Google+ challenges Facebook in new battle

Online search giant Google has launched a new social networking website in a bid to take on Facebook, which now has more than 500m users, says a report by the BBC.

The website, Google+, allows users to share photos, messages and comments and also integrates Google's maps and images into the service. It also aims to help users organize contacts within groups.

While Google claims the new service boasted of a number of new functions, some observers say it has simply added a video chat function before reproducing features of Facebook, according to the report.

Google has made several attempts to compete with Facebook in recent years. But its previous efforts ended in failure, with both Google Wave and Google Buzz proving unpopular with users.

The current version of Google+ has only been released to a limited number of users, according to the report, but Google said it hopes to make the social network soon available to the millions of users that access its services each day.

In April, Google reached an out-of-court settlement with a US policy group over its Google Buzz service. The legal action claimed Google deceived users and violated its own privacy policy by automatically enrolling all Gmail users in its Buzz social network without seeking prior permission.

Saudi will seek nukes if Iran gets them

LONDON: Saudi Arabia has warned NATO that it would pursue policies that could lead to "untold and possibly dramatic consequences" if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, a British newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The British newspaper quoted Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to Washington and Britain, speaking to senior NATO officials earlier this month at an unpublicised meeting at a British air base.

Faisal did not outline what the policies would be, but the newspaper quoted an unnamed Saudi official in Riyadh it said was close to the prince as saying that Iranian nuclear weapons would compel the Gulf state do develop its own nuclear arms.

"We cannot live in a situation where Iran has nuclear weapons and we don't ... If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, that will be unacceptable to us and we will have to follow suit," the British newspaper quoted the official as saying.

The art of Guantanamo Bay prisoners

The art of Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

Osama wasn't running al Qaida from Abbottabad: officials

ABBOTTABAD: Osama bin Laden was out of touch with the younger generation of al-Qaida commanders, and they often didn't follow his advice during the years he was in hiding in Abbottabad, US and Pakistani officials say.

According to the American newspaper, Contradicting the assertions of some American officials that bin Laden was running a "command and control" center from the walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, officials say that bin Laden clearly wasn't in control of al Qaida, though he was trying to remain involved or at least influential.

"He was like the cranky old uncle that people weren't listening to," said a US official, who'd been briefed on the evidence collected from the Abbottabad compound and who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "The younger guys had never worked directly with him. They did not take everything he said as right."

One new detail, discovered by US newspaper, is that the bin Laden household was buying and selling gold jewelry, perhaps as a way to raise money. Another is that for a household that included at least nine women and twice that many children, its consumption of electricity and gas was far less than that of neighboring households, a sign either of bin Laden's legendary frugality or an indication that the terrorist leader simply had run out of money and was living as cheaply as he could.

Afghan hotel assault; all attackers killed

KABUL: Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a top Kabul hotel, sparking a five-hour battle with Afghan commandos backed by a NATO helicopter in an assault that left at least 10 people dead Wednesday.

Red tracer bullets arced through the night sky around the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel, whose faded grandeur frequently pays host to Afghan officials and foreigners. Part of the building was in flames.

The state-owned 1960s hotel, which is not part of the global InterContinental chain, was hosting delegates attending an Afghan security conference and a large wedding party when the insurgents struck at dinner-time.

Kabul police chief Ayub Salangi said that 10 people, mostly workers at the hotel, were killed in the raid.

"Unfortunately as a result of this terrorist attack, 10 of our countrymen, all of them civilians lost their lives," he said, adding that three police were also injured.more

Serena, Venus, Wozniacki, Petrova out of Wimbledon

LONDON: Defending champion Serena Williams, five-time champion Venus Williams and top seed Caroline Wozniacki were sent crashing out of Wimbledon Monday as the women's singles was rocked by a triple upset.

Serena, who has only recently returned from a year-long layoff caused by injury and life-threatening health problems, was stunned 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) by fiery Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli in a pulsating battle on Court One.

Big sister Venus lost 6-2, 6-3 to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, who had also defeated the American in the last eight here last year.

Pironkova will face Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova who skated past Belgian 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-0, 6-2. more

Washington deems 'ironic' Iranian terrorism summit

WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Monday branded as ‘ironic’ an anti-terrorism summit held last week in Tehran.

"We consider it quite ironic that Iran, the most active state sponsor of terrorism, is holding a meeting on terrorism," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Delegates from 60 countries took part in the June 25 conference, including Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, which on Saturday announced that they would work together in the anti-terrorism fight.

"Iran's financial, material and logistical support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia flies in the face of efforts to promote peace, threatens economic stability, and undermines the growth of democracy throughout the region," Nuland said.

"So instead of engaging constructively in the region, with the international community, the Iranian government continues to engage unhelpfully and in an unfounded way," she added. (AFP)

Hague court issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi

TRIPOLI: The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Monday for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and rebels trying to oust him said their forces had advanced to within 80 km (50 miles) of the capital Tripoli.

The court approved warrants for Gaddafi as well as his son Saif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi on charges of crimes against humanity. ICC prosecutors allege they were involved in the killing of protesters who rose up in February against Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

Celebrations erupted in Benghazi after the ICC ruling. People honked their car horns, waved flags, fired shots into the air and flashed victory signs in the street

Gaddafi has "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over Libya's state apparatus and its security forces, presiding judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said in reading out the ruling.

She added that both Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam "conceived and orchestrated a plan to deter and quell by all means the civilian demonstrations" against the regime and that al-Senussi used his position of command to have attacks carried out.

Gaddafi's government denies targeting civilians, saying it was forced to act against armed criminal gangs and al Qaeda militants.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China had had contact with both sides in the Libyan conflict. More

Trial of 85 Qaeda suspects begins in Saudi

RIYADH: Eighty-five Al-Qaeda suspects went on trial in a special Saudi security court on Sunday in connection with deadly attacks carried out in the kingdom, state news agency SPA said.

The defendants face charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda, of taking part in attacks on public buildings and residential compounds, and of smuggling and possession of weapons, it said.

Thirteen of the group are accused of participating in the May 2003 car bombings of three residential compounds that left 129 people dead or wounded, including women and children, SPA said. Nine US nationals were among 35 of those killed.

SPA said the arrests of the 85 suspects had foiled plots to attack two air bases, a residential compound in the Eastern Province of the Gulf state and on state oil giant Aramco.

In April, a judicial source said a total of 5,080 terrorist suspects either faced trial or had already been tried before the special court which has come in for criticism from lawyers. (AFP)

Hackers claim hit on CIA website

SAN FRANCISCO: The public website of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was apparently knocked out of commission by hackers on Wednesday.

The US spy agency's cia.gov website stopped responding and members of a hacker group called Lulz Security claimed credit in a message on Twitter at @LulzSec.

"Tango down - cia.gov," the message read. "For the lulz."

Attempts to reach cia.gov were met with a message saying the Web page was not available.

Cia.gov was back online within two hours.

Asked about the Lulz Security claim, a CIA spokesman said "We are looking into these reports."

Lulz Security has claimed in recent weeks to have staged attacks on the online operations of Sony, Nintendo, the US Senate, the Public Broadcasting System news organization and Infragard, a company that works with the FBI. (AFP)

Zawahiri named new Qaeda chief

DUBAI: Al-Qaeda has named Ayman al-Zawahiri as its new chief following the killing in Pakistan of long-time leader Osama bin Laden by US commandos, the jihadists said in a statement Thursday.

"The general command of Al-Qaeda announces, after consultations, the appointment of Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri as head of the group," said the statement, issued in the name of the general command and posted on an Islamist website.

Zawahiri has been Al-Qaeda's number two for years.

US troops can stay in Afghanistan for decades: report

LONDON: According to a report published in the Guardian, US and Afghan officials are engaged in secret talks which could likely lead to US presence in Afghanistan for decades.

According to the report, the secret negotiations about a long-term security arrangement have been underway for over a month and seek to secure a strategic partnership agreement which would include an American presence beyond the end of 2014, the agreed date for all 130,000 combat troops to leave the country.

American negotiators will arrive later this month in Kabul for a new round of talks. The Afghans rejected the Americans' first draft of a strategic partnership agreement in its entirety, preferring to draft their own proposal. This was submitted to Washington two weeks ago.

Pakistan arrests CIA informants in bin Laden raid: NY Times

WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s top military spy agency has arrested some of the Pakistani informants who fed information to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the months leading up to the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, according to American officials.

Pakistan’s detention of five CIA informants, including a Pakistani Army major who officials said copied the license plates of cars visiting bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in the weeks before the raid, is the latest evidence of the fractured relationship between the United States and Pakistan. It comes at a time when the Obama administration is seeking Pakistan’s support in brokering an endgame in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.

At a closed briefing last week, members of the Senate Intelligence Committee asked Michael J. Morell, the deputy C.I.A. director, to rate Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism operations, on a scale of 1 to 10.

“Three,” Mr. Morell replied, according to officials familiar with the exchange.

The fate of the C.I.A. informants arrested in Pakistan is unclear, but American officials said that the C.I.A. director, Leon E. Panetta, raised the issue when he travelled to Islamabad last week to meet with Pakistani military and intelligence officers.

Some in Washington see the arrests as illustrative of the disconnect between Pakistani and American priorities at a time when they are supposed to be allies in the fight against Al Qaeda — instead of hunting down the support network that allowed Bin Laden to live comfortably for years, the Pakistani authorities are arresting those who assisted in the raid that killed the world’s most wanted man.

The Bin Laden raid and more recent attacks by militants in Pakistan have been blows to the country’s military, a revered institution in the country. Some officials and outside experts said the military is mired in its worst crisis of confidence in decades.

American officials cautioned that Mr. Morell’s comments about Pakistani support was a snapshot of the current relationship, and did not represent the administration’s overall assessment.

“We have a strong relationship with our Pakistani counterparts and work through issues when they arise,” said Marie E. Harf, a C.I.A. spokeswoman. “Director Panetta had productive meetings last week in Islamabad. It’s a crucial partnership, and we will continue to work together in the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups who threaten our country and theirs.”

In a sign of the growing anger on Capitol Hill, Representative Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican who leads the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that he believed elements of the ISI and the military had helped protect bin Laden.

Turkey's ruling party wins election

ISTANBUL: Turkey's ruling party surged to a third term in parliamentary elections Sunday, setting the stage for the rising regional power to pursue trademark economic growth, assertive diplomacy and an overhaul of the military-era constitution.

However, the Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell short of a two-thirds majority in parliament, a shortcoming that will force it to seek support for constitutional change from other political groups. Despite a record of democratic reform, the government has faced increasing criticism that it has sought to consolidate power at the expense of consensus-building.

Erdogan's party won 50 percent of the votes, according to TRT, the state-run television. It said the Republican People's Party, the main opposition group, had 26 percent of the vote.

TRT said another opposition party, the Nationalist Action Party, had 13 percent, signaling it would stay in parliament by crossing a 10 percent vote threshold designed to keep out smaller parties.

According to the tally, the ruling party won 325 seats in the 550-seat parliament, a comfortable majority that ensures the continuation of its single-party rule. It had 331 seats in the outgoing parliament. Lawmakers serve four-year terms.

The Anatolia news agency reported that police detained dozens of people in the mostly Kurdish southeast for allegedly trying to coerce people into voting for the Peace and Democracy Party, a Kurdish party accused by officials of links to Kurdish rebels.

The party fielded independent candidates to work around the 10 percent vote threshold for Turkey's parliament, turning in a strong showing with 36 seats. It seeks more rights and autonomy in the southeastern strongholds of the ethnic minority, which makes up about 20 percent of Turkey's 74 million people, and rebels have threatened attacks if the government does not negotiate.

In the past decade, the government has sharply reduced the political clout of the military, and taken some steps to ease restrictions on minorities, though reforms have slowed in recent years.

Erdogan has promised that a new constitution would be more democratic than the one implemented under the tutelage of the military in 1982.

Turkey's leaders describe themselves as "conservative democrats" and after winning election in 2002, they implemented economic reforms that pulled the country out of crisis. The growth rate last year was nearly 9 percent, the second highest among G-20 nations after China.

Still, political reforms faltered in the ruling party's second term. Turkey's EU bid has stalled, partly because of opposition in key nations such as Germany and France. Critics point to concerns about media freedom and the Turkish government's plans for Internet filters as signs of intolerance toward views that don't conform to those of Turkey's leadership.

For all of Turkey's challenges, Sunday's vote was an indicator of stability in an increasingly confident country. Most voting was peaceful and orderly, with large crowds gathering early to cast ballots. About 50 million Turks, or two-thirds of the population, were eligible to vote. NTV television said turnout was 87 percent.

For the first time, voters cast ballots in transparent plastic boxes in which the yellow envelopes could be seen piling up. The measure was designed to prevent any allegations of fraud. In past elections, wooden boxes were used. (AP)

United Nations Confirms May As Deadliest Month For Most Civilian Deaths In Afghanistan Since 2007

The UN’s latest report on Afghanistan reads that May has been the deadliest month for civilians since 2007, when the organization improvised a commission to record civilian casualties around the country.

The UN officials were saddened on the announcement that more than 368 people have died so far in different conflicts over the past month. "More civilians were killed in May than in any other month since 2007 when Unama began documenting civilian casualties," said Georgette Gagnon, Unama's director of human rights. "We are very concerned that civilian suffering will increase even more over the summer fighting season which historically brings the highest numbers of civilian casualties," she said.

"Parties to the conflict must increase their efforts to protect civilians now."

The report also impresses that the anti-government and anti-US sentiments have also risen after the increase in the casualties since the start of 2011. The civilians have started protesting vehemently against the severe bombing by NATO and its allies on their soil. The civilians are of the view that in a single raid carried by the NATO forces, more than 75% people who die are civilians.

“Bomb blasts caused by improvised explosive devices were the leading killer of civilians in May, with 119 killed and 274 wounded in such attacks,” the UN agency said.

However, the reports also confirmed that insurgents and other anti-government forces were responsible for 301 civilian casualties in May. 15 people, including eight children and four women, were killed when a bomb blast hit their vehicle in the southern province of Kandahar.

In the eastern province of Khost, a suicide bomber struck outside a police base, killing two policemen, including a commander, and a civilian, a police official said. 12 people got gravely injured in the attack.

According to the UN, the number of civilian casualties will increase in the near future, as the number of troops fighting in Afghanistan have been increased by the White House and NATO. With more troops entering the Afghan premises, the fighting arena will increase.

The NATO officials also reiterated that they will not be leaving Afghanistan as long as the security situation in the country is completely under control. This, according to experts, confirms the presence of US and NATO forces for a long haul.

Google reveals Gmail hacking, says likely from China

SAN FRANCISCO: Suspected Chinese hackers tried to steal the passwords of hundreds of Google email account holders, including those of senior U.S. government officials, Chinese activists and journalists, the Internet company said.

The perpetrators appeared to originate from Jinan, the capital of China's eastern Shandong province, Google said. Jinan is home to one of six technical reconnaissance bureaus belonging to the People's Liberation Army and a technical college that U.S. investigators last year linked to a previous attack on Google.

Washington said it was investigating Google's claims while the FBI said it was working with Google following the attacks -- the latest computer-based invasions directed at multinational companies that have raised global alarm about Internet security.

The hackers recently tried to crack and monitor email accounts by stealing passwords, but Google detected and "disrupted" their campaign, the world's largest Web search company said on its official blog.

The revelation comes more than a year after Google disclosed a cyberattack on its systems that it said it traced to China, and could further strain an already tense relationship between the Web giant and Beijing.

Google partially pulled out of China, the world's largest Internet market by users, last year after a tussle with the government over censorship and a serious hacking episode.

"We recently uncovered a campaign to collect user passwords, likely through phishing," Google said, referring to the practice where computer users are tricked into giving up sensitive information.

"The goal of this effort seems to have been to monitor the contents of these users' emails."

It "affected what seem to be the personal Gmail accounts of hundreds of users, including among others, senior U.S. government officials, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries (predominantly South Korea), military personnel and journalists."

Google did not say the Chinese government was behind the attacks or say what might have motivated them.

But cyberattacks originating in China have become common in recent years, said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at telecommunications company BT.

"It's not just the Chinese government. It's independent actors within China who are working with the tacit approval of the government," he said.

The United States has warned that a cyberattack -- presumably if it is devastating enough -- could result in real-world military retaliation, although analysts say it could be difficult to detect its origin with full accuracy.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the U.S. government's top information technology provider, said last week it had thwarted "a significant and tenacious attack" on its information systems network, though the company and government officials have not yet said where they think the attack originated.

"We have no reason to believe that any official U.S. government email accounts were accessed," said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.

A spokesman at South Korea's presidential office said the Blue House had not been affected, but added they did not use Gmail. South Korea's Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it had warned all staff "not to use, send or receive any official information through private emails such as Gmail." (Reuters)

Indian army hampering Siachen solution: WikiLeaks

KARACHI: The Indian army, and not just the civilian government, has played a role in the ongoing deadlock with Pakistan over the Siachen dispute, according to American and Indian assessments contained in confidential US diplomatic cables.

On Siachen, Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) T. C. A. Raghavan, who has also served as the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, reported that the Indian army has drawn a line with its political leadership. It has told the government of India that withdrawal was tantamount to ceding the area to Pakistan due to the difficulty of retaking it should Pakistan occupy it,” wrote the New Delhi embassy in September 2008.

While talks held on Siachen this week between the two countries’ defence secretaries may have been inconclusive for a variety of reasons, cables reveal that the Indian army has historically had a role to play.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is described as having to fight intense domestic pressure, and not just from political hardliners. “Were any deal to crystallise, PM Singh would need buy-in from the army and the BJP to avoid handing himself a political firestorm,” noted a 2006 cable in anticipation of talks on Siachen scheduled for May that year.

The cable also noted that Gen Singh’s position on the issue “is reflected in the Foreign Ministry as well”: India would not make a deal on demilitarisation without Pakistan signing a map laying out Indian and Pakistani troop positions before withdrawal. The primary purpose of this would be to justify action if Pakistan reneged on the withdrawal agreement.

Any deal, the cable implied, could only come after a go-ahead from the army: “The most telling signpost indicating the GOI is preparing the country for [a deal] would be Gen Singh publicly adopting a neutral (or supportive) position on a Siachen deal to signal in advance that the Army is on board, and that the GOI no longer needs to point to Army concerns to explain why a deal is not possible.” This pressure is seen as holding back Prime Minister Singh, who is described as being in favour of a deal — former National Security Adviser M. K. Narayan tells American officials in May 2005 that “the PM had instructed all his subordinates that ‘we need to accept Musharraf’s bona fides, even on Siachen’ … With this guidance in mind, the Ministry of Defence has been instructed ‘to take as flexible a position as possible’”.

A comment written in November 2006 sums up the American view of the matter. “India has repeatedly come ‘very close’ to an agreement on the Siachen issue in 1989, and again (less so) in 1993.

“Each time the prime minister of the day was forced to back out by India’s defence establishment, the Congress Party hardline, and opposition leaders. The Indian army is resistant to giving up this territory under any condition for a variety of reasons — strategic advantage over China, internal army corruption, distrust of Pakistan, and a desire to keep hold of advantageous territory that thousands of Indian soldiers have died protecting.”

According to at least one Pakistani government official, Prime Minister Singh had admitted to this pressure in talks with Gen Musharraf.

Aid talks in US could affect ties: Haqqani

WASHINGTON: Pakistani Ambassador to Washington Hussain Haqqani has said that talks of ending Pakistan's aid could affect ties between Pakistan and United States.

While addressing from Centre for Global Development in Washington Haqqani said that Pakistan and America were each other's strategic partners, adding that it is necessary that Pakistan's political issues would be kept alone from its aid because both the countries are committed to eliminate terrorism collectively.

He said the US should help Pakistan in trade instead of aid. Job opportunities in ally countries would help reducing terrorism from Pakistan, he added.

Pak-US forming joint intelligence team: report

WASHINGTON: Pakistan and US are building a joint intelligence team to go after top terrorist suspects inside Pakistan, US and Pakistani officials said, a fledgling step to restoring trust blown on both sides by the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces during a secret raid last month.

The move comes after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the Pakistanis with the US list of most-wanted terrorism targets, US and Pakistani officials said Wednesday.

The investigative team will be made up mainly of intelligence officers from both nations, according to two US and one Pakistani official. It would draw in part on any intelligence emerging from the CIA's analysis of computer and written files gathered by the Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, as well as Pakistani intelligence gleaned from interrogations of those who frequented or lived near the bin Laden compound, the officials said.

The formation of the team marks a return to the counterterrorism cooperation that has led to major takedowns of al-Qaida militants, like the joint arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003. All those interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

The joint intelligence team will go after five top targets, including al Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, and al-Qaida operations chief Atiya Abdel Rahman, as well as Taliban leader like Mullah Omar, all of whom US intelligence officials believe are hiding in Pakistan, one US official said.

Another target is Siraj Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani tribe in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Allied with the Taliban and al Qaida, the Haqqanis are behind some of the deadliest attacks against US troops and Afghan civilians in Afghanistan.

Lady Gaga album sells 1.1m copies in first week

LOS ANGELES: Flamboyant pop star Lady Gaga has sold more than one million copies of her new album to top the U.S. pop chart for the first time, according to sales data published on Tuesday by Billboard magazine.

Fans scooped up 1.11 million copies of her much-hyped release "Born This Way" during the week ended May 29, with a bit of help from a hugely popular 99-cent promotion by online retailer Amazon.com Inc .

It marks the biggest first-week sales total since rapper 50 Cent's "The Massacre" debuted to 1.14 million copies in March 2005. The last album to break the million mark was country starlet Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," which started with 1.01 million copies last November. Boy band 'N Sync holds the first-week record with 2.4 million copies for its 2000 album "No Strings Attached."

Billboard estimated that Amazon downloads accounted for upward of 440,000 downloads of "Born This Way." Overall digital downloads totaled a record-breaking 662,000 copies, Billboard said.

Lady Gaga records for Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group. Her 2008 debut album "The Fame" peaked at No. 2 and has sold 4.2 million copies to date in the United States. An eight-track follow-up EP titled "The Fame Monster" reached No. 5 and has sold 1.5 million copies.

All options open in cyber-attack: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon said Tuesday that it would consider all options if the United States were hit by a cyber-attack as it develops the first military guidelines for the age of Internet warfare.

President Barack Obama's administration has been formalizing rules on cyberspace amid growing concern about the reach of hackers. Major defense contractor Lockheed Martin said it repelled a major cyber-assault a week ago.

The White House on May 16 unveiled an international strategy on cyber-security which said the United States "will respond to hostile acts in cyberspace as we would to any other threat to our country."

"We reserve the right to use all necessary means -- diplomatic, informational, military, and economic -- as appropriate and consistent with applicable international law, in order to defend our nation, our allies, our partners and our interests," the strategy said.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said Tuesday that the White House policy did not rule out a military response to a cyber-attack.

"A response to a cyber incident or attack on the US would not necessarily be a cyber response," Lapan told reporters. "All appropriate options would be on the table if we were attacked, be it cyber."

Lapan said that the Pentagon was drawing up an accompanying cyber defense strategy which would be ready in two to three weeks.

The Wall Street Journal, citing three officials who said they had seen the document, reported Tuesday that the strategy would classify major cyber-attacks as acts of war, paving the way for possible military retaliation.

The newspaper said that the strategy was intended in part as a warning to foes that may try to sabotage the US electricity grid, subways or pipelines.

"If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," it quoted a military official as saying.

The newspaper said the Pentagon would likely decide whether to respond militarily to cyber-attacks based on the notion of "equivalence" -- whether the attack was comparable in damage to a conventional military strike.

Such a decision would also depend on whether the precise source of the attack could be determined. (AFP)