Europe
McKinnon extradition blocked by UK government
British Home Secretary Theresa May has announced today that hacker Gary McKinnon, who admits accessing US government computers, will not be extradited to the United States. Mr McKinnon has been fighting extradition since 2002. He says he was looking for evidence of UFOs in the computer systems of high-level US government institutions. Mrs May said there was no doubt he was “seriously ill” and that consequently the extradition warrant against him should be withdrawn. She said it will now fall to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to decide if he should face trial in the UK. Mr McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and would have faced 60 years in jail if convicted in the USA.
Portugal reveals tough 2013 budget
The Portuguese government has unveiled draft details of its 2013 budget, which looks set to be one of the harshest in the country’s recent history. Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar confirmed the average income tax rise would increase from 9.8% in 2012 to 13.2% next year. Portugal was granted a €78bn ($100bn) bailout last year, and Mr Gaspar said the budget was the only way for the country to meet the attached targets: “we have no room for manoeuvre,” he said. He also announced spending cuts of €2.7bn next year, as part of which 2% of the country’s 600,000 public sector employees would be sacked. He claimed the budget would reduce the country’s budget deficit to 4.5% of GDP in 2013. The EU target is 3%. About 2,000 protesters gathered outside the parliament building last night to demand the resignation of the government. The current Portuguese recession is the country’s worst since the 1970s, with unemployment of 15% and rising.
EU data regulators tell Google to revise privacy policy
European Union watchdogs have said Google must revise its privacy policy. The instruction follows Google’s decision in March to consolidate 60 separate such policies into a single agreement, allowing the firm to pool data from across its many products – such as YouTube, Google+ and its smartphone OS Android. Doing so would potentially help it target adverts. French data privacy regulator CNIL, which led the EU inquiry into the decision, said the company would have “months” to make several changes: CNIL wants Google to give clearer information about what data is collected and for what purpose, and to give users more control over how the information is combined. CNIL has warned Google it will “enter a phase of litigation” if no action is taken. Google has said it needs more time to provide a detailed response.
Latin America
Mexican police arrest student protesters
Police in Mexico yesterday raided three teachers’ colleges in the western state of Michoacan, breaking up more than a week of protests against curriculum changes. Officers arrested at least 120 people as they stormed the schools, where students were holding up buses and delivery trucks that they had seized. Ten officers were injured in clashes with demonstrators, some of them seriously. Several vehicles, including police patrol cars, were set on fire in last night’s violence. The standoff began earlier this month as students took control of their campuses in protest against plans to require them to take courses in English and computer science, on the grounds that many of them will be working in rural Mexico, where such skills are not a priority.
Africa and Middle East
Multiple explosions in Nigerian city blamed on Islamic militants
Nigerian army spokesman Lt Col Sagir Musa has commented on the loud explosions that rocked the city of Maiduguri in the north of the country yesterday evening. He said the attacks were orchestrated by the Islamic militant group Boko Haram, and appeared to target locations used by a military task force in the city. He said three militants had died, with more arrested overnight, but denied reports that at least 10 people, including soldiers, were also killed. Witnesses say a primary school and radio tower were set on fire.
Israeli parliament dissolves ahead of early election
Israel’s parliament has voted to dissolve itself and to hold an early general election on 22 January. The move was approved unanimously following more than eight hours of debate. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was bringing forward the elections – which were due in a year’s time – because parliament could not agree a new budget. Opinion polls suggest Mr Netanyahu, whose right-wing coalition has been in power since 2009, will easily win the election.
Asia and Russia
Burma governing party officials resign in revamp move
Leaders of Burma’s governing party have resigned ahead of a revamp that seeks to strengthen the party against its opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. President Thein Sein was among officials in the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) who stepped down before a vote today. Parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann is seen as a contender for a top party role. Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won 43 of 44 seats it contested in the April by-elections, and she has been warmly received by many Western leaders on a high-profile foreign tour earlier this year. Burma’s general elections in 2015 are seen as a major test for the current government, which has overseen a series of dramatic political reforms amid pressure from the NLD to institute a legitimate democracy. The USDP won a general election two years ago, which critics condemn as a sham.
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