US wants Twitter details of Wikileaks activists

The US government has subpoenaed the social networking site Twitter for personal details of people connected to Wikileaks, court documents show.

The US District Court in Virginia said it wanted information including user names, addresses, connection records, telephone numbers and payment details.
Those named include Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and an Icelandic MP.
The US is examining possible charges against Mr Assange over the leaking of 250,000 classified diplomatic cables.
Reports indicate the Department of Justice may seek to indict him on charges of conspiring to steal documents with Private First Class Bradley Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst.
Mr Manning is facing a court martial and up to 52 years in prison for allegedly sending Wikileaks the diplomatic cables, as well military logs about incidents in Afghanistan and Iraq and a classified military video.
'Given a message' According to the

court order issued on 14 December by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia,

  the US Attorney's Office has provided evidence to show that the information held by Twitter is "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation".

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The San Francisco-based website was given three days to respond was also told not to disclose that it had been served the subpoena, or the existence of the investigation.

However, the same court removed those restrictions on Wednesday and authorised Twitter to disclose the order to its customers.
The subpoena requested the details of Mr Assange, Pfc Manning and Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, as well as Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp and US programmer Jacob Appelbaum, both of whom have previously worked with Wikileaks.
The information sought includes mailing addresses and billing information, connection records and session times, IP addresses used to access Twitter, email accounts, as well as the "means and source of payment".
Mr Assange condemned the court order on Saturday, saying it amounted to harassment.
"If the Iranian government was to attempt to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activists of foreign nations, human rights groups around the world would speak out," he said in a statement.
The order was unsealed "thanks to legal action by Twitter", he added.
Twitter has declined comment on the claim, saying only: "To help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
Ms Jonsdottir, who until recently was a vocal supporter of Wikileaks, revealed on Friday that the Department of Justice had asked Twitter for her personal details and all of her tweets since November 2009.
She said she had 10 days to appeal against the subpoena.
Ms Jonsdottir wrote on her Twitter feed: "USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since 1 November 2009. Do they realise I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"

Birgitta Jonsdottir says she helped produce a controversial Wikileaks video

She said that she would call Iceland's justice minister to discuss the request.
"I think I am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone," she said.
Ms Jonsdottir was the chief sponsor of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) law, which made Iceland an international haven for investigative journalism and free speech.
She has said she helped to produce a video for Wikileaks showing a US Apache helicopter shooting civilians in Iraq in 2007.
The classified video, released by Wikileaks last April, brought the whistle-blowing website to the world's attention.
The website's founder, Julian Assange, is currently fighting extradition from the UK to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning as part of an inquiry into alleged sex offences.
Ms Jonsdottir reportedly left Wikileaks late last year after she argued unsuccessfully that Mr Assange should take a low-profile role until his legal troubles were resolved.

Google to fix phone bug that misdirects text messages

Google says it will fix a mobile phone bug that mistakenly sends text messages to the wrong people.

The glitch, which has hit a small portion of the company's Android mobile phones, first emerged last year.
Those affected say some of their texts have ended up in the hands of random recipients.
After investigating the issue, Google said it had "developed a fix" and would be rolling it out soon.
It is nearly a year since the problem was first reported, although the number of incidents appeared to increase last summer.
Initial examinations confused the problem with another, similar bug - but the company admitted yesterday that some users have seen their messages delivered to the incorrect recipient.
"It took us some time to reproduce this issue, as it appears that it's only occurring very rarely," said Nik Kralevich, an engineer on the Android security team.
"Even so, we've now managed to both reproduce it and develop a fix that we will deploy."
It is not clear, however, when users will actually receive the fix - or how it would happen.
Some mobile bugs require a complete software update - which would require plugging affected handsets into a computer - while others can be fixed remotely.
Potentially embarrassing Although the company was keen to stress that only a tiny fraction of users have reported problems, some users say it has proven embarrassing and potentially costly.
"Today I sent a text asking about a contract from a potential employer - and it went to my current boss," wrote one user on Google's bug forum.
"If this hurts my career, I will be looking into legal action."
Tracking down the bug has become increasingly important for Google since Android - its system to power smartphones - has grown massively in popularity over the past year.
It has rocketed from having a share of just 3% of the worldwide smart phone market in 2009 to more than 25% today.
Most users affected suggested it is an inconvenient, rather than crippling, problem - but those who have experienced the glitch say that it has been troubling.
"I don't know where the SMS messages are going," Christina Bunce, a university programme leader from Falmouth, told the BBC.
"But I can see they have been sent and never arrived."

Piracy concerns over Apple's new Mac download store

Several groups claim to have found security flaws in the company's new Mac App Store, which launched on Thursday.
The new service allows people to find and download approved applications to their Apple computers.
However pirates suggest that the loopholes mean many pieces of paid-for software are vulnerable to unauthorised copying.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs had hailed the launch as "innovative", but the company has yet to respond to the claims.
While Mac users have been able to purchase and install programs on their computers for many years, the Californian technology giant hopes the new system can emulate the success of its music and mobile download services.
The store has more than 1,000 programs for download, including best sellers such as Angry Birds.
Apple scrutiny Unlike ordinary software downloads, however, every program in the store is scrutinised by Apple and must pass a series of tests before gaining approval.
Almost immediately after the launch, however, pirates and Apple experts outlined a series of loopholes that could allow software to be copied or shared illegally.
One flaw, which only affects some applications including the popular Angry Birds game, involves simply copying and pasting the purchase code to allow paid-for programs to be used for free.
At the same time, a group known as Hackulous says it has developed a program called Kickback which can break the protection on any piece of App Store software.

However the organisation, which has previously broken the copy protection systems used by the iPhone and iPad, says it will not release its work until next month.

"We're not going to release Kickback until well after the store's been established," said "Dissident", a spokesman for the group. "We don't want to devalue applications and frustrate developers."
Google battle extensively about the company - said the loopholes showed gaps in the system. "Apple should test for this in the review process, and reject paid apps that are susceptible to this simple technique," he wrote.
In the past the company has come under fire for the opaque nature of its approval scheme, which has sometimes resulted in applications being blocked without an obvious reason.
Most notably Google complained after its Voice application for the iPhone was turned down. It was eventually given approval, but only after a protracted battle between the two companies.
The news also comes after it emerged that as many as 50,000 fraudulently-obtained iTunes accounts were for sale on Chinese auction site TaoBao.

Hodgson leaves Liverpool as Dalglish takes over

Liverpool today confirmed that manager Roy Hodgson has left the club by mutual consent.

Hodgson had been under huge pressure following poor results this season and the decision came as no surprise with the club 12th in the Barclays Premier League, just four points above the relegation zone.

Kenny Dalglish will take control of team matters for tomorrow's third round FA Cup tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

In a statement on the club's website, principal owner John Henry said: "We are grateful for Roy's efforts over the past six months, but both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down from his position as team manager.

"We wish him all the best for the future."

Hodgson added: "Being asked to manage Liverpool football club was a great privilege.

"Any manager would be honoured to manage a club with such an incredible history, such embedded tradition and such an amazing set of fans.

"Liverpool is one of the great clubs in world football. I have, however, found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career.

"I am very sad not to have been able to put my stamp on the squad, to be given the time to bring new players into the club in this transfer window and to have been able to be part of the rebuilding process at Liverpool.

"The club has some great, world-class players, with whom it has been a pleasure to work and I wish the entire squad well for the rest of the season.

"I thank those with whom I have built up a close working relationship at the club for their loyalty and support during very testing times, and finally of course to the Liverpool fans, your passion and dedication to the club will see Liverpool at the top of the game once more."

Speaking about the decision to put Dalglish in charge of the team for the rest of the season, Henry added: "We are delighted that Kenny Dalglish has agreed to step in and manage the team for Sunday's FA Cup tie at Old Trafford and for the remainder of the season.

"Kenny was not just a legendary footballer, he was the third of our three most successful managers - three giants. We are extraordinarily fortunate and grateful that he has decided to step in during the middle of this season."

Chairman Tom Werner said: "No one who cares for this great club has been happy with the way this season has unfolded and we have examined options and considered at length what is best for us going forward.

"Kenny will bring considerable experience to the position and provide management and leadership for the rest of the season."

Hodgson was named Liverpool boss on July 1 last year, signing a three-year contract and looking to translate his success at Fulham onto a bigger stage.

But despite victories in the early stages of the Europa League, domestic results failed to live up to expectations, most memorably with a Carling Cup exit to League Two Northampton at Anfield.

The Reds even found themselves in the bottom three of the league with a 2-1 home defeat to promoted Blackpool, the first time since September 1964 they had ended a round of top-flight fixtures in such a position.

A run of three straight league wins, including over Chelsea at Anfield, eased the pressure, but Hodgson was forced to apologise to the club's fans for saying he "had never had the famous Anfield support" since taking over.

Those comments came after another home defeat, this time to bottom side Wolves, and the final straw came with Wednesday's 3-1 loss at Blackburn.

Royal Family granted new right of secrecy

The Royal Family is to be granted absolute protection from public scrutiny in a controversial legal reform designed to draw a veil of secrecy over the affairs of the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William.

Letters, emails and documents relating to the monarch, her heir and the second in line to the throne will no longer be disclosed even if they are in the public interest.

Sweeping changes to the Freedom of Information Act will reverse advances which had briefly shone a light on the royal finances – including an attempt by the Queen to use a state poverty fund to heat Buckingham Palace – and which had threatened to force the disclosure of the Prince of Wales's prolific correspondence with ministers.

Lobbying and correspondence from junior staff working for the Royal Household and Prince Charles will now be held back from disclosure. Buckingham Palace confirmed that it had consulted with the Coalition Government over the change in the law. The Government buried the plan for "added protection" for the Royal Family in the small print of plans called "opening up public bodies to public scrutiny".

Maurice Frankel, head of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said that since the change referred to communications written on behalf of the Queen and Prince Charles it might be possible for "park keepers working in the royal parks" to be spared public scrutiny of their letters written to local authorities.

The decision to push through the changes also raises questions about the sincerity of the Liberal Democrats' commitment to government transparency. In opposition, senior Liberal Democrats frequently lined up to champion the Freedom of Information Act after it came into force in 2005.

Ian Davidson, a former member of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), told The Independent: "I'm astonished that the Government should find time to seek to cover up royal finances. When I was on the PAC what we wanted was more disclosure not less.

"Every time we examined royal finances we found extravagance and indulgence as well as abuse of expenses by junior royals.

"Everywhere we looked, there were savings to be made for the Government. This sends the wrong message about public disclosure and accountability."

Paul Flynn, another member of the committee, described the special protection for the Royals as "indefensible". He said: "I don't think it serves the interests of the public or the Royal Family very well."

Mr Frankel said he believed that Prince Charles was the driving force behind the new law.

"The heir to the throne has written letters to government departments in an attempt to influence policy," he said.

"He clearly does not want these to get into the public domain."

Later this month, lawyers for the Cabinet Office, backed by Prince Charles, will go to court to continue to resist Freedom of Information requests of ministers to publish letters written to them by the Prince of Wales.

A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said that the change to the law was necessary because the Freedom of Information Act had failed to protect the constitutional position of the monarch and the heir to the throne. He explained that the sovereign has the right and duty to be consulted, to encourage and warn the government, and by extension, the heir to the throne had the constitutional right and duty to prepare himself for the role of King.

"This constitutional position relies on confidentiality, so that all such correspondence remains confidential," he said.

But he said that change would also mean that correspondence not covered by the absolute exemption would be made public 10 years earlier than under the current disclosure rules.

The Palace's position was backed by Professor Vernon Bogdanor, research professor at King's College London.

He told The Independent: "The essence of constitutional monarchy is that the Queen and other members of the Royal Family remain politically neutral. The Queen meets the Prime Minister once a week, when both are in London, to discuss government policy.

"The heir to the throne has the right, and perhaps the duty, to question ministers on policy so as to prepare himself for the throne. Such discussions are only possible if they remain confidential. Otherwise the neutrality of the Queen and of the Prince of Wales could be undermined.

"When the Queen meets the Prime Minister, no one else is present – not even the Queen's Private Secretary. For this reason, it is right that the Royal Family should be exempt from FOI."

The Government claimed that the thrust of the changes announced yesterday would make it "easier for people to use FOI to find and use information about the public bodies they rely on and their taxes pay for".

The Ministry of Justice intends to increase the number of organisations to which FOI requests can be made, bringing in bodies such as the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Financial Services Ombudsman, and the higher education admissions body UCAS, and also all companies wholly owned by any number of public authorities.

In the public interest? The stories they didn't want us to know

*In 2004 the Queen asked ministers for a poverty handout to help heat her palaces but was rebuffed because they feared it would be a public relations disaster. Royal aides were told that the £60m worth of energy-saving grants were aimed at families on low incomes and if the money was given to Buckingham Palace instead of housing associations or hospitals it could lead to "adverse publicity" for the Queen and the government.

*A "financial memorandum" formalising the relationship between the sovereign and ministers set out tough terms on how the Queen can spend the £38.2m handed over by Parliament each year to pay for her staff and occupied palaces.

*The Queen requested more public money to pay for the upkeep of her crumbling palaces while allowing minor royals and courtiers to live in rent-free accommodation.

*As early as 2004 Sir Alan Reid, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, had unsuccessfully put the case to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for a substantial increase in the £15m-a-year grant to maintain royal buildings.

*The Palace planned to go ahead with refurbishing and renting the apartment of Diana, Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace after it had lain empty since her death in 1997.

*A letter exchange revealed a tussle over who has control of £2.5m gained from the sale of Kensington Palace land. Ministers said it belonged to the state, while Buckingham Palace said it belonged to the Queen.

Obama urges end to 'symbolic battles' in Congress

President Barack Obama urged newly empowered Republicans today not to wage "symbolic battles" against him but to instead work together to help spur job growth and economic recovery.

Obama issued his appeal in his weekly radio address after Republicans took power in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday, setting up potentially fierce fights with the president and his Democrats on spending, debt and healthcare.

"Our fundamental mission must be to accelerate hiring and growth," Obama said.

He touted as an example of bipartisan cooperation a massive compromise tax cut package approved by Congress last month that he said had contributed to "more optimistic economic forecasts for the year ahead."

Obama cautiously welcomed yesterday's US Labor Department report that unemployment in December fell to 9.4 per cent from 9.8 per cent. But the rise of 103,000 in non-farm payrolls fell short of economists' expectations.

"We know that these numbers can bounce around from month to month. But the trend is clear," he said. "The pace of hiring is picking up.

Turning to the political front, Obama kept up his push for increased bipartisanship since his Democrats were trounced in the November congressional elections.

"What we can't do is refight the battles of the past two years that distract us from the hard work of moving our economy forward," he said.

"What we can't do is engage in the kinds of symbolic battles that so often consume Washington while the rest of America waits for us to solve problems," he said.

Resurgent Republicans have vowed to undo Obama's healthcare reform plan, but the effort took a hit on Thursday when congressional budget analysts said repeal would add billions of dollars to the federal budget deficit.

Democrats, who still control the Senate despite losses in last year's elections, have promised to protect the healthcare law, Obama's signature legislative victory. The Republican drive to overturn it is thus seen as largely symbolic.

Jeddah suffers further flooding

DUBAI - Jeddah suffered further flooding on Monday as heavy rains saw streets once again submerged by water and traffic come to a standstill, local daily Arab News reported.

The rains come less than a week after the last downpours that flooded large parts of the Red Sea port city, which suffers from poor drainage infrastructure.

Thursday’s downpours left some districts up to waist-high in water and many affected areas were still immersed when it started raining on Monday, according to the newspaper.

The fresh rains and warnings of more to come this week sparked fears among residents that floodwater could begin encroaching into their homes, Arab News reported.

Residents in one district are threatening Jeddah municipality with legal action over the flooding, alleging authorities did not have adequate prevention measures in place, according to the newspaper.

“This is the second time our area is inundated because of rainfalls,” resident Ismail Qashgari was quoted as saying.

“The municipality has got budget allocations to prevent flash floods. We’ll ask for compensation for material damages caused by floods.”

Authorities have struggled to clear the rainwater following Thursday’s downpours and health experts have warned large puddles of stagnant water could turn into a breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects.

The flooding has not claimed any casualties in Jeddah, but a man and three children died on in the Mecca region on Thursday, according to authorities.

Torrential rains in November 2009 caused severe flooding in Jeddah that killed at least 123 people and devastated parts of the city.

Thousands of families were left homeless and more than 10,785 buildings were wrecked and 10,850 vehicles destroyed, according to official figures.

The floods sparked outrage among residents, many of whom blamed inadequate infrastructure for escalating the disaster.

King Abdullah ordered an inquiry into the disaster and police questioned dozens of people, including government officials, contractors and engineers.