After what seems like ages (really it was just a year), Google’s Music service has finally launched, albeit as an invitation only beta. As reported this morning, the service will allow for the storage of 20,000 songs in the cloud for streaming to any computer or Android device. The emphasis during today’s Google I/O keynote Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Android Phone Fans Discovery Date : 10/05/2011 18:43 Number of articles : 5
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Eight victims dug up in Durango bring that state’s total to 188 in a month, exceeding that of Tamaulipas last month Mexican soldiers searching for victims of the country’s drug wars have found eight more bodies in mass graves in the northern state of Durango, bringing the total number of victims there to 188. The body count in Durango makes it the largest discovery yet of secretly buried corpses in the inter-cartel conflict , surpassing the 183 bodies found in pits last month in the state of Tamaulipas, on the United States border. Troops discovered the latest victims on Tuesday. Digging continues at five graves discovered last month in the state capital, Durango city, said Fernando Rios, a state public safety department spokesman. State authorities said some of the victims have been dead for up to four years, while others were buried as recently as three months ago. Although investigators in Durango have refused to speculate on a motive for the killings, authorities have blamed drug cartels for other such mass graves discovered over the past year in Mexico . Drug violence has killed more than 34,000 people in Mexico since the president, Felipe Calderón, launched a military-led crackdown on the cartels in December 2006. The murder rate in Durangohas has more than doubled over the past two years. At least 1,025 homicides were reported in 2010, compared to 930 in 2009 and 430 in 2008, according to government figures. Authorities suspect some of the most-wanted drug kingpins may be hiding in the mountainous state, which has been a battleground between the Sinaloa, Zetas and Beltran Leyva cartels. Families of people who have disappeared in Durango have come forward to ask whether their relatives may have been buried in the mass graves, according to Juan Rosales, the deputy state public safety secretary. But he said the identification process has overwhelmed the state government, prompting it to seek help from central government. Many of the victims unearthed in Tamaulipas may have been captured by the Zeta drug cartel , which controls much of the state and has been kidnapping Mexicans and foreign migrants to demand extortion money or forcibly recruit them as gunmen or drug mules . Human rights groups calculate that 10,000 mostly Central American migrants were kidnapped as they crossed Mexico on their way to the United States during a recent six month period, mostly to demand ransoms from their families, with Tamaulipas the most dangerous part of their traditional routes. There is no estimate for the number killed. Mexico Drugs trade David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Eight victims dug up in Durango bring that state’s total to 188 in a month, exceeding that of Tamaulipas last month Mexican soldiers searching for victims of the country’s drug wars have found eight more bodies in mass graves in the northern state of Durango, bringing the total number of victims there to 188. The body count in Durango makes it the largest discovery yet of secretly buried corpses in the inter-cartel conflict , surpassing the 183 bodies found in pits last month in the state of Tamaulipas, on the United States border. Troops discovered the latest victims on Tuesday. Digging continues at five graves discovered last month in the state capital, Durango city, said Fernando Rios, a state public safety department spokesman. State authorities said some of the victims have been dead for up to four years, while others were buried as recently as three months ago. Although investigators in Durango have refused to speculate on a motive for the killings, authorities have blamed drug cartels for other such mass graves discovered over the past year in Mexico . Drug violence has killed more than 34,000 people in Mexico since the president, Felipe Calderón, launched a military-led crackdown on the cartels in December 2006. The murder rate in Durangohas has more than doubled over the past two years. At least 1,025 homicides were reported in 2010, compared to 930 in 2009 and 430 in 2008, according to government figures. Authorities suspect some of the most-wanted drug kingpins may be hiding in the mountainous state, which has been a battleground between the Sinaloa, Zetas and Beltran Leyva cartels. Families of people who have disappeared in Durango have come forward to ask whether their relatives may have been buried in the mass graves, according to Juan Rosales, the deputy state public safety secretary. But he said the identification process has overwhelmed the state government, prompting it to seek help from central government. Many of the victims unearthed in Tamaulipas may have been captured by the Zeta drug cartel , which controls much of the state and has been kidnapping Mexicans and foreign migrants to demand extortion money or forcibly recruit them as gunmen or drug mules . Human rights groups calculate that 10,000 mostly Central American migrants were kidnapped as they crossed Mexico on their way to the United States during a recent six month period, mostly to demand ransoms from their families, with Tamaulipas the most dangerous part of their traditional routes. There is no estimate for the number killed. Mexico Drugs trade David Batty guardian.co.uk
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First session of process of deciding whether to prosecute website and founder Julian Assange for espionage The US government has opened a grand jury hearing into the passing of hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks – the start of the process of deciding whether to prosecute the website and its founder, Julian Assange, for espionage. The first session of the grand jury is understood to have begun in Alexandria, Virginia, with the forced testimony of a man from Boston, Masachusetts. The unidentified man was subpoenad to appear before the panel. The terms of the subpoena – first revealed by the Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald – gave a clear indication that the jury has been convened specifically to consider whether to approve the prosecution of Assange and Wikileaks. It said the hearing was investigating “possible violations of federal criminal law involving, but not necessarily limited to, conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information in violation of” the Espionage Act. The Act, which was introduced in 1917 just after the US entered the first world war, was modelled on Britain’s Official Secrets Act. It was most famously applied, unsuccessfully, in 1971 against Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon papers on the Vietnam war. The subpoena also reveals that the grand jury is considering approving a prosecution on grounds of “knowingly accessing a computer without authorisation or exceeding authorized access” and “knowingly stealing or converting any record or thing of value of the United States or any department or agency thereof”. That would appear to point more in the direction of Bradley Manning, the US military intelligence specialist currently facing court martial as the suspected source of the WikiLeaks documents. The US has had a hard time so far trying to make charges, other than against Manning, stick in the WikiLeaks saga. The Espionage Act has never been applied successfully against a non-government party, and to have a reasonable chance of prosecuting Assange or WikiLeaks as an organisation, the authorities would need to be able to prove to the satisfaction of a jury that they had actively encouraged or assisted the source of the leaks to transmit unauthorised material. The FBI has been focusing its investigations aggressively on the hacker community of Boston, around the technology university MIT, in the hope of gaining information on how Assange made contact with his source. Wednesday’s hearing is likely to be part of that effort. The public radio network NPR pointed out that the WikiLeaks grand jury is just one of a spate of federal investigations into leaking that constitutes a major crack down by the Obama administration. There are currently five separate criminal prosecutions relating to official leaks under way, a surge in activity that national security experts say is a worrying attack on the rights of whistle blowers. The WikiLeaks grand jury, comprising of between 16 and 24 jurors, will sit in total secret. It will act as a kind of pre-trial, considering the prosecution evidence and calling witnesses, before finally deciding on whether or not to advance a prosecution. WikiLeaks Julian Assange United States The US embassy cables Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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First session of process of deciding whether to prosecute website and founder Julian Assange for espionage The US government has opened a grand jury hearing into the passing of hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks – the start of the process of deciding whether to prosecute the website and its founder, Julian Assange, for espionage. The first session of the grand jury is understood to have begun in Alexandria, Virginia, with the forced testimony of a man from Boston, Masachusetts. The unidentified man was subpoenad to appear before the panel. The terms of the subpoena – first revealed by the Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald – gave a clear indication that the jury has been convened specifically to consider whether to approve the prosecution of Assange and Wikileaks. It said the hearing was investigating “possible violations of federal criminal law involving, but not necessarily limited to, conspiracy to communicate or transmit national defence information in violation of” the Espionage Act. The Act, which was introduced in 1917 just after the US entered the first world war, was modelled on Britain’s Official Secrets Act. It was most famously applied, unsuccessfully, in 1971 against Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon papers on the Vietnam war. The subpoena also reveals that the grand jury is considering approving a prosecution on grounds of “knowingly accessing a computer without authorisation or exceeding authorized access” and “knowingly stealing or converting any record or thing of value of the United States or any department or agency thereof”. That would appear to point more in the direction of Bradley Manning, the US military intelligence specialist currently facing court martial as the suspected source of the WikiLeaks documents. The US has had a hard time so far trying to make charges, other than against Manning, stick in the WikiLeaks saga. The Espionage Act has never been applied successfully against a non-government party, and to have a reasonable chance of prosecuting Assange or WikiLeaks as an organisation, the authorities would need to be able to prove to the satisfaction of a jury that they had actively encouraged or assisted the source of the leaks to transmit unauthorised material. The FBI has been focusing its investigations aggressively on the hacker community of Boston, around the technology university MIT, in the hope of gaining information on how Assange made contact with his source. Wednesday’s hearing is likely to be part of that effort. The public radio network NPR pointed out that the WikiLeaks grand jury is just one of a spate of federal investigations into leaking that constitutes a major crack down by the Obama administration. There are currently five separate criminal prosecutions relating to official leaks under way, a surge in activity that national security experts say is a worrying attack on the rights of whistle blowers. The WikiLeaks grand jury, comprising of between 16 and 24 jurors, will sit in total secret. It will act as a kind of pre-trial, considering the prosecution evidence and calling witnesses, before finally deciding on whether or not to advance a prosecution. WikiLeaks Julian Assange United States The US embassy cables Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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Many of the demonstrators fear that, despite changes that have already affected them disproportionately, the worst is yet to come Waving placards with slogans such as “I didn’t chose to be disabled” and “Easy Target: cuts to disabled disgraceful”, thousands of people took to the streets of Westminster to protest at the government’s spending cuts and benefit reforms. The protesters, many of whom had never been on a demonstration before, included people who are virtually immobile. With an army of supporters, relatives, charities and friends, those who were able to walked, while others used wheelchairs to make the trip past the Houses of Parliament. Two thousand people had signed up to speak to their MPs after the march, according to organisers. Many were angry about cuts in mobility allowance, which they say will limit their independence; others at the changes to payments from disability living allowance to child benefit, which they claim will hit them hardest. Many of the demonstrators fear that, despite changes that have already affected them disproportionately, the worst is yet to come. At a rally before the march, speakers included the shadow work and pensions secretary, Liam Byrne, and Labour MP Dame Anne Begg, who chairs the work and pensions select committee and is herself a wheelchair user. Jane Asher, the actor and president of the Arthritis Council, National Autistic Society and Parkinson’s UK, told the rally: “This is the largest rally of disabled people in living memory, and that’s something to be proud of – at the same time, it is very sad that it has come to this.” She described the cuts as “cruel and misguided” and said: “The prime minister said that the savings would protect the vulnerable. Far from protecting the vulnerable, these cuts are bearing down disproportionately on those with disability.” Wheelchair user Tony Vanterpool, 53, from Brampton in Cambridgeshire, said he had come to protest at the cutting of his mobility allowance of £17 a month. Vanterpool, who has been deaf since birth, lost his ability to use sign language as well as his mobility after a stroke five years ago, said: “I’ve come to campaign with all the disabled people because the government are cutting my mobility allowance.” Speaking through a signing interpreter and with the aid of a light writer on his lap, which displays the words he types, he said: “I need [the allowance] to go to the deaf club.” His signer and support worker, Jan Smith, said: “Because Tony’s fully deaf, it’s the only chance he gets to meet people and relax and use his own language – signing.” Julie Fernandez, who played Brenda in The Office, said the government should be doing more to help disabled people who want to work. A wheelchair user, she said: “The government want to get people into employment in principle, but we are living in a recession and the business community don’t see disabled people as viable employers. “They see us as people who are going to be taking time off sick or who aren’t intelligent enough. They should stop penalising disabled people and start making the business community and public transport more accessible.”Fernandez, 37, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, said the film and TV industry was “incredibly discriminatory” as it was still seen as acceptable to have able-bodied actors playing disabled characters. “There are millions of people across the UK with permanent disabilities. They need to be supported – they don’t need to be living in fear of having their benefits taken away.” Carrying a black coffin with the words “disability equality” on the side, Mary Carr, 46, accused the government of “demonising disabled people”. Carr said: “I’m fortunate in that I can hold down a job. I have access to work support and the government pays for taxis to take me to work. They haven’t cut that, but the warning signs are there. “A lot of my disabled colleagues have lost their jobs, because in public services they are targeting local offices and disabled people can’t travel to get to other places. We signed up to the European convention for people with disabilities, but if you go through the effects of the cuts – transport, education, housing – all the rights I have to take part in society are being eroded. It’s the poor and disabled who are more reliant on the public sector.” Sheila Gardiner, 62, from Derbyshire, was a book keeper until she had a stroke five years ago. Now unable to walk or transfer from her wheelchair unaided, she lives in a Leonard Cheshire disability care home, and currently gets £49.85 DLA support every week, which is under threat. Gardiner said: “Britain is going backwards towards Victorian times when people were either very rich or very poor.” The Hardest Hit march was organised by the UK Disabled People’s Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium, and was supported by organisations including Mind, Mencap RNIB and Sense. Richard Hawkes, the chief executive of the charity Scope, said that he hoped the march would give disabled people a sense that they were not alone. “We know there’s a deficit, but government has said we’re in it together. Taking away the DLA mobility allowance for people in residential care, which means that they can’t go out, is not a sign that we are all in it together.” The organisers said about 5,000 people took part in the march. Scotland Yard put the figure between 2,000 and 3,000 and said it passed off without incident. Disability London Welfare Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk
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Rebellion by Lib Dem peers helped carry an amendment that marks a major defeat for the coalition on its first anniversary The government suffered a major defeat in the Lords when a rebellion by Liberal Democrat peers helped carry an amendment that could bury the government’s central policy of elected police and crime commissioners. In an apparent show of the “muscular liberalism” Nick Clegg had promised would mark a new phase in the coalition as it enters its second year, Lib Dem peers threw out the plans to introduce American-style elected commissioners. It marks a serious defeat on the coalition’s first anniversary, including for Clegg, who at the last minute sent whips round to convince his party’s members to back the bill. Some 188 peers voted for the amendment, which knocked out plans for elected commissioners, to 176 opposing it. The vote carried with backing from 13 Liberal Democrat peers including Lord Oakeshott; some also defied the government by abstaining and allowing the amendment to squeak through. Clegg had indicated support for a rival amendment that would have shelved the plans for three years to allow time for pilots, but that was passed over in favour of the stronger change which, in effect, removes the policy of elected commissioners from the legislation. The police reform bill will return to the Commons, where it is more likely to pass, paving the way for a lengthy period of “ping-ponging” between the houses. Ministers insisted they would try to overturn the amendment. A Home Office spokesman said: “The election of police and crime commissioners is a clear coalition agreement policy. So while we will consider the debate in the Lords, we will look to redress this in the Commons.” Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “The Lords today have ripped the heart out of this deeply flawed flagship bill. The Tory plans for American-style elected police commissioners without any checks and balances are deeply flawed and un-British. David Cameron and Theresa May need to now recognise the strength of hostility and ditch the plans now.” The defeat is also a serious blow to May, the home secretary. Lib Dem peers won the backing of senior police officers, including three former Met commissioners in the Lords. The first elections for police commissioners in each force area outside London had been expected to be held in England and Wales next May. Their introduction would have meant the abolition of the police authorities who currently provide police oversight. The amendment was tabled by the Lib Dem peer Lady Harris, the vice-chairman of the Association of Police Authorities. Her warning that their introduction risked “irreparable damage” to the police service was echoed by the former Met commissioners, Lord Blair, Lord Condon and Lord Imbert, who attacked them as potential commissars. The Association of Police Authorities said of the successful amendment: “The government will now have to think again about the whole policy.” There was some confusion over whether the amendments simply scrapped the policy of police commissioners, or made provision for an appointed commissioner to sit alongside a wider membership police commission. One factor in the defeat was the decision by Baroness Neville-Jones, the minister who had been in charge of the bill in the Lords, to step down on Monday. Her replacement, Baroness Browning, was regarded as a more emollient figure in last night’s debate. The defeat came as Clegg and David Cameron sought to put distance between their two parties. Cameron last night issued a direct challenge to Clegg when he dismissed claims by the Lib Dems that they had used their influence to pause the legislation introducing the government’s controversial NHS reforms. In a sign of a new, scratchier relationship at the highest levels of the coalition, the prime minister told Tory MPs that he was solely responsible for the decision to pause the legislation. At a meeting of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee, at least one MP challenged the PM over reports that he was planning to stabilise the position of Clegg, who suffered poor results at the polls last week, by offering the Lib Dems a series of concessions on the NHS and other areas. Cameron denied that he was planning to change tack as a result of Lib Dem pressure. One Tory source said: “We are not going to let the Liberal Democrats pose as the moderating influence in the coalition. We are the party of the NHS. The pause was the prime minister’s idea not the deputy prime minister’s.” One factor in the defeat was the decision of Lady Neville-Jones, the minister who had been in charge of the bill in the Lords, to step down from the Home Office job on Monday. Her replacement, Lady Browning, was regarded as a more emollient figure in debate but that was not enough to save Theresa May from humiliation. Cameron and Clegg will attempt to highlight their joint commitment to the coalition today when they make a joint appearance to launch an initiative to help ease youth unemployment. The policy initiative on an economic matter is meant to show that the two parties are still working together on the fundamental issues. But Clegg also signalled a new approach in a speech and a round of television interviews distancing himself from the Conservatives. “I totally accept that … if you are a Conservative voter, one of the things you are accustomed to is the Conservative party to go into government and cut public spending,” he said in a speech at the National Liberal Club. “Some Conservative voters might even both demand it and like it. If you are a Liberal Democrat voter, you don’t like it. I don’t like it. I didn’t come into politics to kind of announce great cuts and savings. You do it out of necessity.” An independent poll, meanwhile, has suggested that the government has failed to convince the public that coalitions are good for the country, and more than two thirds of people now believe the government is weaker, less decisive and “confused” about what it stands for. Only half of people believe the Lib Dems have had an influence in the coalition and most people think the Tories have got the best deal. Clegg should stop trying to be an overarching deputy prime minister and take on a major government department if he wants to improve his powerbase, the Institute for Government (IFG), which commissioned the poll, said. “It is very difficult to exert serious political authority sitting in the cabinet office without a portfolio,” Lord Adonis, the former Labour transport secretary and director of the IFG said. The coalition had failed to convince the electorate of its efficacy, he said: “Their experience of coalition over the past year seems to have turned them decisively against it.” The IFG poll found that 63% of people think it is a bad thing that no party won a majority at the election – up from 55% a year ago. Some 68% think that coalition has created a weaker government, 73% believe government is less decisive and 80% say the government is “more confused” with a coalition. House of Lords Liberal Democrats Liberal-Conservative coalition David Cameron Nick Clegg Police Polly Curtis Alan Travis Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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To the mournful wail of a lone bagpipe, some of Europe’s greatest golfers joined family, friends and local residents Wednesday at the funeral of Seve Ballesteros, paying an emotional final tribute to the Spaniard who revived the European game. (May 11)
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To the mournful wail of a lone bagpipe, some of Europe’s greatest golfers joined family, friends and local residents Wednesday at the funeral of Seve Ballesteros, paying an emotional final tribute to the Spaniard who revived the European game. (May 11)
Continue reading …Police in Slovakia say a would-be cannibal has been arrested after being seriously wounded in a gunbattle with officers in an undercover operation. A policeman was also wounded. (May 11)
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