Car bomb and second device injure at least 50 others at civic building packed with staff in Taji near Baghdad Two explosions at a civic building in the Iraqi town of Taji has killed at least 27 people and wounded a further 50 others, officials said. A car bomb and another explosive detonated in a crowded car park of the building in Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad, security sources told Reuters. “It was a double explosion. The first was caused by a car bomb. We have no idea what the second was, whether a suicide bomber or a roadside bomb,” said Raad al-Tamimi, the head of the Taji municipality. “The place was crowded with people who were going to process official papers and with police and employees,” he said. The deputy health minister, Khamis al-Saad, said the blasts killed 27 people and wounded 50. An interior ministry source put the initial toll at 35 dead and 28 wounded. The bombings followed a series of attacks that targeted Iraqi security forces over the last two days, killing at least 10 police and soldiers and wounding 22 others. Iraq Middle East Global terrorism guardian.co.uk
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Judges will decide if Sun and Mirror were in contempt of court over articles published after Christopher Jefferies’ arrest Contempt proceedings against the Sun and Daily Mirror over their coverage of the hunt for the killer of Joanna Yeates begin on Tuesday in the high court. Three high court judges including Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, will decide whether articles published in the two papers following the arrest of a suspect by police investigating the killing of the landscape architect were in contempt of court, in a case that is scheduled to last two days in London. The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, will be presenting the government’s case himself, having been given the go-ahead to bring contempt proceedings by the high court in May . Yeates, who lived in Clifton, Bristol, disappeared on 17 December after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues. Her frozen body was found on a roadside verge in Failand, Somerset, on Christmas Day. At the hearing in May, lawyers outlined details from articles published following the death of Yeates in December and judges ruled there was an “arguable” case against the newspapers. Andrew Caldecott QC for the attorney general – the government’s chief legal adviser – told the court in May that there were concerns about the newspapers’ coverage following the arrest of Yeates’ landlord, Christopher Jefferies, on 30 December. Jefferies was subsequently released without charge and there was no suggestion “whatsoever” that he had any involvement in Yeates’ death, said Caldecott. But he added that the attorney general felt that articles published in the Daily Mirror on 31 December and the Sun on 1 January, would have posed a “substantial risk of serious prejudice” to any trial Jefferies might have faced. Caldecott said Grieve had warned the media about coverage “in the context of Christopher Jefferies’ arrest” in a BBC Radio 4 interview on 31 December . A 33-year-old engineer has admitted killing Miss Yeates. Dutchman Vincent Tabak has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. Tabak, who lived next door to Yeates, is due to go on trial accused of murder at Bristol crown court in October. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . National newspapers Newspapers & magazines Newspapers Joanna Yeates Contempt of court Media law Jason Deans guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Judges will decide if Sun and Mirror were in contempt of court over articles published after Christopher Jefferies’ arrest Contempt proceedings against the Sun and Daily Mirror over their coverage of the hunt for the killer of Joanna Yeates begin on Tuesday in the high court. Three high court judges including Lord Judge, the lord chief justice, will decide whether articles published in the two papers following the arrest of a suspect by police investigating the killing of the landscape architect were in contempt of court, in a case that is scheduled to last two days in London. The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, will be presenting the government’s case himself, having been given the go-ahead to bring contempt proceedings by the high court in May . Yeates, who lived in Clifton, Bristol, disappeared on 17 December after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues. Her frozen body was found on a roadside verge in Failand, Somerset, on Christmas Day. At the hearing in May, lawyers outlined details from articles published following the death of Yeates in December and judges ruled there was an “arguable” case against the newspapers. Andrew Caldecott QC for the attorney general – the government’s chief legal adviser – told the court in May that there were concerns about the newspapers’ coverage following the arrest of Yeates’ landlord, Christopher Jefferies, on 30 December. Jefferies was subsequently released without charge and there was no suggestion “whatsoever” that he had any involvement in Yeates’ death, said Caldecott. But he added that the attorney general felt that articles published in the Daily Mirror on 31 December and the Sun on 1 January, would have posed a “substantial risk of serious prejudice” to any trial Jefferies might have faced. Caldecott said Grieve had warned the media about coverage “in the context of Christopher Jefferies’ arrest” in a BBC Radio 4 interview on 31 December . A 33-year-old engineer has admitted killing Miss Yeates. Dutchman Vincent Tabak has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. Tabak, who lived next door to Yeates, is due to go on trial accused of murder at Bristol crown court in October. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . National newspapers Newspapers & magazines Newspapers Joanna Yeates Contempt of court Media law Jason Deans guardian.co.uk
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Prime minister expresses sadness about latest British casualty in Afghanistan, saying it shows the ‘high price’ being paid to stabilise the country The apparent capture and killing of a British soldier in Afghanistan showed the “high price” being paid to stabilise the country, David Cameron said on Tuesday, as he appealed to the Taliban to stop fighting. Speaking at a press conference alongside President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Cameron said: “This was very sad news and I want the thoughts and condolences of everyone on my team here to be with the family of that soldier who received this very sad news.” Karzai said: “I express my condolences on the very recent loss of a British soldier.” The prime minister insisted the campaign against the Taliban in Helmand province was having some “success” and transition to Afghan security control was “on track”. Cameron delivered his most direct appeal yet to Taliban elements to join the political process in Afghanistan. “It is very difficult to reconcile with people who have been killing your own soldiers or your own countrymen,” he said. “To the Taliban, the message is very clear: Stop killing, stop bombing, stop fighting, put down your weapons, join the political process and you can be part of the future of this country. “I have seen it in my own country, in Northern Ireland, where people who were involved in trying to kill, to maim and bomb civilians and police officers, army personnel and even politicians have actually become politicians themselves and are involved in the governance of that country. “It can happen and the message to the Taliban is: you cannot win this fight, you are losing this fight.” Cameron said the death of the soldier on Monday was “a reminder of the high price that we have paid for the vital work we do in Afghanistan and in Helmand province”. The body of the soldier, from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was found on Monday night after a massive manhunt. His family has been informed. Taliban groups have claimed responsibility for killing the man, who had been reported missing from a military checkpoint in the early hours of the morning. Nato spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick said: “He had suffered gunshot wounds. His exact cause of death is still to be established and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death are currently under investigation.” The disappearance emerged as Cameron arrived at the Camp Bastion base in Helmand, and forced him to abandon a visit to nearby Lashkar Gah so resources could be deployed in the search. Cameron stressed that coalition forces were making progress and there seemed to be a reduction in the intensity of the summer fighting season this year. He said he would be announcing in the Commons on Wednesday a “modest reduction” in British troops for 2012, on top of the 450 already due to withdraw this year. He defended the 2014 deadline for UK forces ending their combat role. “I do believe it is the right time,” he said. “I have worked extremely closely with the military to get this right. Many things have to be got right to ensure that transition can be done properly. But I believe we are on track. It can be done.” Cameron and Karzai unveiled the creation of an Afghan national officer academy. The institution will be modelled on Britain’s Sandhurst and aim to produce high quality platoon leaders. It will open its doors in 2013, and accept 1,350 recruits annually, with 120 UK troops involved in the training. Cameron said it would provide the “Afghan army officers of the future”. Asked whether UK aid to Afghanistan would be rising as troop numbers fell, Cameron said: “This is a great example of a country that if we walk away from, and if we ignore, if we forget about, the problems will come visited back on our doorstep.” He said aid would help tackle problems such as terrorism at source. “Even to people who are hard-headed, and possibly even hard-hearted, about aid, I say the programme we have in Afghanistan …is good for people back home in Britain as well,” he said. He said aid to Afghanistan would increase as the UK moved towards its 0.7% GDP target for giving. UK aid to Afghanistan has increased from £102m last year to £178m this year, according to officials. During the two-day visit to Afghanistan, Cameron has also held talks with US general David Petraeus about the military campaign. Afghanistan Military Nato David Cameron Defence policy guardian.co.uk
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Prime minister expresses sadness about latest British casualty in Afghanistan, saying it shows the ‘high price’ being paid to stabilise the country The apparent capture and killing of a British soldier in Afghanistan showed the “high price” being paid to stabilise the country, David Cameron said on Tuesday, as he appealed to the Taliban to stop fighting. Speaking at a press conference alongside President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Cameron said: “This was very sad news and I want the thoughts and condolences of everyone on my team here to be with the family of that soldier who received this very sad news.” Karzai said: “I express my condolences on the very recent loss of a British soldier.” The prime minister insisted the campaign against the Taliban in Helmand province was having some “success” and transition to Afghan security control was “on track”. Cameron delivered his most direct appeal yet to Taliban elements to join the political process in Afghanistan. “It is very difficult to reconcile with people who have been killing your own soldiers or your own countrymen,” he said. “To the Taliban, the message is very clear: Stop killing, stop bombing, stop fighting, put down your weapons, join the political process and you can be part of the future of this country. “I have seen it in my own country, in Northern Ireland, where people who were involved in trying to kill, to maim and bomb civilians and police officers, army personnel and even politicians have actually become politicians themselves and are involved in the governance of that country. “It can happen and the message to the Taliban is: you cannot win this fight, you are losing this fight.” Cameron said the death of the soldier on Monday was “a reminder of the high price that we have paid for the vital work we do in Afghanistan and in Helmand province”. The body of the soldier, from The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was found on Monday night after a massive manhunt. His family has been informed. Taliban groups have claimed responsibility for killing the man, who had been reported missing from a military checkpoint in the early hours of the morning. Nato spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick said: “He had suffered gunshot wounds. His exact cause of death is still to be established and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death are currently under investigation.” The disappearance emerged as Cameron arrived at the Camp Bastion base in Helmand, and forced him to abandon a visit to nearby Lashkar Gah so resources could be deployed in the search. Cameron stressed that coalition forces were making progress and there seemed to be a reduction in the intensity of the summer fighting season this year. He said he would be announcing in the Commons on Wednesday a “modest reduction” in British troops for 2012, on top of the 450 already due to withdraw this year. He defended the 2014 deadline for UK forces ending their combat role. “I do believe it is the right time,” he said. “I have worked extremely closely with the military to get this right. Many things have to be got right to ensure that transition can be done properly. But I believe we are on track. It can be done.” Cameron and Karzai unveiled the creation of an Afghan national officer academy. The institution will be modelled on Britain’s Sandhurst and aim to produce high quality platoon leaders. It will open its doors in 2013, and accept 1,350 recruits annually, with 120 UK troops involved in the training. Cameron said it would provide the “Afghan army officers of the future”. Asked whether UK aid to Afghanistan would be rising as troop numbers fell, Cameron said: “This is a great example of a country that if we walk away from, and if we ignore, if we forget about, the problems will come visited back on our doorstep.” He said aid would help tackle problems such as terrorism at source. “Even to people who are hard-headed, and possibly even hard-hearted, about aid, I say the programme we have in Afghanistan …is good for people back home in Britain as well,” he said. He said aid to Afghanistan would increase as the UK moved towards its 0.7% GDP target for giving. UK aid to Afghanistan has increased from £102m last year to £178m this year, according to officials. During the two-day visit to Afghanistan, Cameron has also held talks with US general David Petraeus about the military campaign. Afghanistan Military Nato David Cameron Defence policy guardian.co.uk
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Riots in Cairo after seven police officers accused of killing protesters during uprising are freed Hundreds of Egyptians scuffled with security guards in a court in Cairo and blocked a major road for hours after a judge ordered the release of 10 police officers charged with killing protesters during the country’s uprising. Monday’s unrest added to tensions already running high in Egypt over the ruling military council’s failure to hold accountable security forces involved in killing protesters during the protests that toppled the former president, Hosni Mubarak. Nearly five months later, only one police officer has been convicted in the deaths of more than 846 people killed in a government crackdown on protesters. He was tried in absentia. During court proceedings on Monday, guards had to intervene to separate relatives of the victims and families of the defendants, even before the decision was read. In his initial statement, the judge seemed to suggest he would impose harsh sentences, saying that “the blood of those killed will not be spilled in vain”, according to the Egyptian news agency Mena. However, he then ordered the release of the defendants, sparking a riot. The victims’ families scuffled with the guards and tried to rush toward the defendants who were whisked out of court. A number of relatives of the protesters killed in the uprising tried to storm the judge’s office, but were blocked by soldiers. Egypt’s prosecutor-general, Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid, ordered the court’s decision overturned in an attempt to defuse anger. But a lawyer for the victims’ families said the move was “illegal” because the prosecutor general had no authority over the court. “They are trying to deceive the people to pacify them,” said Amin Ramez, a lawyer. “The policemen are now at army headquarters seeking protection. If people saw them, they would tear them apart.” Ali el-Ganadi, father of one of the victims, said he received a promise from the prosecutor-general to enforce the annulment of the court’s order and bring the officers back to jail. Relatives of those killed in the uprising blocked traffic for at least six hours on the road from Cairo to Suez, leaving hundreds of cars lined up. The court case involved protesters killed in Suez. Ramez spoke to Associated Press by phone from the Cairo-Suez road, about 60 miles outside of Cairo. He said truck drivers and Suez residents joined the protesters while the military tried to negotiate the blockade. A couple of hours after nightfall, El-Ganadi, the spokesman for Suez victims’ families, said the protesters were opening the road. After clearing the street, they moved to Suez, according to one protester, Ahmed Khafagi. He said traffic has been halted inside two main squares in the city and thousands of people are rallying and chanting slogans, including “Down with the military junta”. “People are boiling,” an activist, Ahmed Abdel Gawad, said. The policemen were charged with killing 17 people and injuring more than 350 in Suez during the 18-day uprising that ended with the ousting of Mubarak on 11 February. The court released seven of them on bail and postponed their trials until 14 September. Three are being tried in absentia. Suez was a flashpoint of violence during the uprising, with many deadly confrontations between tens of thousands of protesters and security forces. Footage posted on YouTube showed police officers in a police station in the main square opening fire on protesters. Ramez said the court over the past four sessions had rejected demands by families’ lawyers to add 41 other police officers to the case. “We provided them with footage and visual evidence that show those policemen holding guns and automatic weapons and hunting down the protesters as if they were hunting birds. But the judge didn’t summon them. The spark of the revolution came from Suez and the second revolution will also come out of Suez,” he said. The release of the officers has strengthened plans for a million-man rally on 8 July to push for fair trials of former regime members, including senior security personnel suspected of giving the order to shoot protesters during the uprising. Mahmoud Ibrahim, one of the youth groups that led the uprising, said Suez residents were planning to turn out in force for the July demonstration. In Cairo, a security official said anti-riot police fired teargas to disperse dozens of people around a police station in the centre of the city. The reason for the tensions there could not immediately be confirmed, he added. Suez is located at the northern tip of the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency. Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Middle East Africa guardian.co.uk
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Ghulam Nabi Azad described homosexuality as ‘unnatural disease’ from the west at a HIV/Aids conference in New Delhi India’s health minister has derided homosexuality as an unnatural “disease” from the west, drawing criticism from activists who said the comments set back the country’s campaigns for gay rights and its fight against HIV. The comments, made on Monday by the health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, at a conference on HIV/Aids in the Indian capital, New Delhi, echoed a common refrain in the conservative country that homosexuality is a western import. “Unfortunately this disease has come to our country too … where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does,” Azad said. Anjali Gopalan, who heads the NAZ Foundation, a rights group that works with HIV-positive people and promotes equal rights for homosexual people, said Azad’s comments were deeply troubling coming from the health minister of a country fighting a tough battle against HIV infections. “These comments help no cause. It’s definitely not going to help in our fight against HIV,” she told the Associated Press. Roughly 2.5 million Indians have HIV, making it the country with the largest number of people living with the virus in Asia. Experts say the marginalisation of gay people in India hinders the fight against the disease. “If you’re not going to invest in community building then gay people will continue to be marginalised,” she added. In 2009 the Delhi high court struck down a colonial era law – section 377 of the Indian penal code – that made sex between people of the same gender punishable by up to 10 years in prison. While actual criminal prosecutions were rare, the law was frequently used to harass people. The court ruling was noteworthy in a country where even heterosexual sex is rarely discussed openly. Over the last decade gay people are slowly gaining a degree of acceptance in parts of India, especially in its big cities. Many bars have gay nights, and some high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues. The last two years have also seen large gay pride parades in New Delhi and other big cities such as Mumbai and Calcutta. However, being gay remains deeply taboo in most of the country, and many gay people hide their sexual orientation from friends and families. India Gay rights HIV infection Sexual health Health Aids and HIV guardian.co.uk
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PM calls phone-hacking revelation ‘shocking’ and ‘a truly dreadful act’ as police reportedly meet News of the World chiefs Pressure is growing on News International after the prime minister joined in condemnation of the News of the World over the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone . David Cameron said it was a “truly dreadful act” and urged police to “pursue this in the most vigorous way”. Police are due to meet with senior executives from News International on Tuesday morning, according to reports, with the role of Rebekah Brooks, editor of the News of the World at the time of the hacking, coming under increasing scrutiny. The current News International chief executive has insisted she will not resign. Speaking at a press conference in Afghanistan, Cameron said of the Guardian’s reports that the News of the World illegally targeted Milly Dowler and her family: “If they are true this is a truly dreadful act and a truly dreadful situation. “What I’ve read in the papers is quite shocking, that someone could do this knowing that the police were trying to find this person and find out what happened. “There is a police investigation into hacking allegations … they should investigate this without any fear, without any favour, without any worry about where the evidence should lead them. “They should pursue this in the most vigorous way that they can in order to get to the truth of what happened. “That is the absolute priority as a police investigation.” The BBC reported that police are to meet News of the World executives at 9.30am to discuss the phone hacking, although the Metropolitan police would not confirm the meeting. The BBC’s business editor, Robert Peston, wrote on his blog that Brooks “is not planning to resign”. Brooks was editor of the News of the World when the hacking took place, with Andy Coulson as her deputy. Coulson resigned as the prime minister’s media adviser in January. Peston quoted a News International executive as saying Rupert Murdoch “is backing [Brooks] 100%”. Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said on Twitter that he would write to the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, demanding he block News Corp’s bid to take full control of pay-TV company BSkyB following the revelations about Dowler. However, John Whittingdale, the chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that phone hacking at the News of the World should not taint the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s empire. “You cannot necessarily condemn the entire of News Corp just because of the actions of some individuals in another part of the organisation,” he said. “News International is a part of News Corp but it’s a different part. News Corp is a global enterprise and I don’t think one should condemn the entire organisation because something very clearly was going wrong in the News of the World.” When Today presenter Evan Davies pointed out to the Conservative MP that News International had denied wrongdoings at the News of the World despite having evidence that could suggest hacking was ongoing, Whittingdale responded: “Well, they denied it to my committee.” He added: “We were told that a thorough investigation had been carried out which had produced no evidence. Now, even at that time we expressed considerable doubts as to whether or not that investigation was thorough. “I think now we can almost certainly conclude that it wasn’t, and those are questions which still need to be addressed.” Labour has already called for an independent inquiry into journalistic practices at the newspaper. The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the newspaper’s actions were “despicable” and called for a wide-ranging inquiry. “Everyone across the country will be deeply disturbed and horrified at this shocking news,” Cooper said. “The idea that private investigators working for a newspaper would hack into the phone of a missing 13-year-old girl is truly despicable.” Labour MP Tom Watson called on Monday for the prime minister to act over the phone hacking, but also laid some of the blame on his own party leader. “Surely now we should hear from David Cameron and Ed Miliband,” Watson said. “It’s utterly disgraceful that they’ve let this scandal run on for as long as it has. No more cowardice – we want action.” Miliband later said he was “shocked by the news of the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone”. He added: “It beggars belief that anyone would undertake such a cruel and immoral act. “The police inquiry must get to the bottom of who was responsible for this and who was complicit in it.” Detectives from Scotland Yard’s new inquiry into phone hacking, Operation Weeting, are believed to have found evidence of the targeting of the Dowlers in a collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking on behalf of the News of the World. In the last four weeks Met officers have approached Surrey police and taken formal statements from some of those involved in the original inquiry, who were concerned about how News of the World journalists intercepted – and deleted – the voicemail messages of Milly Dowler. The messages were deleted by journalists in the first few days after Milly’s disappearance to free up space for more messages. As a result friends and relatives of Milly concluded wrongly she might still be alive. Police also feared evidence may have been destroyed. Milly Dowler Phone hacking Crime News Corporation Media business News International Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers News of the World Rebekah Brooks Andy Coulson David Cameron John Prescott Privacy Privacy & the media Adam Gabbatt Nick Davies Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
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• Up to 500,000 faulty Beko models could be in homes • Tower block blaze caused by fridge freezer, says fire service Householders with Beko frost-free fridge freezers are being urged by fire experts to check that the model they own is not one at the centre of a product safety warning, just days after a serious tower block blaze which has now been confirmed to have been caused by one of the manufacturer’s faulty appliances. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) believes the incident in Bermondsey, south London underlines the potentially serious danger of failure in the appliances which has already been flagged up by the company as a cause for concern. It is believed there could be as many as 500,000 of the potentially faulty fridge freezers still in homes and businesses throughout the UK. In the Bermondsey blaze last Tuesday one woman was treated for smoke inhalation and another 40 forced to flee the tower block. Investigators had thought initially that the fire was caused by lightning during a thunderstorm, but have now confirmed that it was caused by a faulty Beko fridge freezer. Fire chiefs are urging people to check if they own the particular models of Beko fridge freezer, which were manufactured between January 2000 and October 2006. There are believed to have been 20 fires in the capital involving the fridge freezers since 2008, which left 15 people injured and one dead. The coroner’s report on the latter is outstanding. People who own any of the appliances should contact Beko via their website – www.beko.co.uk – or calling their free phone number on 0800 009 4837 between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Friday. Over the past three years LFB’s fire investigation team has been working to establish the link between a faulty defroster timer switch on the appliances and a number of house fires attended by its firefighters. The problem occurs when water gets into the defrost timer switch in the fridge freezer, which can lead to an electrical malfunction resulting in plastic components and other highly flammable insulation inside the appliance catching fire. The brigade formally alerted Beko to the problem in June 2010 and following meetings between Beko and fire investigators, the manufacturer has been trying to locate the products so that the fault can be corrected. However, LFB believes more needs to be done to alert people to the potential danger. Beko said in a statement that it was co-operating fully and that it would carry out free modifications to any of the faulty models: “We have contacted all retailers who sold these products to seek their help in identifying affected customers from their sales records. This has allowed us to mail these customers to make them aware of the issue and to urge them to contact our freephone number to arrange the modification. “We are working with a major electronics retailer to contact owners of these products and carry out a free of charge modification to replace the defrost timer. We have adopted a phased approach which allows us to make maximum use of their resource.” Beko said it had contacted over 200,000 owners and modified 11,000 fridge freezers to date. But LFB’s assistant commissioner for fire safety regulation, Steve Turek, said: “Any fire can be lethal but we are particularly concerned about this because fires involving any sort of fridge freezer develop rapidly and produce an enormous amount of toxic smoke. “Our expert fire investigators have had to work for a long time to confidently establish these faulty fridge freezers as the cause of a number of serious fires. Having established this link, we have worked closely with Beko to ensure the public is kept safe. “However, we urge everyone who has a Beko fridge freezer to check it is not one of those highlighted by the company as potentially faulty. We would also urge everyone to make sure they have a working smoke alarm in their house.” London Consumer affairs Firefighters Rebecca Smithers guardian.co.uk
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Labour demands inquiry as police reportedly meet newspaper to discuss phone hacking of murdered girl’s voicemail messages Pressure is growing on News International with Labour calling for an independent inquiry into journalistic practices at the News of the World over the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone . The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, called the newspaper’s actions “despicable” and said there should be a wide-ranging inquiry. The call comes amid reports that police are to meet with News of the World executives to discuss the hacking. “Everyone across the country will be deeply disturbed and horrified at this shocking news,” Cooper said on Monday. “The idea that private investigators working for a newspaper would hack into the phone of a missing 13-year-old girl is truly despicable.” Labour MP Tom Watson called on Monday for prime minister to act over the phone hacking, but also laid some of the blame on his own party leader. “Surely now we should hear from David Cameron and Ed Miliband,” Watson said. “It’s utterly disgraceful that they’ve let this scandal run on for as long as it has. No more cowardice – we want action.” Miliband later said he was “shocked by the news of the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone”. He added: “It beggars belief that anyone would undertake such a cruel and immoral act. “The police inquiry must get to the bottom of who was responsible for this and who was complicit in it.” David Cameron, who was in Afghanistan on Monday, has yet to speak on the issue. The BBC reported that police are to meet News of the World executives to discuss the phone hacking, although the Metropolitan police would not confirm the news this morning. Detectives from Scotland Yard’s new inquiry into the phone hacking, Operation Weeting, are believed to have found evidence of the targeting of the Dowlers in a collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking on behalf of the News of the World. In the last four weeks the Met officers have approached Surrey police and taken formal statements from some of those involved in the original inquiry, who were concerned about how News of the World journalists intercepted – and deleted – the voicemail messages of Milly Dowler. The messages were deleted by journalists in the first few days after Milly’s disappearance to free up space for more messages. As a result friends and relatives of Milly concluded wrongly that she might still be alive. Police also feared evidence may have been destroyed. Milly Dowler Phone hacking Crime Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers News Corporation Media business News International News of the World Privacy Privacy & the media Yvette Cooper Nick Davies Adam Gabbatt Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
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