Police must pass documents seized from Glenn Mulcaire to lawyers representing growing number of people suing paper The growing number of public figures suing the News of the World won a major high court victory when a judge said Scotland Yard must hand over a mass of phone-hacking evidence that has never before been disclosed. The ruling by Justice Geoffrey Vos, who was appointed this week to handle the 14 phone-hacking cases currently going through the courts, means the Metropolitan police will be forced to pass reams of documents seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for the News of the World, to lawyers acting for the politicians, celebrities and football figures who are suing the paper. They include Sienna Miller, Paul Gascoigne, Steve Coogan and the former culture secretary Tessa Jowell. Vos ruled on Friday that the Met must give unredacted documents – including Mulcaire’s emails, address and contacts books, and phone bills – to another hacking victim, the football agent Sky Andrew. The decision sets a precedent for the other hacking cases and has far-reaching implications for the NoW, police and other litigants. It will lead to a flood of hacking documents being released to other claimants, all of whom are seeking copies of papers seized by police in a 2006 raid on Mulcaire’s home. That could lead to more NoW journalists being named in connection with phone hacking. So far six reporters and executives have been publicly linked to the practice. One, former royal editor Clive Goodman, was convicted and jailed. A second, assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson, has been sacked by the paper. Scotland Yard has been slow to hand over the paperwork, arguing in court that to do so would undermine a fresh investigation into hacking it began at the start of the year. It also claimed a potential suspect would be tipped off if unredacted evidence were made public. Vos rejected that argument, giving the Met 28 days to comply with his order and 21 days to appeal. Phone hacking Glenn Mulcaire News of the World Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Police James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Ahh, college: that magical time when women dabble in same-sex experimentation. Or not. A new study from the CDC shows that women who did not finish high school were actually more likely to have dipped their toes in the same-sex pool, the New York Times reports. “It may be that…
Continue reading …One of the world’s top charities supporting retired racehorses has fallen far behind in payments to support the horses, leaving scores of the creatures malnourished, starving, or dead; at least two have had to be put down, the New York Times reports. The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in upstate New York…
Continue reading …Moammar Gadhafi is not taking the UN resolution authorizing military attacks against him well. Last night, his defense ministry warned that Libya might retaliate against “any foreign military act” by attacking “all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea” as well as “civilian and military” facilities, the Telegraph reports….
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Anti-devolutionist Lord Forsyth claims the measures in the Scotland bill are a ‘time bomb at the heart of the union’ Senior Tories are openly rebelling against David Cameron’s plans to give the Scottish parliament greater tax-raising powers, days before the party goes into the Scottish election campaign. Lord Forsyth, the party’s former Scotland secretary, claimed new measures to give Holyrood control over income tax rates could lead to the break-up of the UK, a view backed privately by senior party figures in Scotland. Forsyth, a noted anti-devolutionist, said the tax powers in the Scotland bill, which is going through the UK parliament with the support of the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems, were “a timebomb at the heart of the union”. At a packed fringe meeting at the Scottish Tory conference in Perth, he urged the party to hold a referendum on the new powers. He said the bill, which is set to become law later this year, “may yet be the midwife which delivers independence”. The rebellious mood poses a challenge to the Scottish party’s leader, Annabel Goldie, who is about to begin a Holyrood election campaign with the Tories faring very poorly in recent opinion polls. Scottish voters are stubbornly refusing to increase their support for the Tories, despite their recent surge in popularity elsewhere in the UK under Cameron’s leadership. The psephologist John Curtice said the party’s support was “flatlining” in Scotland. The latest ICM opinion poll, commissioned by the Scottish National party, puts the Conservatives at 13% only six weeks before the Scottish parliamentary election on 5 May, down from the 16.7% it received at the UK general election last year, when only one Tory MP was returned in Scotland. Scottish politics Conservatives David Cameron Scotland Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Number of UK military personnel to have died since beginning of operations in Afghanistan reaches 360 A British soldier from 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment has died after he was fatally wounded in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said. The serviceman was injured in a blast while on patrol in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province on Wednesday. He was evacuated by helicopter to a military hospital in Camp Bastion and then flown back to Britain where he died with his family by his side. In total, 360 UK military personnel have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001. Military Afghanistan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Japan is considering burying its troubled nuclear plant in sand and concrete—the same move made in Chernobyl 25 years ago, Reuters reports. “It is not impossible to encase the reactors in concrete. But our priority right now is to try and cool them down first,” said an official, as…
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This year’s ‘achievement in dance’ award managed to pass without a single dancer being honoured. Why does dance put up with playing the Cinderella among art forms? Do prizes matter? After the past two months, it’s easy to think that the bloated system of Oscars, Globes, Baftas and so on is more about frocks, marketing and gossip than rewarding genuine talent and creativity. But the most hardened cynic may spare a moment’s sympathy for the slight that was delivered to the dance profession at this year’s Olivier awards , which were awarded last Sunday. Dance has always been a postscript to this event: like opera, it gets just two dedicated prizes. And usually the profession is happy to tag along to what’s essentially a party for theatrical types. But feathers were ruffled this year when, in contrast to the three singers who made it onto the shortlist for outstanding achievement in opera, the shortlist for outstanding achievement in dance contained not a single dancer. Instead there were two designers and a drummer: artist Antony Gormley for his design for Babel at Sadler’s Wells, John MacFarlane for his design for Asphodel Meadows at the Royal Ballet and Yoshie Sunahata for her drumming in Gnosis (Sunahata did move with incredible power, to be sure, but she was cited, specifically, for her drumming). In defence of this odd – albeit very tactless – decision, the awards’ criteria for eligibility does excludes much of the dance that appears in London, and according to one of the judges an unusual number of productions that were up for consideration this year were collaborative creations, for which music and design deserved unusual credit. But anyone who spent any time at Sadler’s Wells, the Opera House and the Coliseum last year, along with the other participating venues, would feel there was no shortage of fine dancing that came within the rules. And you could surely argue that Tamara Rojo made just as outstanding a contribution to Asphodel Meadows as MacFarlane did, and that Akram Khan ‘s dancing was even more key to Gnosis than Sunahata’s drumming. Another good reason for prioritising those contributions is that dancers in general are hardly snowed under by honours and prizes from other sources. In Britain there is little for them beyond the Critic’s Circle awards (hugs and certificates given to the year’s best dancers, choreographers and companies), and the Place prize (which offers money and a platform to new choreography). Within the world of performing arts dancers have, on average, the worst pay, the most arduous hours and the most cruelly short careers. You’d think the Oliviers could have offered just one of them a prize to take home. Would that have been too much to ask? Dance Awards and prizes Akram Khan Antony Gormley Judith Mackrell guardian.co.uk
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As food and petrol reach disaster zone, Naoto Kan tells people to look towards reconstruction after quake and tsunami The Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, has vowed to rebuild his nation from scratch after the country’s deadliest disaster since the second world war. A week after an earthquake and tsunami caused a multiple nuclear meltdown, Kan attempted to use a rare day of positive news to shift attention from devastation to reconstruction. Several petrol stations and train lines reopened, more food was delivered into the disaster zone and an emergency mission to stabilise the melting reactors at the Fukushima No 1 power plant appeared – at least temporarily – to have slowed the leak of radiation. These glimmers of hope were set against grim new casualty figures – 6,900 people are confirmed dead and thousands more are reported missing – that have made the disaster the worst in more than 60 years. Though the scale of the calamity would have tested any prime minister, Kan has been widely criticised for striking a low public profile at a time when many were looking for leadership. In a televised address, he took a more assertive stance and pressed home the need for a change of mood. “With the tsunami and earthquake, we do not have room to be pessimistic or discouraged. We are going to create Japan once again from scratch,” he urged his listeners. “Each and every one of the Japanese people must have strong resolution to move forward and overcome these difficulties.” Survivors paused to observe a minute’s silence at 2.46pm, the time the 8.9-magnitude quake struck last week. It was a moment of reflection also for the government. The government’s chief spokesman admitted that it had been overwhelmed. “The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans,” Yukio Edano said. “In hindsight we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster.” In the disaster zone, earth-moving equipment and mechanical diggers cleared blocked roads, while military and aid groups distributed larger quantities of essential provisions to the 430,000 people who have lost their homes. The government has promised to build temporary residences as an alternative to the schools, gymnasiums and other public buildings where refugees are currently staying. But this will take time. Miyagi’s governor, Yoshihiro Murai, urged people to move away, saying it would be difficult to provide housing in the near future. Shortages of petrol and obstructed routes have left many in the 2,200 emergency shelters across the disaster zone short of food, fuel, water and medicine. Officials have warned that the nuclear incident is also hampering efforts to deliver aid, making drivers reluctant to travel to areas even outside the exclusion zone. Kan acknowledged the problems faced by evacuees in shelters and promised the government would overcome difficulties to provide food and blankets. “I know it is very cold and there is not enough food and water … I extend my sympathy to all those suffering hardship,” he said. The prime minister is thought likely to visit the disaster zone next week. The past week has severely tested the patience of evacuees forced to live in cold shelters without adequate food, heating or sanitation, but local leaders said the government was doing all it could in the circumstances. “It can’t be helped. There was such an enormous amount of damage,” said Hozo Hirano, the deputy chief of the disaster relief operation in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, which was devastated by the tsunami. “I’m sure the central and provincial governments will provide us support in time, but rather than rely on others, we need to think what we can do to help ourselves.” Japan disaster Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather Nuclear power Energy Justin McCurry Tania Branigan Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …As the mammoth winter snowfall melts across much of the US, expect the struggle against Mother Nature to continue: Spring flooding is already happening in parts of the country and almost half the US has an above-average risk of floods over the next few weeks, the National Weather Service warns…
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