Foreign Secretary William Hague accused Labour of seeking to 'deny the British people their new democratic power' .
Standard co.uk.,, 9 Jan 2011
Foreign Secretary William Hague launched a late bid to see off a backbench Tory eurosceptic rebellion by insisting a promise of referendums on EU treaty changes were "a massive advance for national democracy".
Critics are set to push amendments seeking to strengthen protections contained in the The European Union Bill when it is debated in the Commons on Tuesday amid fears the powers are too open to challenge.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hague defended the package and accused Labour of seeking to "deny the British people their new democratic power".
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The new law would be "the strongest defence of national democracy put in place anywhere in Europe", he said.
"Not only will parliament now be given a full say over all kinds of treaty change but any change that hands powers to the EU or extends its control over any area of policy will also be subject to a referendum.
"It is a massive advance for national democracy."
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Ministers would only have discretion not to put changes to the country in "a few minor areas" and even then would need to persuade parliament and the courts, he said.
Shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Even the Foreign Secretary must know this Bill is a dog's dinner.
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"This Bill is about failed Tory party management, not the issues that matter for Britain in Europe. Instead of concentrating on things like growth, exports or cross-border crime, William Hague is wasting time trying and failing to keep his eurosceptics happy.
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"Even worse, the Bill is so badly drafted and contradictory that it could lead to a lawyers' paradise where important decisions happen in court rather than parliamen
Birgitta Jonsdottir, the Icelandic MP and former WikiLeaks volunteer, who is now fighting a US justice department attempt to get hold of her private messages on Twitter Photograph: Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images
A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.
Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the "USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"
She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a subpoena had been issued. She wrote: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."
She said the justice department was "just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets."
Jonsdottir said she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. "The justice department has gone completely over the top." She added that the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.
"It's not just about my information. It's a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks. It is completely unacceptable for the US justice department to flex its muscles like this. I am lucky, I'm a representative in parliament. But what of other people? It's my duty to do whatever I can to stop this abuse."
Twitter would not comment on the case. In a statement, the company said: "We're not going to comment on specific requests, but, to help users protect their rights, it's our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so."
Most of Twitter's messages are public, but users can also send private messages on the service.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the US justice department was looking at building a case against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, over its publication of secret US documents.
EPIC has already requested that the US authorities hand over information about their investigations into people who have donated to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.
"The government has the right to get information, but that has to be done in a lawful way. Is there a lawful prosecution that could be brought against WikiLeaks? It seems unlikely to me. But it's a huge question here in the US," said Rotenberg.
Jonsdottir was involved in WikiLeaks' release last year of a video which showed a US military helicopter shooting two Reuters reporters in Iraq. US authorities believe the video was leaked by Private Bradley Manning.
Adrian Lamo, the hacker who reported Manning to the authorities, indicated that Manning first contacted WikiLeaks in late November 2009 – a period covered by the request for Jonsdottir's tweet history.
In 2009 Jonsdottir invited Assange to a party at the US embassy in Reykjavik where he chatted with the ambassador to Iceland. WikiLeaks had recently published a secret report on the collapse of the country's banks.
"I said it would be a bit of a prank to take him and see if they knew who he was. I don't think they had any idea," Jonsdottir said last year.
The MP has distanced herself from Assange and WikiLeaks, saying he should take a step back to deal with an investigation in Sweden. The 39-year-old is fighting extradition to the country, where two women have accused him of sexual misconduct. He denies the allegations.
In Iceland she has championed the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative which is aimed at creating legislation to make Iceland a legal haven for journalists and media outlets.
She is not the first WikiLeaks associate to be targeted by US officials. Last July Jacob Appelbaum, one of Assange's closest colleagues, was interrogated for three hours and had his phones confiscated upon entering the country at Newark airport. Customs officials photocopied receipts and searched his laptop.
The justice department did not returns calls seeking comment last night.
U.S. ambassador urges Japan to tap all its resources
John V. Roos, U.S. Ambassador to Japan,i)
Mainichi ,,.January 9th,2011
The Mainichi recently had an exclusive interview with U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos and asked him about his thoughts on living in Japan. The transcript of the interview follows.
Mr. Toshifumi Kawano (managing editor): You have visited well over half of the prefectures in Japan now. What is your perspective on traveling across Japan?
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Ambassador Roos: First of all, a happy New Year. My family and I have been here now for over a year. My children are now back in the United States. My son is at a college and my daughter is grown up living in LA, but my wife and I have been here now for well over a year and we've fallen in love with Japan. We've had a fabulous experience traveling throughout the country.
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One of the things that I decided I wanted to do when I arrived in Japan was to experience as much of the entire country as possible, and we've obviously learned so much about Japanese culture and the country's history. We've enjoyed the food, the people...
Everything has been fabulous. And traveling throughout Japan has been a once in a lifetime experience for us.
Off the coast of Argentina, two strong ocean currents recently stirred up a colorful brew of floating nutrients and microscopic plant life just in time for the Southern Hemisphere's summer solstice.
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The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of a massive phytoplankton bloom off of the Atlantic coast of Patagonia on Dec. 21, 2010.
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Scientists used seven separate spectral bands to highlight the differences in the plankton communities across this swath of ocean.
Mega Millions jackpot winners and Washington state residents Jim McCullar and his wife, Carolyn, stepped forward on Thursday to claim their half of a $380 million prize during a Washington State Lottery news conference.
