Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks

Two men took their friend's corpse on a night out with them to a strip club so they could use his ATM card to buy drinks, police claim.

Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, discovered their friend Jeffrey Jarrett dead but delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out.

While keeping Mr Jarrett's body in their car, they stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Denver, used their friend's ATM card and withdrew $400 at a strip club before finally reporting him dead.

With friends like these: Robert Jeffrey Young, left, and Mark Rubinson allegedly delayed reporting the find to police so they could first have a free night out

The men, who are now free on bond, have been charged with abusing a corpse, identity theft and criminal impersonation.

It's unclear how Mr Jarrett died, but the men have not been charged with his death.

The bizarre scenario is reminiscent of the 1980s movie Weekend at Bernie's, in which two men discover their friend dead and maintain a façade that he's still alive while staying at his home for the weekend.

Boys night out: The men visited Shotgun Willie's strip club, pictured

Strip off: The two men went to a strip club, using their dead friend's money

One of Mr Jarrett's relatives, who asked not to be named, told the Denver Post Mr Jarrett had invited Mr Young, a former college friend, to stay with him for a few months while he had money struggles.

It is thought that on August 27, Mr Young arrived home at about 11pm and found his friend unresponsive.

 

 

 

Rather than call authorities, however, he went to see Mr Rubinson at a restaurant where he works to tell him about the find.

The pair then went back to Mr Jarrett's home, loaded him into Mr Rubinson's car and took the body with them to Teddy T's bar and grill, where they drank on his tab while the body was hidden in the vehicle.

'Young stated ... that it was obvious Jarrett was dead while all three are at Teddy T's,' Denver Detective Ranjan Ford wrote in the affidavit.

Weekend at Bernie's: The allegations are similar to the premise of the 1980s movie

The went on to eat at Mexican restaurant Viva Burrito and withdrew $400 on their dead friend's card at strip bar Shotgun Willie's, where they stayed until closing time.

Only then did the pair report their friend dead by flagging down a police officer at 4am.

'This is a bizarre and unfortunate crime,' Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson told the Denver Post. 

'This isn't anything you want to have happen to a loved one. You want them treated with respect in death.'

The relative of Mr Jarrett, a father who sold real estate, added: 'We just want to make sure they're prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

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Dale Farm Eviction: Clashes Expected Between Bailiffs And Residents As Eviction Begins

 

Hundreds of travellers have said they will barricade themselves inside the UK's biggest illegal camp as angry clashes are expected between bailiffs, residents and activists. Residents at Dale Farm in Basildon, Essex, and their supporters are set to be evicted after losing a decade-long legal fight over unauthorised development. Teams of bailiffs are expected at the former scrapyard's front gate to begin forcibly ejecting them. Essex Police and riot-trained colleagues from across the country are also expected, to ensure the eviction of some 50 homes is conducted peacefully. Half of the six-acre site, which has planning consent, will remain. As of this morning Basildon Council had not cut the electricity supply to the site. Residents had feared bailiffs would move in at first light. Supporters closed the gate after 11pm yesterday and built a barricade behind it and parked a van to block the way. Resident Mary McCarthy said: "I don't intend to go anywhere, I'm staying here. "I've faced constant evictions throughout my life and now I'm determined to stay put." Many residents have moved their caravans on to the neighbouring legal site. Activists have chained themselves to barricades at the site, including one who is chained by the neck. They have told Sky News they would not be leaving unless they were forced out. ACTIVIST: WE WILL DO ALL WE CAN TO STOP EVICTION Marie McCarthy, a resident at the site, told Sky News it was "a big scrapyard that is of no use to anyone else". "The Government is not going to ruin our culture," she said. "This is the way we want to live. "Why should we be run off our land? We never knew we were breaking the law - we thought this was a good thing to do because we stopped going onto people's grounds." Activists Dean, 29, and Emma, 18, have handcuffed themselves to a pole concreted inside a barrel. Lying on mattresses, the pair said they were prepared to stay as "long as it takes". The children of Dale Farm hold pictures of themselves up in protest The families have constantly evaded eviction and claim they have nowhere else to go. They insist that their human rights are being breached. Their supporters include the United Nations and Amnesty International. But last month a High Court judge backed Basildon council and local residents and ruled that the eviction must go ahead.

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UBS Has $2 Billion Trading Loss; Police Arrest Man in London

 

UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, may be unprofitable in the third quarter after a $2 billion loss from unauthorized trading at its investment bank. London police arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of fraud. UBS management aims to “get to the bottom of the matter as quickly as possible, and will spare no effort to establish exactly what has happened,” the bank’s group executive board, led by Chief Executive Officer Oswald Gruebel, said in a memo to employees today. “While the news is distressing, it will not change the fundamental strength of our firm.” The bank tumbled as much as 9.6 percent in Swiss trading following the announcement, which deals a blow to Gruebel’s attempts to revive the investment bank after the division recorded 57.1 billion Swiss francs ($65 billion) in cumulative pretax losses in three years through 2009. The trading loss may revive calls for Gruebel to shrink or shut the unit. “How many times do we have to see huge UBS losses?” said Simon Maughan, head of sales and distribution at MF Global Ltd. in London. “It looks unreformed, unwieldy and ultimately unsustainable. This could be a critical tipping point for UBS’s strategy.” UBS fell 79 centimes, or 7.2 percent, to 10.14 francs by 11:43 a.m. in Zurich, bringing the drop this year to 34 percent. UBS said in a statement the matter is still under investigation, and that the “current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion.” No client positions were affected, UBS said, declining to comment further. Arrest in London An unidentified 31-year-old man was arrested in central London at 3:30 a.m. on “suspicion of fraud by abuse of position,” the police said in a statement. The man remains in custody and an investigation has been started, the statement said. Switzerland’s Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper, citing the bank, reported that the trading loss took place in the equities unit in London, and was discovered yesterday afternoon. UBS spokeswoman Tatiana Togni declined to confirm or deny the report. UBS had to raise more than $46 billion in capital from investors, including the Swiss state, to make up for the record losses during the credit crisis. The investment-banking unit had pretax earnings of 1.21 billion francs in the first half of 2011, while UBS as a whole had net income of 2.82 billion francs in the period. The bank’s tier 1 capital at the end of the second quarter was 37.39 billion francs, giving it a tier 1 capital ratio of 18.1 percent, compared with 14 percent at Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank. Risk Management While the loss is “manageable” for UBS, it’s “obviously not helpful for sentiment and confidence in the bank’s risk management following the near-death experience of 2008-2009,” said Andrew Lim, a London-based analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, in a note. Lim had estimated third-quarter net income of 1.1 billion francs for UBS. UBS last month said it will eliminate about 3,500 jobs, with about 45 percent of the reductions coming from the investment bank, as stricter capital requirements and market turmoil hurt the earnings outlook. The bank in July scrapped the target of doubling pretax profit from last year’s level to 15 billion francs by 2014. Gruebel, 67, and Carsten Kengeter, 44, who runs the investment bank, have been trying to revive earnings at the division for two years. They hired more than 1,700 people across the investment bank and brought in new business heads to replace those that left or were fired. They’ve also increased risk- taking to improve earnings opportunities. Kerviel, Leeson The investment bank last had a pretax loss in the third quarter of 2010 when what Gruebel called “very low levels of client activity” and a charge related to the bank’s own debt hurt revenue at the division. Gruebel, who formerly ran Credit Suisse Group AG, was brought out of retirement by UBS in February 2009 to take over from Marcel Rohner after the company posted the biggest annual loss in Swiss corporate history. A former bond trader, Gruebel doubled profit at Credit Suisse between 2004 and 2006. UBS isn’t alone in suffering from unauthorized trading. Societe Generale SA of Paris said in January 2008 that the bank lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) after trader Jerome Kerviel took unauthorized positions on European stock index futures. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, had a loss in the first quarter of 2008 in part because of writedowns on debt securities that were intentionally mispriced by a group of traders. Nick Leeson piled up $1.4 billion of losses that brought down Barings Plc in 1995. --With assistance from Paul Verschuur and Carolyn Bandel in Zurich and Gavin Finch in London. Editors: Frank Connelly, Stephen Taylor

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Madeleine Cops In Portugal

 

They may not have welcomed the order from Downing Street to launch an investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, but at least Scotland Yard detectives have made a first visit to Portugual. I can't imagine they were given a warm welcome by their Portuguese colleagues whose work (failure to solve the mystery) the Met team is reviewing. Still, it's a step in the right direction and officially the two groups met "with very good co-operation and liaison will continue." There are 30 Met officers - the equivalent of a murder squad - working on the review and I'm told that a senior officer is having to give regular spending updates to the Home Office which is funding an operation that will cost several millions and last many months. It's four months since the review was launched with great fanfare by the Prime Minister after a plea from Kate and Gerry McCann. The couple had long felt abandoned by the British and Portuguese authorities to hunt alone for their missing daughter. But it's difficult to get much information about the operation from the cops, No 10 or the Home Office. A recent Freedom of Information request for answers to a dozen of so questions has been held up by the Yard's FOI man while he considers if the info sought is in the public interest.

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Zemun gangsters enter pleas in PM murder case

 

Addressing the Special Court in Belgrade, Kalinić confirmed that the shooter was Zvezdan Jovanović. Jovanović has already been found guilty and convicted on the charge, along with Milorad Ulemek Legija, who was tried as the main conspirator. "After the murder I was sitting with Jovanović and (one of Zemun Clan leaders) Mile Luković Kum, and we were watching TV when Jovanović said, 'I guarantee that he is not alive'," Kalinić told the judges as his retrial in the Đinđić murder case started on Monday. He also claimed that Luković told him that "Zveki (Zvezdan Jovanović) bumped off the prime minister", and that Jovanović himself confirmed this. But Kalinić denied that he had any role in the assassination, and told the judges he was "asleep" when the murder took place on March 12, 2003, and that Luković "called him around 13:00". He confirmed that he was acquainted with Jovanović since 1993, that he "saw Milorad Ulemek (Legija) once in Bosnia", and that he met the Zemun Clan leader Dušan Spasojević, "a couple of years before the murder of Đinđić". Kalinić also denied that he was a member of the Zemun Clan. Another gangster that spent years on the run after the assassination, Miloš Simović, was in the courtroom for the start of his retrial in the case. Both were originally found guilty and each sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison, but the retrial was granted on grounds that they were "tried in absentia". Unlike Kalinić, Simović admitted to taking part in the murder, and said he "also knew about the political background", but refused to elaborate on this point. Last June, Simović shot and wounded Kalinić in Zagreb, Croatia, and was arrested several days later while attempting to cross the border between into Serbia. Kalinić was arrested in Croatia and later extradited to Serbia.

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Olympic starting pistols converted into guns by Tottenham gangster

 

TOTTENHAM man who specialised in converting Olympic starting pistols into deadly firearms has been jailed for seven years. James Jones, 27, ran a gun conversion business out of a suitcase which was uncovered when officers raided his home last year and arrested him. The Collingwood Road resident is one of 37 people caught in the Boombox music store sting by Enfield Police, to catch gangsters trading guns, ammunition, weapons, and drugs. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harwood, who ran the major undercover operation – codenamed Peyzac – said: “It is believed that James Jones had converted many more firearms than actually recovered. “He specialised in Olympic 38 starting pistols, which he converted to live firing firearms. This particular make of starting pistol is now illegal to possess in the UK.” Boombox, in Fore Street, was wired with hidden cameras and listening devices, and operated for more than a year with a functioning shop at the front and a backroom for criminals to trade in. Loaded guns, thousands of pounds of drugs, and ammunition were all brought into the shop, and sold to police. Among those jailed at Wood Green Crown Court in the Boombox case, Damien McGowan, 33, of Collingwood Road, Tottenham, received a ten-year prison term for conspiracy to supply nine firearms and ammunition. Kasheef Hardy, 25, of Mount View Court, Green Lanes, was also jailed for ten years for leading a group who sold a gun and ammunition to police in January last year. And Junior Homer, 21, of Bath Road, Edmonton, was jailed for ten-and-a-half-years for conspiracy to supply firearms, conspiracy to supply drugs, receiving stolen goods, and passing counterfeit currency. Judge Fraser Morrison, who oversaw all 37 cases, said on Friday at the sentencing of the final two defendants: “I need to say for the record, being involved in the movement of guns is very serious indeed. “The reason why it is viewed so seriously is the items can dispatch lethal force. There is a lot of violence in this country with guns when people suffer very severe consequences.”

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Soldiers may face Mousa prosecution

 

British soldiers could face a fresh prosecution over the brutal death of an Iraqi civilian after a scathing report condemned the "shameful" abuse of prisoners in UK custody. A landmark public inquiry concluded that father-of-two Baha Mousa, 26, died after an "appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence" meted out by members of 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1QLR). Inquiry chairman Sir William Gage said a number of British officers who could have stopped the abuse, including 1QLR's former commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, bore a "heavy responsibility" for the "grave and shameful events". He also strongly criticised the "corporate failure" by the Ministry of Defence that led to "conditioning" techniques banned by the UK in 1972, including hooding and making prisoners stand in painful stress positions, being used by soldiers in Iraq. The £13 million public inquiry, which has published its 1,400-page final report, condemned the "lack of moral courage to report abuse" within Preston-based 1QLR. It named 19 soldiers who assaulted Mr Mousa and nine Iraqis detained with him, and found that many others, including several officers, must have known what was happening. The damning report said the violence could not be described as a "one-off" because of evidence that 1QLR troops abused and mistreated Iraqi civilians on other occasions. Lawyers for Mr Mousa's family called for the soldiers responsible for his death to face charges in the light of the findings. Seven members of 1QLR, including Col Mendonca, faced allegations relating to the mistreatment of the detainees at a high-profile court martial in 2006-07. The trial ended with them all cleared, apart from Corporal Donald Payne, who became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians. Payne was acquitted of manslaughter. The legal team for Mr Mousa's relatives and the other detainees believe that evidence in the inquiry's report could form the basis for a new prosecution. Sapna Malik, from law firm Leigh Day and Co, said: "In light of the cogent and serious findings by Sir William Gage, we now expect that the military and civilian prosecuting authorities of this country will act to ensure that justice is done." The Crown Prosecution Service said the inquiry's report had not been referred to it. The Service Prosecuting Authority, which brings military prosecutions, was not available for comment.

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Corruption scandal plunges Kuwait into deep crisis

 

The wealthy Gulf state of Kuwait appeared headed Thursday for a major political crisis over allegations of corruption involving several members of Parliament and former ministers. Media reported that a number of banks planned to refer as many as 15 MPs and possibly former ministers to the public prosecution to investigate "suspicious" huge cash deposits into their accounts. Citing informed sources, Al-Rai daily said local banks are likely to refer between 15-20 MPs in the 50-member parliament to public prosecution to probe money-laundering suspicions. It said a number of former ministers could be involved in the scam. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Ali al-Rashed denied late Wednesday reports that incumbent ministers were involved in the alleged scandal. The government has instructed the central bank and the finance ministry to "take all necessary legal measures" to deal with the allegations. The scandal, as opposition MPs describe it, was exposed by Al-Qabas newspaper in an unsourced report two weeks ago that cash funds totaling 25 million dinars ($92 million/65.4 million euros) had been deposited into the accounts of two MPs. The report claimed the deposits were linked to domestic political events including grillings, indicating that the deposits were used to buy the support of the lawmakers in crucial voting in parliament. Independent Shiite MP Hassan Jowhar expected the issue to develop into a major political crisis that will lead to dissolving parliament and calling for snap polls, the fourth since May 2006. Youth activists campaigning to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, plan to stage a new rally on September 16 and the corruption charges could energize them. Kuwaiti opposition MPs demanded recalling parliament from summer recess for an emergency session on September 22 to review government measures on the allegations and debate and pass a number of anti-corruption laws.

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Shameful phone hacking scandal forces change inside the Murdoch bunker

 

A community with a voracious appetite for scandal, it does appear we are experiencing Murdoch news fatigue. Like frogs in boiling water, we are losing sensitivity to the barrage of sensational News Corp instalments flowing from the phone hacking affair. On Tuesday, two former News International managers - head of legal affairs Tom Crone and News of the World editor Colin Myler - told a British parliamentary committee that James Murdoch had been made aware of widespread phone hacking despite his written statement to the contrary. The testimony was another milestone in the series of explosive revelations of systemic criminal phone hacking which had been going on for years but allegedly covered up by a corporate and police conspiracy. Advertisement: Story continues below Since the hacking affair was blown open, there has been a myriad of developments from the company, government and police - many of them astonishing. Much of this is highly significant to the Murdoch empire, and the ramifications have been difficult to digest. This shameful episode has changed the News Corp organisation and Rupert Murdoch's management style. In a corporate sense, the decision by Murdoch to undertake a $US5 billion ($4.7 billion) share buyback is, on its own, momentous. Aggressive expansion of the News Corp empire has been a hallmark of Murdoch's modus operandi. The decision to undertake a capital management program that allocated cash to shareholders rather than to acquisitions marks a major departure. The focus of News Corp's strategy in the past has been on raising funds and using available cash to expand, and avoiding the dilution of Murdoch family control. This was never more evident than in the creation of News Corp non-voting stock and the move to domicile the company in the lax regulatory jurisdiction of Delaware. The only other incidence of Rupert Murdoch bowing to outside pressure was in the early 1990s, when the Pittsburgh Bank famously forced News Corp to the brink of bankruptcy by threatening to block the rollover to a new debt package. News Corp has otherwise been run by Rupert Murdoch and in his way. The notion of appeasing minority shareholders is new to Murdoch, as is divorcing the hard-wired nepotism.

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Amelia Hill was questioned under caution by police in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting

. Photograph: Katherine Rose

The National Union of Journalists and a respected media watchdog have criticised the questioning of a Guardian journalist in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting, the investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World.

It emerged on Wednesday that Amelia Hill, a reporter involved in a number of the Guardian's key phone-hacking revelations over recent weeks, was questioned under caution several days ago in a case that raises concerns about attempts to criminalise contact between journalists and off-the-record sources.

Last month a 51-year-old detective constable was arrested in connection with alleged leaks from the Scotland Yard phone-hacking investigation. At the time there were reports that the officer had passed information to the Guardian, but the newspaper said it had "no comment to make on the sources of our journalism".

Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said that there was "a vital journalistic principle at stake here" and that "it is outrageous that an allegation of off-the-record briefings is being treated as a criminal matter".

She added: "There is a clear distinction between legitimate off-the-record interviews and the illegitimate payment of bribes."

Martin Moore, the director of the media watchdog the Media Standards Trust, said that in the light of the phone-hacking scandal it was becoming "increasingly important to sustain and defend journalism in the public interest". He said that it was "not the time to be threatening public interest journalism" by the police moving to question reporters such as Hill.

The Guardian said in a statement: "We can confirm Amelia Hill has been questioned in connection with an investigation into alleged leaks." The newspaper argued that the case could have lasting repercussions for the way journalists deal with police officers. The statement added: "On a broader point, journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations between off-record sources and reporters."

Although the paper said it would not comment on any specific confidential source, a spokesman said Hill had never paid a police officer for information.

The police investigation into leaks from Operation Weeting has been going on for several weeks.

Meanwhile, Raoul Simons, 35, the deputy football editor of the Times, became the 16th person to be arrested as part of the phone hacking enquiry.

Simons, who had joined the Times from the Evening Standard in August 2009, is understood to have been arrested at 5.55am on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. He was released on police bail until a date in October.

He was not arrested by prior appointment. He was taken to a north London police station and questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Hill's police interview comes amid growing pressure to clamp down on contacts between officers and journalists following the News of the World phone hacking scandal, which has spread out into wider allegations of police corruption.

Emails from News International allegedly imply that journalists on the now closed Sunday tabloid bought copies of Buckingham Palace's private phone directory from a royal protection officer.

Following those revelations, an inquiry by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is examining "alleged corruption and abuse of power" in police relationships with the media, and Elizabeth Filkin, the former parliamentary commissioner for standards, heads a group drawing up a framework for how police officers handle their relationships with reporters. Both inquiries are considering whether communication between police officers should be officially monitored and recorded by a press officer.

The questioning of Hill has similarities to a case police mounted against Sally Murrer, a reporter on the Milton Keynes Citizen, and a former Thames Valley police detective, Mark Kearney, which was thrown out. Kearney had been accused of leaking information to Murrer. The collapse of the case was widely seen as a victory for journalistic freedom.

It was reported meanwhile that Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World and the prime minister's former personal communications director, is refusing to appear before a Commons select committee that is investigating phone-hacking.

His solicitors have written to the culture, media and sport committee declining an invitation to appear, citing "concerns" about "parallel inquiries and investigations and the publicity generated by them".

He has consistently denied knowing that phone hacking took place but last month a previously unseen letter from Goodman emerged that claimed phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial conferences until Coulson banned mentions of it. Goodman's letter also claimed that Coulson had offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when it came to court.

Coulson resigned from the News International paper in 2007 after its former royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed on phone-hacking offences.

It also emerged yesterday that MPs on another committee have been told that News International asked a technology firm, HCL, to delete emails and other documents 13 times since 2009.

Technology company HCL, which provides services under contract to News International, informed the Commons home affairs committee in August that it was aware of the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails on nine occasions between April 2010 and July 2011, but said it did not know of anything "untoward" behind the requests. Yesterday, HCL's solicitor, Stuart Benson, contacted the committee again to say that a further four requests had come to light - one of which related to the deletion of emails from an inbox of a user who had not accessed his account for eight years.

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Giant saltwater crocodile weighing more than a tonne was captured in a remote Philippine village following a spate of attacks on humans

 Giant saltwater crocodile weighing more than a tonne was captured in a remote Philippine village following a spate of attacks on humans and livestock, officials said Tuesday.

The 21-foot (6.4-metre), 1,075-kilogramme (2,370-pound) reptile may have eaten a farmer who went missing in July, along with several water buffaloes in the southern town of Bunawan, crocodile hunter Rollie Sumiller said.

A crocodile also bit off the head of a 12-year-old girl in Bunawan in 2009, according to the environment ministry.

Josefina de Leon, wildlife division chief of the environment ministry's protected areas and wildlife bureau, said it was likely the biggest crocodile ever captured.

"Based on existing records the largest that had been captured previously was 5.48 metres long," she told AFP.

"This is the biggest animal that I've handled in 20 years of trapping,"

Sumiller added, estimating the male to be more than 50 years old.

"The community was relieved," he told AFP, but added: "We're not really sure if this is the man-eater, because there have been other sightings of other crocodiles in the area."

The team, employed by a government-run crocodile breeding farm, began laying bait using chicken, pork and dog meat on August 15, but the reptile simply bit off both meat and line the it was skewered on.

An eight milimetre (0.31-inch) metal cable finally proved beyond the power of its jaws and the beast was subdued at a creek on Saturday with the help of about 30 local men.

The local government decided against putting down the reptile and will instead use him as the main attraction at a planned nature park in the area.

"He's a problem crocodile that needs to be taken from the wildlife so that it can be used for eco-tourism," Sumiller said.

Crocodylus porosus or estuarine crocodile is the world's largest reptile that usually grows to five or six metres long and can live up to 100 years.

While not considered an endangered species globally, it is "critically endangered" in the Philippines, where it is hunted for its hide to feed the fashion industry, de Leon said.

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Grilling for phone hack witnesses

 

Four former News International executives will face a fresh round of questioning from MPs over the phone-hacking scandal. The Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee will quiz the News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and ex-legal manager Tom Crone after the pair publicly challenged evidence given by James Murdoch over his knowledge of the illegal practice. News International's former director of legal affairs Jonathan Chapman and Daniel Cloke, former group HR director, will also appear before the committee as the probe into the scandal is resumed following the summer recess. Mr Myler and Mr Crone have been summoned before MPs for the second time after publicly disputing claims made by Mr Murdoch earlier in the Parliamentary inquiry. The News International chairman told the committee he was not made aware of an email in 2008 indicating that the practice of illegally intercepting voicemails was not confined to a single "rogue" reporter. But the two former Sunday tabloid executives insist that they told him about the message in June of that year. The panel of MPs could now recall Mr Murdoch "depending on their evidence under questioning". Committee chairman John Whittingdale said the latest round of questioning was an attempt to uncover the truth in the "continuing difference in the accounts of James Murdoch and Tom Crone and Colin Myler about whether or not James Murdoch was aware of the so-called 'for Neville' email". The 2005 email contained transcripts of hacked phone messages and was headed "for Neville", in an apparent reference to the News of the World's then-chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck. Its existence came to light in April 2008 when Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor brought a damages claim against the paper over the interception of his voicemail.

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Met Police under pressure over NoW consultant

New questions have been raised about relations between the Metropolitan Police and the News of the World.

It has emerged that the latest figure to be arrested - a former deputy editor at the paper - went on to work for the police.

Neil Wallis gave public relations advice to senior officers including the commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson.

 

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Rupert breaks his silence to defend himself, his son and his embattled empire

Since his arrival in Britain to manage the phone-hacking crisis, just two words have been uttered in public by Rupert Murdoch.

His sole utterance came when he was confronted by camera crews as he emerged from his apartment in Mayfair with Rebekah Brooks, the embattled chief executive of News International. Asked what his first priority was, the octogenarian tycoon pointed at her and simply replied: "This one."

Otherwise he has only produced inscrutable smiles. All that changed last night when the News Corporation chairman spoke for the first time about the scandal that has paralysed his global media empire.

 

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Murdoch hit by FBI 9/11 hacking inquiry

The investigation into criminal behaviour by journalists at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp crossed the Atlantic yesterday as the FBI opened an inquiry into claims that the News of the World tried to hack the phones of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

As News Corp's shares slid in New York and legal problems threatened to engulf the rest of his media empire, Mr Murdoch launched a vigorous defence of his own handling of the scandal and of the conduct of his son, James.

The FBI opened the inquiry after sustained pressure from both Republican and Democrat politicians, who expressed outrage at the claims that 9/11 victims could have been among the NOTW's targets. The FBI is following claims first made in the Daily Mirror at the start of this week that NOTW journalists contacted a former New York police officer, now working as a private investigator, and offered to pay him to retrieve the phone records of those killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks. Police sources said the investigation is at a preliminary stage.

 

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NATO airstrikes struck Muammar Qadhafi’s sprawling compound in Tripoli and three other sites early Thursday,

NATO airstrikes struck Muammar Qadhafi’s sprawling compound in Tripoli and three other sites early Thursday, hours after the Libyan leader was shown on state TV in his first appearance since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago.

Explosions thundered across the capital and wailing ambulances raced through the city as the last missile exploded. It was the second NATO air attack on Tripoli in 48 hours - several command centres were hit early Tuesday as part of the alliance’s effort to weaken the regime’s resistance to a three—month—old rebellion.

Government officials and state—run Libyan television said the strikes targeted Bab al—Azaziya, Col. Qadhafi’s compound. They did not say which of the compound’s buildings were targeted.

At the nearby Khadra Hospital, medics wheeled in the bodies of two men they said were killed in the shelling. One of bodies was charred; the other was covered by a green blanket, a leg dangling from the stretcher.

From a bus ferrying reporters to the hospital, smoke could be seen rising from part of the Qadhafi compound. Skid marks left from screeching vehicles crisscrossed the roads around it.

The medics said others had been killed by the airstrikes and were still being retrieved from the compound.

Col. Qadhafi’s compound has been a frequent site of recent airstrikes, including one on April 30 that killed the leader’s son, Seif al—Arab. Officials said Col. Qadhafi - Libya’s autocratic leader for 42 years - was in the compound when that strike occurred but escaped unharmed.

NATO has repeatedly said all its targets in Libya are military and that it is not targeting Col. Qadhafi or other individuals.

Col. Qadhafi had seven sons and one daughter. He also had an adopted daughter who was killed in 1986 when a U.S. airstrike hit the Bab al—Aziziya residential compound in retaliation for a bombing attack on a German disco in which two U.S. servicemen were killed..

In an apparent effort to dispel rumours that Col. Qadhafi himself had been killed, Libyan state TV showed him meeting tribal leaders, but did not record him speaking. To authenticate the scene, the camera zoomed in on the date on a TV monitor in the room, which read Wednesday, May 11. It was apparently recorded at the hotel where foreign correspondents must reside in Tripoli. Col. Qadhafi did not make himself available to them.

The last time Col. Qadhafi had been seen in public previously was April 9, when he visited a school in Tripoli.

According to the Libyan state news agency, JANA, one of the NATO strikes on Monday damaged the North Korean Embassy in Tripoli.

Intensified NATO airstrikes on Col. Qadhafi’s forces across Libya have given a boost to rebels fighting to oust the regime, with the opposition claiming on Wednesday that it had captured the airport in the western city of Misrata. In all, NATO said, the alliance has carried out more than 2,400 airstrikes since March 31 as part of the effort to assist the rebels and pressure Col. Qadhafi relinquish power.

Even though some of the recent reports of ground combat are difficult to confirm, they seem to represent a major boost for the rebels’ military prospects after weeks of stalemate on several fronts.

The rebels control most of eastern Libya, but Misrata - about 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli - is the only rebel stronghold in the west. Local doctors say more than 1,000 of its residents have been killed in the fighting and shelling during the siege by Col. Qadhafi’s forces.

Access to the port has been limited but not halted. The International Committee of the Red Cross has a chartered ship floating in the harbour which delivered medical supplies and baby food on Tuesday and is now being used to support ICRC work in the city.

In Tripoli, a government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, denied the Misrata rebels’ claims of success, saying regime forces still held the airport.

Mr. Ibrahim did acknowledge that the war was creating severe shortages of many commodities in Tripoli.

“The NATO airstrikes and the sea embargo ... are badly influencing the lives of daily Libyans,” he said. “We have some shortages in fuel, food and medicine. It makes it difficult to go to schools, hospitals and factories.”

Britain said on Thursday that it will supply police officers in rebel—held eastern Libya with uniforms and body armour, and help establish a public radio station. The announcement came after Prime Minister David Cameron and other ministers met in London with Mustafa Abdul—Jalil, head of the rebels’ National Transitional Council.

Mr. Cameron said he had invited Mr. Abdul—Jalil to open a permanent office in London to help cement contacts with Britain, although Britain has not followed France and Italy in recognizing the council as Libya’s legitimate government.

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Libyan opposition rebels have taken the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya from government control

Libyan opposition rebels have taken the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya from government control, Al Jazeera's correspondent there reported.

"There is no doubt about it, you can probably hear some of the celebrations behind me, Ajdabiya is in opposition hands," Al Jazeera's James Bays said from the city on Saturday.

"Gaddafi forces have been controlling the ring road that goes around Ajdabiya ... that has been the situation for six days, but they have now been cleared from that position."

"The opposition forces tell me there may be some pro-Gaddafi forces hiding, snipers possibly on buildings, they are telling us to take care," Bays said, but he added that Ajdabiya was "firmly back under the control of opposition fighters".

Rebel fighters were now reportedly on their way to the key oil port town of Brega, where Gaddafi forces were retreating, witnesses said.

"The road is open beyond Ajdabiya, and [the rebels] are heading, streaming along that road ... they are on the road and they are moving forward," Bays reported.

Earlier on Saturday, rebels reported having entered Ajdabiya in a bid to wrestle control of the strategic area.

Many fighters belonging to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were held hostage after fierce fighting on Friday, rebels said.

Pro-Gaddafi forces are now mainly positioned in the west of the town, having previously held the entire area, they said.

On Friday, western warplanes bombed Gaddafi's tanks and artillery outside the town to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels retake the strategic area.

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Australian military said it had launched an investigation into the offensive Facebook remarks, which included troops joking about running over and shooting Afghans.

Stephen Smith, the Australian defence minister, apologised to Abdul Rahim Wardak, his Afghan counterpart, Abdul Rahim Wardak, on behalf of the 1,550 Australian troops based in Afghanistan's restive Uruzgan province.
"I said, 'I am ringing you, minister, because I don't want this to lower our standing,'" he told ABC radio.
"He said that in his mind, in his own view it would not."
The Australian military said it had launched an investigation into the offensive Facebook remarks, which included troops joking about running over and shooting Afghans. The defence force have warned that the comments could jeopardise the country's mission in Afghanistan.
Mr Smith described the postings, in which Afghans are referred to as "ragheads", as appalling.

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Muammar Gaddafi last night continued to defy the world and vowed to attack civilians.

America and Britain have rained missiles on Libya, causing substantial damage - but dictator Muammar Gaddafi last night continued to defy the world and vowed to attack civilians.

Explosions were reported at an airport east of Tripoli as a British Trafalgar-class submarine and US Navy ships and submarines stationed off Libya fired 112 Tomahawk missiles at 20 targets in what one source described as a "night of carnage".

The missiles were aimed at Libyan command and control centres, radar installations and surface-to-air missile sites.

Libyan officials said the attacks were barbaric, and state TV claimed they killed 48 people and wounded 150.

It said most of the casualties were children, but the report could not be verified.

Gaddafi promised retaliatory strikes. He said "all the Libyan people are being armed" to defend the country against "colonial, crusader aggression".

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Ajdabiyah, about 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi, was the last rebel-held town in the east to fall to Gaddafi's troops before the failed assault on Benghazi and subsequent retreat.

Ajdabiyah, about 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi, was the last rebel-held town in the east to fall to Gaddafi's troops before the failed assault on Benghazi and subsequent retreat.

El-Hasi said the rebel leadership had coordinated with international powers on the air strikes.

"There is a connection between us. One, to pinpoint the position of Gaddafi's troops, and two, to pinpoint the position of our fighters so they don't get hit with bombardments."

However, a key question now is whether the international powers are willing to go beyond defensive actions to protect civilians -- the ostensible mandate -- or to support rebels as they advance.

"We are not asking the allies to pinpoint Gaddafi's troops to help us to advance. We are telling them to target them when they are trying to come into the city," El-Hasi said.

Speaking at a later news conference, Ghoga was more ambiguous. He said that if Gaddafi's troops and armour threatened a city, it was legitimate for foreign forces to act.

"The coalition forces will level the playing field with the air strikes then our revolutionary forces will advance," he said.

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