UK government wins Snowden case

A BRITISH court has ruled the UK government may look through items seized from the partner of a journalist who has written stories about documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Lawyers for David Miranda, the partner of Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, said the seized items contain confidential information. It asked the High Court to prevent the government from "inspecting, copying or sharing" the data.

Instead, the court will allow the government to view the items on the condition the material is being examined on "national security" grounds. The injunction runs until August 30.

It was not immediately clear whether the court or the government would be authorised to decide what is in the interests of national security.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brooks' phone hacking trial delayed in UK

THE trial of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks over allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World has been delayed for legal reasons.

The trial of Brooks and seven other defendants, including Prime Minister David Cameron's former spin doctor Andy Coulson, was due to start at the Old Bailey on September 9 but is now expected to begin on October 28.

Brooks, 45, denies a total of five charges, including conspiracy to hack phones, conspiracy to pay public officials and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by allegedly trying to hide evidence.

Former Sun and NotW editor Brooks, former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, 73, and former news editor Ian Edmondson, 44, also deny conspiracy to intercept mobile phone voicemails between October 3, 2000, and August 9, 2006.

Coulson, 45, who previously edited the now-defunct NotW, denies the same charge.

He and NotW former royal editor Clive Goodman, 55, are also accused of two charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

Brooks denies two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

In the same trial, she and former personal assistant Cheryl Carter, 49, are charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice by allegedly trying to hide material from the News International archive between July 6 and 9, 2011.

Brooks' racehorse trainer husband, Charlie Brooks, 50, and News International head of security Mark Hanna, 50, will also appear in the same trial over a charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, by allegedly hiding documents and computer equipment from police between July 15 and 19 2011, a charge also faced by Brooks.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fund for slain Aussie nears $US100,000

AN online fund set up by a mate of murdered Australian Chris Lane to help pay for funeral expenses has been deluged with almost $US100,000 ($A112,000) in donations from people around the world.

When Marshall Veal, who played baseball with Mr Lane in Oklahoma, set up the fund, the goal was to raise $US15,000.

The money was to be used to pay for the cost of Mr Lane's parents, Peter and Donna, to fly to Oklahoma, pick up his body and take it back to Melbourne for the funeral.

However, the generosity will likely make it possible to set up a Christopher Lane Foundation.

As of Thursday morning (Friday AEST), the fund, launched just two days ago, has raised $US91,500.

More than 2200 people have donated as little as $US5 to the fund and the messages left run the gamut of emotions, with some angry while others are heartbroken at the tragic way Mr Lane, 22, was shot in the back last Friday in Duncan, Oklahoma, and left to die.

"My sincerest regrets that Christopher was taken from you by these three vivid examples of America's trash," Jeff Simon wrote in a message following his $US5 donation.

"Don't judge us too harshly by the dregs of our society."

James Edwards, 15, and Chancey Luna, 16, have been charged with first degree murder.

It is alleged Luna fired the shot into Mr Lane's back as he jogged along a Duncan road.

Michael Jones, 17, was the alleged driver of the car and is charged with being an accessory to murder.

Oklahoma police allege the three boys randomly targeted Mr Lane because they were bored and thought it would be fun to kill him.

The online fund can be found at: www.gofundme.com/3zktjc

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kenya jails Chinese ivory smuggler

A KENYAN court has sentenced a Chinese ivory smuggler to 31 months in prison, signalling harsher penalties for wildlife crimes.

Chen Biemei was arrested on August 14 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi with 6.9kg of ivory.

She pleaded guilty after initially denying the charges.

The sentence, delivered on Thursday, sends "a signal to people wishing to commit wildlife crimes to think twice", Kenya Wildlife Society spokesperson Paul Mbugua told DPA.

In June, US army colonel David McNevin was caught at Nairobi airport with about 1kg of ivory and fined $US340 ($A380), which caused a public outcry against weak penalties for traffickers.

Elephant ivory can sell for as much as $US1000 per kg.

This year alone, about 200 elephants were slaughtered in Kenya for their tusks.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

German neo-Nazi probe finds errors

A GERMAN parliamentary investigation into a far-right murder spree that went undetected for years has found that security services made scores of errors, partially because of institutional bias against immigrants.

The nearly 1400-page report, released Thursday, follows a 19-month review of how police and intelligence agencies failed to stop the National Socialist Underground group killing eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

The group was only linked to the killings after two main members died in a murder-suicide after a botched 2011 bank robbery. The third suspected main member is now on trial.

Committee members said police and domestic intelligence agencies were quick to attribute the slayings to organised crime by immigrant groups - never properly considering the possibility that the killings could have been racially motivated and linked.

"The overarching theme is racism," committee member Petra Pau said of the review.

"The NSU crimes were racist and the investigations had racist traits."

As one of 47 recommendations, the committee said German police and prosecutors should now be required to consider the possibility of a killing being a hate crime in every incident where the perpetrator is unknown.

It recommended further that more minorities be hired to serve in police and intelligence services.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Strong earthquake shakes central Mexico

A MAGNITUDE-6.0 earthquake has rattled southern and central areas of Mexic, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported, but there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

Its epicentre was located 13km northwest of San Marcos, near the Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco, at a depth of 20km.

The quake shook buildings in the capital, Mexico City, some 400km away. A magnitude-5.3 aftershock struck some 25 minutes later.

Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said no damage or injuries were reported after authorities surveyed the megalopolis.

The capital can sense distant earthquake as it lies on muddy soil from drained lakes. An 8.1-magnitude earthquake in 1985 left 3700 people dead in the city, according to official figures.

Mexico is one of the world's most seismically active regions, according to the USGS, with the movement of three large tectonic plates causing frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More

Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison

A JUDGE has sentenced Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison for providing a trove of classified documents to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

The judge convicted the 25-year-old in July of 20 offences, including six violations of the Espionage Act.

Prosecutors had asked for at least 60 years in prison. Manning's lawyer suggested no more than 25 because by then, some of the documents Manning leaked will be declassified.

Last week, Manning apologised for hurting the US and for "the unexpected results" of his actions.

He will receive credit for three-and-a-half years, but be dishonourably discharged from the US Army.

Manning leaked more than 700,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield reports and State Department diplomatic cables in 2010 while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq.

He was convicted last month of 20 offences, including six Espionage Act violations, five theft counts and computer fraud. Prosecutors were unable to prove that he aided the enemy, a crime punishable by life in prison.

Manning has apologised and said he wanted to provoke a debate on the country's military and diplomatic actions.

"I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people," he said last week.

His defence team said he was under severe mental pressure as a young man struggling with gender identity issues at a time when openly gay people were not allowed to serve in the US military.

Prosecutors said the leaks endangered the lives of US intelligence sources and prompted several ambassadors to be recalled, reassigned or expelled.

Prosecutors requested a far longer prison term than other soldiers have received in recent decades for sharing government secrets.

Albert T. Sombolay got a 34-year-sentence in 1991 for giving a Jordanian intelligence agent information on the buildup for the first Iraq war, plus other documents and samples of US Army chemical protection equipment. Clayton Lonetree, the only Marine ever convicted of espionage, was given a 30-year sentence, later reduced to 15 years, for giving the Soviet KGB the identities of US CIA agents and the floor plans of the embassies in Moscow and Vienna in the early 1980s.

Amnesty International and the Bradley Manning Support Network have announced an online petition asking US President Barack Obama to pardon Manning.

Military prisoners can earn up to 120 days a year off their sentence for good behaviour and job performance, but they must serve at least one-third of any prison sentence before they can become eligible for parole.

23.46 | 0 komentar | Read More