Serious Disruption To Telecom / Internet Service Between Europe, Middle East, and Asia

Three of Four under water cables representing the backbone of telecommunications and Internet connectivity between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have been severed and it may take more than a week to fix the situation. While the cause of the break is yet unknown, there were reported seismic activity before the disruption to service was detected.

"We've lost three out of four lines. If the fourth cable breaks, we're looking at a total blackout in the Middle East," Jonathan Wright - director of wholesale products at Interoute, the company that manages part of the optical fibre network, told the BBC.

"These three circuits account for 90% of the traffic and we're going to see more international phone calls dropping and a huge degradation in the quality of local internet," he added.

"Normally you would expect to see one major break per cable per year. With four you should have an insurance policy. For this to happen twice in one year, on the same cable, is a serious cause for concern."

China set to launch lunar probe this week

It seems like the space race is heating up in Asia. The Chang'e 1, named after a legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, is scheduled to be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province in southwestern China. The launch window is set between Wednesday through Friday. The move comes weeks after Japan launched it's own probe into high orbit above the moon and months before India launches a similar probe.

"The mission has a very strong scientific emphasis," Sun Kwok, a professor of physics and dean of science at the University of Hong Kong is quoted "It's not just about technology. It's more than just launching a satellite, it's more than putting the first satellite in orbit."

Perhaps they are just jockeying for Google bucks?

Wired has the story.