SFO probes banks over asset-backed security sales

 

The Serious Fraud Office is conducting an examination into banks and their offering of asset backed securities, as part of a ‘scoping exercise’ to see if products have been misrepresented to UK clients. The watchdog said it is consulting with relevant ‘people in the city’ as part of its broad-sweeping investigation into any potentially fraudulent sales of asset backed securities. A spokesperson for the SFO said: ‘We are conducting a scoping exercise into UK banks about all asset backed securities.’ Although the watchdog said this examination has been going on for ‘some time’, it would not clarify whether it was targeting any particular types of asset backed securities. After 2008, asset backed products such as collateralised debt obligations and mortgage backed securities came under fire for arguably sparking the financial crisis. As part of the exercise, the SFO is making inquiries into Goldman Sachs, including the ‘Timberwolf’ deal, a mortgage security underwritten by the bank in 2007, which has been scrutinised by lawyers in the US, according to the Financial Times. Earlier in the year, the SFO said it was looking into exchange-traded funds, as a 'potential threat' to market stability and as a form of asset-backed security which could follow the path of CDOs.

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A TURKISH waiter suspected of killing two British women is believed to be older than he has claimed

Recep Cetin, arrested for slaughtering Marion Graham and Kathy Dinsmore,from County Down, Northern Ireland, had said he was 17. But prosecutors insist he is older.They claim he is concealing his real age in the hope of avoiding a severe sentence. He will face a much lighter punishment if tried as a minor.Cetin is thought to have killed the women after one refused to let him marry her daughter.Both of the women, who were in their 50s, were taken to a forest where they were stabbed and had their throats slit.

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Marion's daughter Shannon, 15 - with whom he had been having a relationship - raised the alarm after the pair vanished from the family's holiday home in Kusadasi , Turkey.

Raymond McGuinness, Ms Graham's ex-partner and the father of Shannon, arrived in Turkey along with Ms Graham's son David yesterday.

He said: "We've identified the bodies and my main concern now is my daughter.

"We're going to arrange the flight home as soon as possible.

"There was always something that was not quite right."

The alarm was raised on Thursday when the waiter, said to have been in a distressed state, arrived for work in a Kusadasi restaurant.

 

Murdered ... Marion Grahon and Kathy Winsmore

Barcroft Media

He claimed he had suffered a cut to his hand trying to fight off kidnappers who had bundled the two women into a van.

 

Mr McGuinness said: "He told Shannon that he had tried to stop the kidnappers and he had a cut on his hand and that's how he suffered it."

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Police and prosecutors have alleged that members of the Boardman Street Boys, including Fields, were responsible for the Aug. 28, 2010, shooting outside Sam's Discount Party Store at 1205 W. Dickman Road.

Despite objections from the defense, Battle Creek police told a jury Thursday the city has several gangs including one involved in an alleged homicide last year.

Officer Tyler Sutherland, a member of the department's Gang Suppression Unit, said the Boardman Street Boys are responsible for several shootings and other crimes and show typical characteristics of a street gang.

Taking the stand Thursday in the Calhoun County Circuit Court murder trial of Brandon Fields, 18, Sutherland discussed in general terms the characteristics of gangs.

He said gangs are generally three or more people "who create power and profit through violence and crime."

A member of GSU for two years, Sutherland said gangs have weapons, claim an area or turf in the city and usually have a rivalry with another gang.

"They are always looking for an opportunity to show how powerful they are," Sutherland said.

He said gang members will use any reason to attack other gang members or other residents to exert their influence and create fear.


Police and prosecutors have alleged that members of the Boardman Street Boys, including Fields, were responsible for the Aug. 28, 2010, shooting outside Sam's Discount Party Store at 1205 W. Dickman Road.

Larry Carter, 36, was killed and two other men, Brandon Davis, 29, and Josh Mitchell, 23, were wounded. Investigators said the victims were unarmed when they were confronted outside the store and Fields and at least two others began shooting because of some perceived disrespect.

Two other men are awaiting trial.

"No disrespect goes unanswered," Sutherland told the jury. "That is the code of the gang."

The jury will return Tuesday when Circuit Judge Allen Garbrecht told them they are expected to hear the final witnesses, closing arguments, legal instructions and then begin their deliberations.

Defense Attorney Virginia Cairns objected to Sutherland's testimony, noting that the prosecution does not have to present a motive and that a general discussion of gangs was merely to prejudice the jury against Fields.

"They want to poison the well, drive the hammer," Cairns told the judge. "If this is permitted it is not a fair trial. It is designed to convict this young man by painting him with a stripe he doesn't have."

Fields denied to police that he was a member although he told officers he spends all his time with other members.

And Sutherland told the jury that Fields has a tattoo of a "B" and that gang members would not allow a non-gang member to have a gun or take them to the scene of their crimes.

After the jury was dismissed for the day, Cairns told Judge Garbrecht that during her cross examination of Sutherland, Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Kabot was drawing a picture of her which was seen by at least one of the jurors.

"I am shocked and it is most inappropriate. It is absolutely demeaning. I do not merit that type of low treatment and I want this on the record."

Garbrecht said he was not aware of Kabot's drawing and Kabot said it simply was doodling he frequently does at his table.

"I always draw pictures and it was and it wasn't her. It was not demeaning and it did not portray her in a negative light. It wasn't anything that was intended to offend."

"It got a reaction from at least one of the jurors," Cairns said.

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Any criminal trial which arises from the phone hacking investigation is likely to be subjected to a media blackout

If prosecutors decide to charge several people over the allegations surrounding former News of the World journalists, all the defendants would be tried at the same time, The Daily Telegraph has been told.
The parallel police inquiries into phone hacking and police corruption means any trials are likely to be delayed until the spring of 2013 as detectives sift through thousands of documents.
But because of the risk that one or more of the possible defendants could face trial relating to both inquiries, the media is likely to be banned from reporting any of the evidence in any of the trials until all have been concluded.
The phone hacking scandal took yet another twist yesterday when a Scotland Yard detective was arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential information about the inquiry to The Guardian.
It is thought that the arrest follows a series of online articles in The Guardian which disclosed the identities of people who were about to be or had just been arrested. The identity of the 51-year old detective constable has not been disclosed. He was arrested on Thursday by the anti-corruption unit of Scotland Yard and bailed to return next month.

In a statement, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the phone hacking investigation, said: “I made very clear when I took on this investigation the need for operational and information security. It is hugely disappointing that this may not have been adhered to.”
The police investigation into the News of the World has increased in size and scope over the past few months and is now one of the biggest criminal inquiries in Britain. There are more than 60 officers working on the investigation.
On Thursday, officers also made another arrest, of a former News of the World employee. Dan Evans, 35, a feature writer, attended a London police station and was held for questioning on suspicion of conspiring to unlawfully intercept voicemails. Mr Evans was suspended by the News of the World after the interior designer Kelly Hoppen, stepmother to the actress Sienna Miller, brought a damages claim alleging that he tried to hack into her voicemails in June 2009.
The now-defunct tabloid and lawyers for the journalist have said an extensive investigation found no evidence to support her claims. It is thought that Scotland Yard arrested him over separate phone hacking allegations.
Mr Evans joined the News of the World in 2005 and has been suspended since April 2010. He is the 14th person to be arrested on suspicion of involvement in phone hacking.
A well-placed source told the Telegraph that any defendants charged with phone hacking are expected to be tried together, though any trial is unlikely to begin before the spring of 2013 because of the sheer volume of evidence the police still have to go through.
The source added that if there was a trial over phone hacking, and if any of the defendants also faced charges over police corruption, lawyers would be likely to ask for a reporting ban to avoid prejudicing any subsequent trial.
Glenn Mulcaire, the private detective imprisoned for phone hacking, has been ordered by the High Court to disclose who at the News of the World asked him to listen to voicemails on the mobile phones of Elle Macpherson, the model, and Steve Coogan, the comedian. Mulcaire will have to comply with the request by September.
A News International spokeswoman said: “We are fully co-operating with the police investigation and we are unable to comment further on matters due to ongoing police investigations.”
A spokesman for Guardian News & Media said: “We note the arrest of a Scotland Yard detective on suspicion of misconduct in a public office relating to unauthorised disclosure of information.
“On the broader point raised by the arrest, journalists would no doubt be concerned if conversations between off-the-record sources and reporters came routinely to be regarded as criminal activity. In common with all news organisations, we have no comment to make on the sources of our journalism.”

 

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News International’s controversial decision to alter a critical letter submitted to a parliamentary inquiry was not directly demanded by the police, the Daily Telegraph can reveal.

The company has been accused of a cover-up after it gave MPs a significantly redacted version of a letter, written by Clive Goodman, the former royal editor at the News of the World.
The revelation came as David Cameron admitted he would not have employed Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World, if he had “known then what I know now”. James Murdoch, the chairman of
News International, also faced calls to resign over the scandal.
The Goodman letter, sent four years ago, alleges that a secret deal was agreed in which he would keep his job if he did not “implicate” other members of the tabloid paper’s staff. He also alleged that editors at the tabloid, including Andy Coulson, supported phone hacking.
On Tuesday News International claimed that the document was altered at the request of Scotland Yard. However, their explanation came under scrutiny after a much fuller version of the same letter was released by law firm Harbottle & Lewis.

 

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Ed Miliband has blamed the riots that swept English cities on a "me first" culture - and accepted Labour must share the blame for creating it.

The Labour leader said his party had failed to tackle inequality and not paid enough attention to morality.

And he linked the riots to a wider collapse in social responsibility exemplified by the banking crisis and MPs expenses scandal.

He said he would set up his own riots inquiry if David Cameron failed to act.

'Sick society'
Mr Cameron has not ruled out holding a public inquiry - but has said he wants MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee to complete its investigation first.

The prime minister has also spoken of a collapse in personal responsibility and has claimed parts of Britain were not just "broken" but "sick".


Ed Miliband
Labour leader
He told the BBC's North West Tonight crooked bankers and MPs deserved to be punished - but their behaviour should not be used as an excuse for lawlessness.

"We need responsibility right through our country - responsibility is the most important word in politics.

"But it cannot be used as an excuse - that was law breaking, that was looting, that was thieving.

"It's no good trying to blame that on someone else. All irresponsibility should be punished."

In a Commons statement on Thursday, the prime minister vowed to "restore a sense of stronger sense of morality and responsibility".

But he rejected Mr Miliband's call for a public inquiry, saying MPs were already listening to their communities - and the home affairs committee was holding an inquiry which should "do this work first".

Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the breakdown in social order that occurred this week showed many people had lost their sense of right and wrong and there was a "me first" culture.

"There is an issue which went to all our souls - this is an issue not just about the responsibility and irresponsibility we saw on the streets of Tottenham.

"It's about irresponsibility, wherever we find it in our society.

"We've seen in the past few years MPs' expenses, what happened in the banks, what happened with phone hacking."

'Usual suspects'
And he admitted that Labour had not done enough to tackle deep-rooted moral problems during its 13 years in power.

"I deeply regret that inequality wasn't reduced under the last Labour government. But we did great things to tackle inequality in our society," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We did better at rebuilding the fabric of our country than the ethic of our country."

He urged the prime minister set up a public inquiry in the next few days, adding: "We have got to avoid simplistic answers.

"There's a debate some people are starting: is it culture, is it poverty and lack of opportunity? It's probably both."

Mr Miliband said that if Mr Cameron does not agree to set up an inquiry "I'm going to do it myself".

Speaking to a group of young people in Brixton, south London, Mr Miliband said the inquiry should not just take evidence from the "usual suspects" but should also include people from communities affected by the rioting.

The Commons home affairs committee will begin its inquiry on 6 September, with London Mayor Boris Johnson set to be its first witness.

Committee chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz, said: "We will be looking at police tactics, we will be looking at the operation of gangs, we will be looking at mobile communications, and we will be revisiting some of the issues we have looked at in the past, such as the inquiry into the G20 protests.

"This will be a thoughtful and measured inquiry."

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Winehouse's ex-hubby to tell all in book

Amy Winehouse's ex-hubby Blake Fielder-Civil is cashing on the Winehouse fever by penning a tell-all book about the late singer' tumultuous life. Reportedly Fielder-Civil, who is currently in jail for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm, has enough material and inside



According to sources, "Blake's been planning to write a tell-all on Amy since she became famous. When they were together he'd film her, but there are many hours and footage he hasn't released."

Buzz is that, 'the scheming opportunist' is waiting for a good monetary deal before turning biographer.

The former video runner, who has been blamed for introducing Amy to heroin and crack cocaine, married Winehouse in May 2007 after an on-off romance. But the relationship was doomed from the beginning and the couple parted ways after two years.

 

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Celebrities react to shock news that Amy Winehouse is dead

Following the tragic news that Amy Winehouse was found dead at her North London home this afternoon, social networking sites have been inundated with fans paying tribute to the talented star.

Amongst the thousands of Twitter messages from distraught fans, celebrities have been reacting to the news.

Singer Ricky Martin Tweeted: “i just found out. I feel pain. I feel anger. Rest beautiful girl rest. You are free! #RIPAMY”

Pixie Lott simply wrote: “R.I.P Amy Winehouse such a talent you will be missed ♥”

Estelle said: “RIP Amy. ******* off twitter for the day.”

Siva Kaneswaran, of boyband The Wanted, had recently met Amy. He told fans: “Very sad news. May her soul finally rest in peace. Feel so privilege to had met such a talent just a few days ago. #RIPAMY xxxx”

Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton added: “Can not believe the news. Amy was a special girl. The saddest news.”

X Factor vocal coach Yvie Burnett said her thoughts were with Amy’s family: “Thank you everyone who messaged me about Amy. Feel so sad for her family.”

 

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Phone hacking also rife under Piers Morgan at Mirror, claims ex-reporter

Phone hacking was not confined to the News of the World but was widespread at other newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, a former Mirror reporter has claimed.

James Hipwell, who worked as a financial journalist under the editorship of Piers Morgan, said the practice was "seen as a bit of a wheeze" and offered to give evidence to the public inquiry into hacking ordered by David Cameron.

Hacking also took place at other titles in the newspaper group, including the People, he alleged.

"You know what people around you are doing," he told the Independent. "They would call a celebrity with one phone and when it was answered they would then hang up.

"By that stage, the other phone would be into [the celebrity's] voicemail and they would key in the code, 9999 or 0000. I saw that a lot."

He added: "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze – something that was slightly underhand but something many of them did. What a laugh.

"After they'd hacked into someone's mobile, they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story. There was great hilarity about it."

Piers Morgan, a former editor of the Mirror, and the News of the World, has strenuously denied any link to the phone-hacking scandal.

Hipwell said he had chosen to speak out as he was sick of all the "lies".

The death of phone-hacking whistleblower Sean Hoare fuelled his decision to talk about what went on, he said, condemning the way the former News of the World journalist had been treated as "disgraceful".

Trinity Mirror denied its journalists had broken the law. A spokesman said: "Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) code of conduct."

Trinity Mirror added that Hipwell's claims were "totally unsubstantiated".

Hipwell was jailed for six months in February 2006 for pocketing nearly £41,000 by repeatedly purchasing low-priced stocks, recommending them to readers in the Mirror's City Slickers column and then quickly selling them as values soared.

 

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Coroner's report says suspect's death was cocaine-related

Rapides Parish Coroner’s Office report has ruled that the February death of a mentally ill Alexandria man in police custody was accidental, probably from a combination of his schizophrenia and a high level of cocaine he ingested before he was arrested.

Though Robert Ricks was stunned by a Taser twice for five seconds or less on Feb. 5 – once by an Alexandria police officer and once by a Rapides Parish sheriff’s deputy – the Coroner’s Office said Ricks most likely died from “excited delirium,” a result of “schizophrenia and cocaine (acting) in concert” and leading to his death.

Rapides Parish District Attorney James “Jam” Downs said the coroner and State Police reports, released by his office Tuesday, clear Alexandria police who arrested Ricks on Feb. 5 and clear Rapides Parish sheriff’s deputies who helped carry Ricks to a jail cell as he resisted.

Downs said his office would not pursue criminal charges.

“The rush to judgment that Robert Ricks was deliberately Tasered to death by police officers is without substantial support in the independent investigation by the Louisiana State Police,” Downs said in a statement.

“Although it is obviously a relief to our department and our officers, this is not a time to rejoice,” said Loren Lampert, Alexandria public safety commissioner. “Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the Ricks family for their loss.”

According to a report by State Police investigator Melissa Welch, who interviewed 32 witnesses including firefighters, paramedics, police officers, deputies and others, Ricks was combative and resisted police who responded to a call by Ricks’ grandmother, Maxine Jones.

Jones called paramedics before 10 p.m. Feb. 5 to her Applewhite Street home to help her with her grandson, Ricks, who had been released a few days earlier from Crossroads treatment center, a mental health facility.

Paramedics and firefighters, who also respond to medical calls, later called in Alexandria Police officers. According to the State Police report, a Fire Department captain remembered Ricks from another incident in September or October 2010, when Ricks tried to cut his own penis off and refused treatment.

 

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Hip-Hop Mogul Linked to Tupac Shakur Shooting Arrested on Drug Charges

Hip-Hop music executive James Rosemond has been taken into custody by U.S. Marshalls and DEA agents in New York City. Though he was recently accused of orchestrating the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, the co-founder of Czar Entertainment was apprehended on charges unrelated to the accusations made by convicted felon Dexter Isaac.

The 46-year-old was arrested Tuesday, June 21 on suspicion of running a cocaine trafficking ring that operated on both the West and East coasts. Federal authorities had been searching for the music mogul, who has worked with recording artists like The Game, since warrants were issued for his arrest on May 17.

James' manhunt came to an end after a foot chase in Manhattan. The New York Post reported that the man who is also known as Jimmy Henchman spotted federal agents at around noon when he walked out of the W Hotel in Union Square. In his attempt to evade them, he walked north and ran for several blocks before being tackled at 21st Street and Park Avenue.

James has appeared in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody without bail. According to Reuters, the onetime music manager did not enter a plea. His lawyer Jeffery Lichtman, meanwhile, told MTV News, "These charges obviously aren't surprising, we've been anticipating them for years now."

"But they're built on the backs of people that have lied and cheated, have been threatened, have been bribed by the government," Jeffery added. "Anything to get Jimmy Rosemond, but all of this is going to be exposed. We've been waiting a long time for our day in court - we finally have it."

Last week, convicted felon Dexter Issac confessed to have shot and robbed late rapper Tupac in 1994. Coming clean about the incident on the eve of what should be the rapper's 40th birthday, he claimed he was paid $2,500 dollars by James to rob the rapper outside a studio in Manhattan. James' attorney has since spoken out against the allegations.

 

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Cocaine on the streets now in New York and Los Angeles is cut with a drug that's causing users skin to rot off,

Cocaine on the streets now in New York and Los Angeles is cut with a drug that's causing users skin to rot off, doctors say.
According to KTLA, physicians at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute say drug dealers are cutting cocaine with levamisole, a chemical used by veterinarians for deworming livestock.
Levamisole damages blood vessels under the skin, causing the rotting.
A study by the Journal of the American Academy of


Dermatology looked at six cocaine users who ingested the drug. On each, skin from their face, ears, nose and torso was rotting.
Several more cases have been reported since the paper was written.
The Department of Justice says up to 70 percent of cocaine in the U.S. is tainted with levamisole. The dewormer is cheap, easily available, and gives a small additional high to the cocaine.
"We believe these cases of skin reactions and illnesses


linked to contaminated cocaine are just the tip of the iceberg in a looming public health problem posed by levamisole," said study author Noah Craft, MD, PhD, Los Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Health warnings have also been issued in Delaware, Washington, New Mexico, and Canada.

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The two suspected traffickers will be investigated under the Misuse of Drugs Act. If convicted, they both may face the death penalty.

THE Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) on June 21 arrested two drug traffickers in separate instances. A total of approximately 490g of heroin and five grammes of methamphetamine or 'ice' worth more than $75,000 was seized.

The first was a 53 year-old male that has been under surveillance. CNB officers nabbed him at around 4.40pm at a carpark around his block as he was leaving his unit along Bendemeer Road.

Found in his unit was 95g of heroin and another 310g were separately stashed in three motorcycle boxes fitted on bicycles, recovered with his cooperation.

In the second case, CNB officers arrested a 54-year-old, his 48-year-old associate, and two suspected drug abusers, aged 43 and 51.

Seized were 85g of heroin, five grammes of methamphetamine and many utensils meant for drug consumption. The estimated street value for the drugs stands at about $14,200.

The two suspected traffickers will be investigated under the Misuse of Drugs Act. If convicted, they both may face the death penalty.

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With his Food Revolution sidelined in US schedules, the chef makes a return to his culinary roots in Jamie's Great Britain

He fell short in the admittedly herculean task of converting 300 million Americans to healthy eating, so perhaps it's no surprise that Jamie Oliver's next project is both more modest and safely within his culinary comfort zone: a celebration of traditional British pub-style food.

The announcement of the TV chef's next outing – a six-part Channel 4 series and accompanying book – comes just three weeks after the latest series of his Food Revolution programme was moved to a different time slot after poor US ratings.

More humiliating still was that the ABC network replaced it with reruns of the US equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing.

Now, having dressed as a root vegetable to persuade sceptical US children that their dietary options extend beyond pizza, Oliver has decided to return to his roots with Jamie's Great Britain, focusing on recipes such as steak and kidney pudding and fish and chips, as well as the overseas dishes Britons love.

Oliver's return follows a sequence of foreign-based shows, including his US efforts and tours around Europe for the Jamie Does … series. "It has been a long time coming, but sometimes it takes a few decades of looking at other countries to realise how wonderful your own really is," he said as he promoted a book accompanying the series.

The first series of Food Revolution – set in a West Virginia town identified as America's fattest – disarmed the understandable hostility of locals told by an unknown, chirpy Englishman that they were killing their children with starch and grease. The programme even bagged an Emmy for best reality show but lost momentum, and viewers, when it relocated to Los Angeles for a second outing.

For the 35-year-old chef – who cares deeply about his US and UK school meal projects – such setbacks are cushioned by enormous domestic popularity and a fortune estimated to be above £100m.

Between series of Food Revolution, Oliver filmed his popular 30-Minute Meals programmes for Channel 4, aimed at tempting time-pressed Britons back into the kitchen. This it seemingly did, in vast numbers: the accompanying book became the UK's fastest selling nonfiction title of all time, spending six months heading the sales charts.

Jamie's Great Britain will contain nods towards Oliver's first culinary experience, at his parents' Essex pub. As well as giving the chef's perhaps inevitable "twist" on traditional recipes, Jamie's Great Britain also promises to tell the stories behind the dishes.

Dominique Walker of Channel 4 said: "In this new series we see him travelling across Britain to discover the fascinating stories of how our own food, the dishes we think of as traditionally British, are actually a product of the rich melting pot of cultures that have made our country what it is today."

• This article was amended on 26 May 2011. Owing to an editing change, this article originally said that series two of Food Revolution had been dropped from US schedules. This has been corrected.

 

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BBC to launch controversial bomb disposal unit comedy

BBC will risk controversy with the release of a new comedy about bomb-disposal units based in Afghanistan and Iraq where hundreds of lives have been lost tackling explosives.
The contentious series will be screened on BB3, which is directed to a younger audience.
The announcement of the pilot for the show comes as the body of the latest death from an improvised explosive device (IED), Colour Serjeant Kevin Fortuna, from 1st Battalion The Rifles, is repatriated today.
He died on Monday on patrol in Helmand.
The BBC said: "It's a show about something the public easily forget: soldiers really enjoy being soldiers.
"This sitcom shows us why, as it takes the audience from moments of intense action to the fractious camaraderie as the unit waits around for their next tasking."
The dangers faced by bomb disposal units in the middle east was tackled in the Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker in 2009.
Comedy has been used in the past to document warfare including the TV series M*A*S*H, which was based on the Korean War.
But the series may come under fire from critics as more than two-thirds of the deaths of coalition troops in Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001 have been due to IEDs.
BBC3's show is part of a new season of shows on the channel which was announced today.
They include Britain You're Welcome to It, which will look at the country through the eyes of east European immigrants to examine their perceptions.
And in Up For Hire Live, BBC3 will look at youth unemployment with a week-long live series of shows in which talented jobless young people are put in the position of making executive decisions.
Another comedy pilot is Eggbox, about life on a teenage cancer ward. It has been co-written by Tom Bidwell, who was behind the Oscar-nominated short film Wish 143, about a teenager with cancer who wants to lose his virginity before he dies.
Sharon Horgan, best known for her near-the-knuckle comedy Pulling, will return with her new comedy Life Story about a woman who is wrongly imprisoned for murder.

 

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Slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had prepared a blueprint how to assassinate US President Barack Obama

Slain al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had prepared a blueprint how to assassinate US President Barack Obama and disrupt the 2012 American elections, media reports have said.

US officials analysing the data found in bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad during the raid that killed him found a diary in which the terror leader had jotted his musings on how to kill the US President, ABC News reported.

London-based Sunday Times also had a similar report. Osama "jotted his musings" in a diary "on how to kill President Barack Obama, but not Joe Biden, the vice-president, who, he wrote, was not worth the trouble," The Times said.

"I think what this new information indicates is that he was more involved than people realise," said Steve Jones, an analyst with RAND Corp.

US agents have had their first access to bin Laden's three wives, but reportedly they were not cooperative and hostile.

President Obama has acknowledged that threats against his own grandmother from another al Qaeda group are being closely monitored along with threats to American citizens, according to ABC News.

In the journals discovered at his compound, bin Laden urged his followers to assassinate President Obama and disrupt the 2012 American elections.

ABC News consultant and former FBI profiler Brad Garrett said bin Laden's quest to kill the President is a personal one.

"The president obviously has a Muslim history. He's not following bin Laden's philosophy of what a true Islamist should be doing," Garrett said.

"He is incensed, inflamed, obsessed about killing the President," Garrett told ABC News.

An attack on as high-profile a target as the US President would demonstrate al Qaeda's reach. "The ultimate goal in killing or cutting down the United States would be to take out its president," Garrett said.

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TWO imams at South Florida mosques are among six people indicted on federal charges of providing financial support and encouraging violence by the Pakistani Taliban.

The indictment charged Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, the imam at the Miami Mosque.

The indictment also charged two of the imam's sons. All three men are American citizens who are originally from Pakistan.


The four-count indictment charges the Khans and three others living in Pakistan with conspiring to provide material support to a conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap people overseas, as well as conspiring to provide about $45,000 in financial support to the Pakistani Taliban from 2008 to 2010.

Each of the four counts in the indictment carries a maximum 15-year prison term. Prosecutors said the indictment did not charge the mosques. They added that the defendants were charged ''based on their provision of material support to terrorism, not on their religious beliefs or teachings''.

The charges of supporting the Pakistani Taliban but not actually carrying out operations are the most common types of terrorism prosecutions the US has pursued.

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US customs finds missing Vietnam war plaque

US customs officials have retrieved a Vietnam war plaque missing for seven years, after raiding a shipment of military items bound for Thailand, officials said Wednesday.
The memorial plaque, paying tribute to 19 prisoners of war and military personnel missing in action during the conflict, disappeared after being sent for re-polishing by its owners in 2004.
It belonged to Americans Who Care, based in Fayetteville, Carolina, and was seized by customs officers in a shipment leaving the West Coast port of Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, on April 19.
"This discovery attests the attentiveness, vigilance and high degree of expertise of CBP?s outbound enforcement team at LA/Long Beach seaport," said US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Los Angeles head Carlos Martel.
"I commend the CBP officers involved in the recovery of this piece of history that will bring closure to military families in Fayetteville."
Janice Lee Urton of Americans Who Care said: "Its return will bring great relief to many and deep healing that it will be coming home," to be seen again by those who "want to pay tribute to our military men and women."

 

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Arrests as 16 lambs found tied up in cars

Sixteen lambs were found by stunned police officers tied up in two cars which were stopped travelling along the M5 in the Black Country early today.

Officers were stunned to find the distressed three-month-old lambs trapped inside a Cavalier and Rover that were stopped by motorway cops at around 1.55am on the motorway heading north between Junctions 1 and 2, at West Bromwich and Oldbury.

Eight lambs were found in the boot of one of the cars with another three on the back seats and in the second, four lambs were found in the boot and one in the foot well. They had been tightly bound.

Six men have been arrested on suspicion of theft and were being questioned by police today.

Acting Inspector Rob Barker, from Central Motorway Police Group, said: “We believe the lambs may have originated from the West Mercia or Gloucester area and we would desperately like to reunite the lambs with their mums.

“The lambs are currently being cared for by the RSPCA but can only remain with them on a very short term basis.

“We are appealing for any farmers in the area to check their livestock and if they notice any missing to contact us on 0121 626 1285.”

The lambs have been taken to Birmingham by the RSPCA.

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Thousands of people found by the high court to have been illegally detained for hours by police at a central London protest may sue Scotland Yard for false imprisonment.

The high court has ruled that the Metropolitan police had broken the law in the way it kettled up to 5,000 demonstrators at the G20 protests in April 2009.

The judges heard police used the tactic of mass detention against protesters that they accepted were peaceful, with officers meting out punches to the face, slaps and shield strikes as they tried to move a demonstration against climate change.

Judges found that the force used by police was "unjustified", criticised "imprecise" instructions given by senior officers about releasing innocent people, and said the mass detentions for five hours were an unlawful deprivation of liberty under article 5 of the European convention on human rights.

The case was brought by Josh Moos and Hannah McClure, who were among the crowd held by police.

The judgment does not strike down the police tactic of kettling, or mass detention, but it will be seen as a rebuff to the Met and places police chiefs on notice that the courts will intervene in favour of the rights of protesters over claims that draconian tactics are necessary to prevent violence. The Met announced it would appeal against the judgment.

The solicitor who brought the case, John Halford, said the ruling opened the police up to thousands of lawsuits seeking damages for the unlawful behaviour. He said: "Everyone in the kettle has a claim for false imprisonment and damages as they were detained against their will."

The case concerned the G20 protests in London on 1 April 2009, during which Ian Tomlinson, a bystander, died after being struck by an officer. There were several demonstrations in the area that day, but the court case deals with a Climate Camp protest in Bishopsgate. Police said they put in a containment of the camp, fearing people from a sometimes violent protest outside the Royal Exchange may join it.

In their judgment Sir Anthony May, president of the Queens Bench Division, and Mr Justice Sweeney said police had failed to meet the conditions for the mass detention of protesters to be lawful: "To be justified in law as being the lawful exercise of the common law power to take reasonable steps to prevent a breach of the peace and as not constituting an unlawful deprivation of liberty under article 5 of the convention, the police had reasonably to apprehend an imminent breach of the peace …"

But this was not the case, the judges found, citing the fact the two protests were relatively far apart. Those who left the Royal Exchange took two hours to reach the edge of the Climate Camp protest. The judges said the risk of violence was not imminent, and that was the threshold of danger to public order needed to justify the tactic of kettling. "There was such a risk, but it was at that stage only a risk; and it was not, in our judgment, a risk of imminent breaches of the peace sufficient to justify full containment at the Climate Camp."

For the Met, policing protests has seen them criticised on several fronts, as too heavy handed at G20,and then underprepared at last year's student protests.

The high court judgment found use of force at G20 was excessive, and the rights of innocent protesters were infringed: "It is evident that there were instances of unduly inflexible release [from the containment] and instances of unnecessary and, we think, unjustified force in the pushing operation."

The judges also criticised instructions a police chief said he gave to officers to release the innocent from the detention: "They were very general and imprecise and may not have been fully conveyed to individual officers, some of whom appear not to have been trained for crowd control operations of this kind."

The judges found a police decision to disperse the crowd to avoid it remaining overnight was lawful.

The Met said: "We believe that this issue is so important for the police's ability to prevent disorder within protest that we will be appealing. The MPS believes that the Bishopsgate containment prevented further scenes of violence and criminal damage occurring on 1 April 2009."

Dee Doocey, a Liberal Democrat member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "We must have authoritative and crystal clear guidance on who can trigger the use of kettling … the Met must urgently address the insufficient training that police officers receive in the use of shields."

Jenny Jones, a Green party member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said: "They have used kettling illegally, and sometimes violently, on peaceful demonstrations since May 2001. Kettling takes away the human rights and civil liberties of innocent, legal protesters."

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