• Mutassim reported arrested as Sirte on the brink of falling • NTC Benghazi officials cannot confirm Mutassim’s capture • Israel apologies over the killing of Egyptian police officers 9.26am: Nato hit two military vehicles in Sirte on Wednesday, in its first successful strikes against the city since Friday. Here’s its latest update: Key Hits 12 October [pdf]: In vicinity of Sirte: 2 military vehicles In vicinity of Bani Walid: 1 military vehicle 9.16am: Video footage has emerged purporting to show wounded civilians and Gaddafi fighters packed into Sirte’s Ibn Sina hospital. Warning the footage also shows images of the corpses of Gaddafi fighters in a morgue. Many of those injured appeared to emaciated. 8.57am: Reports of Mutassim’s arrest are being treated with care by reporters on Twitter. Sky’s Alex Rossi: Muttasim Gaddafi story i’ll believe it when we see the pics – the NTC have stated b4 they’ve captured Moussa Ibrahim and Saif Gaddafi #Sirte Al-Jazeera’s Evan Hill: I wonder how much damage was done from last night’s celebratory fire over the potential non-capture of Mutassim Gaddafi . Al-Jazeera’s James Bays: #LIBYA still no official confirmation of story of Mutassim Gaddafi capture. Senior NTC figure: “for now, I class this as a rumour only.” But later journalist Karl Stagno-Navarra tweeted: # NTC expected to show Mutassim #Gaddafi on TV later today after capture in #Sirte – Reports 8.22am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Muammar Gaddafi’s son Mutassim is reported to have been arrested fleeing Sirte as the city appears to be on the brink of falling. But the report has not been confirmed by officials in Benghazi, and is being treated with caution for now after what turned out to be false reports about the arrest of two of Gaddafi’s other sons during the fall of Tripoli. Here’s a round up in more detail. Libya • The collapse of resistance in Muammar Gaddafi former stronghold of Sirte has been underlined by reports of the arrest of his son Mutassim. National Transitional Council officials said Mutassim, who had been commanding the city’s defences, had been captured in a car trying to flee with his family on Tuesday evening and taken to Benghazi for questioning. • NTC officials in Benghazi could not confirm reports of Mutassim’s arrest, the BBC points out. It reminds us of numerous previous false reports about the arrest of senior members of the regime, including Saif al-Islam, and Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council in the eastern city of Benghazi, told AP “so far as we are concerned there is no confirmation that Mutassim Gaddafi has been captured”. • Suspected Gaddafi loyalist are being tortured into making confessions, according to Amnesty. It urged Libya’s new new government to end the arbitrary detention and widespread abuse of prisoners. At least two guards – in separate detention facilities – admitted that they beat detainees in order to extract “confessions” more quickly. Egypt • Egypt’s ruling generals have denied allegations that they deliberately attacked a peaceful protest on Sunday night, as evidence of military involvement in the death of 26 people continued to grow. “The armed forces would never, and has never, opened fire on the people,” said Mahmoud Hegazy, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Assistant defence minister Major General Adel Emara said: “Never did a man from the armed forces run over anyone,” said Emara during a rare public press conference put on by the junta. But the generals’ claims are directly contradicted by an increasing number of video clips, eyewitness testimonies and medical reports that suggest military personnel attacked protesters with guns and armoured personnel carriers, killing many – mainly Christian Coptic protesters – and wounding hundreds in the process. • Israel has formally apologised to Egypt for the killing of six Egyptian police officers during a shoot-out between Israeli forces and suspected Palestinian militants in Sinai in August. The apology issued by Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak followed a joint investigation into the incident with Egyptian authorities and signals rapprochement between the two countries after a protracted diplomatic crisis. Syria • A Syrian-born man has been arrested and charged in Virginia for allegedly spying on anti-Syrian protesters in the United States and passing that information on to Damascus. Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, a naturalized US citizen, was accused of acting as an agent of the Syrian intelligence service and collecting video and audio recordings of protesters against Syria and its president Bashar al-Assad. Iran • Saudi Arabia has issued a menacing warning to Iran that it will have to pay a price for the alleged plot to hire a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate its ambassador in Washington. Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to Washington and former head of the Saudi intelligence service, told a London conference: “The burden of proof and the amount of evidence in the case is overwhelming and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this.This is unacceptable. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price.” • The alleged plot doesn’t fit with what is known about Iran. Our diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, goes through eight unanswered questions about the plot. • “This plot if true, departs from all known Iranian policies and procedures,” says Gary Sick America’s top Iran watcher and former National Security Council adviser. His doubts are part of comprehensive round up of expert scepticism put together by Robert MacKey at the New York Times. Israel • Preparations are under way in Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt for the first stage of the prisoner swap deal involving the exchange of Gilad Shalit for hundreds of Palestinians. Legal restrictions mean it cannot be implemented before next Tuesday. Israeli law requires that two days be allowed to grant those who oppose any prisoner swap time to appeal against the decision. Given this week’s Sukkot holiday, Netanyahu is not expected to release the full list of prisoners set to be freed until Saturday evening. • What’s the wider significance of the deal? Why has it happened now? Who are the winners and losers? And what are the implications for the future of the Middle East? Our Middle East editor, Ian Black, has the answers. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Syria Bashar Al-Assad Israel Egypt Saudi Arabia US foreign policy Nato Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
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• Mutassim reported arrested as Sirte on the brink of falling • NTC Benghazi officials cannot confirm Mutassim’s capture • Israel apologies over the killing of Egyptian police officers 9.26am: Nato hit two military vehicles in Sirte on Wednesday, in its first successful strikes against the city since Friday. Here’s its latest update: Key Hits 12 October [pdf]: In vicinity of Sirte: 2 military vehicles In vicinity of Bani Walid: 1 military vehicle 9.16am: Video footage has emerged purporting to show wounded civilians and Gaddafi fighters packed into Sirte’s Ibn Sina hospital. Warning the footage also shows images of the corpses of Gaddafi fighters in a morgue. Many of those injured appeared to emaciated. 8.57am: Reports of Mutassim’s arrest are being treated with care by reporters on Twitter. Sky’s Alex Rossi: Muttasim Gaddafi story i’ll believe it when we see the pics – the NTC have stated b4 they’ve captured Moussa Ibrahim and Saif Gaddafi #Sirte Al-Jazeera’s Evan Hill: I wonder how much damage was done from last night’s celebratory fire over the potential non-capture of Mutassim Gaddafi . Al-Jazeera’s James Bays: #LIBYA still no official confirmation of story of Mutassim Gaddafi capture. Senior NTC figure: “for now, I class this as a rumour only.” But later journalist Karl Stagno-Navarra tweeted: # NTC expected to show Mutassim #Gaddafi on TV later today after capture in #Sirte – Reports 8.22am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Muammar Gaddafi’s son Mutassim is reported to have been arrested fleeing Sirte as the city appears to be on the brink of falling. But the report has not been confirmed by officials in Benghazi, and is being treated with caution for now after what turned out to be false reports about the arrest of two of Gaddafi’s other sons during the fall of Tripoli. Here’s a round up in more detail. Libya • The collapse of resistance in Muammar Gaddafi former stronghold of Sirte has been underlined by reports of the arrest of his son Mutassim. National Transitional Council officials said Mutassim, who had been commanding the city’s defences, had been captured in a car trying to flee with his family on Tuesday evening and taken to Benghazi for questioning. • NTC officials in Benghazi could not confirm reports of Mutassim’s arrest, the BBC points out. It reminds us of numerous previous false reports about the arrest of senior members of the regime, including Saif al-Islam, and Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. Jalal el-Gallal, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council in the eastern city of Benghazi, told AP “so far as we are concerned there is no confirmation that Mutassim Gaddafi has been captured”. • Suspected Gaddafi loyalist are being tortured into making confessions, according to Amnesty. It urged Libya’s new new government to end the arbitrary detention and widespread abuse of prisoners. At least two guards – in separate detention facilities – admitted that they beat detainees in order to extract “confessions” more quickly. Egypt • Egypt’s ruling generals have denied allegations that they deliberately attacked a peaceful protest on Sunday night, as evidence of military involvement in the death of 26 people continued to grow. “The armed forces would never, and has never, opened fire on the people,” said Mahmoud Hegazy, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Assistant defence minister Major General Adel Emara said: “Never did a man from the armed forces run over anyone,” said Emara during a rare public press conference put on by the junta. But the generals’ claims are directly contradicted by an increasing number of video clips, eyewitness testimonies and medical reports that suggest military personnel attacked protesters with guns and armoured personnel carriers, killing many – mainly Christian Coptic protesters – and wounding hundreds in the process. • Israel has formally apologised to Egypt for the killing of six Egyptian police officers during a shoot-out between Israeli forces and suspected Palestinian militants in Sinai in August. The apology issued by Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak followed a joint investigation into the incident with Egyptian authorities and signals rapprochement between the two countries after a protracted diplomatic crisis. Syria • A Syrian-born man has been arrested and charged in Virginia for allegedly spying on anti-Syrian protesters in the United States and passing that information on to Damascus. Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, a naturalized US citizen, was accused of acting as an agent of the Syrian intelligence service and collecting video and audio recordings of protesters against Syria and its president Bashar al-Assad. Iran • Saudi Arabia has issued a menacing warning to Iran that it will have to pay a price for the alleged plot to hire a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate its ambassador in Washington. Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to Washington and former head of the Saudi intelligence service, told a London conference: “The burden of proof and the amount of evidence in the case is overwhelming and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this.This is unacceptable. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price.” • The alleged plot doesn’t fit with what is known about Iran. Our diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, goes through eight unanswered questions about the plot. • “This plot if true, departs from all known Iranian policies and procedures,” says Gary Sick America’s top Iran watcher and former National Security Council adviser. His doubts are part of comprehensive round up of expert scepticism put together by Robert MacKey at the New York Times. Israel • Preparations are under way in Israel, the Gaza Strip and Egypt for the first stage of the prisoner swap deal involving the exchange of Gilad Shalit for hundreds of Palestinians. Legal restrictions mean it cannot be implemented before next Tuesday. Israeli law requires that two days be allowed to grant those who oppose any prisoner swap time to appeal against the decision. Given this week’s Sukkot holiday, Netanyahu is not expected to release the full list of prisoners set to be freed until Saturday evening. • What’s the wider significance of the deal? Why has it happened now? Who are the winners and losers? And what are the implications for the future of the Middle East? Our Middle East editor, Ian Black, has the answers. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Syria Bashar Al-Assad Israel Egypt Saudi Arabia US foreign policy Nato Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
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Temporary injunction granted until South Korean electronics company resolves legal dispute with Apple An Australian court has temporarily banned Samsung from selling its new Galaxy tablet computer in the country, another setback for the South Korean electronics company in a global patent battle with Apple that accuses it of slavishly copying the iPad and iPhone. Federal court justice Annabelle Bennett granted a temporary injunction on Thursday against sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia. The decision prevents Samsung Electronics Co from selling the device in Australia in its current form until a further court order, or until a pending patent lawsuit between the warring technology giants is resolved. The ruling is a blow for Samsung, which had hoped to launch the new product in time for Christmas sales. It comes after courts in other countries including Germany and the Netherlands made judgments that upheld Apple’s claims that its intellectual property had been appropriated by Samsung. The patent battle spanning 10 countries has underlined the perception of Samsung as an efficient imitator among technology companies rather than a pace-setter. Over the years, the company has grown to become the global No 1 in TVs and No 2 in smartphones by sales. But unlike Apple it has not mesmerised consumers with its originality and innovation. In April, California-based Apple sued Samsung in the US, alleging the product design, user interface and packaging of Samsung’s Galaxy devices “slavishly copy” the iPhone and iPad. South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co. fought back with lawsuits of its own, accusing Apple of patent infringement of its wireless telecommunications technology. Apple filed the Australian lawsuit in July, accusing Samsung of copying its touch-screen technology. In her ruling on Thursday, Bennett said she was granting the temporary injunction in part because she felt Apple had a sufficient likelihood of winning the trial against Samsung. The judge’s full orders will not be published until Friday. It was not immediately clear whether Samsung could – or would – attempt to sell a variation of the device that removed the features Apple objected to in the Australian lawsuit. “We are disappointed with this ruling and Samsung will be seeking legal advice on its options,” Samsung said in a statement. “Samsung will continue its legal proceeding against Apple’s claim in order to ensure our innovative products remain available to consumers.” Samsung, which filed its Australian countersuit in September, said it remained confident it could prove Apple violated its wireless technology patents. “We will continue to legally assert our intellectual property rights against those who violate Samsung’s patents and free ride on our technology,” the company said in a statement. A lawyer for Apple declined to comment after the hearing. Apple Computing Tablet computers Samsung United States South Korea guardian.co.uk
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A fifth of FTSE boards are still men only and the majority of blue-chip firms are failing to set equality targets, says research The “shocking” lack of women on the boards of the UK’s biggest companies was highlighted on Thursday by analysis claiming that at the current pace of recruitment it would take 20 years for one in three of directors in the boardroom to be female. A report by Deloitte found that 20% of companies in the FTSE 100 had no women in their boardrooms and just 5% of executive positions were held by women. Carol Arrowsmith, partner in Deloitte’s remuneration team, said: “The number of companies where there are no female board members is quite shocking. It is of particular concern that the proportion of women on boards has only increased from 5% to 9% in 10 years. At this rate, it would take another 20 years to reach the position of 30% female board representation, which is the aim of the 30% Club.” The aspirations of the 30% Club , set up by chairmen keen to bolster female representation on company boards, are similar to those set out by Lord Davies, who in his review of boardrooms in February called for UK companies to have 25% female board membership by 2015. Davies had recommended in February that UK companies take six months to publish their own targets for bolstering female presence on their boards but an official update published on Wednesday found that only 33 companies in the FTSE 100 had set such targets. The research by Cranfield University published on Wednesday found that only 22.5% of all new boardroom appointments have been women. Only 14.2% of boardroom seats in the FTSE 100 are held by women – up from 12.5% in 2010 and in total, 21 women have been appointed to FTSE 100 boards since February. Only three of them are in executive positions – Lucinda Bell, who was named finance director of British Land, Laura Wade-Gery at Marks & Spencer and Tracy Robbins at Intercontinental Hotels. The rest, including Burberry finance director Stacey Cartwright, are to non-executive posts. Davies, the former chairman of Standard Chartered, said more were needed. “This is about good business practice; it is also about securing performance. You need engagement and diversity in teams to achieve success. Too many UK boards and executive teams do not have it. We are working to change that,” Davies said. Ministers Vince Cable and Theresa May indicated they did not intend to make quotas mandatory. The business secretary and women’s minister said: “There is still a long way to go and too many companies fail to recognise the potential of women in leadership positions. We remain optimistic, however, that the voluntary approach advocated by Lord Davies will deliver the necessary changes.” A reception was held in Downing Street on Wednesday evening and David Cameron is writing to firms urging them to sign up to targets. Lawyers warned that legislation might be on the agenda if there was not enough action. “The current political support these issues have, both at home and in Europe, mean that if FTSE companies fail to make further significant progress with gender diversity issues voluntarily and in the short term, then the spectre of legislation and the introduction of quotas, as has happened elsewhere in Europe, may be seen as an inevitable consequence,” said Mark Spinner, partner at international law firm Eversheds. Professor Susan Vinnicombe, co-author of the Cranfield report, thought progress was being made. She said: “Our review reveals that the number of women in board positions is beginning to creep up, albeit quite slowly.” However, she also cited the type of appointments – 14 out of the 21 FTSE
Continue reading …Saudis say Iran must ‘pay the price’ for alleged plot as US resists retaliation
October 13, 2011 No Comment
Tehran denies it was behind plot to kill Saudi ambassador and says US is using it to divert attention from problems at home Saudi Arabia has issued a menacing warning to Iran that it will have to pay a price for the alleged plot to hire a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate its ambassador in Washington. The threat from the Saudis came as the Obama administration described the alleged plot as a “dangerous escalation” in the region. White House spokesman Jay Carney said “clearly the plotting happened at senior levels of the Quds force [Iranian special forces]” but the administration resisted calls from within the US, mainly from the conservative right, to retaliate against Iran with military action. On Wednesday night Carney said Barack Obama spoke to King Abdullah, the Saudi king, about the alleged plot and both agreed it was “a flagrant violation of international law”. Iran denied it was behind the alleged plot, with officials accusing Washington of fabricating the story to divide Sunni Muslims, the dominant group in Saudi, and Shia Muslims, the dominant group in Iran. They claimed Barack Obama was using the story to divert attention from the Occupy Wall Street protests. The US justice department said on Tuesday two men had been charged with a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, with a bomb explosion at one of his favourite restaurants. One of the men, Manssor Arbabsiar, an American-Iranian, is alleged to have sought the help of a Mexican drug cartel, Zetas, to provide explosives and carry out the attack. The other man is, according to the US, in Iran. Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to Washington and former head of the Saudi intelligence service, told a London conference: “The burden of proof and the amount of evidence in the case is overwhelming and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this. “This is unacceptable. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price.” Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have long been strained, exacerbated this year by Saudi sending forces into neighbouring Bahrain to help put down protesters, many of them Shia Muslims. In spite of increased tension between Saudi and Iran as a result of the episode, the alleged plot is being met with scepticism within the diplomatic community, as well as from foreign affairs analysts specialising in Iran. Many said the plot was amateurish and questioned what Iran would gain from such an outrage. A former western diplomat with an intimate knowledge of Iranian affairs said: “I don’t believe Iran’s regime was behind the plot. If we assume it was Iran’s plot, then it would seem like a group of professional gangsters hiring a careless agent for their most important project. It’s impossible.” Fresh details emerged yesterday about the man at the centre of the affair. Arbabsiar, 56, appeared in court in New York on Tuesday. He is allegedly linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the paramilitary group closely entwined with the Iranian leadership. He does not fit the usual profile of an Iranian agent, who tend to be professional. Arbabsiar is a car salesman in Corpus Christi, Texas. Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, said she and a team of experts were briefing individual members of the security council on the plot. One of the main pieces of evidence is $100,000 (£63,000) transferred to the US, allegedly from Iran, as a downpayment for the assassination attempt. The vice-president, Joe Biden, in an ABC television interview, said Iran would be held accountable and all options, including military, remained on the table. But the administration is focused on a diplomatic effort to persuade its allies to impose tougher economic sanctions on Iran. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, described the alleged plot as a “reckless act”. The state department issued a three-month worldwide travel alert for American citizens. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said the US accusations were baseless. “Such worn-out approaches are … part of the special scenarios staged and pursued by the enemies of Islam and the region to sow discord among Muslims,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying. Fars also quoted Alaoddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, saying: “Today the United States is witnessing a popular uprising called Wall Street protests, which have targeted the hostile policies of that country’s statesmen. Thus, Americans are seeking to derail the public opinion from the Wall Street uprising.” Iran Global terrorism FBI United States Saudi Arabia US foreign policy Hillary Clinton Obama administration Ewen MacAskill Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Leveson inquiry: David Cameron in firing line as Kelvin MacKenzie hits out
October 13, 2011 No Comment
Prime minister using Leveson inquiry to escape his own ‘lack of judgment’ over hiring Andy Coulson, says former Sun editor The former editor of the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, has said that the Leveson inquiry into press ethics was set up by the prime minister in an attempt to “escape his own personal lack of judgment” over his hiring of the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson. MacKenzie, now a columnist at the Daily Mail, told a seminar arranged by Lord Justice Leveson that David Cameron made a mistake when he appointed Coulson as his director of communications in an attempt to curry favour with Rupert Murdoch. “It was clearly a gesture of political friendship aimed over Andy’s head to Rupert Murdoch,” he said. “A couple of calls from central office people would have told him that there was a bad smell hanging around the News of the World.” Describing the inquiry as “ludicrous”, MacKenzie said: “This is the way in which our prime minister is hopeful he can escape his own personal lack of judgment. He knows, and Andy knows, that he should never have been hired into the heart of government. I don’t blame Andy for taking the job. I do blame Cameron for offering it.” MacKenzie attacked “Cameron’s obsessive arse-kissing over the years of Rupert Murdoch. Tony Blair … was pretty good, and Brown wasn’t too bad. But Cameron was the daddy of them all.” He added Cameron was wrong to believe the Sun would help to secure him victory in last year’s general election and should not have courted its leading executives in the UK so assiduously. MacKenzie also claimed it was not Murdoch’s decision to drop the Sun’s support for Gordon Brown two years ago. “Whoever made that decision should hang their head in shame. I point the finger at a management mixture of Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch.” He said Murdoch had told him on the day that edition of the paper was published that Brown had phoned the media mogul and told him: “You are trying to destroy me and my party. I will destroy you and your company.” MacKenzie added: “That endorsement that day was a terrible error.” Earlier in the day, Paul Dacre, the Daily Mail’s editor in chief, addressed the hearing, telling an audience of Fleet Street executives, lawyers and regulators, that he will introduce a corrections and clarifications column on page two of the paper next week. Sister titles the Mail on Sunday and Metro will follow suit. Dacre made the concession in a rare and remarkably candid speech in which he also attacked Cameron. The editor said he “unequivocally condemned phone hacking and payments to police”, and described them as a disgrace. But he criticised the government for responding to the scandal at the NoW by setting up “a judicial inquiry with more powers” than the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. “Let’s keep this all in perspective,” said Dacre. “The banks didn’t collapse because of the News of the World.” Neither did the paper cause August’s riots or prompt MPs to steal from the constituents they represent through expenses fraud, he argued. Dacre criticised the panel of experts who are advising Leveson, describing them as “a panel of experts who, while honourable and distinguished people, don’t have the faintest clue how mass-selling newspapers operate”. They include former Daily Telegraph political editor George Jones and Elinor Goodman, former political editor of Channel 4 News. Dacre, who chairs the Press Complaints Commission editors’ code of practice committee, insisted the PCC did good work and said introducing fines would be counterproductive. “I profoundly regret that a prime minister who had become too close to News International … made a cynical act of political expediency [by saying] the PCC was a failed body,” he said. However, in a significant concession, Dacre also said that a press ombudsman – possibly chaired by a retired judge or civil servant and possibly advised by former editors from both sides of the newspaper spectrum – could be created to sit alongside the PCC. He added it “would have the power to summon editors, name offenders … and, in cases of the most extreme malfeasance, impose fines”. The Daily Mail editor added that the major problem facing the press today is the acute commercial crisis, noting “the depressing fact that the newspaper industry is in a sick financial state”. The consequence of that, particularly at a local level, he added, is that: “Courts aren’t covered, councils aren’t held to account.” Dacre said that caused a “democratic deficit which itself warrants an inquiry”. He said: “The most virulent criticism of self-regulation comes from newspapers that lose eye-watering amounts of money and which are subsidised either by trusts or Russian oligarchs … They are free from the compulsion to connect with enough readers to be financially viable.” Mounting a passionate defence of tabloid newspapers, Dacre added on Wednesday night that popular papers could be “vulgar, irreverent, outrageous and even malign. They also represent the views of millions of Britons.” Conservative MP Louise Mensch disputed Dacre’s defence of the PCC, saying that it manifestly does not work in its current form. “I think it was absolutely ludicrous of Mr Dacre to suggest at some length there was no problem whatsoever,” she told Newsnight. While Mensch, a member of the culture select committee, broadly back self-regulation, the comedian Steve Coogan said the system had failed. “[It] palpably failed in the biggest single test of its existence in the last 20 years in the hacking scandal. It did nothing,” he said. Coogan said he would be delighted if the Daily Mail went to the wall tomorrow, accusing Dacre of pandering to the public’s worst fears and prejudices. Mensch agreed Dacre was “being disingenuous”, pointing to Operation Motorman, a 2006 inquiry into the use of private investigators by the press, which found the Daily Mail topped the list of newspapers that paid for information that the Information Commissioner’s office believed was likely to have been obtained illegally. Kelvin MacKenzie Leveson inquiry David Cameron Rupert Murdoch James Murdoch News of the World Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Rebekah Brooks Andy Coulson News International Phone hacking Lord Justice Leveson James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Some people are inspired by Tiger Woods. Others are inspired to throw frankfurters at him. In the case of Brandon Kelly, the 31-year-old who launched a hot dog in Tiger Woods’ direction on Sunday, inspiration also came compliments of Hollywood. “I threw the hot dog toward Tiger Woods because I…
Continue reading …Warren Buffett got back in the public fray over taxes today with a letter to GOP congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas. Highlights: Buffett wrote that his adjusted gross income last year was $62.8 million and his taxable income was $39.8 million. He paid $6.9 million in federal…
Continue reading …Eight people were killed and another critically wounded today when a gunman opened fire in a busy hair salon, leaving victims’ bodies scattered throughout the business in a normally sedate Southern California beach community. The gunman got into a car and drove away from Salon Meritage in Seal Beach. He…
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• Payouts would be put on hold for undercapitalised institutions • EC president softens up bondholders up for losses of 30% Europe’s biggest banks would be barred from paying out dividends and bonuses if they are forced to raise their capital reserves to withstand future shocks, under plans put forward by the European commission to resolve the debt crisis. At the same time, banks are being softened up by Brussels to accept “haircuts”, or losses, of 30%-50% on their holdings of Greek debt rather than the current 21%. Senior commission officials are also examining ways to boost the size of the main bailout fund, the European financial stability facility (EFSF), closer to the €2
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