New revelation deepens crisis at News of the World after it emerges that officers will review child murder cases The phone-hacking crisis enveloping the News of the World intensified on Tuesday night after it emerged that Scotland Yard has started to contact the relatives of victims of the 7 July 2005 attacks to warn them they were targeted by the paper. The revelation that bereaved family members may have had their mobile phone messages intercepted by Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator employed by the paper, in the days following the 2005 London bombings will heap further pressure on the title’s owner, News International, part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Graham Foulkes, whose son David was killed in the attack at Edgware Road tube station, confirmed that he had been contacted by officers from Operation Weeting, the Met’s investigation into phone hacking. He said they had told him his mobile phone number, ex-directory landline number and address had been found in records made by Mulcaire that were recovered from the investigator’s office in south London. Foulkes’s solicitor, Clifford Tibber, who represents several families who had relatives killed in the terrorist attack, said the news had “come as a terrible shock” to them as they prepared to mark the sixth anniversary of the bombings this week. The news capped a dramatic day of unfolding developments in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Police officers are turning their attention to examine every high-profile case involving the murder, abduction or attack on any child since 2001 – in response to the revelation that journalists from the tabloid newspaper hacked into the voicemail messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Officers have already told the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the girls killed in Soham in 2002 by Ian Huntley, that their mobiles had been hacked. Documents seized by the Metropolitan police in a 2006 raid on Mulcaire’s home show he targeted Leslie Chapman, the father of Jessica Chapman. It is understood the name “Greg” appeared in the corner of notes taken by Mulcaire – believed to be a reference to the News of the World’s former assistant editor (news) Greg Miskiw. It is thought that parents of Holly Wells, were also targeted. The move is a direct response to the Guardian’s exclusive story on Monday that Mulcaire caused Milly’s parents to wrongly believe she was still alive – and interfered with police inquiries into her disappearance – by hacking into the teenager’s mobile phone and deleting messages. On Tuesday night it also emerged that News International had given the Metropolitan police details of payments made by News of the World to senior police officers between 2003 and 2007, the period when Andy Coulson was the paper’s editor. The development brings the crisis closer to the door of prime minister David Cameron who appointed Coulson as his director of communications when in opposition and then staunchly defended him until Coulson quit in January 2011. News International said on Tuesday night: “As a result of media enquiries, it is correct to state that new information has recently been provided to the police. As News International and News Group Newspapers has reiterated many times, full and continuing cooperation has been provided to the police since the current investigation started in January 2011. Well understood arrangements are in place to ensure that any material of importance to which they are entitled is provided to them. We cannot comment any further due to the ongoing investigations.” The revelation also suggests there is now a breaking of ranks inside News International since the files on payments to the police are unlikely to have emerged only yesterday, but instead were released to the police as senior executives said the paper could no longer continue to cover up the scale of the wrong doing at the paper. Pointedly, News International insisted on Tuesday night that the payments to the police did not relate to the period from 2000-2003, when Rebekah Brooks was the paper’s editor. Commentators suggested that was a way for the company to deflect the blame on to Coulson. Pressure has intensified on the newspaper and Brooks – now News International chief executive – who insisted she knew nothing of the Dowler hacking allegations. She edited the News of the World at the time the hacking of Dowler’s phone messages took place. On Tuesday night, former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan claimed on BBC Newsnight that Brooks was aware of the phone hacking. Asked if his former editor knew of the activities, he said: “Of course she did.” McMullen, who made similar claims in a conversation that was secretly by taped by actor Hugh Grant earlier this year, described the hacking of Dowler’s phone as “not such a big deal”. He said: “The journalists might have helped. The mistake that was made was that [Mulcaire] was so keen to get new messages he deleted the old ones.” The case of Madeleine McCann is expected to be one of the first to be re-examined by detectives. Clarence Mitchell, Kate and Gerry McCann’s spokesman, said he had been interviewed and was due to be interviewed a second time. Another case likely to be re-examined is that of 15-year-old Danielle Jones, who was abducted and murdered in East Tilbury, Essex, in 2001 by her uncle. Police officers will trawl through their collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Mulcaire, and seized from him in 2006, when he and the News of the World’s royal editor, Clive Goodman, were jailed for hacking into mobile phones belonging to aides to Prince William and Harry. Mulcaire issued a public apology on Tuesday to all those hurt or upset by his activities, saying that after the developments of the past 24 hours he had to “break his silence”. He said: “I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. I’ve been to court. I’ve pleaded guilty. And I’ve gone to prison and been punished. I still face the possibility of further criminal prosecution. “Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure. There was a constant demand for results. I knew what we did pushed the limits ethically. But, at the time, I didn’t understand that I had broken the law at all.” The media regulator, Ofcom, is understood to be ready to examine whether News Corporation directors would be “fit and proper persons” to own BSkyB – if any senior employees at News Corporation or its UK arm, News International, were charged with hacking-related offences. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is closing in on winning regulatory approval for its proposed £8bn-plus takeover of the 61% of BSkyB it does not own. Sources close to the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who will decide on the issue, insisted he could not take phone hacking into account in the decision that is focused on “media plurality”. Meanwhile a string of high-profile companies – including Ford, npower, Halifax, T-Mobile and Orange – said they would be reviewing or withdrawing their advertising in the News of the World. Those five brands are estimated to account for more than £2m worth of advertising in the tabloid in the past year. T-Mobile and Orange are thought to have spent an estimated £1.5m between them. Ford said it would be using “alternative media within and outside News International Group instead of placing Ford advertising in the News of the World” while it awaited the outcome of an internal investigation. The company added: “Ford is a company which cares about the standards of behaviour of its own people and those it deals with externally.” Calls for boycotts of the News of the World appeared on Twitter and Facebook , and companies came under sustained pressure to pull their advertising from it . Those wishing to direct their fury at the firms who advertise through the News of the World were provided with a one-stop page where they could automatically tweet their concerns to companies such as the Co-operative, easyJet, Butlins and Renault. Others went further, and calling for direct boycotts of the firms unless they took their advertising money elsewhere . John Bercow, the speaker of Commons, granted a debate – which will happen on Wednesday – into calls for a public inquiry into phone hacking by News International journalists, and whether there was a potential cover-up by its senior executives. Ministers in the Commons opposed the emergency debate but, in what will be seen as another show of force by Bercow, he accepted arguments in favour put by the Labour MP Chris Bryant. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said Brooks needed to “examine her conscience” and that he was sure that she would because “this happened on her watch”. Although his words were Labour’s strongest intervention so far on the phone-hacking crisis, the party is still undecided about whether to put forward a substantive motion calling for a public inquiry that could be subject to a vote or amendment. Media regulator Ofcom is understood to be standing by ready to examine whether News Corporation directors would be “fit and proper persons” to own BSkyB – if any senior employees at News Corporation or its UK arm News International were charged with any hacking related offences. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is closing in on winning regulatory approval for its proposed £8bn-plus takeover of the 61% of BSkyB it does not own – with sources close to the deciding minister, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, insisting again that he could not take phone hacking into account of a decision that is focused on “media plurality”. Channel 4 News reported that Brooks was confronted by the Met in 2002 about the fact a senior detective investigating the murder of a private investigator, Daniel Morgan, was targeted by Mulcaire on behalf of the News of the World. The main suspect in the case, which was being led by Detective Superintendent David Cook, was a man with close links to the News of the World. Cook and his wife, Jackie Haines, were told by Scotland Yard in April this year their mobile phone numbers and payroll details had been found in Mulcaire’s notebook. News International said it could not confirm or deny whether Brooks had ever attended such a meeting. Lady Buscombe, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, said she was lied to by the News of the World over phone hacking. “There’s only so much we can do when people are lying to us. We know now that I was not being given the truth by the News of the World,” she told the BBC’s Daily Politics. Brooks emailed employees at News International on Tuesday to insist she knew nothing about phone hacking: “It is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations. I am aware of the speculation about my position. “Therefore it is important you all know that as chief executive, I am determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues.” Phone hacking 7 July London attacks Newspapers & magazines National newspapers News International Rebekah Brooks Metropolitan police Glenn Mulcaire Newspapers Andy Coulson Police News of the World James Robinson Amelia Hill Sam Jones Nick Davies Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media While cable channels like Fox have been paying attention 24/7 to the largely meaningless Casey Anthony murder case, we’ve instead been following the trials in the case of Shawna Forde and her killer Minutemen , which has considerably more social significance — and thus has, of course, been largely ignored in the media. Indeed, the clip above was the only video I could find of the final verdict, which came down Friday: An Arivaca man was convicted today of being behind a May 2009 home invasion that resulted in the death of a former friend and the friend’s 9-year-old daughter. It took a Pima County jury five hours to convict Albert Gaxiola, 44, of first-degree murder in the deaths of Raul Junior Flores, 29, and Brisenia Flores. He was also convicted this afternoon of attempting to murder Flores’ wife, Gina Gonzalez, and one count each of burglary, armed robbery and aggravated robbery; and two counts of aggravated assault. Jurors must now decide if the circumstances of the case warrant consideration of the death penalty. If they say “Yes,” defense attorneys will present mitigation evidence over the next several days. Dave Ricker has much more at his blog : Now that the jury has found Gaxiola guilty of the two counts of first-degree murder the trial will move to the aggravation phase starting on Wednesday, July 6. If the jury finds one of the alleged aggravators, multiple murders and a victim under the age of 15, to have been proven then the trial will move to the penalty phase where the burden lies with the defense to persuade the jury to grant the defendant leniency. During closing arguments in the trial, Thursday, the jury was reminded of a text message sent on May 30, 2009, by the defendant just hours after the a deadly home invasion in Arivaca. That message sent by Gaxiola read “Sweet dreams.” Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay paused for a moment. “They had just killed a 9-year-old. They had just killed her father. They had just wounded Gina,” he said. “And, Albert Gaxiola’s text message back to Shawna Forde was ‘Sweet dreams.’ Shawna Forde’s reply was: ‘You’re one of my minutemen.’” Unklesbay found himself searching for words. “I’m not sure what words can adequately characterize the actions of these people,” he said. “This is beyond outrageous. This is just downright scary.” During those same closing arguments defense counsel Jack L. Lansdale suggested to the jury that his client was incapable of harming Brisenia or her sister. He asked the jury to recall testimony by the medical examiner complete with detailed pictures of the injuries suffered by Brisenia and her father. “Did anyone of you hearing the testimony during the presentation of the photographs of Brisenia Flores happen to notice Albert and his reaction?” he asked, rhetorically. “For him to participate in any action to hurt those children is incomprehensible.” We’ll keep you posted on the final sentence for Gaxiola — which will wrap up this case, barring appeals, for good.
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Exclusive: Airstrike in Helmand province is first confirmed operation in which Reaper aircraft has caused civilian deaths Four Afghan civilians were mistakenly killed and two others injured in an attack by a remotely controlled RAF “drone” targeting insurgent leaders in Helmand province, the Guardian has learned. The airstrike marks the first confirmed operation in which one of the UK’s Reaper aircraft has been responsible for the deaths of civilians, and comes amid growing concern on both sides of the Atlantic about increased use of drones in combat zones. The revelation may also complicate the task of British commanders in the province as they try to secure the trust of local people ahead of “transition” – the symbolic moment later this month when Afghan forces take the lead for security in areas currently under UK control. However, the British military remain convinced about the use of Reapers and insist the civilian deaths were due to intelligence failures on the ground rather than problems with the aircraft. Military officials have told the Guardian it is possible that almost one third of the RAF could be made up of remotely controlled aircraft within 20 years, such is the confidence in their capability. The airstrike that caused the civilian casualties was meant to kill a Taliban commander who was being tracked on the ground in the Now Zad district of north Helmand. According to sources, the leader was correctly identified and the Reaper, which was flying close by, was instructed to attack. The Reaper pilots were thousands of miles away at a US Airforce base in Nevada when they were given the all clear to fire on two trucks. Both vehicles were destroyed – at least one of them is thought to have been packed with explosive. An insurgent commander and an associate were killed, but it soon became clear that civilians were also in the vehicles. “It was extremely unfortunate that the civilians were killed,” said a Whitehall source. “The attack would not have taken place if we had known that there were civilians in the vehicles as well.” The incident took place on 25 March this year and an inquiry was launched by investigators from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ISAF confirmed that “civilians were discovered in the vehicles following the airstrike during a battle damage assessment”; this was conducted by soldiers sent to confirm what had happened. “This is the first case when civilian deaths have been caused by one of our Reapers,” said the source. “There has been a comprehensive investigation to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Any incident involving civilian casualties is a matter of deep regret and we take every possible measure to avoid such incidents. On 25 March a UK Reaper was tasked to engage and destroy two pick up trucks. The strike resulted in the deaths of two insurgents and the destruction of a significant quantity of explosives being carried on the trucks. Sadly, four Afghan civilians were also killed and a further two Afghan civilians were injured. There are strict procedures, frequently updated in light of experience, intended to both minimise the risk of casualties occurring and to investigate any incidents that do happen. “An ISAF investigation was conducted to establish if any lessons could be learnt from the incident or if errors in operational procedures could be identified; the report noted that the UK Reaper’s crews actions had been in accordance with procedures and UK Rules of Engagement.” The families of the civilian victims will be entitled to compensation if they report to a British base and can prove their identity. Chris Cole, a campaigner who runs the Drone Wars UK website, which monitors the development of unmanned weapons systems, said he was concerned at the time it took for the attack to be made public. “The secrecy and lack of accountability surrounding the use of British armed drones is a matter of great concern. There needs to be a full and public investigation of all the issues raised by the increasing use of armed unmanned drones by British forces.” The RAF has been piloting Reapers from Creech Air Force base in Nevada since late 2007. The MoD bought the aircraft as an “urgent operational requirement” to help in the fight against the Taliban. Since then the Reapers have flown a total of 23,400 hours and fired 176 missiles and laser guided bombs. Last year David Cameron said 124 insurgents had been killed by UK drones during their Afghan deployment. The RAF’s leading expert on Reapers, Wing Commander Chris Thirtle, told the Guardian some pilots in the future may never have to actually fly aircraft, beyond their initial training. Instead, they will be trained to use remote controlled aircraft for combat missions. Most of the concern about drones has centred on their extensive use by the CIA and American military commanders to attack al-Qaida commanders in Pakistan. Some studies have estimated that hundreds of civilians have also been killed in these strikes. In 2009 an RAF drone fired on suspected insurgents in Sangin, helping Royal Marines who were patrolling in the area. The attack is thought to have injured two children, who were flown to the British base at Camp Bastion for treatment. Military Afghanistan Unmanned drones Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk
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Detectives to examine every case involving attacks on children since 2001 in response to Milly Dowler phone hacking Police officers investigating phone hacking by the News of the World are turning their attention to examine every high-profile case involving the murder, abduction or attack on any child since 2001 in response to the revelation that journalists from the tabloid newspaper hacked into the voicemail messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The move is a direct response to the Guardian’s exclusive story on Monday that a private investigator working for the News International tabloid, Glenn Mulcaire, caused her parents to wrongly believe she was still alive – and interfered with police inquiries into her disappearance – by hacking into the teenager’s mobile phone and deleting messages. The case of Madeleine McCann is expected to be one of the first to be re-examined by detectives from Scotland Yard’s new inquiry into the phone hacking, Operation Weeting. Other cases likely to be re-examined include 15-year-old Danielle Jones, who was abducted and murdered in East Tilbury, Essex, in 2001 by her uncle, Stuart Campbell. Officers from Operation Weeting have already told the parents of the girls killed in Soham in 2002 by Ian Huntley that their mobiles had been hacked. Documents seized by the Metropolitan police in a 2006 raid on Mulcaire’s home show he targeted Leslie Chapman, the father of Jessica Chapman. It is understood the name “Greg” appeared in the corner of notes taken by Mulcaire – believed to be a reference to the News of the World’s former assistant editor (news) Greg Miskiw. It is thought that parents of the other murdered girl, Holly Wells, were also targeted. Police officers will trawl through their collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Mulcaire, and seized from him in 2006, when he and the News of the World’s royal editor, Clive Goodman, were jailed for hacking into mobile phones belonging to aides to Prince William and Harry and other members of the royal household. Mulcaire issued a public apology on Tuesday to all those hurt or upset by his activities, saying that after the developments of the past 24 hours he had to “break his silence”. He said: “I want to apologise to anybody who was hurt or upset by what I have done. I’ve been to court. I’ve pleaded guilty. And I’ve gone to prison and been punished. I still face the possibility of further criminal prosecution. “Working for the News of the World was never easy. There was relentless pressure. There was a constant demand for results. I knew what we did pushed the limits ethically. But, at the time, I didn’t understand that I had broken the law at all.” News of the impending police action capped a dramatic day of developments in the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. Throughout the day pressure intensified on the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper and, in particular, its former editor and now News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks – who insisted she knew nothing of the Dowler hacking allegations. She was the editor of the News of the World at the time the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone messages took place. The media regulator, Ofcom, is understood to be ready to examine whether News Corporation directors would be “fit and proper persons” to own BSkyB – if any senior employees at News Corporation or its UK arm, News International, were charged with hacking-related offences. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is closing in on winning regulatory approval for its proposed £8bn-plus takeover of the 61% of BSkyB it does not own. Sources close to the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, who will decide on the issue, insisted he could not take phone hacking into account in a decision that is focused on “media plurality”. Meanwhile a string of high-profile companies – including Ford, npower, Halifax, T-Mobile and Orange – said they would be reviewing or withdrawing their advertising in the News of the World. These five brands are estimated to account for more than £2m worth of advertising in the tabloid in the past year. T-Mobile and Orange are thought to have spent an estimated £1.5m between them. Ford said it would be using “alternative media within and outside News International Group instead of placing Ford advertising in the News of the World” while it awaited the outcome of an internal investigation. The company added: “Ford is a company which cares about the standards of behaviour of its own people and those it deals with externally.” Halifax said it was “considering our options” about advertising in the News of the World, adding: “We are sensitive to the views of our customers and will take them into account.” Calls for boycotts of the News of the World appeared on Twitter and Facebook , and companies came under sustained pressure to pull their advertising from it . Those wishing to direct their fury at the firms who advertise through the News of the World were provided with a one-stop page where they could automatically tweet their concerns to companies such as the Co-operative, easyJet, Butlins and Renault. Others went further, calling for direct boycotts of the firms unless they took their advertising money elsewhere . John Bercow, the speaker of Commons, granted a rare emergency debate – which will happen on Wednesday – into calls for a public inquiry into phone hacking by News International journalists, and whether there was a potential cover-up by its senior executives. Ministers in the Commons opposed the emergency debate but, in what will be seen as another show of force by Bercow, he accepted arguments in favour put by the Labour MP Chris Bryant. The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, said Brooks needed to “examine her conscience” and that he was sure that she would because “this happened on her watch”. Although his words were Labour’s strongest intervention so far on the phone-hacking crisis, the party is still undecided about whether to put forward a substantive motion calling for a public inquiry that could be subject to a vote or amendment. In the first sign of potential coalition tension of the Conservative Hunt’s planned approval of the Murdoch BSkyB deal, Tim Farron, the president of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC Radio 4′s World at Oneon Tuesday: “I ask myself, is Rupert Murdoch a fit and proper person to own any more of the media market? Well, certainly not.” The Milly Dowler revelations were the “tip of the iceberg”, he added. Channel 4 News reported that Brooks was confronted by the Met in 2002 about the fact a senior detective investigating the murder of a private investigator, Daniel Morgan, was targeted by Mulcaire on behalf of the News of the World. The main suspect in the case, which was being led by Detective Superintendent David Cook, was a man with close links to the News of the World. Cook and his wife, Jackie Haines, were told by Scotland Yard in April this year their mobile phone numbers and payroll details had been found in Mulcaire’s notebook. News International said it could not confirm or deny whether Brooks had ever attended such a meeting. Lady Buscombe, the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, said she was lied to by the News of the World over phone hacking. “There’s only so much we can do when people are lying to us. We know now that I was not being given the truth by the News of the World,” she told the BBC’s Daily Politics. Brooks emailed employees at News International to insist she knew nothing about phone hacking: “It is inconceivable that I knew or worse, sanctioned these appalling allegations. I am aware of the speculation about my position. “Therefore it is important you all know that as chief executive, I am determined to lead the company to ensure we do the right thing and resolve these serious issues.” Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Glenn Mulcaire News of the World Newspapers Rebekah Brooks Milly Dowler Soham murders Crime Metropolitan police Police BSkyB BSkyB Amelia Hill James Robinson Sam Jones Dan Sabbagh Nick Davies guardian.co.uk
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Newspaper and five of its journalists face lawsuit amid spate of leaks about alleged sexual attack The hotel maid at the centre of the attempted rape case against the former head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is suing the New York Post for libel after the newspaper accused her of working as a prostitute. The lawsuit was filed against the Post and five of its journalists after a stream of articles over the weekend that claimed she had engaged in sex work both in the Sofitel hotel where Strauss-Kahn had been staying at the time of the alleged assault and afterwards when the maid was under the protective care of New York police. The legal action, reported by Reuters, says that “all of these statements are false, have subjected the plaintiff to humiliation, scorn and ridicule throughout the world by falsely portraying her as a prostitute or as a woman who trades her body for money and they constitute defamation and libel per se.” The prosecution case against Strauss-Kahn is in deep crisis after the admission made last week by the Manhattan district attorney’s office that there were “major holes” in the woman’s account of events. The prosecutors agreed to release Strauss-Kahn from house arrest but said they continue to investigate the allegations of a forcible sexual attack. Prosecutors said last week they believe the alleged victim, a refugee from Guinea, lied over claims she was gang raped when she submitted a claim for political asylum in the US. She has also lied about her taxes and investigators found deposits made into her bank account of $100,000 (£60,000) over the past two years, some of which came from a drug dealer. But as the main case flounders, it has been joined by a flurry of legal action on the sides. A French writer, Tristane Banon, has now filed a criminal complaint in the French courts that alleges Strauss-Kahn tried to rape her in 2003 while she was conducting an interview with him. Banon told L’Express that “I can’t take it anymore hearing that I must be lying because I haven’t filed suit”. Strauss-Kahn has dismissed her claim as “imaginary”. The maid’s libel action suggests that the New York Post had published defamatory articles “in an apparent desperate attempt to bolster its rapidly plunging sales”. In one weekend report, the paper accused the 32-year-old of demanding payment from Strauss-Kahn after having sex with him in his hotel room. A separate report alleges that she continued to work as a prostitute in a hotel in Brooklyn while under the safekeeping of the district attorney’s office. The lawsuit says that the reports were published by the Post even though the newspaper knew they were false or should have known that they were false. The unravelling of the Strauss-Kahn prosecution has been accompanied by an extraordinary spate of leaks to the New York media. In the latest, the New York Times revealed details of the account given by the maid to staff at St Luke’s Roosevelt Crime Victim Treatment Center just hours after the alleged attack. According to paper , the maid said that as soon as she entered his room Strauss Kahn had pushed her on to the bed and began to assault her. She freed herself only to be attacked again. A director of the rape crisis centre that drew up the report has expressed intense unhappiness about the leaks. Susan Xenarios, a director, said they were “outrageous.” “We have been in operation for 35 years and this has never happened before. Everything is leaking it seems,” she said. “There are days when I feel psychotic about this.” Xenarios said she was fearful of the impact all these leaks would have on other victims. “I am very concerned that it will have wider ramifications.” She said Strauss-Kahn was a person of “extreme international power. I don’t know how that factors in. The whole thing is very disturbing”. In France, the possible return of Strauss-Kahn to the French presidential race has plunged the Socialist party into a fresh round of infighting. The latest poll showed that even if all charges are dropped against Strauss-Kahn, a majority of French people neither want him to stand nor think he will stand. Dominique Strauss-Kahn New York Post US press and publishing Newspapers Newspapers & magazines New York United States France Europe Dominic Rushe Ed Pilkington Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Florida jury acquits mother of killing 2-year-old toddler who went missing in 2008 and was found dead six months later A Florida jury has cleared a young mother, Casey Anthony, of murdering her two-year-old daughter, rejecting the prosecution’s portrayal of her as “a lying, no-good slut” who would rather go nightclubbing than rear her child. The jury unanimously found Anthony, 25, not guilty on murder, manslaughter and child abuse charges in a case that has gripped US talkshows and cable news television. She was, however, convicted on charges of lying to the police after claiming that her daughter, Caylee, had been abducted by a nanny when Anthony was driving around with the body of her child in the boot of her car. Anthony would have faced a possible death sentence had she been convicted of first-degree murder but will serve no more than four years in prison when she is sentenced on Thursday. Prosecutors had alleged that Anthony murdered Caylee because she stood in the way of her party lifestyle and interest in men. Prosecutors told the jury that Anthony killed her daughter with chloroform in 2008 and then buried her body in woods near the family home in Orlando several weeks later. Caylee’s corpse was found with three strips of duct tape over her mouth and nose. Anthony’s father, George, told the court that his daughter left home in June 2008, taking Caylee with her, and did not return for a month. Anthony’s parents asked repeatedly to see the child but their daughter told them she was too busy with work. Anthony also claimed that Caylee was being looked after by a nanny. It was later established that the nanny did not exist. Anthony maintained that claim until her parents received a notice that their daughter’s car had been towed. When they went to pick it up, George Anthony said he noticed a strong odour from the boot that he and a worker in the tow yard told the court smelled like a decomposing body. Anthony’s mother, Cindy, then called the police and reported Caylee missing. “There is something wrong. I found my daughter’s car today and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car,” she told the emergency operator. The prosecution homed in on Anthony’s failure to report her daughter missing during those 31 days. “Responses to grief are as varied as the day is long, but responses to guilt are oh so predictable,” the lead prosecutor, Linda Drane Burdick, said. “What do guilty people do? They lie. They avoid. They run. They mislead, not just to their family, but the police. They divert attention away from themselves and they act like nothing is wrong. That’s why you heard about what happened in those 31 days.” The defence said Caylee had accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and that her mother then panicked. It claimed that Anthony’s father knew about the accident and helped his daughter dispose of the body. It said George Anthony, a former police office, placed the tape over the dead girl’s face to make it look like murder in an attempt to cover up the failure to report the death. The man denied his daughter’s account. The defence also claimed that Casey Anthony had been sexually abused by her father and brother and that was a factor in her erratic behaviour. Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, said the prosecution had attempted to portray his client as “a lying, no-good slut” who murdered her daughter in order to go nightclubbing when in fact Caylee’s death was “an accident that snowballed out of control”. Another prosecutor, Jeff Ashton, said the defence failed to present any real evidence to back any of its claims and, in closing arguments, said the claim that George Anthony staged a murder to cover up a lesser crime made no sense. “That’s absurd. Nothing has been presented to you to make that any less absurd,” he said. But the jury was not persuaded that Anthony killed her daughter either deliberately or by accident. After the verdict, one of Anthony’s lawyers, Cheney Mason, condemned the “media assassination” of his client since her arrest, including by other lawyers who appeared on television talkshows to pronounce her guilty before the trial was over. United States Florida Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Jake Tapper Concedes Media’s Bias on Obama Medal of Honor Gaffe, Double Standard on Bachmann
July 5, 2011 No CommentABC's White House correspondent Jake Tapper appeared on the June 27 edition of Dennis Miller's radio show and conceded to a media blackout of Barack Obama's Medal of Honor gaffe. (The President confused a living recipient with the deceased Jared Monti who died in combat.) Tapper admitted that the President made “a big uncomfortable mistake.” He added, ” And I don't think that that got the same kind of coverage as, you know, when Sarah Palin got Paul Revere's ride. ” Tapper's right. His own network, ABC, as well as CBS and NBC have skipped the Monti story . Tapper was on vacation when the Medal of Honor story broke, but he, thus far, has ignored it (although he did cover it online ). Additionally, while the journalist had generic criticism for “the media,” he certainly didn't take ABC specifically to task. Miller critiqued, “Well, you guys gotta work that out in house. But, I will tell you, you're not- the herd's not fooling anybody out here.” Tapper at one point seemed on the verge of admitting to liberal media bias. He allowed, “But the question is, okay, and removing the ideological bias, and I don't- do not generally disagree that there is-” Unfortunately, Miller interrupted him. The White House correspondent attempted to shift the issue to one of sexism, suggesting that Hillary Clinton dealt with much harsher criticism than Obama. However, Good Morning America, where Tapper frequently appears, fawned over both. On the January 18, 2007 edition of that show, Clare Shipman summed up the Democratic battle as one between Clinton's “hot factor” and Obama's “fluid poetry.” An August 29, 2007, a Media Research Center study found Tapper to be wrong on this larger point of anti-Hillary bias. The MRC's Rich Noyes wrote : The top Democratic candidates received much more favorable coverage than their GOP counterparts, with Senator Clinton cast as “unbeatable” and Illinois Senator Barack Obama tagged as a “rock star.” The most prominent Republican, Arizona Senator John McCain, was portrayed as a loser because of his support for staying the course in Iraq. A transcript of Tapper's June 27 appearance on Dennis Miller can be found below: [Tapper moving off a question about Chris Wallace and the “flake” comment JAKE TAPPER: I do think that there is a question, and we were talking about this in our newsroom earlier today, I think there is a question about whether we are tougher, we meaning the media writ large, the Borg, that we are tougher on women candidates than we are on men, because I have to say, you know, anytime Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann, you know, misplaces an adjective- DENNIS MILLER: Sure. TAPPER: – we know about it and we cover it in the media. And, you know, this thing that the President did, and, obviously it was a mistake and he didn't mean to, but last week when he misidentified- he's given two Medals of Honor. And he was at the 10th Mountain at Fort Drum and he mistakenly said that he had given one to Sargent First Class Jared Monti when actually Monti was the one of the two Medals of Honor he's given that was given posthumously. Monti died in Gowardesh, northeast Afghanistan in 2006. That's a big, uncomfortable mistake. MILLER: Huge. Yeah, yeah. TAPPER:
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Against the backdrop of a Corfu beach resort, Jack Shenker meets frustrated but unbowed campaigners Many late-night forms of entertainment attract the crowds to Gouvia beach. The Elvis impersonators and happy hour cocktail offers are long-running staples; political agitation and naval blockades are not. For the past week, however, visitors have witnessed a strange addition to Corfu’s budget-holiday mecca: dozens of pro-Palestinian activists, huddled together around outdoor tables and debating intensely while British stag parties and groups of Slovenian teenagers in togas stumble drunkenly past. It is perhaps the unlikeliest of backdrops to a diplomatic row that has drawn in Ban Ki-moon, Hillary Clinton and some of the Middle East’s most entrenched political foes. But it is from here in Gouvia that this month’s “freedom flotilla” hoped to defy the diktats of government and break Israel’s siege of Gaza, after similar attempts in Athens were thwarted by the Greek authorities. On Tuesday that dream, for now at least, came to an end. “They can keep us here and break our boats, but they cannot break our spirits,” announced Rotterdam council member Nourdin El Ouali from the deck of the Stefano Chiarini, an old 1950s minesweeper now festooned with peace flags. He was speaking after it emerged that the requisite paperwork for departure had not come through, and that most of the passengers were unwilling to risk flouting the law by setting off regardless. “We are not sailing today but one day we will sail, with more ships, more passengers and more determination than ever before to bring aid and freedom to the people of Gaza,” El Ouali added. Amid the drama of ships breaking out of port and racing coastguard vessels to the high seas, and in the thick of mutual mud-slinging between the Israeli government and flotilla organisers – the former accusing activists of receiving funding from jihadists, the latter claiming that Israeli operatives risked human lives by sabotaging their boats – the realities of life in Gaza, supposedly the very thing lying at the heart of this whole affair, have sometimes felt forgotten. Since Israel began blockading the Palestinian territory in June 2007 in response to Hamas taking power, numerous aid organisations have concluded that the quality of life for 1.6 million people trapped within has sharply declined, regularly precipitating a humanitarian crisis and potentially amounting to the collective punishment of a population – an act deemed illegal under international law. Israel believes the blockade is necessary to stop weapons being smuggling into the territory. Last year Israel partially eased its restrictions on the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, largely as a response to the international outcry that accompanied its violent raid on the Turkish vessel the Mavi Marmara , which left nine people dead. But in a report released only three months ago the UN concluded that this shift in policy “did not result in a significant improvement in people’s livelihoods”, highlighting the fact that 52% of the Gazan families still suffer from food insecurity and that unemployment levels in the territory remain among the highest in the world. David Cameron has labelled Gaza an open-air “prison camp” , and even the Greek government – which over the past week sanctioned the armed commandeering of American and Canadian ships in an effort to stop the flotilla – says publicly that the Israeli blockade must end. It’s this chasm between the stated opposition of most world leaders to Israel’s tight grip over Gaza and their almost universal condemnation of a group of boats aiming to peacefully break it that has got activists in Corfu shaking their heads in frustration – and rethinking what their mission stands for in the context of a much broader struggle. “Most states ignore civil society: they don’t take it seriously as a political player,” says Ewa Jasiewicz, a British-Polish campaigner who had been planning to sail to Gaza from Corfu. “What the flotilla does is actually bring civil society into a space where states have to deal with us. Our actions are exposing the lack of adherence to international law among nation states supporting the siege, and through that we can show that it’s only grassroots movements and people power from below that has an impact on changing policy. We’re exposing the inertia and complicity of governments and really undermining the idea that we’re living in democracies – and that’s especially clear in Greece.” In the midst of the Arab spring, Jasiewicz’s argument – that direct actions like the flotilla serve to delegitimise not only Israel’s occupation of Palestine but also the wider status quo of power relations in western democracies – is an explosive one, particularly in a country like Greece where the elected government is facing a powerful crisis of legitimacy from below. According to Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti, the flotilla and the extraordinary diplomatic mobilisation against it have revealed the vulnerability of established political elites and the growing momentum for change in the Middle East and beyond. “If you really support the Arab spring, you should support the flotilla,” he recently told national leaders at a meeting of the Socialist International. Many of those involved in the flotilla believe that this year’s revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, as well as the ongoing battles being waged against autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world, have fundamentally changed the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well. “People have had their stereotypes of Arabs smashed over the past six months, particularly when you see protesters in Sana’a wearing brightly coloured wigs and children resisting armed police in Cairo – you can’t call these people terrorists,” argues Jasiewicz. “And in TV pictures of these scenes, the Palestinian flag is everywhere. You can’t cut the Palestinian freedom struggle out from the Arab Spring – it’s becoming recognised as a pro-democracy movement, and hence more widely accepted.” The real intention of the flotilla has always been less about physically transporting humanitarian aid and geared more towards political subversion of the Israeli blockade. At this level the challenge was not so much to set sail – although one small French craft has reached international waters, the only boat in the flotilla to do so – but rather to win the media battle and create an opening for Palestinian voices to be heard. Whether this year’s efforts have helped achieve this will be bitterly contested by both sides for many months to come. The diverse array of activists who travelled to Corfu – from a Dublin-based professional rugby player to a member of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood – all had different metrics of success, differences which often bubbled over during hard-fought disagreements over strategy and tactics. This motley crew of Corfu campaigners will now go their separate ways – some back home to Holland, Italy, Bosnia and elsewhere, others onto Athens to join continuing protests there by flotilla activists, including hunger strikes and occupations of some national embassies. Meanwhile the Stefano Chiarini will carry on bobbing among the pleasure yachts and the local ferries, waiting for the next attempt to voyage on to Gazan waters. “The flotilla action is the culmination of decades of anti-occupation struggle,” says Jasiewicz. “It involves activists from civil rights movement backgrounds, anti-capitalist backgrounds, many different social justice movements, and inevitably sometimes those people will view things in different ways. But last year, when we were in prison [following the Israeli interception of a similar flotilla which included the Mavi Marmara] an Israeli lawyer walked in and said ‘you have changed the world’. We haven’t stopped trying to do that.” Gaza flotilla Gaza Middle East Israel Europe Palestinian territories Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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Youngsters, who say they were detained for more than six hours, launch legal challenge in high court Metropolitan police officers illegally detained children as young as 11 for more than six hours during a “kettling” operation against tuition fee protesters, the high court has been told. Three of those held last year are challenging the decision by senior officers to contain youngsters – some of whom were wearing school uniforms – among masses of demonstrators on Whitehall. The case focuses attention on police use of the tactic to prevent groups of people moving through the streets. It has been criticised for its indiscriminate punishment of everyone present. Lawyers for Adam Castle, 16, his sister Rosie, 15, and Sam Eaton, 16, all from north London, argued the police operation was unlawful because no release plan had been prepared to cope with the presence of children. Martin Westgate QC, counsel for the children, said the police failure constituted a breach of their obligations under section 11 of the Children’s Act and of their responsibilities to respect human rights. The children had, with their parents’ permission, joined the National Student Walkout demonstration against the rise in university fees on 24 November. “The claimants were entirely innocent of any misconduct,” Westgate said. “Other children were also prevented from leaving. One 11-year-old was told to ‘get back’ at a fairly late stage in the containment.” The “kettle” operation began at 12.30pm and children repeatedly presented themselves at the police lines asking to be allowed to leave. They showed Oyster cards and offered other proof of their age but were not allowed to depart. “Children … were reasonably capable of being identified as non-violent participants,” Westgate said. “There’s no suggestion there were a significant number of violent children.” Radio logs of the police operation showed that officers feared some protesters had knives or, in one case, a gun. “It seems that the release took longer … because the police wanted to secure evidence for arrests,” Westgate said. “That’s not a lawful use of containment.” The children were among 10 friends who joined thousands of students, lecturers and teachers in Trafalgar Square to march towards the Houses of Parliament. Rosie was trapped for about six hours and the boys, who were in court, for seven-and-a-half hours. Westgate said he accepted the decision to impose the kettle was lawful because of police fears breaches of the peace were imminent but added that the operation became unlawful because of the failure to have a release plan communicated to frontline officers. Lawyers for the Met police argued that the containment had not been pre-planned, that there was no expectation that schoolchildren would join in and that provision had been made to help vulnerable people caught up in the protests. Requiring the police to record every possible consideration in preparation for large operations would be a “sterile exercise”, the force added. Two portable toilets were provided, but only five hours after protesters had been penned in. Outside court Sam said: “I just felt like we were being punished for demonstrating, as opposed to us doing anything illegal.” Adam added: “I hope the judges see that kettling broke our rights. We were punished for protesting and everyone was left demoralised. It was one of the coldest days of the year and we had not been prepared for being held into the night. “As children we can’t vote, so one of the best ways for us to voice our opinion is through protest and if that’s stopped or inhibited by kettling then where are we left?” His sister Rosie was released earlier and separated from her brother. Adam said: “She knew where she was, but she didn’t know how to get home. She didn’t expect to be separated and left out in the middle of London in the evening. No one was prepared for that.” The hearing continues. Kettling Police Metropolitan police Tuition fees Higher education Students Children Human rights Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Sir Richard Dearlove says al-Qaida may have passed its zenith but could still muster a spectacular outrage Al-Qaida is facing a “crisis of credibility” and the Arab Spring is “complete anathema” to it, a former head of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service, declared on Tuesday. The organisation spawned by Osama bin Laden, killed in May in Pakistan by US special forces, may have already passed its zenith in the Arab world, Sir Richard Dearlove, told an audience in London. But he warned that, as a result, al-Qaida had a “pressing need to pull off a spectacular”. He stressed: “Clearly there is a high risk of a spectacular.” Dearlove, chief of MI6 at the time of the 11 September attacks on the US and the invasion of Iraq, made clear he believed it was time to reduce the proportion of their resources – about 70% – that Britain’s security and intelligence agencies currently devoted to countering terrorism. More important now, he suggested, were political developments in the Middle East following what he called the “Arab awakening”. What was the actual threat, he asked, adding that events in Arab countries suggested that intelligence agencies were facing a world on the cusp of a hugely significant change of direction. He added that in Afghanistan a clear distinction had to be made between al-Qaida and the Pashtuns who, he indicated, were fighting an insurgency inspired more by nationalist and tribal ambitions than extreme ideological ones. Dearlove was speaking at a meeting sponsored by the Global Strategy Forum, chaired by Lord Lothian, the former Conservative frontbencher Michael Ancram. He suggested more resources should be diverted from the defence budget to Britain’s intelligence agencies. He observed that one of MI5 and MI6′s roles set out in statutes was to protect Britain’s “economic well-being”. Dearlove said: “We should not be squeamish about using all means at our disposal to protect ourselves economically.” One question was the extent to which Britain’s intelligence budget – about £2bn annually – should be used to protect the country’s financial and energy security, he said. Dearlove added that there was a “strong argument” for MI5 and MI6 to help the new National Crime Agency tackle serious and organised crime. The security and intelligence services had that role before the 9/11 attacks triggered a massive switch of resources to countering terrorism. Dearlove’s suggestion that al-Qaida has passed its peak chimes with the view of many serving intelligence officers and independent analysts. It reflects the stance of MI6 and now of Britain’s defence chiefs too that the time has come to talk to the Pashtun-led Taliban, and that al-Qaida has been seriously weakened in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, al-Qaida “franchises or surrogates, are increasingly active, in Yemen, Somalia, and in pockets of north Africa, and could carry out a spectacular attack there or in Europe, including Britain, intelligence sources agree. al-Qaida MI6 Middle East MI5 Iraq Pakistan Osama bin Laden Taliban US military Arab and Middle East unrest Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk
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