PCC chair reportedly to retire after NoW phone hacking scandal

Peta Buscombe expected to announce formal retirement following criticism of PCC handling of News International affair

guardian.co.uk, Josh Halliday and Roy Greenslade, Thursday 28 July 2011 

PCC chair Peta Buscombe is expected to be the next head to roll
 after the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Photograph: SWNS

The chair of the Press Complaints Commission, Peta Buscombe, appears about to be the next victim of the phone-hacking scandal. She is said to be preparing to make a formal announcement of her retirement today.

A source familiar with the situation has confirmed that her departure is imminent.

Lady Buscombe has faced criticism for the PCC's mishandling of the hacking saga since she took the post in 2009. In November that year she came under particular fire for a report in which the PCC appeared to clear the News of the World and admonished the Guardian and its reporter, Nick Davies, for revelations about hacking.

The PCC accepted the claim by News International that voicemail interceptions had been confined to a single reporter, Clive Goodman, and the investigator Glenn Mulcaire.

It concluded that there was "no new evidence" of hacking. Subsequent events proved otherwise, and MPs castigated the commission's report as a "whitewash".Buscombe rather lamely admitted later that the commission had not been "fully informed" and set up a hacking review committee in order to stave off further criticism.

But the unfolding of the revelations, with consistent sniping at her chairing of the regulator, left her exposed.

The prime minister, David Cameron, described the PCC as "ineffective" and lacking in public confidence, while the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, called it a "toothless poodle"

Buscombe pleaded that the commission should not become a "convenient scalp" of the hacking scandal, claiming its work had been "grossly undervalued" and called for "fundamental reform" and a "more independent PCC".

But her handling of the crisis in recent months has been viewed as ineffective, especially in parliament.

Within the newspaper industry there has been criticism too. One national newspaper editor said last week that the PCC's handling of the affair "was a disaster" and that "it was easy to run rings around Baroness Buscombe."

To make matters worse for Buscombe, she was embroiled in an embarrassing libel action brought by a lawyer who has represented several hacking victims, Mark Lewis. It ended with her paying damages and making a high court apology.

Buscombe, 57, a Conservative peer, was previously chief executive of the Advertising Association. She began her career as a barrister..

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This presentation provides LIVE coverage of that historic press conference. In attendance for this shocking, Earth shattering event includes former Governor of Arizona - Fife Symington; Belgian Airforce Major General, Ret. - Wilfried De Brouwer; Engineer, Astronomer and Astrophysicist - Dr. Claude Poher; Captain, Air France, Ret. - Jean-Charles Duboc; French Astrophysicist - Dr. Jean-Claude Ribes; General, Iranian Airforce, Ret. - Parviz Jafari; Captain, Army of Chile - Rodrigo Bravo Garrido; Commander, Peruvian Airforce, Ret. Oscar Santa Maria Huertas; Founding Member of the Peruvian Airforce Office of Investigation of Anomalous Ariel Phenomena (OIFAA) - Dr. Anthony Choy; Captain, Aurigny Airlines, UK - Ray Bowyer; Officer, British Ministry of Defense, Ret. - Nick Pope; Sgt. United States Airforce, Ret. - James Penniston; Col. United States Airforce, Ret. - Charles Halt; and Division Chief of the Accident Evaluations and Investigations Division of the FAA, Washington D.C., Ret. - John Callahan.

MPs in Catholic Malta pass historic law on divorce

BBC News, 25 July 2011

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Parliament in mainly Roman Catholic Malta has passed a historic law legalising divorce which now only requires the president's signature.

Malta is seeing the changing of the
 guard on a centuries-old institution

The law is due to take effect in October if, as expected, it is approved by President George Abela.

Currently, Maltese people have to travel abroad to obtain divorces.

MPs passed the law by 52 votes to 11 with five abstentions and one absence, months after 53% of voters backed the reform in a referendum.

An Associated Press correspondent reports that the outcome in parliament is a crushing victory considering that most laws in Malta are passed by just one vote.

Nineteen MPs from the ruling Nationalist Party approved the legislation, going against their party's official stand.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was one of the few who rejected the bill, believing divorce legislation would weaken the family structure.

Before Monday's vote, Malta was the only EU state without divorce legislation.

Until now, couples could apply only for a legal separation through the courts or seek a Church annulment - a complex process that can take up to nine years.

A third option was to get divorced abroad - and that would then be valid in Malta.

The island nation of 410,000 is believed to be 95% Catholic.

Central bank governor: China always confident in euro

People’s Daily Online, China, July 25, 2011     

China welcomed European Union's agreement on the 109 billion euro bailout plan for Greece and has been confident of the stability of the euro zone and other member countries in the past, present or future, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of People's Bank of China on July 23 during an interview with Financial Times.

Bailout plan helps bring financial stability

After eight hours of negotiation, euro zone leaders agreed on July 21 local time in the Belgium capital Brussels on a new 109 billion euro bailout for Greece, with private bondholders contributing 37 billion euro.

Zhou said China welcomed the agreement by the euro zone and European Union leaders on the second-round bailout plan for Greece and a crisis management mechanism for the euro zone on July 21 to ensure debt remains sustainable in the euro zone and prevent the debt crisis from further expanding.

Such moves can help solve the sovereign debt problem, maintain financial stability in the euro zone and other member countries, safeguard market confidence as well as enhance the strong, sustainable and balanced growth for the European Union and global economic recovery as a whole, he said.

Zhou expresses support for European financial market

In addition, Zhou also lent great support to the European financial market. He made it clear that China, as a responsible investor in the international financial market, has always had confidence in the euro zone and euro. Whether in the past, present or future, the European financial market has always been one of China's main investment markets.

According to market analysis, euro capital accounts for some 20 percent of China's foreign exchange reserves.

Li-Gang Liu, head of Greater China Economics under the ANZ Banking Group, said that the E.U. bailout package put Greece in technical default. Euro zone leading countries, such as France and Germany, also reached agreement on this kind of "extraordinary" method to solve the debt crisis in Greece. It is a major victory for Greece and shows that the euro zone chose to avoid a possible system crisis with a swift solution, but it carries risk.

Liu said that there would be more severe risk factors for the euro zone if the debt crisis in Greece continues to spread and worsen.

By Zhang Xinyi, People's Daily Online

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Vatican recalls Irish papal envoy after Cloyne report

BBC News, 25 July 2011

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The Vatican has recalled its special envoy in Ireland after a damning report on the Catholic Church's handling of child abuse by priests.

Enda Kenny accused the Church of putting its
reputation ahead of child rape victims

Vatican radio has reported that Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza is being called back to Rome to discuss the impact of the recent Cloyne Report.

It showed how allegations of sex abuse by priests in Cork had been covered up.

The report led to angry condemnation of the Vatican by Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the Irish Parliament.

In a blistering attack, Mr Kenny accused the Church of putting its reputation ahead of child rape victims.

He told the Irish parliament that the report into how allegations of sex abuse by priests in Cork had been covered up showed change was urgently needed.

"The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation'," the taoiseach said last Wednesday.

At the weekend, the prime minster said he had received thousands of messages of support from around the world - many were from the clergy, he said.

He said this reflected the way people felt about the Catholic Church's role on clerical child abuse.

He told an audience at an annual cultural event in County Donegal at the weekend that the messages showed how people felt.

Mr Kenny said he was "astounded" at the number of clergy who contacted him after his speech on the Cloyne Report.

"The fact that I have had thousands of messages from around the world speaks for itself about the impact and the way people feel," he said.

"The numbers of members of the clergy who have been in touch in the last few days to say it is about time somebody spoke out about these matters in a situation like you are, has astounded me."

Mr Kenny received a standing ovation after he finished delivering the annual lecture at the opening session of the summer school.

A statement is expected on the Vatican website at midday.

Enda Kenny on "dysfunction, disconnection and
elitism" of Catholic Church

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Maid speaks out about alleged DSK hotel attack

Associated Press, Jul 24, 2011

In this undated photo provided by ABC News, Robin Roberts, right, talks
 to Nafissatou Diallo, the alleged victim in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn
assault case. (AP Photo/ABC News, Heidi Gutman)

NEW YORK (AP) -- The maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of assaulting her in a Manhattan hotel room is speaking out publicly for the first time.

Nafissatou Diallo tells Newsweek she wants the former IMF leader to go to jail. She alleges he sexually assaulted her while she was working at a Midtown hotel in May. Her photo is on the cover of the magazine.

ABC News says it will carry an exclusive broadcast interview with Diallo on three of its programs, starting Monday.

She told the network she never wanted to be in the public eye but had no choice, amid questions about her credibility.

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn told ABC that the interview was "an unseemly circus" designed to inflame public opinion.

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US set to end ban on openly gay troops

US defence secretary to certify that repealing prohibition will not hurt military's ability to fight

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press in Washington, Friday 22 July 2011

Two women, both active duty sailors in the navy, kiss during a gay pride
parade in San Diego. Photograph: Gregory Bull/AP

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, is set to end the ban on gay people serving openly in the armed forces, certifying that repealing the 17-year-old prohibition would not hurt the US military's ability to fight.

His decision comes two weeks after US military chiefs told Panetta that ending the ban would not affect military readiness. Dismantling the ban fulfils a 2008 campaign promise by Barack Obama, who helped usher the repeal through Congress and signed it into law late last December.

The move triggered vehement opposition from some in Congress and initial reluctance from military leaders, who worried that it could trigger a backlash and erode troop cohesion on the battlefield.

Defence officials said the announcement would be made later on Friday.

Obama is also expected to certify the change. Repeal of the ban would become effective 60 days after certification, which could open the military to gay servicemen and women by the end of September.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, adopted under Bill Clinton, has come under an onslaught of legal challenges, including a federal court ruling early in July that ordered the US government to immediately stop enforcing the gay ban.

Days later, however, the Obama administration appealed the ruling, saying that abruptly ending the ban would complicate the orderly process for repeal that had already been set in motion.

A San Francisco appeals court agreed, but added a caveat: the government could not investigate, penalise or discharge anyone for being openly gay.

The military services have conducted extensive internal studies and about five months of training to gauge how troops would react to the change.

A survey last year found that some two-thirds would not care if the ban was lifted. Opposition to the repeal was strongest among combat troops, particularly marines.

The bulk of the military has been trained on the new law, including a complex swath of details about how the change will or will not affect housing, transfers or other health and social benefits. In most cases, the guidelines demand that gay men and lesbians are treated just as any other soldier, sailor, air crew or marine is treated.

As training went on this year, senior military leaders said they had seen no real problems.

Panetta's predecessor as US defence secretary, Robert Gates, told the Associated Press that people had been "mildly and pleasantly surprised at the lack of pushback in the training".

There will still be differences, however, since same sex partners will not be given the same housing and other benefits as married couples. Instead, they will be treated like unmarried couples.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defence Network, a national organisation representing gay troops, said Panetta's action was welcomed by gay and lesbian troops "who have had to serve their country in silence for far too long".

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Latvia votes to dissolve parliament in a bid to clean up politics

Deutsche Welle, 24 July 2011 

Zatlers called the referndum in
response to corruption

The people of Latvia have decided to send their elected representatives packing in a bid to clean up the nation's corruption-tainted politics. Elections for a new parliament are expected in September.

Latvians overwhelmingly voted to dissolve their national parliament on Saturday in a referendum called to challenge the power of so-called "oligarchs" who straddle the line between business and politics.

The Latvian people decided with 95 percent of the vote to dissolve the current 100-member parliament and hold snap elections in September. Former president Valdis Zatlers had called the referendum in May just before leaving office.

"I got fed up of living in a country ruled by lies, cynicism and greed," Zatlers said on the eve of the referendum.

"I have opened the door to change," he continued. "Now it is up to you to step through it and feel that you can take control of your own destiny."

'Oligarch' businessmen

The move by the former president was designed to target moneyed interests in parliament. Zatlers called the referendum after the legislature refused to lift the immunity of "oligarch" lawmaker Ainars Slesers, thereby hampering a corruption probe. Slesers is the leader of a pro-business opposition party and one of Latvia's richest men.

"I believe this is a good opportunity to ensure that parties which represent oligarch interests or vote in the interest of oligarchs will not have the majority in the next parliament," Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told journalists after the vote.

Latvia is currently coming out of the European Union's worst recession. The small Baltic country's economy plummeted 18 percent in 2009 after implementing austerity measures in response to the economic crisis. 

Zatlers, who has formed his own political party, is now well positioned to join a coalition government in the upcoming September elections.

Author: Spencer Kimball (Reuters, AFP)

Editor: Andreas Illmer

Phone hacking: US authorities preparing to subpoena News Corp

Investigation launced into whether News Corp broke anti-bribery and hacking laws in US

guardian.co.uk, Ed Pilkington in New York, Friday 22 July 2011

News Corp's New York headquarters. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
 forbids US-based companies from profiting from bribery in other
countries. Photograph: Mary Altaffer/AP

The judicial screws are tightening on Rupert Murdoch's empire in America as the US justice department prepares to subpoena News Corporation in its investigation into whether the company broke anti-bribery and hacking laws on both sides of the Atlantic.

The news that subpoenas are being drawn up, reported by News Corp's flagship newspaper the Wall Street Journal, comes a week after attorney general Eric Holder said he was launching a preliminary investigation into the media group as a result of the UK phone-hacking scandal.

According to the Journal, the subpoenas will be broadly cast to draw information from the company relevant to the investigation, though final approval has yet to be granted by top justice department officials. In addition, it has emerged that federal prosecutors have begun probing allegations that News Corp's advertising arm in the US hacked into a computer of a competitor as part of a campaign to crush its rival.

A lawyer for the smaller company, Floorgraphics, told NBC he was visited by two federal prosecutors and an FBI agent. News Corp declined to comment on the legal moves.

Mary Mulligan, a former federal prosecutor in the southern district of New York that handles many of the big corporate cases of this sort, said there were numerous directions in which the probe of News Corp could go. "This is a complicated investigation, and a very important matter that's being looked into." She said the FBI and other federal agents would be guided by what they found.

"The facts are going to drive any charges that arise – what was accessed, how it was accessed and where."

One specific allegation that the FBI is investigating is whether News of the World journalists tried to access the phone records of 9/11 victims. The claim was raised in the UK's Daily Mirror, though, so far, no solid evidence has emerged to support it. If the accusations are confirmed, News Corp could be susceptible to prosecution under Title 18 USC 2701, involving unlawful access to stored communications, or 2703 and 2704 if the mobile phone messages are found to have been stored on a separate server.

News Corp also faces a possibly lengthy and costly federal probe into whether it broke anti-bribery laws as part of the illegal News of the World phone hacking in the UK.

The company is potentially liable under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which bans US-based companies from profiting from bribery and corruption in other countries.

News Corp is a US-based firm, its headquarters on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

FCPA experts have suggested that it could be brought under the auspices of the act because News of the World journalists bribed police officers in the UK in search of exclusive stories that in turn increased sales and generated profits.

It is not a defence for News Corp executives to argue that they were unaware of the bribery. Under the FCPA, a company can still be penalised if it should have known – what is called "willful blindness".

News Corp could also come under the scrutiny of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is jointly responsible with the justice department for policing the FCPA.

The SEC will want to know whether News Corp properly declared all its activities in its accounts or whether it tried to hide any bribes made within the UK under false accounting returns.

It is not known precisely what information investigators are seeking from News Corp under the subpoenas, but it could include News of the World accounts which would then be examined by forensic accountants.

News Corp itself seems to be most anxious about the FCPA side of the federal investigations, judging from the legal team it has assembled – some of the heaviest hitters in American legal affairs.

They include Brendan Sullivan, a formidable trial lawyer once described as "the legal equivalent of nuclear war", and Mark Mendelsohn, who used to head the justice department section that decides which FCPA cases to prosecute. He is joined by Michael Mukasey, a former US attorney general, and his legal partner Mary Jo White, who represented Siemens in one of the largest FCPA cases ever.

The Siemens case underlined how serious an FCPA prosecution could be for News Corp. In 2008, the engineering company admitted bribing foreign officials around the world and paid a record $800m (£490m) in settlement. That included $350m in disgorgement – a repayment for the profits it was estimated to have made as a result of the bribery.

No figure exists for how much money News of the World made out of its phone hacking activities. Under the FCPA, a rough calculation would be made which News Corp could be forced to disgorge.

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Norway PM Stoltenberg says attacker turned paradise into hell

Reuters, by Victoria Klesty, OSLO, Sat Jul 23, 2011

Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a news

 conference in Oslo July 23, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Aleksander 

Andersen/Scanpix)

OSLO (Reuters) An assailant who shot dead at least 84 people at a youth camp of Norway's ruling party turned a "youth paradise into a hell," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Saturday.

Suspect: Norwegian media reported
that Anders Behring Breivik has
been arrested (Daily Mail)

"Many of those who lost their lives were persons I know. I know the young people and I know their parents," he told a news conference.

"And what hurts more is that this place where I have been every summer since 1979, and where I have experienced joy, commitment and security, has been hit by brutal violence -- a youth paradise has been transformed into a hell."

"What happened at Utoeya is a national tragedy," he said of the small wooded holiday island that was hosting the annual camp for the Labor Party's youth wing. "Not since World War II has our country seen a greater crime."

The prime minister said he did not want to speculate on the motives of the attacks, but added: "Compared to other countries I wouldn't say we have a big problem with right-wing extremists in Norway. But we have had some groups, we have followed them before, and our police is aware that there are some right-wing groups."

"There have been some groups of that kind in Norway, but again I will not speculate. We will await the investigation from the police before we say anything about the case."

Police said at least 84 young people had been killed, as well as employees at government offices in Oslo, where a bomb killed seven people earlier on Friday.

"It's beyond comprehension and it's like a nightmare. A nightmare for the young who were killed, for their close ones; mothers, fathers and siblings who were brutally confronted with death. But also for the survivors and their kin," said Stoltenberg.

"Each and everyone who was present at Uteoya is damaged for life. Young people have experienced things every person should be spared -- fear, blood and death.

(Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Suspect: The 32-year-old Norwegian
Anders Behring Breivik, who has been
arrested after the attacks

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Chris Huhne orders inquiry into fossil fuel lobby influence over Tory MEPs

Groups may have swung crucial vote on ambitious carbon target, says energy and climate change minister

guardian.co.uk, Damian Carrington and Fiona Harvey,  Friday 22 July 2011

Chris Huhne has ordered an inquiry into the influence of fossil fuel
lobby groups over Conservative MEPs. Photograph: Jeff Overs/PA

Chris Huhne has ordered a private inquiry into which fossil fuel lobbyists "got to" the Conservative MEPs who defied David Cameron and voted down an ambitious carbon emissions target in the European parliament on 5 July.

"I have asked for a full analysis of what happened," said the energy and climate change minister, speaking at an event in parliament. "We thought the vote was going to be close, but it was not close. We want to see which lobby groups managed to get to the MEPs."

New research by the Guardian and Greenpeace into lobby groups and businesses seen by Tory MEPs in 2010 reveals there were more than four times as many meetings with fossil fuel companies, carmakers and others against stronger action on global warming than with green businesses and those pushing for deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Huhne, a Liberal Democrat, has caused a storm by comparing Tory campaigning tactics on the AV referendum to those of the Nazis and by repeatedly challenging Cameron at a cabinet meeting on the issue. By investigating the EU climate vote, he risks further increasing tensions within the coalition.

"It is extraordinary for Huhne to instigate an investigation into his coalition partners," said Luciana Berger, Labour's shadow minister for climate change. "It shows Lib Dems and Conservatives are too busy squabbling with each other to take decisive action to reduce carbon emissions."

Huhne had been successful in gathering support from other countries to increase the EU's 2020 greenhouse gas target from 20% below 1990 levels to 30%, arguing it was in the UK's best economic interests. But Tory MEPs were key in carrying a vote against the plan, despite Cameron promising to intervene after their intention was revealed by the Guardian.

"I'm happy for Huhne to investigate whatever the hell he likes. I just wish he'd spend more time investigating the huge economic damage that his green policies will do," said Tory MEP and climate sceptic Roger Helmer. He added: "The prime minister is in no position to 'bring Conservative MEPs into line'. I vote in what I conceive to be the best interests of my country and my constituents: the party whip comes a poor third."

Martin Callanan, leader of the Conservatives in Europe and an environment spokesman, said: "Our position on [deeper emission cuts] has not been influenced by lobbyists and has remained unchanged since the idea was first mooted.

"Europe already has the world's most ambitious targets and, in the absence of a worldwide agreement, forcing business and industry to pay more for their CO2 emissions in Europe will merely result in them relocating outside of the EU."

But a spokesman for No 10 said: "Government policy is, and remains, to persuade the EU to adopt the 30% emissions reduction target."

Callanan said any discussions he had with No 10 were confidential but he added: "Conservative MEPs are the most open and transparent UK members. We publish details of all lobbying meetings."

Chris Davies, the Lib Dem environment spokesman in Europe, said: "The prime minister's promises to lead the greenest government ever sound very hollow indeed when his own party fails to walk the walk on cutting carbon emissions."

The research by the Guardian and Greenpeace (January to June and July to December) shows that the 25 Tory MEPs met at least 300 representatives from fossil fuel businesses and their lobbyists in 2010 at more than 200 meetings, compared with about 70 representatives from green industries or lobby groups. The latter includes meetings on climate change, renewable energy and similar issues, but excludes meetings about unrelated issues such as agriculture and biodiversity.

The research also found the Tory MEPs attended at least 100 meetings with gas and oil companies and 75 meetings with car manufacturers last year.

Ford was one of the most hospitable companies, enjoying meetings with at least nine of the MEPs, most of them more than once.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders was also popular, alongside Jaguar Land Rover.

The UK's Association of Electricity Producers, which has strongly opposed any increase in carbon emissions cuts, was well-represented among the numerous fossil fuel energy lobbyists, along with oil industry groups such as the UK Petroleum Industry Association.

Meetings with green lobbyists, aside from the many devoted to issues such as the common agricultural and fisheries policies, were far fewer, with WWF figuring a handful of times and Greenpeace once.

Several renewable energy companies enjoyed a little more success, including First Solar which met three of the MEPs.

One member, Giles Chichester, Tory MEP for southwest England and Gibraltar, met the European Wind Energy Association but only at a large energy dinner.

Several green companies also attended a large dinner on food security and climate change attended by Chichester and fellow MEP Julie Girling last December, and a small number of other dinners. By contrast Helmer had four meetings in six months about beer.

"The Conservative party in Europe is in the pocket of big oil," said Berger. "The prime minister needs to get a grip of his party and start leading a government that is serious about tackling climate change."

Martyn Williams of Friends of the Earth said: "There is a huge list of major companies who have told Conservative MEPs that getting serious about tackling climate change will give a boost to the European economy. The MEPs should stop listening to special pleadings and examine the big picture."

Huhne's private office did not respond to requests for comment and a spokesperson at Huhne's department of energy and climate change declined to respond, saying it was a "political" matter.