Councils' Revenue From Parking Reaches £667m

Abbott Urges 'Business As Usual' For Citizens

Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 Desember 2014 | 12.27

Australia's Prime Minister has said there are "some indications" that the siege at a Sydney cafe could be politically motivated.

However, he added that the exact motivation is yet to be established.

Speaking at a news conference in Canberra, Tony Abbott said: "We have to appreciate that even in a society such as ours there are people who would wish to do us harm.

"That's why we have police and security organisations of the utmost professionalism that are ready and able to respond to a whole range of situations and contingencies including the situation that we are now seeing in Sydney.

"The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves. Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that is why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual.

"Of course if anyone does have any suspicions of untoward activity, there is the national security hotline, 1800-123-400, which I would urge them to call."

He added: "Our thoughts and prayers must above all go out to the individuals who are caught up in this.

"I can think of almost nothing more distressing or terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation, and our hearts go out to those people."

Several hours before armed officers surrounded the Lindt Chocolat Cafe in Martin Place, police announced a man had been arrested in the city as part of investigations into the planning of an attack in Australia.

They said the 25-year-old was seized as part of "continuing investigations into the planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil and the facilitation of travel of Australian citizens to Syria to engage in armed combat".

It is not clear if the two matters are related.

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Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

Hostages have been taken inside a chocolate shop and cafe in central Sydney

Streets in the area were closed and offices evacuated, with the public told to stay away

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12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sydney Siege: Several Hostages Escape Cafe

Three people have escaped from a Sydney cafe where it is feared there are dozens of others being held hostage.

One employee and two members of the public were seen running from the besieged Lindt chocolate shop and cafe where at least one gunman has reportedly taken up to 40 hostages.

Australian police said negotiators have been in contact with the "armed offender" - but refused to speculate on his possible motivation.

The hostage situation has been unfolding in Martin Place - home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, commercial banks and close to the New South Wales state parliament.

It has been closed off and up to 100 heavily armed police are surrounding the area.

Earlier, live television footage showed patrons inside the cafe standing with their hands pressed against the windows.

A black flag with white Arabic text, similar to those used by Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, was also visible.

According to reports, at least one gunman walked into the cafe just before 10am local time.

Witnesses reported hearing loud bangs which sounded like gunshots and that he was using a young woman "as a shield" inside the cafe.

A Lindt executive said there were about 10 staff and "probably 30 customers" in the cafe before the siege unfolded.

Sydney Opera House has been evacuated after a suspicious package was reportedly found not long after the police operation in the financial district began.

New South Wales police confirmed authorities were dealing with an "incident" there, but it is not known whether they are linking it to events at the cafe.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he has convened the National Security Committee for emergency briefings following the "hostage-taking situation".

"This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner," he said.

Mr Abbott said he did not yet know the motivation of those holding the hostages, adding: "Our thoughts and prayers must above all go out to the individuals who are caught up in this.

1/19

Gallery: Latest Images From Australia

Hostages have been taken inside a chocolate shop and cafe in central Sydney

Streets in the area were closed and offices evacuated, with the public told to stay away

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12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Glitch Causes Items To Be Sold On Amazon For 1p

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 14 Desember 2014 | 12.27

Businesses are furious after a piece of software used by retailers on Amazon went wrong, causing hundreds of items to be sold at 1p.

Some firms which use RepricerExpress say they risk going bankrupt because the problem has resulted in them losing so much money.

The software is designed to keep businesses competitive by automatically repricing items of stock so they are cheaper than others in the digital market.

The firm states on its website: "We are here to increase your sales on Amazon and Rakuten's Play.com and make your efforts as profitable as possible."

For an hour on Friday, between 7pm and 8pm, a problem with RepricerExpress led to hundreds of items being sold on Amazon at a fraction of their normal price. At the same time, some customers said, Amazon charged its usual fees for every item sold.

One of the sellers, Judith Blackford of Kiddymania, told Sky News she could be forced out of business as result of the error.

She said: "I started using Repricer Express - a repricing tool as did a lot of other businesses a few months ago.

"Last night through an error in their programme they listed my stock on amazon at 1p per item including delivery.

"I have lost about £20,000 overnight. Having asked Amazon to cancel the orders they are still sending them out and charging me horrendous fees.

"Surely someone has to be accountable for this. I will be bankrupt at this rate by the end of January."

Another retailer affected, Discount Discs, told Sky News: "We are yet to quantify the amount of stock we have lost but we are aware of other sellers losing around £100k of stock.

"This has happened on probably the busiest trading weekend of the year for many sellers."

As a result of the error, several buyers commented on Twitter at how pleased they were to have bought the items for so little.

One person wrote: "Amazon are having a glitch on their site and loads of stuff is selling for 1p. I just bought an incense holder, don't even need it."

An email to some customers from the CEO of RepricerExpress, Brendan Doherty, said the problems with the software caused incorrect pricing to be sent to Amazon.

A statement on the company's website from Mr Doherty said: "I am truly sorry for the distress this has caused our customers.

"We have received communication that Amazon will not penalise sellers for this error. We are continuing to work to identify how this problem occurred and to put measures in place to ensure that it does not happen again.

"Everyone here is devastated and disappointed that you have experienced this problem.

"We understand that you are angry and upset and we will endeavour to work to make good on this issue."

No comment has yet been received from Amazon.

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Top MP's Demand Over CIA Torture Report

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

The head of the UK's Intelligence and Security Committee is demanding to see material documenting any British links to the CIA's use of torture.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chair of the Commons committee, is seeking any intelligence relating to the UK that was redacted from the explosive Senate report into the CIA.

It concluded that the CIA lied over its torture and interrogation programme developed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Sir Malcolm told The Observer newspaper: "I am not going to go into the details of how we might try and achieve this, there are various ways we can try and advance it, but at the end of the day the actual decision on the American redacted material is for the Americans to take.

"One additional point is that the only issues we are going to be asking them about are issues relevant to the United Kingdom.

"We don't need to see the whole of their redacted report."

The British Government has admitted requesting the deletion of references to Britain's intelligence agencies for national security reasons.

UK Government representatives had 24 meetings with members of the US committee responsible for the findings.

Some of the deletions are believed to relate to the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia.

There is escalating pressure on the British government not to extend an agreement allowing the US to use the territory in the Indian Ocean as a military base.

Andrew Tyrie, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on rendition, said any negotiations should address allegations that it was used by the CIA to render terror suspects around the world.

"The negotiations on the lease can focus minds on establishing the scope and limits of Britain's involvement, direct or indirect, in extraordinary rendition," Mr Tyrie said.

"We are talking about kidnap and taking people to places where they may be maltreated or tortured."

The former Home Office minister, Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, who has taken a close interest in the atoll, said: "As it comes up for renewal, we need a full explanation of what happened in our name on that island."

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Probe Under Way Into Air Traffic 'Glitch'

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 13 Desember 2014 | 12.27

An investigation is under way into why Britain's air traffic control system malfunctioned for the second time in two years, causing transport chaos for thousands of people.

The focus of the probe will be hardware and software connected to the flight data system, which is believed to control the flight plans of the planes.

Air traffic control service NATS said: "Following a technical fault with the flight data system used by air traffic controllers at Swanwick, NATS can confirm that the system has been restored to full operational capability and a thorough investigation is continuing, to identify the root cause.

"Although operational restrictions applied during the failure have been lifted, it will take time for flight operations across the UK to fully recover."

More than 300 flights were cancelled or delayed after a computer failure at NATS headquarters in Swanwick, Hampshire, on Friday afternoon.

The cancellations came just over a year after hundreds of flights were affected when problems arose with a telephone system at NATS in early December 2013.

The chaos that hit UK airports began to clear last night, but there were expected to be knock-on effects on Saturday.

There were reports passengers on some flights were unable to collect their luggage and were told that it would be sent on to them by courier.

Others on their way to London were reported to have been redirected to European airports.

Seventy flights were cancelled at Heathrow, which last night said it was getting back to normal.

Gatwick said some cancellations were expected and passengers were advised to contact their airline for the latest flight information.

Other airports where travellers suffered delays on Friday included Manchester, Birmingham, Stansted and Luton, but airports as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh were affected.

All airports advised all travellers to reconfirm their flights.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the disruption was unacceptable.

He said: "Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked NATS for a full explanation of this evening's incident. I also want to know what steps will be taken to prevent this happening again."

Experts said part of the problem was that the system is operating at full capacity and anything that goes wrong has a huge impact.

Professor Martyn Thomas, visiting professor of Software Engineering at the University of Oxford, said: "Some of NATS' computer systems are very old - the National Airspace System that performs flight data processing is software that dates from the 1960s.

"Interfacing new systems to this old software can create difficulties."

Air traffic control safety expert Philip Butterworth-Hayes said: "Swanwick ... has an incredibly complicated, customised software system, where you have to upgrade things all the time. A small upgrade can cause all sorts of problems.

"The issue we have in the UK, especially in the south eastern UK, is there's very little spare capacity, because the system is running at such high rates, it only needs a small little glitch to create a large problem."

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Juncker Tells Britain Not To 'Beat Up' Migrants

Britain has been told it must not "beat up" immigrants from eastern Europe and brand them criminals by the new president of the European Commission.

EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker told a TV debate in Austria there has to be an end to discrimination against Poles, Romanians and Bulgarians.

His comments come in the wake of David Cameron's demands for a welfare squeeze to reduce new arrivals.

Mr Juncker - whose candidacy was bitterly opposed by the Prime Minister - said he would not "shoot down" the reform plans and wanted the UK to remain a member state.

He said: "Especially in Great Britain, which always fought for the enlargement of the European Union, there has to be an end to discrimination against countries just because it goes down well topically when you beat up others.

"I am utterly against behaving as if all Poles, all Romanians, all Bulgarians in the European labour market are of a basic mentality that is criminal. These are people who are working and earning their wages."

Last month, Mr Cameron set out his plans to cut the number of people coming from the EU by banning them from claiming welfare for the first four years after arriving in the UK.

He also said he would deport those who did not find jobs within six months.

Setting out his plans to renegotiate membership if the Tories retain power at next year's general election, he fell short of proposing a formal quota on new arrivals from the EU.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already said she is opposed to measures that undermine the free movement of labour within the bloc.

Mr Juncker said: "This fundamental right of free movement of workers cannot be questioned existentially because if you question the free movement of workers, Great Britain has to know that one day the free movement of capital will also be called into question.

"Then it will be the end for London's tax rulings, that will no longer be possible in London.

"For me it is clear that free movement of labour was not enshrined in the treaties so that it could be abused. But it is the national legislatures who should fight against this abuse."

A spokesman for Number 10 said: "The Prime Minister addressed these issues in his speech, stressing the important contribution of immigration to Britain and his support for the principle of free movement.

"But he also made clear that the British people were right to want controlled immigration and that free movement was not an unqualified right."

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said: "It's no wonder that David Cameron is getting criticism for his approach to Europe, he's spent the past four years burning bridges with our EU allies when he should have been building alliances.

"The tragedy for Britain is that there is a coalition within the European Union to deliver real reform, but David Cameron simply cannot take this forward because he lacks credibility in Brussels and lacks strength in Westminster."

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK Sought Changes To Senate CIA Torture Report

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 Desember 2014 | 12.27

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Britain has been dragged deeper into a row over US torture allegations after the Government admitted it did ask for changes in a Senate report on the CIA's behaviour.

In an abrupt U-turn by No 10, officials admitted changes had been asked for, 24 hours after denying Britain had asked for passages to be removed.

At Thursday's No 10 briefing, David Cameron's Deputy Spokeswoman confirmed British intelligence agencies discussed redactions with their US counterparts.

"My understanding is no redactions were sought to remove any suggestion that there was UK involvement in any alleged torture or rendition," she said.

And then she admitted: "There was a conversation with the agencies and their US counterparts on the executive summary.

"Any redactions sought there were done on national security grounds in a way we would have done with any other report."

And yet on Wednesday, the day the CIA report was published, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman, when asked what redactions had been sought, repeatedly said: "None whatsoever, to my knowledge."

The admission comes after the head of the CIA John Brennan described the techniques used to extract information as "abhorrent".

The Senate report had detailed the US intelligence agency's "brutal" treatment of al Qaeda suspects in a network of secret prisons around the world.

On Wednesday night, former President George W Bush's Vice President Dick Cheney robustly defended the programme, which included forms of torture such as "waterboarding".

Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who founded the All Party Group on Extraordinary Rendition, said a judge-led inquiry is now essential as public trust in the security services is at risk of being corroded.

"The Senate's report, and the further reports of redactions, greatly strengthen the case for a full and detailed inquiry into allegations of British facilitation of kidnap and torture, led by a judge," he said.

"The ISC has been handed back this task. Given the difficulties they faced in 2007, that is a huge challenge.

"Until that work is completed, until the scope and limits of our involvement are known, allegations – whether true or not - will continue to be made, corroding public confidence.

"We cannot know what, if any, of the material redacted might be of legitimate public concern. Until a full inquiry is completed, it will continue to be claimed that some of it is."

12.27 | 0 komentar | Read More

Councils' Revenue From Parking Reaches Â£667m

Councils' Revenue From Parking Reaches £667m

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The amount of profit being raised by local councils from parking charges rose by more than 12% last year.

An RAC Foundation survey found that in 2013/14, councils in England made a combined "profit" of £667m from their on and off-street parking operations.

The previous year they made £594m from fines, permits and tickets.

Around £293m of the amount raised in 2013/14, or 44%, was generated by councils in London, the study found.

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "Parking profits seem to be a one-way street for councils, having risen annually for the last five years.

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Gallery: All The Fun Of The Fare

The scourge of the inner city motorist, the parking meter is more than 50 years old. These tireless guardians of British kerbs have been used since 1958, when they were introduced to the streets of Mayfair.

Arthur Longley of Wimbledon, tested the new parking meters at the New Malden Factory shortly before the scheme was introduced in London.

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The meter came to the UK more than two decades after its invention by US newspaper editor Carlton Magee in 1935. Three years later, this lady was celebrating with a nickel for an hour's parking at White Plains, New York.

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In August 1957, one Mr Bruce put money in a London parking meter near Marble Arch under the not-so-watchful gaze of an attendant named Mr Stapeley.

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This camel put up with the deserts of Africa and crazy European drivers - but what gave it the hump were the parking restrictions in Belgravia, central London. The camel was taking part in a publicity stunt to promote a Royal Gala Charity evening in 1976.

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"Yet over the same period spending on local roads has fallen about a fifth in real terms.

"We understand the pressures councils are under with their overall income still falling and the level of services they have to provide in such areas as social care rising rapidly."

"The bottom line is that parking policy and charges must be about managing traffic not raising revenue."

The RAC found that very few councils were losing money on parking operations, with just 16% of the 353 parking authorities in England reporting negative numbers for 2013/14.

The figures were calculated by adding up the amount each council earned from parking charges and penalty notices, then deducting running costs.

The foundation said that while some of the increase in profits was down to a rise in the amount the councils were able to recoup, there was also evidence that many councils were cutting operating costs sharply.

The authority with the largest surplus in 2013/14 was previous table-topper Westminster with £51m.

The five biggest "earners" were all London authorities, with only Brighton and Hove and Nottingham breaking into a top 10 dominated by councils in the capital.

These were the councils with the biggest surplus in 2013/14 before capital charges.

LOCAL AUTHORITY SURPLUS

1. Westminster £51.0m

2. Kensington & Chelsea £33.5m

3. Camden £24.9m

4. Hammersmith & Fulham £23.0m

5. Wandsworth £19.7m

6. Brighton & Hove £18.1m

7. Nottingham City £12.1m

8. Islington £10.4m

9. Tower Hamlets £8.32m

10. Brent £8.13m

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Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 Desember 2014 | 12.27

Jihadi's Father Regrets Co-Operating With Police

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By Adele Robinson, Midlands Correspondent

The father of a British jihadi jailed for nearly 13 years after travelling to Syria says parents with children who do the same will be "too scared to tell police".

Mohammed Nahin Ahmed's father spoke to Sky News exclusively on the condition that neither his name nor face were shown.

His son was sentenced alongside his friend, Yusuf Sarwar, at Woolwich Crown Court last week for terrorism offences.

Childhood friends Sarwar and Ahmed, both 22, were given 12 years eight months in prison each, plus another five years on licence.

Ahmed's father says his family co-operated with the police and helped persuade the pair to return home to Handsworth in Birmingham.

1/11

Gallery: Terror Pair Left Trail On Computer

Two British men who travelled to Syria to fight alongside rebels have pleaded guilty to terrorism offences. All photos from West Midlands Police.

Mohammed Nahin Ahmed and Yusuf Zubair Sarwar spent eight months in Syria last year after contacting Islamist extremists from the UK. This email was sent to Ahmed by a Danish extremist.

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Nahin and Sarwar leaving the Heathrow Premier Inn for the airport terminal.

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"We told the police, we went to them for help but we didn't get any. We surrendered them for justice but the police didn't help at all.

"If anyone's children go to Syria now, no one will tell the police because they will be too scared to tell them this.

"My son lives in jail so what did I gain from going to the police? People go to the police for justice and help. No, I wouldn't go again."

Ahmed and Sarwar admitted engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorism acts in July.

They became the first Britons to be convicted in the UK of Syria-related terrorism offences.

Upon sentencing the judge said it made no difference that their offences were abroad and described them as "fundamentalists committed to violent extremism".

Ahmed's father, however, says his son made a mistake and returned to the UK because he feared for his life.

"No, he is normal. His life was normal. He prayed just the way we do. I think maybe it was the internet that brought those kinds of thoughts to him, the internet brainwashes people these days.

"But going to war without telling us was wrong. Going to war is wrong."

Both families have said they will appeal against what they see as excessive and unfair sentences.

Ahmed's father said a similar case a week before saw two brothers from East London jailed for less than half of his son's sentence.

Mohommod Nawaz and Hamza Nawaz were given four and a half years and three and a half years respectively.

They had admitted conspiracy to attend a terrorism training camp in Syria.

Ahmed's father said he had communicated with his son in prison recently, who had expected a five or six year jail term.

"I have spoken to him over the phone. He is feeling very bad. He knew that he will be sentenced but he didn't think it would be this long. If he had known he wouldn't have come back from Syria."

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