- North Korea fired artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, some landing in sea but some landing on the island’s residential area, said Col. Lee Bung-Woo, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South responded with its own artillery fire. South Korean media is reporting that 60 to 70 houses in the fishing village and areas in the mountains are on fire, engulfed in thick smoke.
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- The 9/11 health bill, a version of which was approved by the House of Representatives in September, is among a handful of initiatives that Senate Democrats had been hoping to approve this year before the close of the 111th Congress. Supporters believe this is their last real opportunity to have the bill passed.
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- If you think there’s a group of nerdish hackers somewhere hunched over their computers launching cyberattacks 24-7 on companies that have refused service to WikiLeaks, you’re wrong. Helping the hacking forum known as “Anonymous” and “Operation Payback” can be as simple as sending an e-mail to one of the many websites it uses — and letting the hackers take control of your computer. Anonymous claimed responsibility for disabling or disrupting the sites of MasterCard, Visa and PayPal this week. The attacks came on the heels of WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange’s arrest.
