Iran Hangs 16 'Rebels' To Avenge Deadly Ambush

Iran has hanged 16 "rebels" of an unspecified armed group in retaliation for the death of 14 border guards in clashes near the frontier with Pakistan.

Authorities are investigating whether the attackers were drug smugglers or armed opposition groups, according to state news agency IRNA.

In response to the killings, an Iranian prosecutor announced that 16 people linked to "terrorist" groups had been executed.

"These individuals were executed this Saturday morning in response to the terrorist action of last evening at Saravan and the martyrdom of the border guards," Mohammad Marzieh, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

He did not give any details of any trial proceedings.

The clashes erupted by the Iranian town of Sarwan near the Pakistan border

The attackers ambushed security forces on Friday night in a mountainous region outside Saravan, a town in Sistan-Baluchistan province, in south-east Iran.

Some news reports said up to 20 Iranian border guards had been killed.

There were also reports of several others injured - and being captured by the attackers.

The Mehr news agency said "bandits" attacked an official post.

Rajab-Ali Sheikhzadeh, a provincial official, told the ISNA news agency: "The attackers, who saw that conditions were unsafe for their actions, retreated to the country opposite (the border) after the clash."

Security forces have fought drug traffickers before in the border region with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The area also has a history of unrest, with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shi'ite Muslim authorities.

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US Spying Talks Backed By David Cameron

US Spying And The Moral High Ground

Updated: 6:47am UK, Friday 25 October 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

All nations spy, but not all nations claim they have liberal values and transparent government.

For those that do, it is a little embarrassing to be caught spying on your friends and military allies.

To be caught listening in on the private phone calls of the head of government of an ally is to be embarrassed on a different level.

Hence we see the presence of the US Ambassador to Berlin at the German foreign ministry.

Mr John B Emerson was called in to see foreign minister Guido Westerwelle for a touch of "clarification" on remarks made by the White House on Wednesday night.

This follows a call to Chancellor Angela Merkel's office by the Der Spiegel newspaper.

It asked a question which was probably based on some of Edward Snowden's files, to which it has access: "Has the US been tapping the mobile phone of the Chancellor?"

Der Spiegel says Germany's Federal Intelligence Service had enough information for Mrs Merkel to phone Barack Obama and ask the same question.

The Chancellery was confident enough to make public the call.

Within an hour, White House spokesman Jay Carney came up with an answer: "The  President assured the Chancellor that the United States is not monitoring, and will not monitor, the communications of the Chancellor."

Sadly, at the time of writing, the White House press corps did not appear to have asked the obvious question which arises from such a slippery answer: "OK - is not, and will not monitor, but has it monitored?"

President Obama has now found himself on the receiving end of phone calls from several indignant presidents.

The leaders of Brazil, Mexico, France, and Germany have all made it clear they take a dim view of activities of the American intelligence agencies in their own countries.

Brazil's President, Dilma Rouseff, even went so far as to cancel a state visit to Washington DC.

The US administration is now asking itself how much damage all of this is causing.

Some officials argue that spy storms come and go, but relationships survive.

Others agree about survival but say the relationships will be weakened and that America's standing in the world is damaged in the long term.

It is well known that Russia spies on Britain, which spies on China, which spies on America, which spies on … well, everyone it now appears.

Spying on enemies is obvious, and spying on trade partners is tolerated even if measures are taken to prevent it.

Spying on allies is frowned upon even if most countries do it while taking counter measures.

The French are well known to have been trying to steal everyone's business secrets for decades, and very good they are it too.

The golden rule is: don't get caught and don't embarrass us in public and remember, when it comes to allies, there are limits.

If the French and Americans wanted to know their respective positions ahead of a crucial UN Security Council vote, which was in the balance, they might use a variety of measures to find out.

If some of those measures were, perhaps, questionable and became public, it would be embarrassing but, behind the scenes, both sides would shrug their shoulders.

However, listening into the private calls of a head of government of a key ally is crossing a line - it is personal, a question of trust in a personal relationship, and it is impossible to justify in public.

Therefore, if the claims are true, the Americans have a stark choice.

In their democracy, with its open government, and liberal values, what has the greater value? The information you get from spying on friends at the highest levels or the moral standing you have among those friends and global public opinion?

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Nigerian Forces Kill 74 Boko Haram Militants

Nigerian armed forces have killed 74 Boko Haram militants in air and ground raids, the military has confirmed.

The troops launched their offensive against Boko Haram camps in remote villages in the northeast state of Borno, where the group has its strongest presence.

The military appears to be stepping up its offensive against the militants, who have killed thousands of people since their uprising began four years ago.

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Dole said: "The operation, which involved ground and aerial assault supported by the Nigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing 74 terrorists while others fled with serious injuries."

The army is stepping up operations in the Boko Haram stronghold of Borno

He said that two soldiers had been wounded in the operation.

It is the second strike against the Islamist sect in a week. Last week, the army said it had killed 37 Boko Haram members in a similar operation in another remote area of Borno.

Nigerian forces have intensified attacks against Boko Haram since May, when President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states in the northeast.

However, the group has retaliated. In late September militants shot dead 40 students as they slept at a college in the region.

Boko Haram carried out a bombing at the UN headquarters in Abuja in 2011

Boko Haram is fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria.

The group launched its uprising against the state in 2009, turning itself from a clerical movement opposed to Western culture into an armed militia with links to al Qaeda's West African wing.

The group is seen as the biggest security threat to Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer.

Although their activities are located hundreds of miles away from its southern oil fields, they have bombed the capital Abuja at least three times, including a deadly attack on the United Nations' Nigeria headquarters in 2011.

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JonBenet Grand Jury Sought Child Abuse Charges

Court documents have revealed that a 1999 grand jury indicted the parents of murdered JonBenet Ramsay for child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime, including murder.

The indictment, released for the first time on Friday, did not point to who might have killed John and Patsy's six-year-old daughter.

The grand jury tasked with investigating the girl's death found that her parents "did unlawfully, knowingly, recklessly and feloniously permit a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation which posed a threat of injury ... which resulted in death".

Members of grand jury leave after meeting in 1999

The indictment, which the prosecutor refused to prosecute, said the crimes occurred between December 25 and December 26, 1996.

JonBenet's body was discovered bludgeoned and strangled in her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, on December 26.

The document also alleges both parents intended to delay or prevent the arrest of the alleged killer.

JonBenet's pageant videos were aired around the world

The couple denied any wrongdoing in their daughter's death.

Patsy Ramsey died of cancer in 2006, still fighting to clear her name.

In 2008, former district attorney Mary Lacy said DNA evidence suggested the girl's killer was a stranger, not a family member, and she announced that she planned to treat the Ramseys as victims of the crime.

Former district attorney Alex Hunter opted not to pursue charges

The grand jury documents - sealed for 14 years - were released after the Daily Camera and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a lawsuit to seek the records.

The Daily Camera reported in January that members of the grand jury had voted to indict the Ramseys, but then-Boulder district attorney Alex Hunter opted not to pursue the indictment.

Officials have never explained that decision.

John Ramsey's attorney, Hal Haddon, declined to comment on Friday.

No charges were filed against John Karr

He issued a letter earlier in the week opposing release of the indictment, pointing out that Ms Lacy cleared the Ramseys in 2008.

The case remains one of the most notorious unsolved murders in US history.

At the time, videos of the girl competing in child beauty pageants made headlines around the world, with Boulder police receiving thousands of tips over the case.

The case became the centre of media attention for a second time in 2006 when former primary school teacher John Mark Karr claimed he killed the former Little Miss Colorado "by accident".

No charges were filed against Karr after his DNA failed to match a sample found on JonBenet's clothes.

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Maria: Bulgarian Couple Are Roma Girl's Parents

DNA tests have confirmed that a Bulgarian couple are the biological parents of a mystery girl found in a Greek Roma camp.

Samples showed that Sasha Ruseva and Atanas Rusev were the biological parents of Maria, the blonde child who made global headlines after being spotted in Athens.

Ms Ruseva has said she gave birth to a baby girl four years ago in Greece while working as an olive picker.

A picture of two of Maria's siblings in Bulgaria

She said she gave the child away because she was too poor to care for her but insisted she did not get paid.

However, she has also reportedly told one of her neighbours that she sold the child for the equivalent of around £213.

She recognised Maria when her discovery was reported in the media, she said.

According to reports Mrs Ruseva, who is married and lives in the central Bulgarian town of Nikolaevo, has as many as 10 children.

A hunt was launched for the girl's parents after she was spotted in Greece

Five of those children are blonde, and even closely resemble the girl found at the camp last week.

Maria's case came to light when Greek police noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde girl and the adults she was staying with in Athens.

Today's confirmation comes after police arrested a childless couple in Greece on suspicion of buying a baby girl and trying to register her as their own.

The couple were arrested in Athens after they allegedly paid a Roma woman 4,000 euros (£3,400) for the baby, a Greek police statement said.

Authorities are looking for the baby's birth parents.

The suspects, aged 53 and 48, were expected to be charged with child abduction.

Under Greek law this includes cases where a minor is voluntarily given away by its parents outside the legal adoption process.

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Khodorkovsky: 'Russia Heading For Revolution'

ВОПРОСЫ ОТ

Updated: 12:24pm UK, Friday 25 October 2013

Считаете ли Вы, что против Вас готовятся новые обвинения? Считаете ли Вы, что будете освобождены в срок?

За 10 лет я убедился - в моем деле нет ничего невозможного.

Во время второго процесса прокурор в московском суде доказывал, что я украл всю нефть, добытую моей компанией, а представитель министерства юстиции в то же время в ЕСПЧ утверждал обратное: нефть честно продана, но за нее недоплачены налоги.

Однако наш Верховный суд согласился с обоими взаимоисключающими утверждениями.

Какова Ваша ежедневная жизнь в колонии? Надежда Толоконникова недавно сказала, что по ее мнению условия ее содержания близки к пытке, и описала изоляцию и отчуждение от других заключенных. Не могли бы Вы описать свою камеру и бытовые условия? Как Вы общаетесь с семьей и внешним миром?

Я и мои товарищи по несчастью слышали, что женские колонии страшнее мужских, но не знали, что настолько. В женских колониях 16-часовой подневольный труд, выстаивание на морозе за недовыполнение нормы, запрет ходить в туалет или мыться хотя бы раз в неделю вызывает в мужской колонии немедленный и жестокий бунт. Такое бывает, но сравнительно редко, 2-3 раза в год на всю страну.

Мне, к счастью, с подобным столкнуться не довелось, хотя и здесь жизнь - не сахар. Главное, с чем тяжело смириться, - множество бессмысленных правил (например, теплую одежду одевают и снимают не по погоде, а по решению начальства) и полная зависимость от настроения этого самого начальства.

Я опишу свой день.

У нас 8-часовой рабочий день, плюс проверки, плюс немного времени для чтения, написания бумаг или встреч с адвокатом.

У нас барачное содержание, по 100-150 человек в бараке; спальные помещения по 2 кв.м на человека; в бараках тепло, что очень важно. В колонии ночью тихо, только горит свет, и раз в два часа в помещении ходит инспектор. Но мне это не мешает.

Трансляцию телевидения или радио ведет администрация, так что я смотрю только новости (естественно, госканалы). Ограничений в доступе к книгам и письменным принадлежностям нет, кроме одного - не более 10 книг, что, конечно, очень мешает. Нет никаких ограничений в отправлении и получении писем. Мне позволены звонки в течение 15 минут один раз в неделю.

Одежду выдают и стирают. Здесь проблем нет. Туалет общий, но чистый. Душ раз в неделю.

Следы мяса в пище вижу регулярно; свежие овощи - иногда в тюремном ларьке. Продуктовые посылки - один раз в два месяца, 20 кг. Я прошу орехи, сухофрукты, кофе. За 10 лет есть опыт сохранения здоровья. Днем есть час, когда можно на улице заниматься спортом.

С родными мне разрешено один раз в три месяца проводить по три дня в комнате свиданий и один раз в два месяца 4 часа через стекло и по телефону.

Тюрьма очень сильно уравнивает - когда я попал в тюрьму, я многое потерял. Многие прибыли со столь малым, что почти не заметили разницы. Она уравнивает забавным способом. Мой столь длительный срок повысил товарищеское отношение со стороны других заключенных. Я не просто отбываю срок, я отбываю неопределенный срок по капризу властей.

Что Вы думаете о задержании активистов «Greenpeace»? Удивлены ли Вы тем, что власти теперь похоже подвергают иностранных граждан тому же обращению, что и российских активистов?

Как минимум в краткосрочной перспективе с ними будут обращаться так же, как и с россиянами, в надежде отпугнуть остальных. Потом, я думаю, они будут освобождены.

Владимир Путин очень четко обозначил свою позицию, как внутренне, так и на международном уровне - он будет пытаться (давить), а те, кто не согласен, - должны сопротивляться. Если россияне смирились - он «закручивает гайки», если возмутились - проверяет на прочность, а затем, где надо, «отвинчивает». Иностранцы смирились - почему он должен вести себя иначе? Мир прозрачен, его «не поймут».

Где, по Вашему, окажется страна, если она продолжит двигаться в этом направлении под руководством Путина? Может ли произойти революция или экономический коллапс? Как Вы видите будущее для России?

Россия уже погрузилась в застой. Темпы экономического роста для данного этапа развития - слишком низкие. Инфраструктура (дороги, коммунальные сети) не развивается. Образование и наука, по крайней мере, стоят на месте.

В современном мире это означает постепенное отставание, на фоне быстро растущей Азии. А они - наши соседи.

Причины очевидны: несменяемая, бесконтрольная власть теряет гибкость, стареет, разрушается коррупцией. Кадровые, социальные лифты замерли для всех, кроме узкого круга приближенных и уникальных лизоблюдов.

Страна теряет устойчивость перед неизбежными кризисами. Оппозиция, настроенная на эволюционное развитие, постепенно замещается радикалами.

Возможны два варианта:

(1) реформы сверху, когда Путин постепенно введет реальную политическую конкуренцию и разделение властей. На это надежды мало, хотя массовый протест способен слегка подтолкнуть систему в этом направлении; или

(2) реформы снизу - на фоне того или иного кризиса, когда тот же массовый мирный протест может привести к власти демократическую оппозицию.

Риск в том, что во втором случае очень возможен переход в революционный режим, который в России чреват возрождением авторитаризма, просто с иными персонами.

Задача всех неравнодушных и ответственных граждан России - на мой взгляд - не допустить такого развития событий.

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Al Qaeda-Linked Syrian Rebel Leader 'Killed'

The leader of the powerful Syrian rebel group the al Nusra Front has been killed, according to Syrian state-run TV.

According to the one-line report, Abu Mohammad al Golani was killed in the coastal province of Latakia.

It did not say when or give further details.

However the rebel group said in a statement on Saturday that its leader was in good health.

"What was claimed by one channel alone, regarding what it claimed was the killing of the emir of al Nusra Front, was a lie," said the group.

The extremist front has become one of the most effective among the rebel groups fighting President Bashar Assad's forces.

The al Nusra Front played a key part in the Battle of Aleppo

However, it has links to al Qaeda and is classed by the US, the UK and the UN as a terrorist organisation.

If al Golani's death is confirmed it will be a significant blow to rebels, who consider the group to be the "special forces" of the battle against the regime.

The group, whose goal is to overthrow Mr Assad and establish an Islamist state under Sharia law, announced its creation in January 2012 and were key players in the Battle of Aleppo.

But they have an uneasy alliance with the National Coalition for Opposition Forces and many rebel groups consider them to be too extreme.

Al Nusra is opposed to western intervention in the nearly three-year-long Syrian civil war and many members consider the US to be an enemy of Islam.

The news of al Golani's death came as a car bomb outside a mosque in Damascus killed at least 40, including seven children.

Dozens of people were wounded in the car bombing in the rebel-controlled town of Suq Wadi Barada, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Anti-regime activists blamed the attack on government forces, while state news agency SANA said "the car exploded while the terrorists were packing it with explosives".

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Silk Road Accused's '$28m Stash' Found By FBI

Around $28m (£17.3m) worth of online currency has been seized from a man accused of operating a black market drugs website known as Silk Road.

New York attorney Preet Bharara said more than 144,000 bitcoins, the largest seizure of digital currency ever, were found on computer hardware belonging to Ross William Ulbricht.

The 29-year-old suspect's lawyers in California and New York have not commented on the latest development in the case.

Ulbricht was arrested at the beginning of this month in San Francisco and charged with narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering in connection with the website, which is believed to have collected more than $1bn (£618m) in revenue.

Dubbed the eBay of the drug trade, the website used a privacy-protecting Tor network and the bitcoin currency to shield the identities of buyers and sellers around the world.

Ulbricht, a physics graduate from Texas, is also charged with arranging to pay someone to kill a witness.

He was sent to New York earlier this month.

An FBI agent said Silk Road was used by "several thousand drug dealers" to sell "hundreds of kilogrammes of illegal drugs".

The website allowed users to anonymously browse through nearly 13,000 listings under categories such as "cannabis", ''psychedelics" and "stimulants", "erotica", "forgeries" and "fireworks".

If convicted, Ulbricht could be sentenced to life in prison.

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US Spy Agency Site Crashes Amid Attack Claims

The website for America's National Security Agency is back up after going down on Friday, fuelling speculation it might have been attacked by hackers.

The public-facing site for the intelligence agency, which has been under fire after whistleblower Edward Snowden released secret documents about it, suddenly went down in the afternoon.

Several Twitter accounts that purportedly belong to people loosely associated with the hacking movement Anonymous have suggested they were responsible.

An NSA spokesperson denied the claims, saying they were "not true."

"NSA.gov was not accessible for several hours tonight because of an internal error that occurred during a scheduled update. The issue will be resolved this evening," the spokesperson said.

"Claims that the outage was caused by a distributed denial of service attack are not true."

Twitter users @AnonymousOwn3r and @TruthIzSexy implied that a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack - a method of over-loading a website with too much traffic - may have been waged as an act of protest against the NSA.

Other Anonymous-affiliated accounts referred to the website crash.

Tweets from AnonyOps read: "Aww don't panic about http://nsa.gov being down. They have a backup copy of the internet.

"The #NSA is lawless and believes rules don't apply to them. Time for a total reboot."

An0nPun1shm3nt wrote: "Dear National Security Agency #NSA, Lesson #1 : If you spy on us, we are coming for you!"

The outage came a day after former NSA director Michael Hayden was allegedly overheard criticising the Obama administration over claims the FSA had monitored the phone calls of at least 35 world leaders.

Mr Hayden later told the Washington Post he had not been disparaging about Mr Obama or his administration.

He said: "I didn't criticise the President. I actually said these are very difficult issues. I said I had political guidance, too, that limited the things that I did when I was director of the NSA. Now that political guidance (for current officials) is going to be more robust. It wasn't a criticism."

A rally to protest against the NSA's surveillance programmes was due to take place in Washington DC later today.

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Saudi Women Protest Against Driving Ban

By Zein Ja'Far, Sky News Producer in Abu Dhabi

Women in Saudi Arabia have reportedly taken to the wheel to demand the right to drive - despite threats of immediate arrest.

Saudi authorities have warned they face arrest, possible legal action and could be stopped by force if they are caught behind the wheel.

But the threats have failed to put off many, including Bareah Albuzeedy, who says she will fight for her rights regardless of what authorities say.

Protesters were expected to drive their cars in cities across the country. 

Ms Albuzeedy said: "What we're asking for is a very simple right. It's only to let women drive and that's it."

Saudi professor and campaigner Aziza Youssef said the group had received 13 videos and another 50 phone messages from women showing or claiming they had driven, adding that it had no way to verify the messages.

Campaigners Bareah Zubeedy (L) and Dr Mahida Al Ajroush

If the numbers are accurate, this year's campaign will be the most successful effort yet.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that imposes a state ban on women drivers.

Although there is nothing which legally states women cannot drive, only men are granted licences and influential clerics have repeatedly called on the police to stop demonstrations from taking place.

Dr Mahida Al Ajroush, a prominent Saudi campaigner and psychotherapist, told Sky News she first drove in the country over 20 years ago and will do so again on Saturday.

She said: "The law says women can drive but the system does not give you a licence ... when a woman cannot drive it means she can't go to work on her own, she can't pick up her children, she can't run her errands nor take her children to emergency."

Despite thousands signing a petition supporting the October 26 campaign and expressing solidarity on social media, the group's website has been hacked and an Interior Ministry spokesperson warned that even those campaigning online could be punished.

Last month a conservative cleric drew widespread criticism after suggesting women could damage their ovaries by driving.

The country's ruling establishment fear that demonstrations could lead to bigger and more challenging protests in the future.

The Kingdom is currently pushing for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) and the way in which police deal with the planned action will be closely scrutinised. 

The country's first driving protest took place in 1995 with 50 women arrested for breaking the law and made to sign a declaration promising not to do so again.

In 2011 another 40 women got behind the wheel  in several cities after journalist Eman al-Nafjan was arrested for posting a video of herself driving online.

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