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Leading Russian businessman killed in Moscow
2008-02-07 12:26:00
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A prominent Moscow businessman was shot dead overnight in what police believed was a contract killing, Russian media reported on Thursday. Yevgeny Chivilikhin, president of the Moscow Markets and Fairs Guild, died from several wounds to the head after being ambushed by an unknown gunman at the entrance to his house in central area of the Russian capital. "Police believe this was a contract killing," said Vesti-24 television channel. Police were quoted as saying they hoped footage from surveillance cameras installed at the house could help to find the killer. In 2006, Chivilikhin escaped unhurt when a bomb exploded near his house.
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China getting back on its feet as weather improves
2008-02-07 12:26:00
By Royston Chan CHENZHOU, China (Reuters) - The thunder of firecrackers ushered in the Year of the Rat on Thursday, but millions of Chinese were spending a cold holiday as repair teams battled to restore power knocked out by the worst snow storms in a century. China's leaders spent the eve of the Lunar New Year holiday in some of the worst-hit parts of south-central China offering consolation to residents and encouragement to relief workers. Premier Wen Jiabao was in the provinces of Jiangxi and Guizhou on his third tour of disaster areas in nine days. He visited one city that has been without electricity for three weeks. As well as mobilising more than a million soldiers and reservists to combat the snow and ice, the state has cranked up its propaganda machine to lift spirits for the most important day in the calendar. "We lost much in the weather disaster...but we also got many things, such as courage, will and the ability to overcome difficulties. Amid the disaster, re...
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McCain reaches out to conservatives but only so far
2008-02-07 12:26:00
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner John McCain is trying to gain his party's presidential nomination by convincing conservatives he is one of them, without hurting support from moderate voters who have propelled his candidacy. The Arizona senator who scored major Super Tuesday victories is making clear that a key goal will be to energize the Republican base, but that he will never be able to placate all of his critics on the right. "I think my record indicates that I'm a solid conservative," McCain said, while noting that with some in his party, "we've got disagreements on specific issues from time to time." McCain is now the odds-on favorite to win the Republican nomination. His senior adviser, Charlie Black, said he believes it is "virtually impossible" for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to catch him in the remaining state contests. But he still faces some tough going...
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Indonesia, Australia say winning against extremists
2008-02-07 12:26:00
By Rob Taylor CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia and Indonesia said they were making inroads into combating extremists in Southeast Asia, agreeing on Thursday to step up counter-terrorism efforts and extend security pacts between the two neighbours. Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and his new Australian counterpart Stephen Smith met in Western Australia to bring into force a 2006 security treaty which clears the way for training between Australian and Indonesian commandos. "Counter-terrorism cooperation continues to be a success story of which our security policy agencies in both countries should be very proud," Smith said. "They have both put the terrorist infrastructure in our region under extreme pressure." The pair met as three militants on death row in Indonesia for carrying out nightclub bombings in Bali in 2002 launched an appeal with the country's Supreme Court. Islamic militants belonging to the Jemaah Islamiah group have been blamed for ...
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Israel kills five militants in Gaza - medics
2008-02-07 12:26:00
GAZA (Reuters) - Israel i forces backed by tanks and warplanes launched a raid into the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing five Palestinian Hamas militants, Hamas and medical officials said. Local residents said Israeli tanks and heavy bulldozers penetrated the border fence near the town of Jabalya in the coastal territory. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was checking the report. A Hamas official said the militants belonged to the Islamist group, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June when it routed secular Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli forces frequently carry out raids in the Gaza Strip to try and stop militants from firing rockets at southern parts of the Jewish state. Hamas said it was responsible for a suicide bombing that killed a woman in Israel on Monday, the first such claim from the group since 2004.

U.S. lifts restrictions on Thai assistance
2008-02-07 12:26:00
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it lifted restrictions on aid to Thai land after the new Thai Cabinet was sworn in, marking the return of elected government after a September 2006 coup. President George W. Bush suspended about $35 million in assistance to Thailand, including funds designed to promote military professionalism, after former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was deposed by a military coup. "We congratulate Thailand's new cabinet on its inauguration, and the Thai people on their success in re-establishing an elected government," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement. Political veteran Samak Sundaravej, 72, was elected prime minister in December after Thailand's first parliamentary elections since the coup. Samak's Cabinet was sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Wednesday. "Deputy Secretary (John) Negroponte has determined and certified to Congress that a democratically elected government has taken...
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Weather may delay space shuttle launch from Florida
2008-02-07 12:26:00
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA prepared to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Thursday on a long-delayed mission to deliver a $1.9 billion European laboratory to the International Space Station, but weather threatened another postponement. Atlantis was scheduled to lift off at 2:45 p.m. (1945 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the first space shuttle mission of the year. But the U.S. space agency's weather experts offered only a 30 percent chance of a launch as a cold front that spawned killer tornadoes in the southeastern United States headed toward central Florida. The front was expected to have lost much of its strength by the time it reaches the Cape Canaveral area, but meteorologists said it could bring rain, clouds and perhaps thunderstorms. Atlantis' mission was twice delayed in December by technical problems with an emergency engine cutoff system. The shuttle will carry Columbus, Europe's first permanent space lab, into orbit, where astronau...
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Pol Pot's number two requests bail
2008-02-07 12:26:00
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Pol Pot's right-hand man, Nuon Chea, appeared before Cambodia's "Killing Fields" tribunal on Wednesday to request bail, arguing he was not a flight risk and would not try to influence potential witnesses. The octogenarian former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, also said fears for his safety were overblown as he had been living for years in "peace and harmony" at his home in the jungle along the Thai border. "I have no desire to leave my beloved country," he told a courtroom packed with reporters. "No one is worried about my security." A previous bail hearing was adjourned on Monday because Nuon Chea's Dutch defence lawyer, Michiel Pestman, did not turn up. Pestman was not at Thursday's hearing but sent a Dutch representative, allowing proceedings to continue. An estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, disease or starvation under Pol Pot's 1975-79...
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Manila denies abducting witness in kickbacks case
2008-02-07 12:26:00
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine government on Thursday denied abducting a key witness in a Senate inquiry into alleged kickbacks in a telecoms deal with a Chinese firm in which the husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been named. Rodolfo Lozada, the head of state-run Philippine Forest Corp, was ordered to appear before the Senate to testify on the deal with ZTE Corp, but first left for Hong Kong and then was picked up by armed men at the airport when he returned on Tuesday night. "There was no kidnapping. There was no abduction," said Lito Atienza, the Philippines' environment secretary, in a hastily-arranged news conference in the presidential palace. "What I did was call General Razon (national police chief) and I told him Lozada needs security upon his return." Police admitted they had picked him up at the airport, although his family alleged that he had been abducted and petitioned the Supreme Court for his release. Newspapers splashed ...
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Turkey takes first step to end headscarf ban
2008-02-07 12:26:00
By Hidir Goktas ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey 's parliament voted in a first round on Thursday to change the constitution to lift a ban on women students wearing the Muslim headscarf at university, a measure opposed by the secular elite. The secular establishment, which includes army generals, judges and university rectors, fears ending the ban would undermine the separation of state and religion, one of the founding principles of the modern Turkish republic. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who heads the Islamist-rooted ruling AK Party, has pledged to uphold secularism but says he wants to allow the headscarf on the campus to boost religious and personal freedoms. Two-thirds of Turkish women wear headscarves and many stopped going to university after a ban on wearing them in public institutions was extended to universities in 1989. In the final vote of the first round, the planned amendment to the constitution to end the ban was approved by 404 parliamentarians to 92, easily exceedi...
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Clinton dips into pocket to keep up with Obama
2008-02-07 12:26:00
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton looked ahead on Wednesday to a long and bruising presidential battle, and Clinton said she loaned $5 million of her own money to the costly fight to keep pace. Republican John McCain, still facing conservative opposition, promised to unite his party as his coast-to-coast "Super Tuesday" wins in key states put him on the verge of clinching the nomination and capping a stunning political comeback. "I do hope that at some point we would calm down a little bit and see if there are areas that we can agree on for the good of the party," the Arizona senator told reporters in Phoenix before a speech on Thursday to a conference of conservative activists in Washington. Obama and Clinton battled to a draw on "Super Tuesday," with Obama winning 13 states and Clinton eight, including the big prizes of California and New York. Their delegate tally was alm...
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Tornadoes sweep U.S. South, 48 dead
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Pat Harris NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Tornadoes and thunderstorms shattered parts of the U.S. South on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 48 people and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest such outbreak in nine years. Hardest hit were the states of Tennessee -- where 24 died -- Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama, with unconfirmed reports of 69 tornadoes across the region and northward into Indiana, according to the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The storms crumpled trucks on highways like toys and trapped and killed people in splintered houses, factories and shops. "This big of an outbreak is unusual on any day any time of year," center metrologist Roger Edwards said. Tornadoes typically kill about 70 people in the United States each year. The death toll rivaled that of the last large deadly outbreak in May 1999 in Oklahoma, Texas and other states, the center said. The White House said President George W. Bush had calle...
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Gates: U.S. won't promise to defend Iraq in accord
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not promise to defend Iraq nor seek permanent bases there under a planned agreement on future relations between the two states, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday. "The status-of-forces agreement that is being discussed will not contain a commitment to defend Iraq and neither will any strategic framework agreement," Gates told a U.S. Senate panel. "We do not want, nor will we seek, permanent bases in Iraq," he later told a U.S. House of Representatives committee. The United States and Iraq have agreed to start formal negotiations about their future relationship with the goal of finishing an accord by the end of July. The agreement will set the rules and legal protections under which U.S. forces operate in Iraq. The size of the long-term U.S. presence in Iraq also will be part of the negotiations, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House deputy national security adviser, has ...
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Gates estimates war costs but calls it inaccurate
2008-02-07 12:04:00
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates , pressed to estimate total war costs, said on Wednesday that Iraq and Afghanistan operations could cost $170 billion in 2009 but warned the figure was likely wrong. "I have no confidence in that figure," Gates told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. He said the Pentagon could not accurately estimate total war costs for next year before receiving full war funding for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Gates said he based the $170 billion figure on current expenditures in the wars. Gates also said the 2009 estimate will depend on what decisions are made about U.S. troop levels in Iraq after the top commander there, Gen. David Petraeus, makes his next recommendation to the president in March. The Bush administration this week asked Congress for $515.4 billion for the Pentagon in fiscal 2009 plus an additional $70 billion to pay for war operations for part of the year. Members of Congress,...
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Israeli strikes wound Gaza militants, civilians- Hamas
2008-02-07 12:04:00
GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli missile strike wounded three Palestinian militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday as they tried to launch makeshift rockets into Israel, Hamas and medical officials said. An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the strike on Palestinian gunmen near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Earlier, four civilians were wounded by two air strikes on an unoccupied metal foundry and a caravan that was located outside a Hamas security position, the officials said. The spokesman said the army carried out two attacks on a weapons depot and a weapons manufacturing facility in the central Gaza Strip. Israel frequently carries out strikes against Gaza militants to try to stop them from launching rockets and mortar shells across the border into nearby towns in the Jewish state.

Tornadoes sweep U.S. South, 47 dead
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Pat Harris NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged parts of U.S. South on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 47 people, injuring more than 150 and causing widespread damage. Hardest hit were Tennessee -- where 24 died -- Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama, with unconfirmed sitings of 69 tornadoes across the region and northward into Indiana, according to the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The storms crumpled trucks on highways like toys and trapped and killed people in splintered houses, factories and shops. "This big of an outbreak is unusual on any day any time of year," center metrologist Roger Edwards said. Tornadoes typically kill about 70 people in the United States each year. Storms continued to prowl the region after daybreak. The National Weather Service said tornado watches were posted Wednesday morning in parts of Florida, Alabama and eastern Tennessee. The weather service and state offici...
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Tornadoes in U.S. South kill at least 54 people
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Pat Harris NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Tornadoes and thunderstorms flattened the land and shattered lives across the U.S. South on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 150 in the deadliest such storms in nine years. In Tennessee's Sumner County, northeast of Nashville, a tornado sucked an 11-month-old boy and his mother from their home. They were found later in a field. The child survived in good condition, but his mother was dead. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said he was shocked by the intensity and scope of a storm that "just literally sat on the ground in wide areas" along a track that was as much as 400 miles (643 km) wide. At Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Ferina Ferrington told a local TV reporter: "My husband and I got into the bathtub with our little girl. I remember flying through the air. It was very scary. Then it was real quiet and we saw our house was gone. Our baby was unhurt." President George W. Bus...
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Iran testing advanced centrifuges
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Mark Heinrich VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran is testing an advanced centrifuge at its Natanz nuclear complex, diplomats said on Wednesday, a move that could lead to Tehran enriching uranium much faster and gaining the means to build atom bombs. Iran says it wants nuclear energy only for electricity so it can export more oil. But it is under sanctions for hiding the programme until 2003, preventing U.N. inspectors since then from verifying it is wholly peaceful and refusing to suspend it. Tehran's quest to produce usable amounts of nuclear fuel has been hampered by problems getting a 1970s vintage of centrifuge, the "P-1", to run nonstop at maximum speed. Iran had 3,000 P-1s working by November, a basis for launching industrial-scale enrichment, but only at an estimated 10 percent of capacity. But diplomats tracking Iran's dossier said it had started mechanical tests, without nuclear material inside, of a more durable, efficient model in the pilot wing of the Natanz plant...
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Rich-poor "digital divide" still broad, says UNCTAD
2008-02-07 12:04:00
LONDON (Reuters) - The digital divide between rich and poor countries is narrowing as mobile phones and Internet use become more available, but the developing world still lags far behind, a United Nations report said on Wednesday. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said mobile phone subscribers have almost tripled in developing countries over the last five years, and now make up some 58 percent of mobile subscribers worldwide. "In Africa, where the increase in terms of the number of mobile phone subscribers and penetration has been greatest, this technology can improve the economic life of the population as a whole," it said. The report said mobile phones were the main communication tool for small businesses in developing countries, reducing costs and increasing the speed of transactions. "Mobile telephony provides market information for, and improves the earnings of, various communities, such as the fishermen of Kerala, the farmers of...
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Cuba's Castro may soon end mystery over his future
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Anthony Boadle HAVANA (Reuters) - A year and a half after he last appeared in public, the mystery of ailing Cuba n leader Fidel Castro 's political future could be revealed later this month. Will the 81-year-old Castro call it a day or will he hang on to power until the end? On Feb. 24, Cuba's National Assembly legislature will meet to ratify the country's top executive body, the Council of State. The council's president is Cuba's head of state and the meeting could mark the end to Castro's 49-year grip on power. He underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 and handed over control "temporarily" to his brother Raul. Since then, Castro has only been seen in video and pictures looking gaunt and frail, and could now seize the moment to formally put Raul in charge of the communist government. Raul Castro, 76, has raised expectations of economic changes to kick-start an inefficient state-run economy and improve the daily lot of Cubans, and analysts say a...
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At least 100 civilians killed in Chad fighting -MSF
2008-02-07 12:04:00
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Fighting between rebels and government forces in Chad 's capital N'Djamena at the weekend killed at least 100 civilians and wounded up to 700, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Wednesday. "In the three main hospitals of the town we have counted 100 civilians dead ... We are arriving at something like 700 wounded," Guilhem Molinie, head of mission for MSF-Brussels in Chad, told Reuters, adding the death toll was likely to rise as Red Cross workers were still recovering bodies.
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FACTBOX - Possible changes in Cuba's leadership
2008-02-07 12:04:00
HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuba n leader Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public for more than 18 months, could retire from politics this month after almost 50 years at Cuba's helm. The following are possible scenarios when the National Assembly legislature meets on Feb. 24 to ratify the country's top leadership posts: CASTRO STEPS DOWN * Fidel Castro declines the presidency in person or in a written statement to the assembly, citing his illness. He could also announce prior to the meeting that he is too weak to be eligible for the presidency. Either would be tantamount to his political retirement, ending an era that he has dominated since seizing power in a 1959 revolution. * If Castro steps down, he is expected to formally hand over power to his brother Raul Castro, 76, who has run the country "temporarily" since Castro underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006. * The baton could be passed directly to a younger leader, such as Vice President Carlo...
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U.S. ready for full ties if N.Korea denuclearizes
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Arshad Mohammed and Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is ready to open full diplomatic ties with North Korea if it completely gives up its nuclear weapons and programs, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said on Wednesday. "We believe that we have some elements that we can put on the table which will be worth the DPRK's while in giving up its nuclear ambitions," he told lawmakers, referring to the country by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "One of the elements is of course to put on the table our preparedness not only to improve bilateral relations, because we have been doing that, but in the context of full denuclearization we would be prepared to establish full diplomatic relations," he added. The comment appeared to be the most explicit to date by a U.S. official raising the possibility of normal relations with the secretive, communist state if it carries through with an agreement to aband...
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Approaching cold front may stall NASA launch plans
2008-02-07 12:04:00
By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A cold front that spawned killer tornadoes in the southeastern United States is heading to Florida where it may stall NASA's plans to launch its first space shuttle mission of the year on Thursday, officials said on Wednesday. Managers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida planned to meet early on Thursday to assess the forecast and decide whether to fill shuttle Atlantis' fuel tank for a launch at 2:45 p.m. (1945 GMT) on a mission to deliver Europe's first permanent laboratory to the International Space Station. Meteorologists on Wednesday predicted only a 30 percent chance conditions would be suitable for launch. "I wish I had a better weather report," Air Force meteorologist Kathy Winters said. "We do have a lot of concerns for launch tomorrow." The weather system moving toward Florida generated winter tornadoes that killed more than 50 people in Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama. The front w...
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Tornadoes sweep U.S. South, at least 30 dead
2008-02-07 11:39:00
By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged several states in the U.S. South overnight, killing at least 30 people, injuring dozens and causing widespread damage, authorities and local media said. The storms tore across Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama, overturning trucks, trapping people, ripping up houses, smashing cars, and uprooting trees. By Wednesday morning, the city of New Orleans and the state of Georgia were also under tornado warning. Two of the states hit by the tornadoes -- Arkansas and Tennessee -- were among the 24 "Super Tuesday" states that held nominating contests before November's presidential election. Several candidates expressed condolences to the victims as they addressed supporters in Tennessee, where media reported four polling stations were shut down by the storms. Tornadoes killed at least 12 people in the state, according to the Nashville Tennessean. The newspaper also reported 60...
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Iran bars grandson of Khomeini from election
2008-02-07 11:39:00
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iran ian hardline watchdog body has banned a grandson of the country's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from running for parliament next month, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. The March 14 vote for parliament, now dominated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's backers, will test the popularity of the hardline president who came to power vowing to share out oil wealth more fairly but failed to curb inflation. Hopefuls have to go through a vetting process by government executive committees and the conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which has stopped hundreds of reformist candidates in the past. Among many hopefuls barred from running in the election is Ali Eshraghi, a 39-year-old civil engineer who is also a grandson of Khomeini, founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Eshraghi told the Kargozaran newspaper he had not been told why he was rejected. "My neighbours told me they were questioned about my private life, includ...
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Indonesia president still No.1 election choice - poll
2008-02-07 11:39:00
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia n President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's approval ratings have steadily declined since he came to power in 2004, but he would still win if elections were held now, according to a new poll. Yudhoyono, a former general, won the country's first direct presidential election in 2004 when he promised to tackle widespread corruption, spur economic growth and create jobs. But his government has struggled to deliver on some promises. A nationwide survey of about 1,200 people conducted in January by a private pollster, the Indonesian Survey Institute, showed 53 percent were satisfied with Yudhoyono's performance. The rating was unchanged from a previous survey by the same pollster last year, but was a significant drop from 61 percent in 2006 and 65 percent in 2005. His popularity was at 80 percent after he assumed office in October 2004. But Yudhoyono, who is widely expected to run for a second term in 2009, remained the choice of most voters, with 34...
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Tornadoes sweep U.S. South, at least 45 dead
2008-02-07 11:39:00
By Pat Harris NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Tornadoes and thunderstorms ravaged the U.S. South overnight, killing at least 45 people and injuring more than 150 as it caused destruction across several states, authorities said. The storms tore across Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama, overturning trucks, trapping people, ripping up houses, smashing cars and uprooting trees. By Wednesday morning, tornado watches were in effect for the Florida Panhandle, western Georgia and eastern Tennessee. "Based on reports from our local offices, the death toll now stands at 45. That is 26 in Tennessee, 13 in Arkansas, one in Alabama and five in Kentucky," said Roger Erickson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Tennessee was the hardest hit state. Emergency officials said 149 people were injured in their state alone. A tornado struck the Columbia Gulf Transmission company in Hartsville, Tennessee, and set off a natural gas fire ...
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Italy dissolves parliament, election looms
2008-02-07 11:39:00
By Stephen Brown and Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Italy 's president dissolved parliament on Wednesday and the caretaker government prepared to call a snap election, likely in mid-April, that could mark a return to power of media magnate Silvio Berlusconi. In a dramatic sequence of events even by Italian standards, Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned last month after coalition allies defected, attempts to set up an interim government failed and Berlusconi's calls for an immediate election prevailed. President Giorgio Napolitano's bid for cross-party support to reform Italy's messy voting rules before a fresh election met stiff resistance from Berlusconi. "It is my regret today to have to call voters back to polling booths without those reforms having been approved," said Napolitano after he and and Prodi, now caretaker premier, signed a decree dissolving parliament three years ahead of schedule. Prodi's cabinet was due to meet shortly afterwards to set a d...
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Britain's Brown backs use of wiretap evidence in court
2008-02-07 11:39:00
By Katherine Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the green light on Wednesday for some wiretap evidence to be used in British court cases, but only if strict conditions designed to protect national security could be met. The move would end an unusual culture of secrecy surrounding telephone taps in Britain , one of the only countries in the world where secret tapings are not used to secure convictions. Both main opposition parties, as well as rights groups, have long urged the government to lift the restrictions to make it easier to prosecute terrorism suspects and reduce the need for harsh measures like lengthy detention without charge. The security services are against wire tap evidence, fearing exposure to public scrutiny will undermine their tactics. Brown told parliament he accepted the conclusions of a cross-party committee that "it should be possible to find a way to use some intercept material as evidence". He also agreed with the co...
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