China claims thousands of cybercriminal arrests

A woman views the Chinese social media website Weibo at a cafe in Beijing on April 2, 2012.

(Credit: Getty Images)

(CBS News) There are estimated to be more Chinese people using the Internet right now than there are inhabitants of the North American continent, so the possibilities for cybercriminals in the country are profuse. Additionally, in China, there is almost certainly a longer-than-average list of online activities considered to be criminal, as the Communist government there considers speech against it to be a serious, punishable crime.
So when state media reports, as it did Wednesday, that 10,000 alleged cybercriminals have been arrested, the reasons for which they have been arrested must be taken with a grain of salt.
The Xinhua news agency wrote: "Chinese police have busted more than 600 criminal gangs for Internet-based crimes such as spreading lewd content, arms dealing and illegally collecting citizens' personal information since a special campaign was launched in March."
In addition to the detained suspects and busted gangs, Xinhua wrote: "3.2 million 'harmful' online messages had been deleted."
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China's Internet censored, but not silent For its part, the government admitted in a statement that there was only so much they could do against the problem: "Although illegal and harmful information on the Internet has been reduced sharply through intensified crackdowns, fraudulent messages are still seen occasionally ... and some telecom service providers are not strict enough when managing websites."
The state media report on the crackdown dovetails with local reports of Internet crackdowns. The BBC reports 5,007 people suspected cybercriminals were arrested in Beijing recently, and 263 internet cafes were closed as part of the city's efforts to "protect the physical and mental health of young people."
The chief of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, Fu Zhenghua, said users faced being severely punished if they "attacked" the country's leaders online, the BBC reports.
"It's increasingly difficult for the authorities to control what people are saying bearing in mind the rise of 'netizens' - individuals sharing their opinions over the internet," Oliver Barron, from the investment bank NSBO, told the BBC. "People have felt that they could speak out because of the anonymity the net offered, which is why the government is now cracking down on this, demanding that people register their accounts with their real names."

Raul Castro says Cuba is ready sit down with U.S.

Cuban President Raul Castro (C) salutes, on April 16, 2011, in Havana, during the military parade to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs and the beginning of the Cuban Communist Party 6th Congress. (Getty Images)

(CBS/AP) HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro said Thursday that his government is willing to mend fences with bitter Cold War foe the United States and sit down to discuss anything, as long as it is a conversation between equals.

At the end of a Revolution Day ceremony marking the 59th anniversary of a failed uprising against a military barracks, Castro grabbed the microphone for apparently impromptu remarks. He echoed previous statements that no topic is off-limits, including U.S. concerns about democracy, freedom of the press and human rights on the island, as long as it is a conversation between equals.

"Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels," Castro said. "If they want to talk, we will talk."

Washington would have to be prepared to hear Cuba's own complaints about the treatment of those issues in the United States and its European allies, he added.

"We are nobody's colony, nobody's puppet," Castro said.

Washington and Havana have not had diplomatic relations for five decades.

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The 50-year-old U.S. embargo outlaws nearly all trade and travel to the island, and Washington insists Cuba must institute democratic reforms and improve human rights before it can be lifted.

CBS News' Portia Siegelbaum reports Castro addressed that issue in his speech, hitting out at the U.S. and its western European allies for "inventing" the issue of human rights, before adding that Cuba is ready to discuss everything with the U.S.
Days after prominent dissident Oswalo Paya died in a car crash, Castro had harsh words for the island's opposition, accusing them of plotting to topple the government.

"Some small factions are doing nothing less than trying to lay the groundwork and hoping that one day what happened in Libya will happen here, what they're trying to make happen in Syria," Castro said.

Castro also reminisced about the 1959 Revolution, promised that Cuba will complete a trans-island expressway halted years ago for lack of funds, empathized with islanders' complaints about meager salaries and said once again that his five-year plan to overhaul Cuba's socialist economy will not be done hastily.

The July 26 national holiday was often used to make major announcements when Castro's older brother Fidel was president, but there were none on Thursday.

The main celebration kicked off at sunrise with music and speeches at a plaza in the eastern province of Guantanamo, home to the U.S. naval base of the same name.

The American presence in Guantanamo is a sore point for Havana, which demands the base be shut down and accuses the U.S. of torturing terror suspects held in the military prison.

"We will continue to fight such a flagrant violation. ... Never, under any circumstance, will we stop trying to recover that piece of ground," first Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said in the keynote address.

Musicians sang the song "Guantanamera," and a young girl read a speech paying homage to the revolution and resistance to "Yankee" imperialism.

"We will be like 'Che,'" she said, repeating the mantra taught to schoolchildren across the island. Argentine-born guerrilla Ernesto "Che" Guevara is held up as a model of personal conduct in Cuba.

Manuel Diaz's mom condemns Anaheim violence in protests against fatal police shootings

Genevieve Huizar, third from left, the mother of Manuel Diaz, who was shot to death by Anaheim police, breaks down after a news conference in Santa Ana, Calif., July 25, 2012. (AP Photo)

Fury In China Over Flood Deaths Cover Up

Chinese people fed up with a lack of official updates are compiling their own death tolls from deadly floods in the capital.

The move reflects public anger and mistrust of the city government, which has not updated its death toll since Sunday - the day after a record downpour hit the city outskirts.
Beijing says 37 people were killed after drainage systems were overwhelmed by the deluge, leaving city centre underpasses flooded and flash floods in the suburbs.
State media reported the toll could be as high as 61, while online rumours put it in the hundreds.
Beijing city government spokesperson Wang Hui said: "I want to say I hope everyone will not speculate that the Beijing government is hiding the death toll. Doing the inspection work is not easy. Do believe us that we will speak the truth. If there are new figures we will immediately tell you."
Xinhua News Agency, citing the Civil Affairs Ministry, said there were 111 storm deaths.
But authorities were still trying to pump water from sections of a flooded road after the heaviest rain in six decades.
The scale of the disaster was a major embarrassment for Beijing after billions of dollars were poured into modernisation programmes including 2008 Olympic venues, the world's second-largest airport and skyscrapers.
The criticism mirrors some of that seen after a high-speed train crash in southeastern China last year.
Mistrust of perceived underreporting of fatalities has seen thousands of messages posted on to microblogging sites.
Officials have kept a tight lid on information on the disaster, mindful that any failure to cope with the flooding could undermine the country's leadership as it undergoes a once-a-decade transition.
China's communist government has justified its one-party rule in part by delivering economic growth and maintaining stability in the face of bubbling unrest and periodic mass disasters like Saturday's flooding.

Emergency workers rescue an elderly woman in Chongqing, southwest China

In worst-affected Fangshan district, residents were compiling their own death toll online using both public and private chat rooms on the popular Baidu website. The toll was not being posted publicly, but some online accounts said the number was more than 300.
Li Chengpeng, a writer based in the southwestern province of Sichuan, said he was collecting names of the dead from flooding in Beijing and elsewhere.
He said: "We need to commemorate the people who have died in tragic events. But there are so many of them now, and they go uninvestigated, unaccounted for.
"Nothing happens after these incidents, and the people die and no figures are given to the public? No acknowledgment? No explanation?
"Now people are using the internet... to do the job the government does not want to do."
The Changjing Daily newspaper reported online that Beijing city officials said the death toll had yet to be finalised because officials were still trying to identify the bodies.
The flooding was triggered by heavy rain at the weekend and caused damage across China.
Authorities issued a yellow alert - the third highest in a five-tier disaster warning system - ahead of further rain storms, as people snapped up survival gear.
Online retailers including the Taobao shopping website reported spikes in the sales of a keychain device for smashing car windows after people drowned when they were trapped inside their vehicles on submerged underpasses.

Firefighter Critically Injured in 6-Alarm BK Blaze That Displaced Scores of Residents

Fire marshals will determine whether the blaze was caused by lightning

Check out this raw video of flames leaping from the roof of a Brooklyn building where firefighters battled a huge blaze Thursday.

Two dozen firefighters have been hurt -- one critically -- in a massive six-alarm fire in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn that fire officials believe was sparked by lightning, authorities said.

One civilian was treated on the scene, fire officials said.

More than 200 firefighters battled the blaze at the seven-story apartment building Thursday afternoon. The fire was reported under control by 1:45 p.m., about three and a half hours after it started, the FDNY tweeted from the scene.

The entire seventh floor of the building was gutted and hundreds of tenants have been displaced, officials said. Fire marshals have yet to determine for certain whether lightning was the cause, according to FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer.

A planned news conference was postponed after Charles Wells, of the Red Cross, fainted. He was conscious and breathing a short time later.

FDNY tweeted photos from the scene that show flames leaping from the roof of the building as thick black smoke billows into the sky. The complexes houses 115 residential units.

Representatives from the Red Cross are on scene to displaced families.

Olympic torch greeted by royals at Buckingham Palace

 

The torch is on the 69th - and penultimate - day of its journey around the British Isles

The Olympic torch has been welcomed to Buckingham Palace by members of the royal family, including Princes William and Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge.