UK plans to create Internet Piracy General with power to appoint militias, create lawsA UK government source claims a new Bill will give the Secretary of State unprecedented powers to pass laws on online piracy without debate and confer investigative and enforcement powers to record labels and movie studios, giving them access to personal information and files.
UK
The Times reveals its paywall plans
As News Corp sites prepare to erect paywalls around their content, the editor of the UK’s Times has finally revealed some bricks-and-mortar information about what it will be doing and when.
Former British Corporal: My entire unit abused Iraqi civilians
A former British soldier convicted of war crimes in Iraq claims his entire unit physically abused Iraqi detainees, kicking and punching them while down, threatening to set them alight and holding guns to their heads.
Thatcher is dead — the cat, not the former British Prime Minister
“Thatcher has died”: This text message sent by Canadian Transport Minister John Baird to a person at a gala dinner informing them that his beloved cat, named after the Iron Lady, had died, sent MPs into a panic.
New warning on the risks of surgery on your lady bits
Research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology says women are undergoing Labioplasty amid a “shocking” lack of information on the potential risks. The report also questions the idea of aesthetically pleasing genitals.
“Hello, Rupert? This is Gordon…”
British PM Gordon Brown personally phoned Rupert Murdoch over his paper the Sun’s increasingly hostile criticism of his government.
Brown gets revenge on Murdoch: Sky loses Ashes
Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Sports will lose its exclusive rights to live coverage of The Ashes, in a move insiders say is “revenge” over the Sun’s criticism of PM Gordon Brown.
Dr David Nutt is not the new Galileo
Dope-loving Britons are hailing Dr David Nutt — the UK government drugs advisor whose views on cannabis got him sacked — as a “modern-day Galileo”. Get real, says Brendan O’Neill: Galileo was a pioneer; Nutt is a famewhore.
graph pr0n Deadly drugs: users vs. deaths vs. media coverage
Is Dr David Nutt correct that cannabis is no more harmful than alcohol? Does the drug just suffer from bad press? Data journalist David McCandless mashes up the government’s own data on drug death, users and press coverage to find out.
Former UK ambassador: CIA sent people to be “raped with broken bottles” in Uzbekistan
The former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan claims the CIA sent terror suspects to the country as part of its extraordinary rendition program, where they were “raped with broken bottles” and were forced to watch their children tortured in front of them, to gather intelligence.
David Nutt: Governments should get real on drugs Nutt: Why cannabis isn’t as dangerous as you think
Former UK chief drugs adviser David Nutt explains what’s wrong with the government’s current drug classifications, and why he believes cannabis isn’t as damaging as cigarettes or alcohol.
Drugs vs. booze
Debate is heating up in the UK after the government’s former chief drugs adviser, Dr David Nutt, was sacked over his views that cannabis is less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol. Now the scientific community is coming to his defence.
Downing Street plots to buy Blair’s way into the EU Presidency
British PM Gordon Brown is planning to buy off Angela Merkel and Nikolas Sarkozy’s votes for the European Union Presidency by offering them big jobs within the Union should Tony Blair get up.
Why overweight kids are victims of child abuse
Being fat is one thing, says India Knight: feed your face as much as you want. But if you feed your kids so much, and so poorly, that they develop weight issues, expect them to be taken away from you.
leaked The UK police’s “spotter cards” for protesting troublemakers
Check out the highly confidential “spotter cards” used by British bobbies to identify “troublemakers” at protests — just one part of their controversial “overt surveillance” approach. One “troublemaker” responds here.
Was the BBC right to have Nick Griffin on Question Time?
Was extreme right-wing BNP leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on the BBC’s Question Time a win for free speech or a loss for quality television? Guardian commentators and British MPs weigh in.
BBC puts “neo-fascist” BNP leader to air
Leader of the UK’s extreme right-wing British National Party, Nick Griffin, is appearing on the BBC’s Question Time (think Q&A with posher accents) today, and it’s causing quite a stink. Follow the fallout as it happens on the Guardian’s liveblog.
UK’s Channel 4: File-sharing is here to stay. Embrace it.
Today’s “internet native” generation are never going to give up sharing and downloading things illegally over the internet, says an editor from the UK’s Channel 4. Attempting to lock up content will always fail: the future of the media is “spreadable and shareable”.
Why a Tory victory is just what Rupert wants
If the Conservative Party gain power in the UK, they will “rip up” the BBC’s royal charter, deregulating the TV industry to improve the market for commercial operators, according to the party’s shadow culture secretary.
Brits and Greeks move to tax banks
Greek and British governments are eying special taxes on the bank profits to help boost income and reduce debt bills, while Ireland may be forced to go to the IMF for aid if it can’t make deep cuts in spending.
Starsuckers: British tabloids caught in the act by filmmakers
The sewers of London’s tabloid newspapers are explored in a documentary film called Starsuckers Predictably, the silence of the tabloids has been deafening.
Asylum seeker experiences around the world
Amidst all the local coverage of Tamil asylum seekers in Indonesia, Andrew Bartlett looks at the experiences other asylum seekers are going through elsewhere on the globe.
Independent: Why Blair won’t get our vote (again)
UK paper The Independent says it won’t support Tony Blair as a candidate for the Presidency of the European Union: “When the choice between Britain’s relationship with America and its relationship with the rest of Europe became unfudgeable, Mr Blair chose America”.
Twitter kills the Guardian gag
An oil trading firm’s attempt to gag London’s Guardian newspaper from reporting on toxic waste it dumped in west Africa has been thwarted by a surge of social media outrage.
