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"The Cat Is Out Of The Bag" - Murdoch Faces Flood Of Hacking Claims


Reuters
Sun, 10 Apr 2011 08:08 UTC
Rupert Murdoch
© Reuters: Mike Segar
Rupert Murdoch's News International says it will pay compensation in eight cases
Rupert Murdoch's UK news arm faces a flood of fresh compensation claims and could be exposed to criminal prosecution after admitting its role in a long-running phone hacking scandal, lawyers say.

News International, parent company of Britain's top-selling News of the World tabloid, said it would admit liability and pay compensation in eight cases - although many more believe they were targeted.

The admission was an about-turn from the media group's previous denial that it knew journalists were hacking the phones of the royal family, politicians, celebrities and sports stars, blaming a handful of "rogue reporters" for the scandal.

Those who will receive an "unreserved apology" from the group, part of Murdoch's global media empire News Corp, include actress Sienna Miller and politician Tessa Jowell.

"There will be a massive flood of people contacting lawyers," said lawyer Charlotte Harris of law firm Mishcon de Reya.
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Heart - Black

Egyptian Junta Steps Up Violence as Protests and Strikes Continue


World Socialist Web Site
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
egypt_troop_advance
© Unknown
Troops advance on Tahrir Square
On Tuesday, the Egyptian military once again stormed Tahrir Square and violently dispersed a peaceful sit-in by demonstrators. At 17:00, the military drove onto the square with armoured vehicles, forcing protesters from the centre, and then occupied the area with heavily armed soldiers.

The military then proceeded to hunt down demonstrators and activists who had fled into downtown Cairo, carrying out numerous arrests. Among the special forces used in the attack was the notorious Unit 777, an "anti-terrorist" unit that regularly exercises with US units such as the Delta Force. The special forces stormed houses in downtown Cairo and combed cafes for protesters and activists.

The military had already begun to brutally clear demonstrators from Tahrir Square on Saturday morning, employing stun guns, batons and also live ammunition. Eye witnesses told the World Socialist Web Site that soldiers had fired directly at protesters and seven people had been killed. One of the victims was a young officer who had sided with protesters during mass protests on Friday.
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Bad Guys

Phil Angelides: No Rule of Law on Wall Street


Vodpod
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
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Dollar

USA: NC Towns Take Up Legal Arms Against Anti-Municipal Internet Bill

Jason Mick
DailyTech
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:38 UTC
Image
© Travel Webshots
Time Warner hopes to soon return to enjoying the high prices and profits that came with its local monopoly. All it needs is to use pending legislation to stomp out pesky municipal projects.
Seven towns pass measures condemning Republican proposal which could rob them of the right to self-governance

We've extensively discussed the controversy and conflict surrounding Bill H.129 [PDF]. In the face of legislation that could cripple their locally funded, voter-approved services, seven towns in North Carolina are striking back, publishing resolutions that condemn the effort.

The towns are urging state Republicans to reconsider the effort they are pushing, which looks to give the State government "blank check" authority to kill decisions made by the local government -- essentially robbing municipalities of their right to self governance.

I. Buying a Bill -- Did Time Warner "Purchase" Legislation?

The local resolutions label the pending legislation a "Time Warner" bill. Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) enjoys a monopoly on high speed cable internet across much of the state. So is the company responsible for the bill?

Well, it certainly seems that way.
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Bad Guys

Israel's 'fantasy island' off Gaza's coast

Suhail Khalilieh
Ma'an News Agency
Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:11 UTC
israel fantasy island
© Unknown

Israel's Channel 2 has revealed an Israeli government plan to set up an artificial "man-made" island off the coast of the Gaza Strip, to be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

The plan, as reported, was formulated and schemed by the Israeli Minster of Transportation Yaakov Katz, guided and godfathered by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu. Apparently, the idea has been formulated and detailed by a team of experts for quite some time -- three months according to the report.

The island is planned to sit some 4.5 kilometers from Gaza's shores, and to include Palestinian-operated sea and air ports, tourist accommodation areas, and a desalination plant. The dimensions of the island are drawn at four by two kilometers linked to mainland Gaza by a 4.5 kilometer bridge.
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Bizarro Earth

'Activists tortured in Bahrain jails'


Press TV
Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:54 UTC
Image

Maryam al-Khawaja of Bahrain's human rights center
A Bahraini human rights campaigner says political activists detained by the Manama regime undergo torture in the prisons of the small Persian Gulf kingdom.

In an interview with Press TV, Maryam al-Khawaja of Bahrain's human rights center called on the Bahraini authorities to stop their crackdown on anti-government protesters and opposition figures.

"Within only a number of ten days we saw four people were declared dead by the ministry of interior, and the first one they said was from sickle cell anemia, the second one they said had caused a problem inside the prison and thus had to be subdued and then he died from complications and the third one again they said sickle cell anemia, the fourth one they said had kidney failure," al-Khawaja said.

"But then what we saw actually when the bodies were handed over to their families, wasn't just they had torture marks on them, their bodies had bruising and even marks of lashings, so we believe that it's more likely that they have died due to torture rather than the reasons stated by the government of Bahrain," she added.
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Bomb

'Nine dead' as Taliban attack Afghan army base

Samoon Miakhail
Agence France-Presse
Sat, 16 Apr 2011 02:09 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
The attacker detonated his explosives at the base in the Gambiri area near Jalalabad
Five foreign troops and four Afghan soldiers died in an attack claimed by the Taliban on an Afghan army base in the country's east, the International Security Assistance Force said Saturday.

Earlier reports had said four people were killed and eight wounded.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to AFP.

The attacker detonated his explosives at the base in the Gambiri area near Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, said Mohammad Nooman Hatifi, the Afghan army spokesman for eastern Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Major Tim James, said there had been "a number of both Afghan and ISAF casualties" in the attack but could not yet give further details.

Comment: To learn more about the pattern of suicide bombing in the Middle East and surrounding regions carried out by al-Qaeda aka. Mossad, read the following SOTT Focus articles:

Burka Bombers: Spontaneously Exploding Iraqi Women
Mossad's "Islamic Militants" Exposed In Yemen

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Bad Guys

US: TSA security looks at people who complain about ... TSA security

Mike M. Ahlers & Jeanne Meserve
CNN
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:57 UTC

Don't like the way airport screeners are doing their job? You might not want to complain too much while standing in line.

Arrogant complaining about airport security is one indicator Transportation Security Administration officers consider when looking for possible criminals and terrorists, CNN has learned exclusively. And, when combined with other behavioral indicators, it could result in a traveler facing additional scrutiny.

CNN has obtained a list of roughly 70 "behavioral indicators" that TSA behavior detection officers use to identify potentially "high risk" passengers at the nation's airports.

Many of the indicators, as characterized in open government reports, are behaviors and appearances that may be indicative of stress, fear or deception. None of them, as the TSA has long said, refer to or suggest race, religion or ethnicity.

But one addresses passengers' attitudes towards security, and how they express those attitudes.

It reads: "Very arrogant and expresses contempt against airport passenger procedures."
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Arrow Down

Canada: Prime Minister Harper accused of smearing ex-minister

Miguel Alvarez
Agence France-Presse
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:40 UTC
Helena Guergis
© Agence France-Presse
Former minister Helena Guergis, pictured here in 2007, lashed out at her ex-boss Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the middle of an election Friday for booting her from the Conservative caucus over ultimately unsubstantiated claims
A former Tory minister lashed out at her ex-boss Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the middle of an election Friday for booting her from the Conservative caucus over ultimately unsubstantiated claims.

Now seeking re-election as an independent candidate, Helena Guergis told a press conference Harper "tossed (her) under a bus" last year, and offered no explanation for her ouster nor a chance to defend herself.

A federal police investigation cleared Guergis of fraud, extortion and involvement with prostitutes, including snorting cocaine off a prostitute's breasts.

But the prime minister's office continued to run a "destructive campaign" against her and smearing her reputation with "false allegations," Guergis said.

"Not only was it made to seem I was guilty of conduct that has never been disclosed to me ... the prime minister's office still made it seem as though I was guilty of something even after I had been proven innocent," she said.

A private investigator last year alerted a Conservative party lawyer that Guergis may be vulnerable to blackmail after an associate of her husband boasted of having cellphone pictures of the couple partying with "high class escorts when cocaine was being snorted."
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Eagle

US: Republicans will make US 'Third World' nation: Obama

Mira Oberman
Agence France-Presse
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:57 UTC
Obama
© AFP/Mandel Ngan
President Barack Obama reads a note given to him by a young girl upon arrival at O?Hare International Airport. Obama accused Republicans of wanting to turn the United States into a "Third World" country as he rallied support for his reelection campaign.
US President Barack Obama accused Republicans of wanting to turn the United States into a "Third World" country as he rallied support for his reelection campaign.

The attack came a day after Obama savaged Republican budget plans and unveiled his $4-trillion deficit reduction drive that aims to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans in order to preserve key social services.

The debate over fiscal policy will prove critical to the 2012 campaign and Obama sought to frame it as a "stark choice" between investing in the future or watching the country fall apart.

"Under their vision, we can't invest in roads and bridges and broadband and high-speed rail," Obama told a select group of the Democratic faithful at the second of three fundraising events in his hometown of Chicago.

"I mean, we would be a nation of potholes, and our airports would be worse than places that we thought -- that we used to call the Third World, but who are now investing in infrastructure."
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