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Qatar flexing muscle in changing world By Michael Buchanan BBC News, Doha   Qatar's military joined the Nato-led intervention in Libya, training the rebels On a recent Sunday afternoon, the normally sober, orderly centre of Doha was transformed into a triumphant melee of noise and colour as thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate Qatar's National Day. This year has been something of a coming of age for this small Gulf nation. It strongly backed the rebels in Libya and has led regional criticism of the crackdowns on protesters by Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh. "We have to contribute with whatever we have - politics, money or by supporting military action, whatever it takes to support other nations," said one Qatari reveller. At the state-of-the-art studios of Libya TV in Doha, they know all about support from Qatar. Libya TV i...

The hunt for Mokele-mbembe: Congo's Loch Ness Monster By Cordelia Hebblethwaite BBC World Service Explorer Adam Davies explains why he went in search of the Mokele-mbembe (drawing by David Miller, courtesy of Brill publishers) The search for Scotland's Loch Ness Monster is world famous. Far less well-known is the hunt for a similar creature, Mokele-mbembe, which is reputed to live in the remote north of Congo-Brazzaville. But how strong is the evidence? "I checked maps, and the data on the maps was white. It said, 'insufficient data to delineate terrain'. Well that got me!" says Dr Roy Mackal, a retired biologist from the University of Chicago. "It's the end of the world. It gives you a feeling of a surviving prehistoric time." In the 1980s, Dr Mackal led two expedition teams to the vast Likouala swamp and rainforest area of the Congo which is inhabited by pygmies,...

UK Government websites may be next pro-Wikileaks focus   The diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have been the focus of world attention. The UK's national security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts has warned that government websites could become the next target for pro-Wikileaks hackers. He told civil servants that websites used to file tax returns or claim benefits could be the most vulnerable. So far attacks from the Anonymous group of hacktivists have concentrated on firms perceived to be anti-Wikileaks. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted bail by a London court. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister told a press briefing that Sir Peter had spoken to permanent secretaries about the security of government websites in the light of pro-Wikileaks attacks. "The priority would be websites that dealt with information that belonged to members of the public such as the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] and HMRC [Revenues and Customs], he sai...

Risks of cyber war 'over-hyped' says OECD study   A huge solar flare could give rise to a global cyber shock, warns the report The vast majority of hi-tech attacks described as acts of cyber war do not deserve the name, says a report. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development study is part of a series considering incidents that could cause global disruption. While pandemics and financial instability could cause problems, cyber attacks are unlikely to, it says. Instead, trouble caused by cyber attacks is likely to be localised and short-lived. However, it warns that governments need to plan for how it could mitigate the effects of both accidental and deliberate events. 'Great confusion' Attempts to quantify the potential damage that hi-tech attacks could cause and develop appropriate responses are not helped by the hyperbolic language used to describe these incidents, said the OECD report. "We don't help ourselve...

Train-switching technology 'poses hacking threat' Network Rail says the switch to GSM-R technology will deliver a secure and robust switching system A shift to a mobile communications technology could expose rail networks to hackers, according to a security expert. Prof Stefan Katzenbeisser made the claim at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin. The professor said that the systems which switch trains from one line to another could be shut down if encryption keys went astray. He stressed that trains would not be in danger, but there could be delays. Train-switching systems have historically been controlled by proprietary analogue systems. At the end of the last century, more than 35 incompatible systems were used for railway communications across Europe. GSM-R roll-out A group of manufacturers met to address this and decided to switch to a single digital standard to ensure they could source replacement parts and make different companies...

Faces of the year 2011 - the women Some of the women who have made the headlines in 2011, left to right: Gabrielle Giffords, Adele, Eman al-Obeidi, Pippa Middleton (top), Nafissatou Diallo, Li Na, Princess Charlene, Michele Bachmann (middle), President Dilma Rousseff, the Duchess of Alba, Corporal Kelsey de Santis, Sweetie the panda (bottom). The men who made headlines round-up was published on Tuesday. JANUARY US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was attending one of her regular open-invitation meetings in her native Tucson, Arizona, when a gunman shot her through the head. He killed six and injured 13, including Giffords who was given emergency brain surgery. Her husband, Nasa astronaut Mark Kelly, flew immediately to her bedside. By August she had recovered enough to appear in Congress to vote for the raising of the US debt limit, prompting a standing ovation. In a subsequent TV interview she said her recovery had been "difficult". FEBRUARY Af...