UK & Euro-Asian News
Daily Mail
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:49 UTC
A judge has condemned an apparent police assault on a soldier who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall, 24, was thrown to the ground by three uniformed officers after a night out with friends and punched eight times. The violent arrest - caught on CCTV - shocked a crown court judge, who called it appalling.
© CCTV
Officers responding to reports of trouble move in on Lance Corporal Mark Aspinall
BBC News
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:26 UTC
© BBC
Sharon Shoesmith, George Meehan and Liz Santry have all lost their jobs
Three people have lost their jobs after a "damning and devastating" inspectors' report into the Baby P case, Children's Secretary Ed Balls has said.
Sharon Shoesmith, the head of children's services at Haringey Council, in London, has been sacked. The council's leader George Meehan and the cabinet member for children and young people, Liz Santry have resigned.
The 17-month-old died despite being on the child protection register. He had been visited by professionals 60 times. The boy's mother has pleaded guilty and her boyfriend and a lodger have been convicted of charges relating to his death.
PressTV
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:37 UTC
© Press TV
Tuncay Gueny is suspect of attempts to topple Turkish government.
Israel's national intelligence agency Mossad has been behind a failed coup in Turkey, the Turkish daily newspaper, Milliyet reports.
A secret investigation into detained Ergenekon group members and other studies outside Turkey indicate that Mossad orchestrated the coup plot against the Turkish government, the report says.
The Ergenekon group is a Turkish neo-nationalist organization with alleged links to the military, members of which have been arrested on charges of plotting to foment unrest in the country.
Investigators uncovered evidence that show a Jewish rabbi named Tuncay Guney, who worked for Mossad and fled to Canada in 2004, was a key figure behind attempts to overthrow the Turkish government.
A document uncovered this week by the
Sabah daily shows how Guney purposefully infiltrated Ergenekon and another organization known as JITEM, an illegal intelligence unit in the gendarmerie suspected of hundreds of murders and kidnappings .
Israel National News
Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:06 UTC
Israel and Germany last week signed a cooperation agreement, in which Israel police will work with German Federal police officials on a number of issues, including homeland security, fighting terror and organized crime, pursuing and stopping drug smugglers, and other issues.
BBC News
Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:45 UTC
Leader of the Commons Harriet Harman has said she is "very concerned" by the arrest of Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green.
Ms Harman also said she understood MPs' anger at the way police officers had raided Mr Green's Parliamentary and constituency bases.
And she said protection of MPs' offices from police raids must be reviewed.
© BBC
Harriet Harman: Big issues have been raised
Jane Merrick
The Independent
Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:59 UTC
Anger over Damian Green's arrest escalates over suspicion of security scandal inside Parliament
The House of Commons office of Damian Green, the Tories' immigration spokesman, is routinely swept for electronic bugging devices, along with other offices belonging to senior Conservatives, amid fears of covert monitoring, The Independent on Sunday has discovered.
Anger surrounding the shadow immigration minister's arrest last week escalated dramatically last night over suspicions of a major bugging scandal inside the Palace of Westminster.
The IoS understands that even before his surprise arrest on Thursday Mr Green was aware that his Commons office, phone calls and emails could be under surveillance because of the sensitive nature of his job.
The fresh revelations rocked the Commons just days before the high point of the parliamentary calendar, the Queen's Speech, which takes place on Wednesday.
Irene Collins
eFlux Media
Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:47 UTC
China's Internet search leader Baidu said on Friday it will overhaul operations due to the fact that state media said it allowed unlicensed medical services to buy high search rankings to win more customers. According to The Guardian, this has resulted in Baidu's ad revenue dropping ten to fifteen percent, plus the release of several ad representatives who have allegedly helped these false medical practices gain top ranking in Baidu.
Robin Li, Baidu's chief executive, told the state news agency Xinhua today that the firm had sacked staff and more could follow. For instance: "We have removed the key words of all four clients mentioned in the report and have begun to double-check the licenses of all other hospitals and pharmacies on our client list."
Famagusta Gazette
Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:39 UTC
An American company is believed to have made an agreement in principle with the Cyprus government to exploit oil and gas in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus.
The revelation is made by Politis newspaper and comes at a time of heightened tensions off the coast of Cyprus.
Reuters
Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:51 UTC
An Air New Zealand Airbus A320 on a test flight crashed into the sea off France's southwest coast on Thursday, killing at least two people with a further five still missing, authorities said.
France's BEA civil aviation safety authority said the crash took place at 4:46 p.m. (3:46 p.m. British time) when the aircraft, made by the Airbus unit of European aerospace group EADS, was approaching the airport at Perpignan, in southwestern France after a flight that had lasted about an hour.
A witness told French radio he saw the plane dive abruptly and plunge into the Mediterranean sea.
Holly Williams
Sky News
Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:58 UTC
Hundreds of young girls fleeing North Korea are being forced into lives of slavery and prostitution in neighbouring China. A Sky News investigation reveals they are crossing the border to escape the North Korean regime only to become embroiled in a hidden underworld.
Prostitution is illegal in China, but in the red light districts of the country's far north you would never guess it. Brothels line the streets, masqueraded as karaoke parlours. With names like Don't Tell Mama and CEO VIP Club they advertise their presence in shameless neon.
Inside the brothels, young women - the foot soldiers of China's massive sex trade - wait for customers in locker rooms. Adorned in clinging nylon dresses and gaudy make-up, they chat flirtatiously with passing males.
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