BBC News with Mary Small.
The authorities in the United States say that 11 people have been charged in connection with the theft of the credit and debit card details of millions of people. They say it's the biggest identity theft case ever prosecuted in the US. Those charged includes residents of at least five different countries. Kevin Connolly reports from Washington.
Credit and debit card records of 40 million customers were stolen by members of a sophisticated international gang who hacked into the computers of the TJX Corporation. It operates 2,000 shops including Barnes & Noble bookstores and the clothing chain TJ Maxx. The 11 people who will be appearing in court include three Americans,two people from China and five from the former Soviet Union. It's not clear how many of the 40 million customers whose details were stolen actually lost money, but it's known that the gang used some card numbers themselves and sold some of them to other criminal gangs.(Www.hxen.net)
The government of Rwanda has accused France of playing an active role in the genocide of 1994, in which about 800,000 people were killed. A two-year investigation commissioned by the authorities in Kigali concluded that France helped plan the genocide and French troops had a direct involvement in the killings. France has previously denied any responsibility for the Rwandan genocide .
Iran has suspended the practice of stoning people to death. Four people have had their sentence changed and all other cases are under review. The move was announced by the judiciary spokesman in Tehran. From the Iranian capital, here is John lion.
Human rights campaign has recently warned that at least eight women and one man had been sentenced to be stoned to death, and all had exhausted their appeals. The judiciary spokesman has now said that four of those facing stoning have had their sentences commuted, either to prison terms or they would receive lashes. All other sentences of stoning to death have been halted while the cases are reviewed. Iran is well aware of international pressure on this issue, but it's been reluctant completely to abolish a penalty, it says, is endorsed under Islamic law.
A Pakistani woman who has alleged to have close links to al-Qaeda's leadership has appeared in court in New York charged with attempting to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan last month. Lawyers for the woman, Aafia Siddiqui, say she's been held in secret US detention after disappearing five years ago on a trip from the US to Pakistan along with her children. But the court documents indicate that she was only arrested last month in eastern Afghanistan where it's alleged she tried to shoot an American team sent to question her. Doctor Siddiqui's US lawyer, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, gave the BBC her reaction to the news.
"We are relieved that she is alive, obviously that's good news to the family. We are very concerned about her elder son who now is 12 or 13 years old, and her other two children. We want the accountability, we want to know where they are."
World News from the BBC.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked the United States to stay the scheduled execution of a Mexican man due to take place in Texas about now. The man, Jose Ernesto Medellin, was convicted in 1993 of the rape and murder of two teenagers. Mr. Medellin alleged that he had not been allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help after he was arrested.
The White House in Washington and the Central Intelligence Agency have strongly denied an allegation in a book just published that the Bush administration concocted a fake letter purporting to show a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda as a justification for the Iraq War. A White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, said the notion that the White House directed anyone to forge a letter was absurd.
The European Commission has announced plans for a new wireless technology service designed to improve road safety and traffic flow. The system would allow cars and traffic control centers to communicate with each other. From Brussels, here's Dominy Ques.
In parts of the United States, wireless networks warn drivers of traffic hold-ups, diversions and alternative routes. But the European Commission now wants to give the technology a boost in Europe by reserving a chunk of radio bandwidth across the 27 EU member states that allows manufacturers to put the technology in new cars, knowing it can be applied across a huge market. But as well as transmissions from a central traffic control center, the technology might also allow cars to communicate with each other, if, for example, a vehicle hits a slippery patch, you could inform nearby cars.
Clashes between police and opposition protesters in southern Bolivia have led to the cancellation of a meeting between the Bolivian leader Evo Morales and his Venezuelan and Argentine counterparts. President Hugo Chavez and Cristina Fernandez have been due to flight to Argentina to discuss energy contracts but call the visit off when protesters attempted to storm the runway.
BBC News.
手机网站