By Iain Mackenzie
Internet bosses are meeting in Paris at a two-day forum arranged by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, as Christian Fraser explains
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has opened the first ever e-G8 forum in Paris.
The event brings together leading figures from the technology industry to discus the impact of the internet.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and Google’s Eric Schmidt are among those due to speak.
Critics have claimed that the e-G8 is too focused on handing net control to companies and governments.
President Sarkozy sought to reassure the net community
Addressing those concerns, President Sarkozy said that states were subject to the will of their citizens who were currently engaged in a revolution, empowered by the internet.
“The global revolution that you incarnate is a peaceful one. It did not emerge on battlefields but on university campuses,” he said.
However, President Sarkozy claimed that countries could not remain neutral and allow completely unchecked internet use.
“The world you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and more generally all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply.”
In the past, the French President has been characterised as someone who favours the rights of content creators and rights holders over internet users.
France has passed one of the toughest laws to crack down on people who download content without paying for it, with a three-strikes-and-out law for illegal filesharers.
Repeat offenders face a range of punishments, including disconnection from the web.
“It is too soon to regulate the beast”
Jeff Jarvis Media commentator
A number of prominent rights-holders including News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch and BBC director general Mark Thompson were also due to speak at the event.
Addressing delegates, Mr Sarkozy said the role of government regulation was to promote creativity and prevent criminality, but he also acknowledged the claims of his critics.
“I know and I understand that our French idea of copyright laws is not the same as in the United States and other countries.
“Nobody can have his ideas, work, imagination and intellectual property expropriated without punishment,” he said.
American media commentator Jeff Jarvis challenged President Sarkozy, during a question and answer session, to sign-up to an oath to “do no harm” to the internet.
The suggestion was met with some indignation, with the President suggesting that asserting controls on illegal activity could never be regarded as harmful.
Speaking to the BBC afterwards, Mr Jarvis said that President Sarkozy’s comments betrayed the true intent of many world leaders.
“At least Sarkozy acknowledged that he doesn’t own the internet and his government doesn’t own the internet. Nonetheless, he is claiming sovereignty here and so will the G8 and I have fear in that.
“Perhaps out of best intentions they will try to change the architecture of the internet and how it operates, but we don’t even know what it is yet. It is too soon to regulate the beast,” he said.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Masks and goggles are essential in Kirkjubaejarklaustur
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The ash spewing from Iceland’s Grimsvotn volcano has done more than disrupt air travel. For those living nearby, it has shut out the daylight and smothered buildings and vehicles in dust.
The scene is surreal. As we drive towards the tiny town of Kirkjubaejarklaustur (it translates as “monastery of the Church Farm”), it’s as if we have been transported back to winter and are trying to keep the car on the road in the total darkness of a full-force snowstorm.
Only it isn’t winter. It’s late May and under normal circumstances, it’s bright more than 20 hours a day at this time of year.
“I will not describe what happens when you blow your nose”
Thora Arnorsdottir
This isn’t snow, either. It’s ash, a horrible substance – a grey, brownish dust that gets everywhere. It ruins the zippers on your clothes, and has already sent a lot of our camera equipment back to Reykjavik, dead from the dust.
I was not prepared for what awaited us at Klaustur – it’s like a scene from one of those futuristic end-of-the-world films.
No one dares set a foot outside without a mask and goggles for eye protection.
The wind blows from all directions, and I’m covered in ash from top to toe in the 20 seconds it takes to run from the car into the only store in town. Which is, by the way, still open.
Ash cloud turns day to night in Iceland
“People are just staying at home, emptying the refrigerator – then they have to get food somewhere,” says Unnar Steinn, the owner of the store.
The school is obviously closed, and rescue teams have to assist the staff of the health clinic to get to and fro work.
The cars still work, but you have to change all the filters frequently – and obviously avoid turning the air conditioning on.
I’m born and raised on this volcanic island, and am used to hearing the stories of the incredible Katla eruption in 1918.
Not to mention the Lakagigar eruption in the late 18th Century which “turned day into night” and killed half the nation’s livestock. My respect to my ancestors who got through that – I can finally understand what it must have been like.
Emergency workers bring in supplies
In the 21st Century, we can at least flee into a concrete building and catch our breath.
It’s physically impossible to stay outside more than a couple of minutes at the time. It’s hard to breath. You cry constantly as the eyes try to fight the ash. I will not describe in detail what happens when you blow your nose.
The screen I’m typing this on is covered with dust, as is the keyboard, mouse and the coffee cup beside me.
The poor staff at the hotel, which should be full of tourists, are constantly mopping the floor, vacuuming and changing towels laid against the doors and windows in an effort to keep the ash out.
But the stuff just keeps seeping in.
The ash seeps in despite towels blocking doors and windows
The hotel’s new owners have just finished a refresh on the upper floor, with everything freshly painted and the curtains cleaned. It’s all ruined.
“I was hired as a waitress,” a girl says as she mops the floor around me for the fifth time this morning.
The strange thing is that people aren’t leaving. They’re stubborn, the residents of this region.
The ones I’ve met just say: “This is going to be over soon and we’re going to get through this together just like the generations before us. Let’s just hope Katla doesn’t go off next year.”
Fingers crossed.
Thora Arnorsdottir is a senior reporter at RUV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Cate Blanchett will star in Gross und Klein by German playwright, Botho Strauss
Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Juliette Binoche lead the line-up for the Barbican’s 30th anniversary celebrations next year.
Blanchett will star in Botho Strauss play Gross und Klein, in January, while Binoche will appear in French language piece Mademoiselle Julie, in September.
Among other events will be the UK’s biggest Bauhaus exhibition in 40 years.
The Barbican said its “world-class events” put it “at the heart if the London 2012 Festival”.
This summer’s festival is the culmination of London’s Cultural Olympiad programme.
The Bauhaus: Art as Life exhibition will include work from artists who attended the German modern art school, which was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919.
London 2012 – Begin your journey here
Sport, news and more 2012 informationBBC London 2012
It will feature Paul Klee, Marcel Breuer, Anni Albers and Mies van der Rohe works.
The Barbican programme will include theatre, art, architecture, design, film, music, opera and dance.
Barbican managing director Sir Nicholas Kenyon said there would be “something for everyone”.
“In 2012 London welcomes the world for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Barbican will be at the forefront of that international moment with an extraordinary range of great cultural experiences for all,” he added.
Other highlights will include the UK premiere, in May, of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass’ 1976 work Einstein on the Beach, An Opera in Four Acts.
As part of the finale to the Barbican’s London 2012 Festival celebrations, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will return, following on from their residency last year.
They will perform with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as well as Simon Rattle, who will conduct the Barbican’s resident orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Six people have been injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in Iran coinciding with a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian media say.
He was not hurt in the blast and went on to make a televised speech to mark the opening of the refinery, in the south-western city of Abadan.
A technical problem caused the blast and then a fire, Fars news agency said.
Thick smoke was seen rising from the refinery but the fire was under control, the semi-official agency said.
The refinery is being launched in two phases and ultimately will produce more than 6m litres of petrol a day, mostly for domestic consumption.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb were murdered in County Armagh
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The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of a man convicted of the murder of two teenagers in County Armagh.
Stephen Leslie Brown, 30, was found guilty in 2009 of the murders of David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb.
The victims’ mutilated bodies were found on an isolated country road near Tandragee, in February 2000.
Brown’s appeal was based on the reliance of the evidence of Mark Burcombe, who admitted a lesser charge over the murders.
Counsel for Brown contended that the trial judge erred by not rejecting Burcombe’s evidence in light of a number of alleged inconsistencies and falsehoods.
However, Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said: “The meticulous and careful manner in which the learned trial judge reviewed the detail of Burcombe’s evidence and assessed him as a witness demonstrated the rigorous scrutiny which was required.
“We conclude, therefore, that we do not consider that the reliance by the trial judge on the evidence of Burcombe was unsafe, nor did it engender any unease in respect of the conclusions reached.”
Burcombe claimed in evidence that he saw Brown repeatedly knife David McIlwaine as he lay on the ground.
In his appeal, Brown also submitted that even if Burcombe’s evidence was accepted it did not follow that he should have been convicted of the murder of Andrew Robb.
‘Abundant material’
Brown claimed there was no eyewitness evidence of that murder and that there was no direct evidence that he had a knife at the time of the attack.
The Court of Appeal rejected this submission.
The Lord Chief Justice said this was a case where there was abundant material to support the conclusion that Brown was voluntarily present at the scene of the murder.
Burcombe’s evidence identified another man – Noel Dillon, who has since killed himself – as being involved with Brown in the murders.
The Lord Chief Justice said: “Brown had driven the car in which the deceased were taken to a remote and isolated spot. Robb was then taken off by Brown and Dillon to a quiet part of the country road where he was the subject of a vicious and savage attack.
“The injuries sustained by Robb reveal the ferocity of the attack. The direct attack was carried out by one or both of Brown and Dillon.
“Both came swaggering back towards the car after the attack at which point Brown launched a vicious attack upon McIlwaine.
“He then encouraged Dillon to cut his throat. Brown then himself further attacked McIlwaine with the knife as he lay on the road and thereafter disposed of the knife.”
He added that that Brown and Dillon knew or believed that they were encouraging each other.
While it was not possible to attribute specific actions to either of them, their subsequent behaviour was a clear indicator of their approval of the method of attack on Robb and their intention to kill.
Mr McIlwaine, 18, and Mr Robb, 19, – who had no paramilitary connections – were murdered after Mr Robb allegedly made derogatory remarks about UVF commander Richard Jameson who had been shot dead two weeks previously.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The joint committee will consider the balance between privacy and freedom of expression
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The Human Rights Act may need to be amended to resolve the conflict between privacy and freedom of speech in UK law, a senior MP has said.
John Whittingdale said the section on freedom of expression may need to be “strengthened” after the controversy over super-injunctions.
The culture committee chairman is to help set up a committee of MPs and peers to look into privacy issues.
On Tuesday an MP named the footballer at the centre of a privacy row.
The row over court privacy rulings has come to a head in the past few days – as politicians used parliamentary privilege to name Ryan Giggs as the footballer at the centre of one injunction, and to reveal details of another injunction concerning former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin.
But the High Court has rejected attempts to overturn the injunction concerning Ryan Giggs – despite his name being published following MP John Hemming’s intervention in Parliament.
Prime Minister David Cameron said privacy rulings affecting newspapers were “unsustainable” and unfair on the press and the law had to “catch up with how people consume media today”.
“MPs enjoy a right to freedom of speech beyond that of mere mortals. ”
Mark Easton BBC home affairs editorRead Mark’s blog
He has written to Mr Whittingdale and the chairman of the justice select committee, Lib Dem MP Sir Alan Beith, to ask them to suggest members for a new joint committee of MPs and peers, to consider the issue more carefully.
Mr Whittingdale told the BBC that the remit and membership of the committee had not yet been decided upon.
But he said: “I think probably the challenge goes further than simply tweaking – it may be that we need to look at the way in which the Human Rights Act is working and amend that.”
The Human Rights Act introduced into UK law the principles of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Whittingdale said section 12, covering freedom of expression, “was put in by Parliament to deal with the question of injunctions on privacy grounds”.
“It was that which Parliament used to steer the courts to say that freedom of expression should carry a greater weight.
“If we don’t like the law in this place then we should act as legislators to change the law, not flout it”
Nick Clegg Deputy PM
“I think there is a lot of concern that courts are not taking due regard of that, it may be that we need to strengthen Section 12, it might be that we need to amend the Human Rights Act.”
While there were “very difficult issues” involved, he added: “That’s an option which will need to be considered.”
Both politicians who used parliamentary privilege to reveal details of court injunctions were Liberal Democrats – John Hemming MP and Lord Stoneham.
Asked under what circumstances “parliamentarians should be above the rule of law” in the Commons on Tuesday, party leader Nick Clegg told MPs: “I don’t think anyone should be above the rule of law, if we don’t like the law in this place then we should act as legislators to change the law, not flout it.”
Attorney General Dominic Grieve told MPs on Monday that the committee would consider the current balance between privacy and freedom of expression – and examine “how the law can be improved in this area”.
He added that while “any change in the law is a matter for Parliament” – interpreting the law was the responsibility of judges – and it was possible to have legislative changes without “a full blown privacy law”.
Conservative backbencher Bill Cash suggested that the problem had been that Parliament had not repealed the Human Rights Act – the Conservative manifesto had promised to replace it with a UK Bill of Rights but the coalition instead agreed to establish a commission to look into the issue.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on Saturday
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Some NI air passengers face disruption on Tuesday as a cloud of volcanic ash drifts over parts of the UK.
Easyjet flights from Belfast International Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh between 0500 BST and 0900 BST have been cancelled.
Two Loganair flights between Belfast City Airport and Dundee will also remain grounded.
All three NI airports are advising anyone intending to travel to contact their airline before leaving home.
Aer Lingus flights between Shannon, Dublin and Cork and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen have also been cancelled.
Last year, thousands of flights were cancelled across Northern Europe because of ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.
Debra Harris from Belfast International Airport has said there is potential for disruption to flights beyond Tuesday morning.
“At the moment, it is focused on Scotland but as the week goes on, depending on the weather, there may be some other disruptions,” she added.
The Civil Aviation Authority has said ash levels would be graded as low, medium or high, and airlines would be notified if levels reached medium or high.
Airlines would then consider whether to fly, according to risk assessments already carried out, the CAA added.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Dozens of swans have been slaughtered around the UK this year, a serial cat killer is on the loose in Norfolk, and over the past three decades hundreds of horses have been mutilated. But how is serial animal violence investigated, asks Tom de Castella.
Most people have seen enough television shows and read enough newspaper reports to know what happens when a murder investigation starts.
The crime scene is sealed off, forensic officers move in looking for fingerprints and DNA evidence, detectives go door- to-door. But what’s the procedure for investigators when the victim of a killing is an animal?
Every month gruesome cases come to light. Swans are regularly in the firing line. At least 40 of the birds were killed by humans in Somerset during the first three months of the year.
Killers John Duffy and David Mulcahy are believed to have tortured animals
In the last 10 days four men have been arrested over the shooting of eight swans near Stoke-on-Trent. And last week a man was convicted at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for killing a swan with a shotgun.
Meanwhile the number of cats killed around one street in the Norfolk village of Harleston has risen to at least 10 in the past four years. And since the 1980s there have been hundreds, possibly thousands, of horses slashed, mutilated and sexually assaulted across Britain. In Essex this month a Shetland pony was sexually assaulted and then hacked to death. So how do the RSPCA investigate such violent sprees?
Without witnesses, killings are difficult to crack, says Andy Shipp, a senior prosecution case manager at the charity. “It’s pretty rare to just have a dead animal. Unless you’ve got something else to go on, you’re up against it.”
Inspectors often employ common police procedures. At the crime scene they take photographs of the dead or injured animal and collect forensic evidence for fingerprinting and DNA testing.
Shipp recalls a case in Staffordshire where a cow was found alive with a crossbow bolt through its head. The local inspector tracked down the killer by collecting DNA evidence from a discarded bolt in the field. The DNA matched up to a young man on the DNA register and he was successfully prosecuted.
Expert view
Dr Gary Macpherson, consultant forensic clinical psychologist
Animal cruelty is widely known in psychology as a “red flag” indicator of psychopathy and future aggressive behaviour. Animal crime involves a callous disregard for living creatures and a lack of empathy which may translate into the way an offender views human beings.
There is a wealth of evidence to show that psychopathic individuals in particular have a history of cruelty and sadistic acts to animals. I have encountered offenders with a history of cruelty to animals.
There’s no hard and fast rule about degrees of cruelty. I presume that the closer the animal is to the human hierarchy the worse it is.
There are multiple reasons why a person chooses to engage in animal cruelty – psychological reasons or reasons related to mental illness or ‘hearing voices’.
In a few cases it’s sheer sadistic badness.
A post-mortem examination is carried out by an animal pathologist to establish cause of death, although it may not ascertain precise details, such as which poison has been used.
Collars and microchips can lead investigators to the owner. CCTV footage is another tool that can capture crucial evidence, such as when a woman in Coventry dumped a cat into a wheelie bin.
Inspectors looking for witnesses carry out door-to-door inquiries and if all else fails the RSPCA will make an appeal via the local press.
In extreme cases – such as the killing of swans in Somerset – the RSPCA works closely with police. There have been no convictions for the killings but a man has been charged with the unlawful possession of a shotgun.
The RSPCA can also bring in its own Special Operations Unit, a plain clothes team with expertise in surveillance and forensics used to tackle dog fighting and badger digging.
According to Barry Fryer, chief superintendent of the unit, forensics is becoming increasingly important. “If a man has got badger blood on his jeans we can compare it with an animal at the crime scene. Our database will show the odds of those two samples being the same and link it to the criminals.”
Fingerprinting is one avenue for evidence gathering
Soil on boots can also be traced to a specific area as can pollen – the latter a technique used in the Soham murder trial to link Ian Huntley to the ditch where his victims were dumped.
But most investigations are hardly hi-tech, says Simon Evans, an RSPCA inspector in the Rhondda Valley. Unlike the TV show CSI, there are no white protective suits – RSPCA inspectors wear nothing more exotic than gloves. Neither do they carry out psychological profiling of suspects.
“You rely on that person making a mistake and being seen or leaving DNA at the scene,” he says. “When people come forward with information it’s like a ray of light.”
An RSPCA inspector is already hunting the Norfolk cat killer.
When animals are poisoned – as with most of the cats in Harleston – the key is to track down the “bait station”, Evans says. In a similar case, he came across a piece of chicken floating in a poison made from a common household product. His task was then to prove that the chicken was put in intentionally as bait.
Animal killingsMay: Two adults and 6 cygnets were shot dead at a Stoke-on-Trent nature reserveMan convicted at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court for killing a swanA Shetland pony sexually assaulted and hacked to death in Essex. Four people arrestedApril: Tenth cat killed in four years in Norfolk village of Harleston, two others missing presumed deadMarch: Death toll of swans killed in Somerset reaches 40February: Eight swans shot dead in Somerset2010: The Daily Mail reports that 33 cats have been killed in a three year period in poisoned in Stogursey and Bridgwater in Somerset2009: Golden eagle found dead in the Cairngorms after being poisoned. At least 32 birds of prey shot dead during the year and 81 poisoned and 32 shot
In 12 years he estimates he’s brought about the convictions of a dozen people. Most crimes are unsolved.
He remembers the case of a greyhound found close to death on a mountainside, having been shot in the head with a stun gun. Evans managed to track the dog down to an unlicensed racetrack in the area, where staff put him in touch with the greyhound’s owner.
It turned out that the dog had broken its leg and the owner had given someone £10 to shoot it. The hired killer claimed to have shot it dead but had only stunned it and dumped it with a hole in its head on the mountain. The man was tried, convicted and imprisoned.
But six months in prison is the maximum sentence for animal cruelty, which some animal lovers feel is insufficient. Sir Terry Pratchett, who has offered a £10,000 reward for catching whoever is behind the Somerset swan killings, believes the law is too lenient for serious animal cruelty.
“People who do this sort of thing to an animal are probably a danger to people as well. I don’t think the punishment will fit the crime,” he said.
For Evans the outcome of the greyhound case was a “triumph”, which makes the painstaking work worthwhile. “These people aren’t normal – the anger and malice they exhibit can be disturbing. When you go to court and the person gets sent to prison it’s fantastic.”
The motive for animal killings is often not clear, but one category of deaths is often attributed to disgruntled farmers and gamekeepers. The RSPB’s most up-to-date figures reveal that in 2009 32 birds of prey were shot and 81 poisoned.
Whatever species is involved, the tenacity of investigators pursuing culprits despite a lack of evidence remains the same.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
