsung did not infringe the patent of Apple. However, its official statement included controversial sentences such as, “The design of Galaxy Tab is not cool enough to differentiate it from iPad,” or “Some nations like Germany or the United States has admitted Samsung’s infringement.”

After Apple’s official statement was released, the British court ordered Apple to delete its statement in 24 hours and to release new statement by November 3, saying that Apple’s official statement was “not true and not correct.”

Over the court’s decision, Apple said that it would take at least two weeks to release a new statement, but the court did not admit Apple’s compliant.

The court also added, “The size of font should be 11 when Apple releases a new statement.” Apple’s original statement on its British website was too small to read and located down on the left.

The court warned that it can send some Apple’s executives such as Tim Cook, a CEO of Apple, Jonathan Ive, a chief designer at Apple, or Al Gore, the former U.S. vice president and a current member of board of directors at Apple, to jail, or it can confiscate their properties if Apple does not follow the decision of court properly this time. The court added that Apple is not allowed to appeal over this issue, and Apple should bear all costs that Samsung has spent for the legal dispute with Apple.

Meanwhile, it is expected that Apple will post more written apologies on other British media such as Mobile Magazine or T3 Magazine.

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Julian Assange’s worst nightmare has finally come true. According to the London Police Station, Julian Assange has received a letter to report to London’s Belgravia police station this coming Friday at 11:30 p.m. Sam Jones, a reporter for ‘The Guardian,’ reported, “Assange has been seeking political asylum (where an individual seeks refuge in another country after not feeling safe in their own country, and if the country in which they are seeking refuge, approves of them being there) inside Ecuador’s embassy in London since last week” as he tries to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning about alleged sex offenses.”

For extradition cases, being court ordered via letter to attend a court hearing is considered the first step of the extraditing process. Assange is facing court orders to be extradited back to Sweden after he was found of accusations of raping a woman and molesting another while attending a lecture in Stockholm back in August of 2010.

Assange, the Wikileaks website founder, “published a mass of leaked diplomatic cables that embarrassed governments and international businesses, denies all allegations, saying the sex was consensual and the allegations against him are politically motivated,” according to The Guardian.

As of recently, a letter has been signed by leading political figures in the United States including that of Michael Moore, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky and Danny Glover. In addition to the letter that was sent to the embassy in Ecuador, a petition of over 4,000 American signatures arrived there as well, in hopes of Ecuadorian President, Rafael Correa approving Assange’s political asylum to stay in Ecuador.

According to Reporter Sam Jones, “The letter, which has been posted online, states that its signatories believe Assange has good reason to fear extradition from the UK to Sweden, “as there is a strong likelihood that once in Sweden, he would be imprisoned, and then likely extradited to the United States.”

If Assange is extradited to the United States, and is found guilty of his allegations, he will face the death penalty, according to the Espionage Act.

One of the individuals who signed the petition also wrote a letter to President Correa stating, “Because this is a clear case of an attack on press freedom and on the public’s right to know important truths about US foreign policy, and because the threat to his health and wellbeing is serious, we urge you to grant Mr Assange political asylum.”

Thus far, Assange has not received any charges from the country of Sweden.

Image Courtesy of  acidpolly

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To many, a person’s reputation is everything. People have gossiped since the beginning of time. Most claim to hate gossiping, yet, according to Arina’s Self Help Blog, “66% of all human communication is gossip.” And with the rapid climb of gossip blogs, reputations are being tarnished or even completely ruined. People claim to hate it but love doing it. The following is a list of some of the worst gossip blogs on the internet, whether the stories are true or not, people love to read them and pass the word along to others.

Coming in first place, and no surprise, is the website of Perez Hilton:

PerezHilton.com has commonly been referred to as “Hollywood’s most hated website. The site was created in 2009 by author Mario Lavandeira. According to ‘The Guardian: World’s Most Powerful Blogs,’ “Mario is famous for scrawling rude things (typically doodles about drug use) over pap photos and outing closeted stars. On the day of Lindsay Lohan’s arrest for drink-driving, he posted 60 updates.” The worst part? “Eight million readers logged on to get the nitty gritty details of Lohan”-at a time when she was at her worst. 

Hilton lives for gossip and rarely, if ever, has anything positive to say about anyone in the Hollywood spotlight. Hilton has also had a reality show on VH1. Celebrities are not happy about the things he has to say and are retaliating. Also, according the ‘The Guardian,’ “Fergie from the ‘Black Eyed Peas’ alluded to him in a song, and Avril Lavigne phoned, asking him to stop writing about her after he repeatedly blogged about her lack of talent and her freakishly long arm.”

Coming in second place on our Worst Gossip Blog list is TMZ:

TMZ was launched in 2005 by AOL and has kept going with the most up to date gossip news with the help of approximately 20 writers. TMZ prides itself on being a relentless celebrity gossip site-whether the stories written are fact or fiction. Pulling in an estimated 1.6 million readers a month, ‘The Guardian’ deems “celeb activity as mundane as stars walking to their cars worthy of a video post.” In fact, “it was the first to break Alec Baldwin’s now infamous ‘rude little pig’ voicemail last April, for instance. TMZ prides itself on being close to the action, so close, in fact, a TMZ photographer had his foot run over by Britney Spears mid-meltdown. They auctioned the tyre-tracked sock on eBay in aid of US charity, the Children’s Defense Fund last autumn.” Now, here is a celebrity that was having a very hard time in her life and they are auctioning off a sock on eBay that Spears touched? It’s sad.

In third place on our Worst Gossip List we have Valleywag:

Valleywag is a Media blog site that revolves around the gossip of Silicon Valley personalities. The site was created in February of 2006 by Editor Nick Douglas, and is now run by Ryan Tate. According to the site, “it was the first to break some stories, such as the leaking of a Gene Simmons sex tape.” Still, this site gets worse. This site also broadcasts rumors and untrue gossip about people that are not even in the public eye. For example, according to the New York Times, “a college intern who falsely called in sick to work and had it publicized across the Internet by Valleywag.”

These sites are making serious money by destroying reputations. If it weren’t for the public’s attraction to gossip, these sites wouldn’t even be functioning. So what is it about gossip that is so appealing? According to Arina’s Self Help Blog, the number one reason people gossip is it acts as a bonding mechanism, “It is really simple. When two people discuss a third person, it makes them feel closer. Almost like they have committed a little crime together and now they have a secret of their own that they do not want anyone else to discover. Gossiping makes us feel ‘part of a closed club,’ by creating a strange feeling of mutual trust and bonding.” However, something for all of us to consider is this: “Do you really want to bond THAT way? Because a person who is gossiping WITH you, will most likely gossip ABOUT you the second you leave.”

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The sixth edition of the International Journalism Festival (IJF) in Italy has just started. For five days, from April 25 to 29, the city of Perugia will become “the capital of journalism” hosting journalists, bloggers and media organizations from all over the world, with over 200 volunteers and thousands of guests coming from every corner of Italy and from abroad.

More than 500 speakers, 250 accredited journalists, 200 free entry events, not to mention workshops, exhibitions, documentaries, awards;  the International Journalism Festival is a goldmine for enthusiasts of media and communications, and for those interested in and concerned about the future of journalism, freedom of speech and the right to information.

The issues to be discussed are plentiful, from journalism ethics to journalist activism, from civic media and citizen journalism to democracy, from the use of mobile phones and videocameras for reporting to economic sustainability, from hacking to social networking, and much more. A rich and varied program based on participation, discussion, free exchange of ideas, confrontation between experts and citizens, professionals and students, researchers and users.

The International Journalism Festival is a five day journey into the world of media and journalism, a look into the mass media of tomorrow, strategies, tools, and platforms of reporting and into the endless possibilities of civic engagement offered by new media and social networks.

Among the guests of the IJF 2012 are:

• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson
• Aron Pilhofer, New York Times
• Robert Philomé, France 24
• Simon Rogers, The Guardian
• Dan Nguyen, Propublica
• David Aaronovitch, The Times
• Adam Baker, Blottr
• Tony Curzon Price, openDemocracy.net
• Clive Edwards, BBC
• Ibrahim Hamdan, Al Jazeera
• Hada Messia, CNN
• Riccardo Noury, Amnesty International Italy
• Mohamed Ali Zakaria, photo-reporter
• Wolfgang Blau, Zeit Online
•  Ali al-Bouazizi, political activist
•  Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks
• Martin Dawes,  UNICEF
• Herman Burt, Storify & Hacks/Hackers,
• Mark Johnson, The Economist
• Per Mikael Jensen, Metro International

For the complete list of speakers please visit http://www.journalismfestival.com/speaker-list/2012.

Founded in 2006 by Arianna Ciccone and Christopher Potter with the aim “to set up an event which would break the mould” and to create “an opportunity for you to engage with leading journalists from all over the world”, the IJF is an informal and accessible festival open to everybody completely free of charge. A chance to discuss a wide range of current interest topics, to aggregate and involve a broad variety of media organizations, journalists, aspiring journalists, experts, and all those curious persons interested in media and its role in society.

Located right in the heart of Italy, Perugia is a beautiful medieval city of Etruscan origins and an artistic center situated on a hilltop, with a reputation for fine cuisine, beautiful landscapes and rich history. The Umbria’s capital is also famous for its universities, University of Perugia and University of Foreigners, which host more than 40,000 students every year. The perfect perfect place to enjoy food, arts, landscapes and, why not journalism.

For more information on the International Journalism Festival visit www.journalismfestival.com.

To see the whole program www.journalismfestival.com/programme/2012

For updates you can follow IJF on Facebook and Twitter and if you want to watch IFJ events from the web, go to webtv.festivaldelgiornalismo.com/

Image Courtesy of   International Journalism Festival

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