Monday, May 16, 2011

Libya: ICC prosecutor seeks warrant for Gaddafi

The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor is seeking the arrest of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and two others for crimes against humanity.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Col Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi bore the greatest responsibility for "widespread and systematic attacks" on civilians.

ICC judges must still decide whether or not to issue warrants for their arrest.

The Libyan government has already said it will ignore the announcement.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kaim said the court was a "baby of the European Union designed for African politicians and leaders" and its practices were "questionable".

Libya did not recognise its jurisdiction, like most African countries and the United States, and would ignore any announcement, he added.

read more at source; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13408931

Friday, March 25, 2011

Facebook kicks off 20,000 underage users a day

Are kids slipping through the cracks in Facebook's just-ask age screening approach?

The social networking site kicks off around 20,000 underage users per day, its chief privacy adviser, Mozelle Thompson, told Australia's parliament this week.

He admitted that the site's way of weeding out those who don't meet the 13-and-up age requirement -- essentially a user-entry honor system -- is "not perfect," because there's no mechanism for detecting kids who simply enter a false age.

"There are people who lie. There are people who are under 13," Thompson said.

A recent Pew study found that nearly half of all U.S. 12-year-olds use social networking sites -- and privacy concerns in regard to Facebook's younger members have been growing of late. This month, Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) to argue for reforms in the site's privacy measures. "Under Facebook's policy, 13 million users under the age of 18 may be allowed to share their personal information just like adult users," Franken wrote. "These younger users are the most vulnerable to predators on Facebook and the rest of the Internet and it should be impossible for them to inadvertently share their phone numbers and home addresses with anyone."

But Franken's figures don't factor in the unknown number of Facebook users under 13.

Other sites that are popular with kids handle the issue in differing ways. MySpace also requires users to be at least 13, but like Facebook, it has no practical way to verify that information. Disney.com allows children 12 and under to surf the site, and collects some personal information from them before they're eligible to participate in competitions, for example. Yahoo! doesn't allow kids 12 and under to register without the consent of a parent. Like Disney, it collects some limited idenifying information for participation in competitions and similar interactive features.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110323/bs_yblog_thelookout/facebook-kicks-off-20000-underage-users-a-day

PNoy confident Sumera killing will be solved

source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/216195/nation/pnoy-confident-sumera-killing-will-be-solved

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III expressed confidence on Friday that the killing of broadcaster Marlina ‘Len’ Flores-Sumera will be solved.

In an interview with Palace reporters, Aquino said that based on the report given to him by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the suspect has already been identified and is now subject of a manhunt.

"Given that, given also the cooperation of witnesses, I am confident that we will able to bring this perpetrator to justice," he said after attending the biennial convention of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Pasay City.

In a text message to reporters, Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said Special Task Group Sumera has been activated by the Northern Police District to investigate the case.

Bacalzo said land dispute is a possible motive in the killing as Sumera was the overall president of the Silonian, SitioRrosal, Interior Tongco and the Saloma Neighborhood Association with an estimated land area of 4.2 hectares.

The land is considered a public estate under the National Housing Authority and is about to be developed for road widening, reblocking, chopping and drainage improvement.

It is being contested by the KASAMA association led by Emma Nuqui and Julieta Lazaro whose motion for temporary restraining order is pending before the Malabon regional trial court branch 74.

The parties’ last court appearance was on Monday morning, March 21.

For his part, Herminio Coloma, head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), said that based on PNP reports, the recent media killings are all considered "solved."

Coloma was referring to the cases of:

# Gerardo Ortega which is now in court, with five suspects in police custody and two masterminds have been identified;

# Jose Daguio which has also been filed in court, one suspect arrested while another suspect found dead; and

# Miguel Belen, also in court with one suspect now in police custody. — RSJ, GMA News
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