American ex-patriot Nancy Kissel was convicted of murder once again today in Hong Kong, earning the so-called “milkshake murderer” another life sentence, the AP reports. Kissel was famously convicted in 2005 of drugging her husband’s milkshake and then beating him to death with a statuette, but that conviction was thrown…
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The Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition of the ‘Cult of Beauty’ reflects how art spread into everyday life in the Victorian period What was the aesthetic movement? If we do not know now we certainly will within the next few weeks as the V&A’s latest blockbuster exhibition gets into its stride and Londoners are overwhelmed with peacock feathers, lilies, sunflowers and blue and white chinoiserie, symbols of an art movement gorgeous in its detail, shimmering in surface and verging on the decadent. Even for its admirers the aesthetic movement comes to have a rather claustrophobic feel. The movement started in a small way in the 1860s in the studios and houses of a radical group of artists and
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They can dispense advice to heart attack victims or enact sexual fantasies with lonely men – but who are the faceless people who earn their living on the other end of the line? The call centre technician: Ankur Chadha, 34, New Delhi When I’m working, I use the pseudonym Alex Smith. Customers can’t pronounce my real name, and we’re encouraged to choose something easier. In fact, it’s my job to assign aliases to new team members: I take their first and last initials, and give them a name that matches. I went to a convent school, then got a Bachelor of Technology from Delhi University. I worked with Hewlett Packard in Bangalore, where I got my initial voice and accent, technical and cultural training. You have to understand the psychology of the people you’re going to be speaking to. We watched a lot of BBC and Discovery. I
Continue reading …Peggy Noonan is among those scratching their heads over the US decision to flex its muscle in Libya, and she’d like help figuring it out … from President Obama himself. “I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full…
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Mark Kennedy, the first infiltrator to be exposed, says he may sue Scotland Yard for causing post-traumatic stress disorder A sixth police officer has been unmasked as an undercover spy in the protest movement as it emerged that Mark Kennedy, who spent seven years posing as an environmental activist, is considering suing Scotland Yard. In an interview with the Guardian Weekend magazine , Kennedy, who went “rogue” and offered to help environmental campaigners accused of planning to break into a power station, says he has suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has been suicidal. His lawyers have been instructed to consider legal action against the police. The latest officer was reported to have been embedded in an anti-capitalist group for four years under the fake name of Simon Wellings. Newsnight on BBC2 reported that his true identity was discovered through a police blunder. Wellings inadvertently phoned a campaigner with the Globalise Resistance anti-capitalist group on his mobile phone while discussing photographs of demonstrators with another officer at a police station. The call was recorded on the campaigner’s answerphone and Wellings is heard being pressed to identify protesters at demonstrations, according to Newsnight. He is recorded saying: “She’s Hanna’s girlfriend – very overt lesbian – last time I saw her, hair about that long, it was blonde, week before it was black.” The infiltration of police spies became controversial after the identification of Kennedy and four others who had posed as members of a variety of political groups including environmental, anti-racist and anti-globalisation campaigns. The infiltration is the subject of four official investigations after police chiefs and ministers admitted the undercover operations had gone “badly wrong”. Kennedy believes that other undercover officers have been similarly ostracised. “The way the police handled the whole extraction .. is absolutely thoughtless from a psychological point of view and from a safety point of view.” He argues that the damage caused by such undercover work is too great, and that the police should rely more on electronic rather than human intelligence. Wellings pretended to be an activist with the group between 2001 and 2005. He always seemed to have enough money to go to many demonstrations in London, New York, Paris, Seville and other cities. Guy Taylor, a member, told Newsnight: “He didn’t have much of a backstory. We never met any of his friends or his family.” He volunteered to be the group’s photographer and took “plenty of photographs”. Wellings vanished after being rumbled by the other activists. The accidental phone call also highlights the role of police units which take photographs of protesters to be stored in secret databases such as Scotland Yard’s CO11 public order branch. The other police officer is heard on the tape pressing Wellings to put names to the photographs, according to Newsnight. “Thing is we’ve got the CO11s. They’re like – who are these people ? Do you know who they are ?” Last night the Metropolitan police said:”The use of undercover officers is a valuable tactic in the fight against crime and disorder to keep people and communities safe. “Their use is highly regulated and governed in law through the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and must be necessary, proportionate and lawful. “The deployment of undercover officers is also overseen by the Surveillance Commissioner who must be satisfied by their use.” Mark Kennedy Activism Protest Police Simon Hattenstone Rob Evans Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
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Mark Kennedy, the first infiltrator to be exposed, says he may sue Scotland Yard for causing post-traumatic stress disorder A sixth police officer has been unmasked as an undercover spy in the protest movement as it emerged that Mark Kennedy, who spent seven years posing as an environmental activist, is considering suing Scotland Yard. In an interview with the Guardian Weekend magazine , Kennedy, who went “rogue” and offered to help environmental campaigners accused of planning to break into a power station, says he has suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has been suicidal. His lawyers have been instructed to consider legal action against the police. The latest officer was reported to have been embedded in an anti-capitalist group for four years under the fake name of Simon Wellings. Newsnight on BBC2 reported that his true identity was discovered through a police blunder. Wellings inadvertently phoned a campaigner with the Globalise Resistance anti-capitalist group on his mobile phone while discussing photographs of demonstrators with another officer at a police station. The call was recorded on the campaigner’s answerphone and Wellings is heard being pressed to identify protesters at demonstrations, according to Newsnight. He is recorded saying: “She’s Hanna’s girlfriend – very overt lesbian – last time I saw her, hair about that long, it was blonde, week before it was black.” The infiltration of police spies became controversial after the identification of Kennedy and four others who had posed as members of a variety of political groups including environmental, anti-racist and anti-globalisation campaigns. The infiltration is the subject of four official investigations after police chiefs and ministers admitted the undercover operations had gone “badly wrong”. Kennedy believes that other undercover officers have been similarly ostracised. “The way the police handled the whole extraction .. is absolutely thoughtless from a psychological point of view and from a safety point of view.” He argues that the damage caused by such undercover work is too great, and that the police should rely more on electronic rather than human intelligence. Wellings pretended to be an activist with the group between 2001 and 2005. He always seemed to have enough money to go to many demonstrations in London, New York, Paris, Seville and other cities. Guy Taylor, a member, told Newsnight: “He didn’t have much of a backstory. We never met any of his friends or his family.” He volunteered to be the group’s photographer and took “plenty of photographs”. Wellings vanished after being rumbled by the other activists. The accidental phone call also highlights the role of police units which take photographs of protesters to be stored in secret databases such as Scotland Yard’s CO11 public order branch. The other police officer is heard on the tape pressing Wellings to put names to the photographs, according to Newsnight. “Thing is we’ve got the CO11s. They’re like – who are these people ? Do you know who they are ?” Last night the Metropolitan police said:”The use of undercover officers is a valuable tactic in the fight against crime and disorder to keep people and communities safe. “Their use is highly regulated and governed in law through the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) and must be necessary, proportionate and lawful. “The deployment of undercover officers is also overseen by the Surveillance Commissioner who must be satisfied by their use.” Mark Kennedy Activism Protest Police Simon Hattenstone Rob Evans Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
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Forces looks at possible links to unsolved crimes after suspect leads officers to Gloucestershire field Police investigating the murder of 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan admitted they were “stepping into the unknown” as they searched a field for a second body. Officers said the excavation of the farmer’s field in Gloucestershire was likely to be a painstaking process that could take several days. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Until that has been completed we will not know what we are dealing with.” Detectives from around the country are liaising with Wiltshire police over possible links to unsolved crimes or missing people from their region. They are known to include Avon and Somerset officers investigating the murder of Melanie Hall, who vanished from a Bath nightclub in 1996. Police have also spoken to organisations that help publicise cases of missing people. O’Callaghan went missing after leaving a nightclub in Swindon early last Saturday. She was found near Uffington in Oxfordshire, 12 miles east of Swindon, on Thursday after a man arrested on suspicion of her kidnap led police to the site. Fulcher said her body was undergoing a postmortem examination. The man also led the officers to the farmer’s field at Eastleach, Gloucestershire, about 15 miles north of Swindon. Police would not give details about the possible identity of any body at Eastleach. They said only that it was thought to be that of an adult and they believed the case went back “several years”. Fulcher said there was only one outstanding missing person in the Wiltshire force’s jurisdiction from that time, whom he did not name. Police later clarified that this did not mean that this was the person possibly buried in the field. Sources also pointed out that they could not be sure that there was a body at the site. Local murder cases in which no body has been found include that of college worker Linda Razzell, 41, who vanished from Swindon in 2002. Her husband, Glyn, was convicted of her killing but protests his innocence. Razzell’s family said police had not been in touch. The body of retired teacher Kate Prout has never been found after she went missing from a Gloucestershire farm in 2007. Her husband, Adrian, was found guilty of her murder last year but also insists he is innocent. The only Wiltshire person listed as missing on the Missing People website is a 53-year-old man called Anthony Fryer, who vanished from Swindon in 2005. Though Hall’s body was found in 2009, sources at Avon and Somerset police confirmed that detectives involved in the case were looking at any possible links with her murder. The force already works with Wiltshire police in a major crime investigation unit called Brunel, so both forces would be involved in the O’Callaghan investigation as a matter of course. Detective Superintendent Mike Courtiour, of Avon and Somerset police, is the head of Brunel and the lead on Melanie Hall. A source said: “He would naturally be looking at the possibility of any links.” At a press conference Fulcher outlined events leading to the arrest of the man now in custody on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering O’Callaghan. He described how CCTV footage and analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone indicated that she had left the Suju nightclub at 2.52am last Saturday and 32 minutes later was in Savernake forest, near Marlborough, around 12 miles south of Swindon. CCTV footage also established that a green Toyota Avensis was near the club at the relevant time. Further analysis enabled officers to identify the registration of the vehicle. “I believed that it was likely that Sian had been abducted and taken away in this vehicle,” said Fulcher. He said police had concentrated on searching the forest and finding the Avensis and the driver. A man – named locally as taxi driver Chris Halliwell – was arrested in an Asda car park in Swindon on Thursday and a green Toyota Avensis towed away. He was initially arrested on suspicion of kidnap. But Fulcher said: “He led me to two locations, one near Uffington, where we discovered the body of a woman who we believe is Sian, and also to another location where we believe that a second body may be.” Fulcher said he believed O’Callaghan’s body had been moved to the spot where it was found. A house in Swindon continued to be searched and officers removed items including two spades. The suspect was being held at Gablecross police station near Swindon. He was taken to the town’s magistrates court, where police asked for extra time to question him. A police spokeswoman said: “A 24-hour extension of detention was granted and the man remains in custody at Gablecross police station.” Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Forces looks at possible links to unsolved crimes after suspect leads officers to Gloucestershire field Police investigating the murder of 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan admitted they were “stepping into the unknown” as they searched a field for a second body. Officers said the excavation of the farmer’s field in Gloucestershire was likely to be a painstaking process that could take several days. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the inquiry, said: “Until that has been completed we will not know what we are dealing with.” Detectives from around the country are liaising with Wiltshire police over possible links to unsolved crimes or missing people from their region. They are known to include Avon and Somerset officers investigating the murder of Melanie Hall, who vanished from a Bath nightclub in 1996. Police have also spoken to organisations that help publicise cases of missing people. O’Callaghan went missing after leaving a nightclub in Swindon early last Saturday. She was found near Uffington in Oxfordshire, 12 miles east of Swindon, on Thursday after a man arrested on suspicion of her kidnap led police to the site. Fulcher said her body was undergoing a postmortem examination. The man also led the officers to the farmer’s field at Eastleach, Gloucestershire, about 15 miles north of Swindon. Police would not give details about the possible identity of any body at Eastleach. They said only that it was thought to be that of an adult and they believed the case went back “several years”. Fulcher said there was only one outstanding missing person in the Wiltshire force’s jurisdiction from that time, whom he did not name. Police later clarified that this did not mean that this was the person possibly buried in the field. Sources also pointed out that they could not be sure that there was a body at the site. Local murder cases in which no body has been found include that of college worker Linda Razzell, 41, who vanished from Swindon in 2002. Her husband, Glyn, was convicted of her killing but protests his innocence. Razzell’s family said police had not been in touch. The body of retired teacher Kate Prout has never been found after she went missing from a Gloucestershire farm in 2007. Her husband, Adrian, was found guilty of her murder last year but also insists he is innocent. The only Wiltshire person listed as missing on the Missing People website is a 53-year-old man called Anthony Fryer, who vanished from Swindon in 2005. Though Hall’s body was found in 2009, sources at Avon and Somerset police confirmed that detectives involved in the case were looking at any possible links with her murder. The force already works with Wiltshire police in a major crime investigation unit called Brunel, so both forces would be involved in the O’Callaghan investigation as a matter of course. Detective Superintendent Mike Courtiour, of Avon and Somerset police, is the head of Brunel and the lead on Melanie Hall. A source said: “He would naturally be looking at the possibility of any links.” At a press conference Fulcher outlined events leading to the arrest of the man now in custody on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering O’Callaghan. He described how CCTV footage and analysis of O’Callaghan’s mobile phone indicated that she had left the Suju nightclub at 2.52am last Saturday and 32 minutes later was in Savernake forest, near Marlborough, around 12 miles south of Swindon. CCTV footage also established that a green Toyota Avensis was near the club at the relevant time. Further analysis enabled officers to identify the registration of the vehicle. “I believed that it was likely that Sian had been abducted and taken away in this vehicle,” said Fulcher. He said police had concentrated on searching the forest and finding the Avensis and the driver. A man – named locally as taxi driver Chris Halliwell – was arrested in an Asda car park in Swindon on Thursday and a green Toyota Avensis towed away. He was initially arrested on suspicion of kidnap. But Fulcher said: “He led me to two locations, one near Uffington, where we discovered the body of a woman who we believe is Sian, and also to another location where we believe that a second body may be.” Fulcher said he believed O’Callaghan’s body had been moved to the spot where it was found. A house in Swindon continued to be searched and officers removed items including two spades. The suspect was being held at Gablecross police station near Swindon. He was taken to the town’s magistrates court, where police asked for extra time to question him. A police spokeswoman said: “A 24-hour extension of detention was granted and the man remains in custody at Gablecross police station.” Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Syria’s unrest is taking a turn for the worse. Violence erupted today as troops opened fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed on the tense streets of the capital, witnesses said. Soldiers shot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set…
Continue reading …With a devastating earthquake in Burma following on the heels of the one in Japan , which itself followed one in New Zealand , Slate’s Explainer blog digs into the question of just which nations are safest from natural disaster. Your winners, based on data from a Belgium center that analyzes such…
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