FBI to contact Jude Law over phone hack claims

BBC News, 21 July 2011

The FBI plans to contact the actor Jude Law following claims that his mobile phone was hacked during a visit to the US, officials have told the BBC.

Hackers allegedly accessed Jude Law's mobile
 phone while he was at John F Kennedy Airport
 in New York

It is alleged that a story published by the News of the World newspaper in 2003 was based on information obtained from the star's voicemail.

If the accusation is proved to be true, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could face charges in the US.

News International, the UK newspaper arm of News Corp, denies the claims.

Hackers allegedly accessed Jude Law's mobile phone while he was at John F Kennedy Airport in New York City.

An article in the News of the World later gave a detailed account of the actor's communications with an assistant.

Law's phone would have been using an American mobile network if used in the US, which could open the door to charges under US federal law, says the BBC's Steve Kingstone in New York.

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Europe announces a fresh, 'credible' Greek rescue deal

Deutsche Welle, 22 July 2011 

Greece's second aid package is
larger than the first

European leaders say the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund and the private sector will all contribute towards a second package of emergency loans for Greece, as a debt-dominated summit concludes in Brussels.

European Union President Herman van Rompuy said after Thursday's summit in Brussels that the bloc had reached three important decisions which had unanimous support within eurozone.

"We improved the Greek debt sustainability, we took measures to stop the risk of contagion, and finally, we committed to improve the eurozone's crisis management," Rompuy said in the opening moments of his official address.

The EU president said that the instability of the Greek economy, coupled with the resultant jitters on international markets, ultimately could have threatened the single European currency and the economic recovery in Europe and the wider world.

"Convening this meeting focused the minds and accelerated finding a solution. I could not allow a difficult situation to become a dangerous one," Rompuy said.

The nuts and bolts

European leaders in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to lend Greece an additional 109 billion euros (157 billion dollars) in order to cover its financing shortfalls and prevent Athens from defaulting on its sovereign debt.

The program will include lower interest rates and extended maturities as well as a voluntary contribution from private sector financial institutions amounting to 37 billion euros, according to a statement released by the leaders after the summit.

Merkel and Sarkozy struck an
agreement before the summit

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet reacted coolly to concerns that even voluntary participation by the private sector could provoke rating agencies to downgrade Greece's credit worthiness.

"I don't think experts consider that what has been done would trigger a credit event," Trichet said after the summit.

'European package'

Greece's second aid package, including private contributions, will total at least 146 billion euros. The package comes in addition to the 110 billion euros Athens was promised as part of its first bailout in 2010.

"The only thing we're asking for is the right to make deep changes in our country to make our country a viable one, one of growth and jobs creations," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said. "This is a European success, a European package."

The breakthrough deal was made possible after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to an agreement in Berlin on Wednesday.

Sarkozy said that Europe was prepared to stand with Athens and guarantee its credit worthiness in the event that credit agencies declare Greece in limited default.

"We have agreed to create the beginnings of a European Monetary Fund," he said.

Author: Spencer Kimball, Mark Hallam (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

Editor: Joanna Impey

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Israeli Arab lawmaker banned from parliament

English.news.cn   2011-07-19

JERUSALEM, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi was suspended on Monday from the Israeli Knesset parliament, as a result of her participation in last year's pro-Palestinian flotilla.

Israeli Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi

The Knesset's Ethnics Committee suspended Zoabi from all parliament activities, including attending any debates at the Knesset, until the end of the current summer session, which ends in two weeks. The committee made the decision after Zoabi boarded the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara of the Gaza-bound flotilla in May, 2010.

Israeli commandos boarded the flotilla ships after the captains refused to turn away from Gaza. In the ensuing melee, nine passengers were killed and several soldiers were injured.

"The very participation in the flotilla, which was intended to break the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip as part of the armed conflict with Hamas constitutes an action which hurts state security," the committee said in its decision.

The action against Zoabi came after several complaints against her filed by fellow members of the Knesset (MK) as well, according to local Ynet news service.

The Arab female lawmaker strongly condemned the Ethnics Committee in a statement, saying that her participation falls " within on MK's legitimate freedom of action". She described the suspension as a political punishment taken by racist far-right majority in the Knesset.

Zoabi told Xinhua on Monday that her participation in the flotilla was a human, moral and political duty aimed for lifting the inhuman siege against the people of Gaza.

Last week Zoabi was taken out of the Knesset hall by security officers after interrupting a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the recently-passed anti-boycott laws. The Ethnics Committee later filed a complaint over her "disorderly misbehaviors."

Zoabi joined the blockade-busting flotilla last year and later lost her Knesset privileges, including a diplomatic passport and financial help for legal assistance. Some MKs accused her of abusing her status as a member of the Israeli parliament.

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September 11 families seek meeting with FBI on hacking

Reuters, by Daniel Trotta, NEW YORK | Mon Jul 18, 2011

A New York City Police Department Officer plays taps at the eighth anniversary
 commemoration ceremony of 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in
New York, September 11, 2009. (Credit: Reuters/G.N. Miller/Pool)

(Reuters) - Relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks have asked to meet the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department to discuss the agencies' preliminary inquiry into reports that News Corp reporters may have tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.

U.S. authorities have acknowledged they are looking into a report by Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper that reporters with the rival News of the World offered to pay a New York police officer for private phone records of some 9/11 victims.

The Mirror's report, citing an unidentified source, has yet to be independently verified but already has fueled U.S. emotions over the wider phone hacking scandal that has consumed Britain and rocked Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire.

New York attorney Normal Siegel, who represents September 11 family members in three legal cases, sent letters on Monday requesting meetings with FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Representative John Conyers, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

"We commend the FBI for opening a preliminary inquiry into this serious issue and we are requesting a meeting to ascertain the scope, goals and timetable of the inquiry," the letter to Mueller said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said he could not comment on the inquiry but said the FBI's Victim Assistance Program had been in regular contact with 9/11 family matters about the probe.

"We will, of course, provide an appropriate response to any letter from representatives from the 9/11 victims," said Bill Carter of the FBI's national press office.

Siegel has represented relatives of September 11 victims in a number of cases, including a successful attempt to force New York City to release audio tapes of phone calls to emergency responders during the disaster and a losing bid to recover traces of human remains from debris buried in a landfill.

"My clients are troubled about the allegation of potential hacking and they are particularly upset that there now exists an allegation that a newspaper would seek to illegally obtain information about their loved ones," Siegel said.

"I tried in the letter not to accuse anyone, especially News Corp, of anything yet because you don't want a media frenzy accusing someone if the facts aren't there. We want to find out what the truth is," he said.

The Daily Mirror report said News of the World journalists had wanted the phone numbers of the dead as well as details of the calls they had made and received in the days leading to the attacks.

The estates of those killed on September 11 or survivors would have grounds to sue the newspaper for damages if phones were illegally hacked, with potentially greater punitive damages possible if the hacking was found to be intentional and deliberate, Siegel said.

Even if an unsuccessful attempt was made to illegally access voice mails the paper could be liable, he said.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Mark Egan and Cynthia Osterman)

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Merkel calls for a European ratings agency

Deutsche Welle, 17 July 2011  

Merkel emphasized that the euro
was a stable currency

In a TV interview, German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her skepticsm on restructuring Greek debt and called for the creation of a European ratings agency, in the wake of the downgrading of some eurozone members.

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday gave a lengthy interview to German public broadcaster ARD, during which she called for the creation of a European ratings agency, amid growing discontent over the downgrading of some EU economies.

"The Chinese now have a ratings agency," the chancellor said, adding the organization should be created by the "European economy" and not by the individual member states.

The European Commission has recently criticized the world's three leading credit ratings agencies, questioning the timing of their debt downgrades.

On Wednesday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said he wanted to break the power of ratings agencies after two of the main US agencies downgraded the ratings of vulnerable eurozone members Portugal and Ireland to "junk" status.

Euro is safe, Merkel says

Merkel also voiced her concern over the possible rescheduling of Greek debt, which she said would have "the negative effect that the country might not work hard" for their reorganization efforts, However, she admitted that because of the country's high debt, conditions were "very, very difficult," and a restructuring couldn't be ruled out.

With regard to the euro-summit on Thursday, Merkel reiterated that private creditors should help shoulder the burden.

The chancellor also attempted to soothe fears that the financial woes plaguing the eurozone would endanger the common currency, emphasizing that the euro was safe and "part of the European identity."

Author: Sarah Harman (AFP, dpad)

Editor: Andreas Illmer

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China: Obama visit with Dalai Lama has 'harmed Sino-U.S. relations'

CNN News, By the CNN Wire Staff, July 16, 2011

President Barack Obama meets with the Dalai Lama
at the White House on Saturday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "This action seriously interfered with China's internal affairs," spokesman says
• Obama pushes for "direct dialogue" between Dalai Lama, Chinese
• U.S. does not support independence for Tibet, White House says
• Dalal Lama is visiting U.S. lawmakers in Washington on an 11-day trip

(CNN) -- China spoke out strongly Sunday against a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, saying it "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and harmed Sino-U.S. relations."

"This action seriously interfered with China's internal affairs," said Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, adding that officials have lodged formal complaints with their U.S. counterparts in Beijing and Washington.

Obama met with the Dalai Lama on Saturday in Washington, commending the Tibetan spiritual leader on his commitment to nonviolence and pursuit of the "Middle Way" approach with China, the White House said in a statement.

During the closed-door visit at the White House, Obama stressed the U.S. policy that "Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China and the United States does not support independence for Tibet," the White House said.

In the nearly 45-minute meeting, the president voiced support for "direct dialogue" between China and Tibet as a way to peace, the statement said.

"The Dalai Lama stated that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and hopes that dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government can soon resume," the White House said.

American support of the Dalai Lama has long been a subject of contention in U.S.-China relations. Chinese officials view the religious leader as a separatist and Tibet as a breakaway province.

The issue of Tibet is one that "involves China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement released before the meeting. "We oppose foreign leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama in any format."

The strong objection to the meeting continued after it was over.

"By allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the U.S. and arranging the top leader to meet him, the United States has seriously violated basic principles of international relations and its own repeated solemn pledges, and harmed Sino-U.S. relations," Ma's statement said. "China therefore expresses its strong indignation and firm opposition."

The statement concluded by calling on the U.S. "to take China's solemn and just stance seriously, and adopt immediate measures to eliminate adverse consequences."

The president last met with his fellow Nobel Peace laureate in February 2010.

The Dalai Lama expressed hopes that his relationship with China can improve, with U.S. help.

The current Dalai Lama is also known by the name Tenzin Gyatso. He was born in 1935 in modern-day Qinghai, China.

The term "Dalai Lama" is a Buddhist religious title. In traditional Tibetan belief, the title is given to those who are the reincarnations of a line of revered religious teachers. The current Dalai Lama is considered the 14th in this line.

The Dalai Lama has been in Washington on an 11-day visit. He has conducted a mass ritual for Buddhists and met with several lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Met chiefs on drinking terms with former NoW deputy editor

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan police commissioner, faces a parliamentary grilling this week

Guardian, Daniel Boffey and Mark Townsend, Saturday 16 July 2011

Sir Paul Stephenson in 2009. Photograph: Stephen Hird/Reuters

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, had social drinks on up to five occasions over the past two years with the former News of the World deputy editor who was arrested and then bailed last week.

Stephenson already faces a grilling this week by a parliamentary select committee over his recruitment of Neil Wallis as a public relations consultant last year. The commissioner has been accused of an error of judgment over the £24,000 contract he handed to Wallis, who worked at the NoW between 2003 and 2009, a period when hacking is alleged to have taken place.

Now it has emerged that beyond eight meals between 2006 and 2009 registered as business dinners with Wallis, and a further nine with other News International executives since 2005, the commissioner also socialised in his own time with the journalist at a time when the NoW was under at the centre of the scandal over phone hacking allegations.

The revelation will inevitably concern the home affairs select committee.

The home secretary has asked the judicial inquiry into phone hacking to investigate the Met's decision to hire Wallis as an adviser last year.

Last night Scotland Yard was forced to categorically deny claims in the New York Times that Wallis had provided strategic advice on the hacking investigation and had been "reporting back" to News International with information.

And Scotland Yard defended Stephenson's decision to accept the offer of a month's free stay when he was recovering from cancer at Champneys, a spa hotel represented by the Outside Organisation, where Wallis is managing director. They said Wallis had no involvement with the stay but the managing director of the hotel was a friend of 20 years who wanted to help the commissioner recover.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The Wallis link is a total red herring."

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UN Security Council lifts sanctions against fomer Taliban leaders

Deutsche Welle, 16 July 2011  

The Security Council hopes to aid
future Afghan peace talks

The UN Security Council, chaired by Germany this month, has agreed to drop 14 former Taliban leaders from its international blacklist in an effort to get the ball rolling on Afghan peace talks.

The United Nations Security Council committee overseeing sanctions on Friday, July 15, removed 14 former Taliban leaders from an international blacklist as part of a bid to encourage peaceful reconciliation in war-torn Afghanistan.

Germany's UN ambassador Peter Wittig, who heads the Security Council for July, said the decision "sends a strong signal: the Security Council and the international community support the efforts of the Afghan government to engage reconciled Taliban in a political dialog in order to achieve peace and security in Afghanistan."

Ahead of the Friday decision, 137 Taliban insurgents were on a sanctions list that called for a travel ban, an asset freeze and an arms embargo.

'Peace pays off'

Wittig named only four of those delisted: Arsalan Rahmani Daulat, Habibullah Fawzi, Sayeedur Rahman Haqani and Faquir Mohammad - all members of the High Peace Council established by Afghan authorities last September. 

The Taliban say there won't be talks
until foreign forces leave

"The international community recognizes efforts made by members of the High Peace Council to work toward peace, stability and reconciliation," Wittig said. "All Afghans are encouraged to join these efforts. The message is clear: engaging for peace pays off."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office has called the creation of the High Peace Council a significant step toward building peace, although the Taliban have still refused to engage in talks, saying all foreign forces must first leave Afghanistan.

The Security Council's decision came four weeks after the body split a joint sanctions list of Taliban and al-Qaeda figures into two - one list for each group.

The split was intended to highlight the distinction between the global al Qaeda terror network and the Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan until they were driven from power by US-backed forces in 2001.

US President Barack Obama in June announced that 33,000 American troops would leave Afghanistan by the end of next summer, kicking off a gradual drawdown due to be completed in 2014.

Author: David Levitz (AFP, Reuters)

Editor: Toma Tasovac

Phone hacking prompts Australian debate over Murdoch's power

Calls for full inquiry into media ownership and regulation in tycoon's birth country, where News Ltd has 150 newspapers

Guardian, Alison Rourke in Sydney, Thursday 14 July 2011

Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, has said the phone-hacking
 scandal raises questions about the role of the press in a democracy.
Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Pressure is mounting in Australia, where Rupert Murdoch built his first newspaper empire, for an inquiry into the media in the wake of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

The prime minister, Julia Gillard said she was "truly disgusted" by the intrusions of privacy carried out by the Murdoch papers in the UK and that she was open to the idea of a review in Australia.

Gillard also said she was not surprised events in Britain were raising questions about the "role of the media in our democracy and the media's role generally".

The leader of the Green party, Bob Brown, called for a full inquiry into the ownership and regulation of Australia's media. "Following events in Fleet Street it's very clear that there is sufficient concern about the potential of similar events (happening) in this country," he said.

"There's been a massive abuse by News of The World and we need to learn from that and not just sit on our hands and hope it doesn't happen here," said Brown. According to Brown, he had been given conflicting advice as to whether hacking into people's phone messages was illegal in Australia.

"You can't hack into a server or a servant of a server but the law appears to be silent on hacking into someone else's message bank," he said.

In Australia, News Ltd, which is wholly owned by News Corp, runs around 150 national, capital city, regional and suburban news outlets, including the only national newspaper, the Australian. Murdoch owns the only daily newspaper in four capital cities: Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and Hobart. News Ltd dominates the Sunday newspaper market with about 70% of readership. There has been no formal suggestion of phone hacking by any employee of News Ltd in Australia.

Nick Pullen, a media lawyer and partner at the firm HWL Ebsworth in Melbourne, said Australian law on hacking voicemails was grey, partly because there had not been any litigation on phone hacking in Australia.

"There's no court findings into the interpretations of the current law on the ability to get into a person's message bank by trying out pin numbers once you get on to their server," Pullen said.

Brown has called for a statutory watchdog to replace the self-regulation of newspapers in Australia. At the moment, according to the Australian Press Council, self-regulation "rests on the willingness of publishers and editors to … adhere voluntarily to ethical standards and admit mistakes promptly".

News Ltd's chariman, John Hartigan, told ABC television an inquiry into the operation of the media in Australia was "totally unnecessarily". He said regulation by the Press Council, which is an industry-funded body, was sufficient.

On Wednesday Hartigan announced a review of all News Ltd editorial expenditure over the past three years to confirm payments to contributors and other third parties were for "legitimate services". He said he had no reason to suspect any wrongdoing. "I've worked in newspapers for 45 years, a lot of that as an editor," Hartigan told ABC TV.

"I know the newsrooms, I know how cultures develop and I'm hugely confident that there is no improper or unethical behaviour in our newsrooms."

News Ltd has said the review at its newspapers will have an "independent element". But Brown questioned whether any findings would "suffer the same fate as the many boxes of documents which went to the Metropolitan police".

The proposed inquiry will also look into the concentration of media ownership in Australia. "It warrants a look at who owns the media and why we have the biggest concentration of press ownership, by News Ltd, in the democratic western world," Brown said.

Chris Nash, professor of journalism at Melbourne's Monash University, said: "The fact that the Murdoch papers have a clear political agenda on very specific issues is a problem for democracy."

Over the past few months News Ltd papers have been waging a forceful campaign against the Gillard government and its alliance with the Greens. "The way it operates is [conservative opposition leader] Tony Abbott creates headlines and News Ltd prints them," Nash said.

Hartigan has denied there is any company-wide directive to try to oust the Gillard government.

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James Murdoch's role as BSkyB chairman raises investors' concerns

Unease over whether Murdoch's position is tenable while the News International phone hacking investigations take place

The Guardian, Jill Treanor, James Robinson, Rupert Neate, Wednesday 13 July 2011

James Murdoch admitted that he authorised out-of-court settlements to
 victims of phone hacking by the News of the World.
Photograph: Warren Allott/AFP/Getty Images

Concerns are surfacing in the City about James Murdoch's role as chairman of BSkyB, as investors consider the implications of the phone hacking scandal on his position at the satellite broadcaster.

Informal conversations are understood to have taken place among institutional investors – who own BSkyB shares on behalf of pensioners or holders of life insurance policies – about whether Murdoch's position is tenable while the hacking investigations take place. One investor, requesting anonymity, said: "James Murdoch's position is a concern."

Another said investors were trying not to prejudge the ongoing investigations at News of the World, but that investors were monitoring the situation closely.

James Murdoch's role is under scrutiny in the wake of his admission last week that he authorised generous out-of-court settlements to victims of hacking three years ago, but that he "did not have a complete picture when he did so".

Murdoch, who is also chairman and chief executive of News Corp, has yet to confirm whether he will give evidence to MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday, together with his father, Rupert, and Rebekah Brooks, the former Sun editor who is now chief executive of News International, running News Corp's stable of British newspapers.

The media regulator Ofcom is considering whether the Murdochs still meet the "fit and proper person" test for holders of broadcasting licences. Ofcom wrote to the Metropolitan police and two parliamentary select committees on Wednesday to ask for any relevant evidence.

No investors are thought to have expressed their views directly to the company yet. Any approach could be made to BSkyB's senior independent non-executive director, Nicholas Ferguson, who is also deputy chairman.

As News Corp owns 39% of BSkyB, investors believe they would need to gather the support of non-executive directors to have any impact should they decide to press for James Murdoch to go.

An influential body that advises investors on corporate governance issues was more forthright. Alan MacDougall, managing director of PIRC, whose clients are largely pension funds and local authorities, said: "In light of current events it is time for the board to review whether BSkyB and its shareholders would benefit from a new, independent chair. And if shareholders agree it is time for reform, they should say so. This is a good company with good prospects: it should have governance standards to match."

BSkyB is on course to make profits of £1bn a year and is regarded by the City as one of the few media businesses with growth potential. It flourished in the downturn and continued to add subscribers despite sluggish economic growth. Years of investment in new technology including high definition and personal video recorders, have started to pay off, which made it such a compelling prospect for News Corp.

Even though the company is not directly involved in the hacking allegations, Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, was booed at yesterday's annual meeting of Marks & Spencer, where he is a non-executive director.

The structure of the BSkyB board has been a concern for investors for some time. Aviva, Baillie Gifford, L&G and Co-operative Asset Management voted against Murdoch's election as chairman of BSkyB in 2008. He was chief executive between 2003 and 2007. The Co-op said it maintained its opposition to him holding the role.

A BSkyB spokesman said: "We have a very robust governance framework that's worked well for a number of years. There are no changes planned to the existing arrangements".

News Corp said: "People should look at his track record at Sky, they wanted him to stay as chairman, there is no sense that he oversaw or deliberately covered up any wrongdoing at News International."

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