A Salt Lake City mom has been arrested after investigators say she offered her 13-year-old daughter’s virginity to a man for $10.000. Felicia Rae McClure was turned in by her boyfriend, who noticed a series of troubling texts about the pending transaction on her cell phone, say cops. McClure,…
Continue reading …New Hampshire’s Republican voters aren’t too impressed by the party’s current crop of candidates for 2012, according to the latest CNN poll. Some 87% of likely primary voters say they have no idea who they’ll be voting for early next year, with only 9% leaning toward one candidate. Just 4%…
Continue reading …Thousands of US companies that raked in federal stimulus money are tax cheats who owe the government millions. At least 3,700 government contractors and nonprofit organizations that received more than $24 billion in stimulus funds owed $760 million in back taxes, according to a new report by the Government…
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Ryanair, easyJet and other carriers say ash from Iceland’s Grímsvötn volcano not as severe as Civil Aviation Authority says Airlines have rounded on regulators in the UK and Ireland after thousands of airlines passengers were hit by delays and cancellations as a cloud of volcanic ash disrupted airports in Scotland and northern England. Ryanair claimed it had flown a Boeing airplane through a no-go part of the ash cloud over Scotland this morning and found no harmful effects to the engines or fuselage, while the International Air Transport Association alleged that the UK air safety watchdog, the Civial Aviation Authority, did not have an atmosphere monitoring plane available. Although airports remained open on Tuesday, airlines halted hundreds of flights amid safety concerns at the high density of ash caused by the eruption of the Grímsvötn volcano in Iceland. British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Loganair, Flybe and KLM were among carriers cancelling flights. Transatlantic flights operating through Icelandic airspace suffered delays of up to an hour today as they were diverted around the densest parts of the ash cloud emitted by the Grímsvötn volcano. However, BMI was still operating out of Edinburgh and Glasgow, saying the ash remained further north than forecast earlier. The airline was constantly reviewing the situation, it said. The Barcelona football team said it would travel to London on Wednesday night for Saturday’s Champions League final against Manchester United, in case the ash cloud left the team contemplating an epic rail journey. There were concerns the cloud would later spread south, affecting flights to northern England and Northern Ireland. A number of flights from Newcastle international airport have been cancelled, including services to Paris, Brussels, Faro, Amsterdam, Aberdeen, Belfast international and Malta. Arrivals to Newcastle from Aberdeen, Amsterdam and Exeter have also been cancelled. Meanwhile, four easyJet flights to and from Belfast international (flights to and from Newcastle and Glasgow) have been cancelled. Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, who has promised there will be no blanket airspace closures similar to those last year, suggested on the BBC’s Newsnight on Monday that “we have got to learn to live” with disruption. There were now “much more robust systems to minimise the disruptive effect”, he said. Since last year’s eruption the authorities had gained a much better understanding of the risk from ash clouds, he said. “Most importantly, the basic situation now is that the threshold for most aircraft is 20 times where it was last year. We have got from 200 micrograms (mcg) per cubic metre, to 4,000mcg per cubic metre as the threshold up to which most aircraft can fly. “What we can’t promise is that there won’t be disruption when there is a major natural event like this.” Hammond will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra committee on the ash cloud later on Tuesday. A government source said the situation remained variable, with the possibility that dense ash would drift over Glasgow and Edinburgh between 1pm and 7pm before clearing. The source added: “These things change from hour to hour.” Mass cancellations at airports on Tuesday by airlines including easyJet and British Airways are viewed as an operational decision as those companies try to ensure their schedules operate more smoothly once the ash clouds clear. According to the latest forecasts, high-density ash could begin to affect southern England by Friday. Ryanair, Europe’s largest short-haul airline, condemned the new regulatory regime today. Its one-hour test flight took off from Glasgow Prestwick, then flew to Inverness, on to Aberdeen and down to Edinburgh – all of which, according to CAA charts, were in a zone of high concentration of ash. In a direct challenge to the efficiency of the safety regime, Ryanair urged the Irish and UK regulators to “reopen” airspace over Scotland. Ryanair said in a statement: “There was no visible volcanic ash cloud or any other presence of volcanic ash, and the post-flight inspection revealed no evidence of volcanic ash on the airframe, wings or engines. “The absence of any volcanic ash in the atmosphere supports Ryanair’s stated view that there is no safety threat to aircraft in this mythical ‘red zone’, which is another misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the CAA.” Regulators including the CAA are likely to object to Ryanair’s claim that Scottish airspace is “shut”, because airlines can fly through medium or high ash concentrations, providing they make a sufficient safety case. The Irish Aviation Authority added to the confusion by stating that Ryanair’s first application for safety approval had to be sent back to the carrier on Monday for unspecified reasons, and a tweaked proposal was still under consideration. An IAA spokeswoman said: “They are not cleared to fly. We have not had time to analyse the safety case and until that is done they do not have permission to fly [in contaminated airspace].” The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also joined Ryanair in slamming the approach of regulators this morning. In a letter to the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, the airline industry’s main lobbying body claimed the CAA’s monitoring plane is not in use and there is no spare. As a result, the density of the cloud has not been monitored from the air by the CAA. In a robust letter to Hammond, the chief executive of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, said: “It is astonishing and unacceptable that Her Majesty’s government cashes £3.5bn each year in air passenger duty but is incapable of using a small portion of that revenue to purchase another Cessna to use as a backup aircraft. I ask please that you ensure that all possible efforts are made to get the existing aircraft operational in the shortest possible time.” Bisignani added that non-European airlines could be confused by the ash cloud because their regulators will not be fully aware of the latest EU guidelines on flying through volcanic plumes. “We need a clear, consistent and appropriate response, which is workable for all airlines globally, not a repeat of the fragmented mess that happened last year.” Pointedly, the chief executives of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and bmi were cc’d into the letter. Under previous guidelines, aircraft were summarily grounded if there was any volcanic ash in the air; airlines may now fly through ash plumes if they can demonstrate their fleets can handle medium- or high-level densities of ash. Meanwhile, passengers at Glasgow airport were preparing for long delays in reaching some destinations. Elizabeth Flaherty from East Kilbride was hoping to travel to Majorca at 8.30am. She arrived at the airport just before 6am to be told her flight would not be leaving. She said she had been told a coach would take her to Manchester at 12.45pm for a flight at around 5pm. She said: “It’s going to be a long day. I’m trying to stay cheerful. There’s nothing else I can do.” Pat Gribbon from Renfrew was due on the same flight for a holiday with his wife, Rita. He said: “Everyone has been very helpful. It’s just a question of waiting. “I suppose it’s just one of those things. No one can help it, but it is frustrating. I feel sorry for people with kids.” The Met Office’s volcanic ash advisory centre is tracking the cloud, aided by satellite images, weather balloons and a radar installed in Iceland last year. Once information is relayed to airlines, they will need to prove they can fly through them by producing “safety cases” that will include information from aircraft and engine manufacturers on the airline’s tolerance to volcanic ash. Ryanair was seeking an urgent meeting with Irish aviation authorities on Tuesday, saying it had been told late on Monday that it could not operate flights to Scottish destinations until at least Tuesday afternoon. “Ryanair believe that there is no safety risk to aircraft on fights operating to and from Scotland,” the company said. Iceland volcano 2011 (Grimsvotn) Natural disasters and extreme weather Iceland Airline industry Air transport Transport Transport policy Ryanair Easyjet Dan Milmo James Meikle Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …NATO warplanes bombarded targets in Tripoli in more than 20 airstrikes early today, targetingthe area around Moammar Gadhafi’s Bab-al-Aziziya residential compound. It was the heaviest night of bombing of the Libyan capital since the Western alliance launched its air campaign against Libyan forces. The rapid string of strikes, all within…
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Guests at eG8 digital forum including chiefs of Facebook, Google and eBay are told that ‘total global revolution’ achieved by net must not replace traditional democracy Nicolas Sarkozy opened what he described as a historic conference on the internet and the future of the “digital ecosystem” in Paris on Tuesday on the eve of the G8 summit. The French president said it was a unique chance for the main players in the development of information and communication technologies to come together with leaders of state and hoped it could become an annual event. “In this way we can know what you are doing … and you can know what we think,” Sarkozy told the eG8 forum . “We need to talk to you. We need to understand your expertise, your hopes … and you have to know our limits and our red lines.” Around 1,500 guests have been invited to the forum. Among the VIPs were Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, John Donahoe, president of eBay, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. The theme of the two-day forum is The Internet: Accelerating Growth. Sarkozy said its conclusions would be communicated to heads of state at the G8 economic forum taking place in Deauville, France on Thursday and Friday. “Yesterday’s dreams have become realities, and the universe of possibilities grows broader around us every day,” he said. “Democracy and human rights have been reinforced, states have been incited to greater transparency and, in some countries, oppressed peoples have been empowered to make their voices heard and to act collectively in the name of freedom.” He said the internet had been a revolution that had changed people’s perception of time, of the world and history. “You have changed the world … it has been a total global revolution. What has been unique in this revolution is that it belongs to nobody; it has no flag, no slogan, it is a common good. “What is also unique about this revolution is that it was done without violence. It was not fought on battlefields but on university campuses.” However, Sarkozy warned the internet could not be allowed to become a “parallel universe” or a replacement for traditional democracy. “You have given every individual the chance to be heard everywhere by anyone. People have never had this chance before in history, but that right cannot be held by destroying the rights of others. “Total transparency has to be balanced by individual liberty. Do not forget that every anonymous internet user comes from a society and has a life.” He added: “Governments are the legitimate guardians of our societies and do not forget this.” He said leaders of state had to learn how the internet could be used “to reinforce democracy, social dialogue and solidarity” and to create a “more efficient state”. However, he said, “we have to make sure that the universe that you are responsible for is not a parallel universe outside laws and morals”. Among the issues to be addressed, he said, were privacy, the protection of children from the “turpitude of certain adults”, copyright and intellectual property rights. Internet Digital media G8 Nicolas Sarkozy France Europe Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
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Wealthy British man claims sister-in-law is linked to foreign internet postings that reveal he obtained injunction against her A wealthy British financier is seeking to have his sister-in-law secretly jailed in a libel case, in the latest escalation of the controversy over superinjunctions and the internet, the Guardian can disclose. The financier, who can be known only as “the Hon Mr Zam”, claims his sister-in-law is linked to foreign internet postings that reveal that he obtained an injunction against her in the high court. This latest move, orchestrated by the solicitors Farrer & Co, raises the bizarre legal possibilities of a woman who cannot be named being jailed at the request of her equally anonymous brother-in-law, and of the entire trial for alleged contempt of court taking place in secret. The launch of these contempt proceedings is part of the recent flood of superinjunctions and anonymised injunctions, which British judges are approving in efforts to clamp down on gossip, libel and even blackmail on the internet. The novel moves by Zam follow a separate attempt by a an allegedly philandering footballer to take legal action against the US-based Twitter website to force it to identify tweeters who have defied a superinjunction. On Monday, the footballer Ryan Giggs, who is alleged to have had an affair with the Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas, was named in parliament by the Liberal Democrat MP John Hemmings in the culmination of a “Twitter-storm” that largely nullified the superinjunction he had obtained. Last week’s Neuberger report on superinjunctions stressed that litigants should only be awarded anonymity only if it was “strictly necessary”. Mr Justice Tugendhat granted anonymity in March to both Zam and the sister-in-law he is trying to silence after his lawyers claimed it would be unfair for him and his family to suffer speculation about the circumstances that had led them to go to the high court. Due to the judge’s order, which also suppressed publication of details of the alleged libels, it is difficult to report the full background of what appears to be a venomous family dispute revolving around shares in a £100m, inherited offshore trust fund. Zam claims he is being blackmailed, with false allegations being made to his work colleagues, and worldwide online vilification being threatened. The case highlights problems associated with the global nature of the internet, and the near impossiblity of British court orders to silence blogs and tweets originating overseas. Zam’s sister-in-law lives in England, but her husband and some of his business associates are based in Rome, out of the UK’s jurisidiction. They are alleged to be behind internet postings purporting to come from Niger, in Africa, which is even further beyond the reach of the British courts. The postings reveal the entire text of the supposedly secret Tugendhat order. They identify the people involved, and publish the allegations, which Zam says are completely false. Normally, in a libel case, the complainer wants to have their reputation publicly vindicated by a courtroom statement that the allegations are false, and an injunction preventing anyone else from repeating them. But Julian Pike, the £450-an-hour partner at Farrer & Co who is handling the case, has instead gone down a novel anonymity route. This prevents any investigation of the true background of those who his client claims are international blackmailers. Superinjunctions Internet David Leigh guardian.co.uk
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Thousands without power in Scotland as gusts over 100mph uproot trees and cause widespread transport disruption At least 25,000 properties in Scotland are without power after a vicious and unexpected battering from gales which saw two people in the UK killed by falling trees amid widespread transport disruption. An unusually strong pattern of low pressure moved in from the Atlantic and hooked up across Northern Ireland and northern England into Scotland, catching trees in new leaf at their most vulnerable. Northumbria police said an 18-year-old woman was killed when her Renault Clio was crushed by a falling tree at Corbridge. Local people described the strength of gusts, which reached 114mph across the border in Scotland, as fiercer than they had ever seen. The other victim was a 36-year-old man driving in Balloch, West Dunbartonshire, whose car was crushed under a falling tree. Firefighters tried but failed to free him from the wreckage before he died. Trees also stopped train services on the West Coast main line between England and Scotland near Gretna Green, and on the edge of Belfast. Ferry services were cancelled between Northern Ireland and Stranraer and Cairnryan in Scotland and there were delays on the M62, M6 and M66 in the Pennines. Earlier blustery weather saw three children taken to hospital after an inflatable slide toppled over at a garden show in Kent and coastguards rescued crew on board three yachts racing between Whitby and Scarborough in North Yorkshire. Scotland’s transport minister, Keith Brown, said the country had been battered by weather which was very unusual for May. He said: “It’s exceptional and that’s created problems on the roads and the rail network, and for the ferries as well. “What’s made this worse is the very high wind speed and real problems with trees which are fully leaved and so more likely to be uprooted. It’s particularly hard for the railways as their staff have inspect the lines before allowing travel, making sure there’s no debris on the track, and that’s been difficult. “One way they normally do that is by helicopter, which, in itself, has presented some problems, but a lot of work has gone on and most of the lines have now reopened.” A spokesman for Scottish Hydro Electric said around 20,000 customers in Scotland were without power after engineers worked overnight to reconnect another 10,000. Scottish Power said: “Just under 5,000 customers are off supply today [Tuesday], which is down from a peak of 20,000 yesterday [Monday]. The worst-affected area is Fife, followed by the central belt and Stirlingshire.” Strong winds are continuing in Scotland and much of northern England but are expected to ease off. Forecaster Victoria Kettley of MeteoGroup said: “Winds will pick up for a while, with gusts across Scotland of up to 60mph which won’t help efforts to clear trees. It was really bad yesterday [Monday] but that depression has cleared north. Winds will still be brisk though and northern England can expect some will see some strong gusts of up to 50mph, before things ease in the afternoon.” Michael Dukes of MeteoGroup said: “The high winds that have been battering Scotland, Ireland and the north of England are about as strong as you ever get in late May. They would be noteworthy in midwinter, but for them to occur in late spring is really most unusual. With trees in full leaf, winds of this strength can cause a lot of problems as the trees can be more readily toppled.” Water companies are meanwhile considering higher summer tariffs as much of southern England remains without rainfall and reservoir and groundwater stocks continue to fall. The water regulator Ofwat said that Veolia Water Central, which serves parts of southern England, and South East Water were trialling the system, aimed at discouraging excessive watering of gardens or topping-up of swimming and paddling pools. Weather Transport Scotland Northern Ireland Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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• Pressure on George Osborne as borrowing hits £7.7bn • Jump in figure despite £3.5bn boost from bank bonus tax • Rightwingers seek tougher action over cuts Government borrowing last month hit the highest figure ever recorded for the month of April, news which is likely to intensify the pressure on George Osborne from the right of the Conservative party to step up public spending cuts. A fall in tax receipts got the new fiscal year off to a disappointing start with public sector net borrowing hitting £7.7bn compared to £5.3bn in April last year. Excluding support for banks and other “financial interventions”, public sector net borrowing was £10bn, £2.7bn higher than in April 2010, when net borrowing was £7.3bn. The overall figure for UK debt reached £910bn, or 60.1% of GDP, up from £765.5bn, which was equal to 53% of GDP at the end of April 2010. The Office for National Statistics said the one-off bank payroll tax boosted accrued tax receipts by £3.5bn in April 2010, sparking concern among analysts that an already poor set of figures was flattered by the tax on City bonuses. Hetal Mehta, economic analyst at Daiwa Capital Markets, said: “The public finances have got off to a pretty bad start this year, with borrowing higher than a year ago even though ‘special factors’ added £3.5bn to tax receipts this year.
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• Nato launches its fiercest attack yet on Gaddafi’s forces • Apache helicopters to be used to break Libya deadlock • Syrian opposition battles rising frustration and divisions • Netanyahu remains defiant on pre-1967 borders 11.27am: There are reports of renewed fighting in the Yemeni capital Sana’a, according to Reuters. “Gunmen and soldiers spread out everywhere and the sound of gunfire can be heard from time to time,” one witness told Reuters. Fighting in the same area on Monday killed seven people including a civilian bystander. The clashes, in the sandbagged streets surrounding a fortified mansion belonging to the wealthy and politically powerful al-Ahmar clan, pitted loyalist forces against guards of Sadiq al-Ahmar, head of the Hashed tribal federation. The government accused Ahmar’s men of igniting the clashes on Monday by firing on a school and the headquarters of state news agency Saba. Ahmar’s office said government forces opened fire when his guards prevented them from entering a school where Ahmar said Saleh loyalists were stockpiling weapons. Early on Tuesday, tribal mediators were holding talks in the Ahmar house to try to bring an end to the clashes, a source in Sadeq al-Ahmar’s office said. Saleh is also from the Hashed federation. Tom Finn, the Guardian’s stringer in Sana’a, tweets : I can’t tell which is louder, the mortar fire in Sana’a right now or the media’s beating of the civil war drum #yemen 11.08am: Britain’s shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy is to ask an urgent question about Libya in the Commons at 12.30pm, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg. 10.59am: The Guardian’s data team has updated our interactive of Nato’s campaign against Libya to include last night’s heavy bombardment of Tripoli . Some 20 explosions were heard overnight in the city, but the target was just one compound. Here’s what Nato said about the raid : Very early this morning a regime vehicle storage facility adjacent to the Bab Al Aziziyah complex in Tripoli was struck by NATO aircraft using a number of precision guided weapons. This facility is known to have been active during the initial regime suppression of the population in February 2011 and has remained so ever since; resupplying the regime forces that have been conducting attacks against innocent civilians. “Gaddafi’s forces still represent a threat to civilians and we will continue to strike targets that carry out this violence,” said the Commander of Operation Unified Protector, Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard. 10.44am: The US appears to be edging closer to formerly recognising the government of the Libyan rebels, according to this update from AP> President Barack Obama has invited the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council to open an office in Washington, but he stopped short of formal recognition. Jeffrey Feltman, the top US diplomat on the Middle East, totold reporters in the eastern city of Benghazi that he expects Congress to vote soon to let frozen regime assets in the US be used for purely humanitarian aid in Libya. He says the Americans aren’t negotiating with Gaddafi and the opposition council is considered the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. But he did not offer it formal recognition, as other countries have done. 10.26am: The US is considering sanctions against Yemen’s president Saleh as patience with their old ally runs out. The Washington Post reports : In a conversation Sunday just before Saleh refused a third successive peace deal negotiated by Persian Gulf states, White House counterterrorism chief John O. Brennan told the Yemeni president “that if he doesn’t sign, we’re going to have to consider possible other steps,” a senior administration official said. One option, US and Arab officials said, would be to bring Yemen before the UN Security Council for unspecified sanctions. On Monday, the European Union called on Saleh to “transfer power now” and warned that member states “will review their policies toward Yemen.” The blog Armies of Liberation has a thorough account of yesterday’s clashes as Saleh warned of civil war. This YouTube video shows fierce clashes in the capital Sana’a. _ 10.17am: The US now estimates that almost 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown in Syria, but still the Obama administration is willing to give President Assad time to reform. Here’s what secretary of state Hillary Clinton told a news conference last night: In Syria, the Assad government continues to respond to peaceful protests with brutal violence. By our best estimate, nearly 1,000 people have now been killed. And that is against the backdrop of President Assad talking about reform while his security forces fire bullets into crowds of marchers and mourners at funerals. This cruelty must end, and the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people must be honored. The US the EU, and others have already imposed sanctions against senior Syrian officials, including new measures announced today targeting President Asad. Foreign Secretary Hague and I are both absolutely consistent with our message to the Assad government: Stop the killings, the beatings, the arrests; release all political prisoners and detainees; begin to respond to the demands that are upon you for a process of credible and inclusive democratic change. President Assad faces a choice: He can lead the transition to democracy that the Syrian people have demanded; or he can, as President Obama said on Thursday, get out of the way. But there is no doubt that if he does not begin to lead that process, his regime will face continuing and increasing pressure and isolation. 10.06am: Camille Otrakji is a rarity – a dissident Syrian blogger who broadly backs the regime. In a provocative appearance on Bloggingheads TV he claims that only 1% of the Syrian population have actively taken part in the protests and around 70% Syrians would support President Assad’s regime if it adopted reform. He also claims the protest movement risks plunging Syria into a civil war. _ 8.54am: Welcome to Middle East Live. To coincide with his visit to the UK Barack Obama has written a joint article with David Cameron vowing not to abandon Arab protesters fighting for democracy . Writing in the Times they say: We will not stand by as their aspirations get crushed in a hail of bombs, bullets and mortar fire. We are reluctant to use force, but when our interests and values come together, we know we have a responsibility to act … We will stand with those who want to bring light into dark, support those who seek freedom in place of repression, aid those laying the building blocks of democracy. As if to underline the point Nato launched a hail of bombs against Libya over night in what is thought to be the fiercest attack yet against Gaddafi’s regime. More than 20 air strikes in less than half an hour set off thunderous booms that rattled windows around the city . My colleague Simon Jeffery is live blogging Obama’s visit . We are going to be focusing on news from, and about, the Middle East. Here’s a run down of the latest developments: • Britain and France are to deploy attack helicopters against Libya in an attempt to break the military stalemate . The decision to deploy Apache helicopters is a clear recognition that high-level bombing from 15,000 feet cannot protect civilians who continue to be attacked by rocket and mortar shells. • Binyamin Netanyahu has repeated his assertion that there can be no return to Israel’s “indefensible” 1967 borders . Speaking to the Jewish lobby in Washington he said: “This conflict has raged for 100 years because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept a Jewish state.” • Gun battles erupted across the capital of Yemen yesterday as security forces clashed with fighters from the country’s most powerful tribe amid rising fears that a breakdown in political negotiations aimed at easing President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power could lead to civil war. The fighting was the fiercest yet between the pro- and anti-Saleh camps and came a day after Saleh backed away from a promise to sign an Arab-brokered deal that would end his 33 years in power. • Syria’s anti-government protesters are battling against internal divisions and growing frustration. There is disagreement about whether or not to negotiate with the government, what tactics to adopt for the street protests, and even whether the demonstrations began too soon. • The Guardian profiles five key figures in the Syrian opposition who are emerging as possible leaders of the Syrian rebellion : Suhair Atassi; Burhan Ghalioun; Radwan Ziadeh; Adnan Mohamed and Michael Kilo. Middle East Libya Muammar Gaddafi Syria Bashar Al-Assad Yemen Israel Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
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