UK govt forced Guardian to destroy Snowden top secret files

The British government forced the Guardian to destroy files or face a court battle over its publication of US security secrets leaked by Edward Snowden, the paper's editor claimed today.

Alan Rusbridger (pic) said he was contacted by "a very senior government official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister" which led to two meetings in which "he demanded the return or destruction of all the material we were working on."

The paper was in the middle of publishing candid revelations about mass surveillance programmes conducted by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and its British counterpart, the GCHQ, after former US intelligence operative Snowden handed them thousands of documents.

Writing in today's Guardian, Rusbridger claimed authorities told him: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back."

"There followed further meetings with shadowy Whitehall figures," he continued.

"The demand was the same: 'hand the Snowden material back or destroy it...You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more'."

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Encrypted email service thought used by Snowden shuts down

An encrypted email service believed to have been used by American fugitive Edward Snowden shut down abruptly yesterday amid a legal fight that appeared to involve US government attempts to win access to customer information.

"I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people, or walk away from nearly 10 years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit," Lavabit LLC owner Ladar Levison wrote in a letter that was posted on the Texas-based company's website yesterday.

Levison said he has decided to "suspend operations" but was barred from discussing the events over the past six weeks that led to his decision.

US President Barack Obama (L) meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on June 17, 2013. Obama cancelled a meeting with Putin planned for next month in Moscow over frustration with Russia's asylum for fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, the White House said on August 7, 2013.

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Egyptian Protest 2013 thousands on the streets.

Shocking images emerge of Egyptian protesters trying to bring down army helicopter as Morsi expected to step down or be sacked by military today

At least 23 killed in overnight clashes in Cairo and 200 more injured
The Al-Ahram newspaper reports that the army could step in today
Anti-Morsi demonstrations have become the largest since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising as they enter the third day of protests
Protesters have been chanting: 'The people demand the fall of the regime'
Deadline set by military for resolution fast approaches before it will intervene
U.S. and UK have urged citizens to cancel travel plans to or within Egypt
Protests caused Egyptian shares to reach three-week high as oil prices soar

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Circus worker danced on dying elephant in horrifying animal cruelty moment

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Horrifying moment a circus worker DANCED on the body of a dying elephant after it collapsed while bathing in a river

A shocking video was filmed by horrified bystanders in Estonia
The film shows Madi - a 48-year-old Indian elephant - slowly drowning
She was on tour as part of Germany's Universal Circus Renz

A shocking video has emerged of a circus worker dancing on the back of a dying elephant while it bathes in a river.

The film shows Madi - a 48-year-old Indian elephant - slowly drowning as the circus owner's brother jumps around on her in a pair of swimming shorts as she sinks under the surface.

Horrified witnesses made the 40 minute video when Madi - from Germany's Universal Circus Renz - was taken to a river to bath during a tour of Estonia.

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Singapore smog eases as Indonesian planes waterbomb fires

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Air quality in Singapore improved significantly to "moderate" pollution levels on Saturday, as Indonesian planes waterbombed raging forest fires and investigators scrambled to determine the cause of one of Southeast Asia's worst air pollution crises

Indonesia's environment minister said eight domestic firms were suspected of being responsible for the blazes on Sumatra island that blanketed neighbouring Singapore in record levels of hazardous smog. Parent companies of the Indonesian firms included Malaysia-listed Sime Darby, the government said.

A senior presidential aide on Friday also blamed units of Jakarta-based PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) for the fires.

"We will take legal action whoever they are," Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya told reporters. "Any companies from Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore, they will be legally processed."

A car drives past fire from burning trees planted for palm oil, during haze at Bangko Pusako district in Rokan Hilir, on Indonesia's Riau province, June 24, 2013

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One million march across Brazil in biggest protests yet

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An estimated 1 million people took to the streets in cities across Brazil on Thursday as the country's biggest protests in two decades intensified despite government concessions meant to quell the demonstrations.


While the protests remained mostly peaceful, the growing number of participants led to occasional outbursts of violence and vandalism in some cities. In central Rio de Janeiro, where 300,000 people marched, police afterwards chased looters and dispersed people crowding into surrounding areas.
"Twenty cents was just the start," read signs held by many converging along the Avenida Paulista, the broad avenue in central São Paulo, referring to the bus fare reductions. Police there said 110,000 people lined the avenue.

A demonstrator holds a sign that reads, "Brazil, a country of theft," during an anti-government protest in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, June 20, 2013.

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Stop force-feeding Guantanamo prisoners, says US senator

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US Senator Dianne Feinstein urged the Pentagon yesterday to stop force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba and called the practice "out of step" with medical ethics and international norms.

Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, saying the Guantanamo force-feeding policy was also out of synch with policies in the civilian federal prisons.

"Hunger strikes are a long-known form of non-violent protest aimed at bringing attention to a cause, rather than an attempt of suicide," she wrote. "I believe that the current approach raises very important ethical questions and complicates the difficult situation regarding the continued indefinite detention at Guantanamo."

Speaking in Berlin yesterday, President Barack Obama said the United States would redouble efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale, said he would not respond to Feinstein's letter to Hagel via the press, but added that "we will continue to treat the detainees in our charge humanely and that we will not allow them to harm themselves."

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