Australian security agencies have begun using sweeping new powers to access encrypted communications, even before a promised review to address concerns from the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook.
The powers were granted under a new decryption law which was rushed through parliament in December amid fierce debate, and was seen as the latest salvo between governments and tech firms over national security and privacy.
Two months later, the Australian Federal Police have revealed that agents have already used it while investigating drug trafficking and child exploitation.  Under the fresh rules, refusal to grant authorities access to devices is punishable with up to 10 years in prison, and police told a parliamentary inquiry they had used that threat to compel two suspects to hand over their passwords.
Citing secrecy provisions in the law, police declined to say if they had used the new law to force device makers or telecommunications firms -- including global giants like Apple -- to ...

Australia wields vast decryption powers before planned review

PTI Automatic

Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Friday he will stand as prime minister in March's election as the army looks to maintain its influence on politics more than four years after a coup.
"I agree to accept the invitation by Phalang Pracharat to nominate my name to parliament to be appointed as PM," Prayut said, referring to a party aligned with the army.

Thai junta chief says will run for PM in election

A Thai princess will stand as a candidate for prime minister in upcoming elections for a party run by the divisive Shinawatra political clan, a stunning twist that deals a blow to the ruling junta's hopes of maintaining its grip on politics.
The 67-year-old Princess Ubolratana, the older sister of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, will stand for premier on behalf of the Thai Raksa Chart party, it said Friday.
"The (party) board agrees that the name of Princess Ubolratana, an educated and skilled person, is the most suitable choice," Thai Raksa Chart party leader Preechapol Pongpanich told reporters.
The party falls under the tutelage of Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire self-exiled former premier, who stands at the heart of Thailand's bitter decade-long political schism -- loathed by the army and Bangkok elite, yet adored by the rural poor.
The announcement pits a royal-fronted party tied to the Shinawatras directly against a military party, whose own candidate was also announced Friday .

Thai princess to run for PM with Shinawatra party

Thousands of people took to the streets across Haiti, protesting against rampant inflation and demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise on the two-year anniversary of his inauguration.
"For two years, Jovenel has promised to fill our plates. But I can't eat lies," protester Josue Louis-Jeune said in the capital Port-au-Prince, banging a metal plate with a spoon.
"This president is nothing more than a liar," he said. "He's got to go."
As Haitians reel from 15 percent inflation over the past two years, a sharp drop in the value of the gourde -- the national currency -- against the US dollar has only intensified price increases on mostly imported everyday essentials.
"We can't handle this economic slump any more: we have no electricity, no security, and now flour and bread sellers have decided to close their doors due to inflation. So we've started new hunger riots," said Ulrich Louima, leading the way at the protest.
In Port-au-Prince, several vehicles were burned by ...

Thousands of Haitians protest corruption, rising living costs

Australia's parliament revealed Friday that its computer network had been compromised by an unspecified "security incident" and said an investigation was under way.
"Following a security incident on the parliamentary computing network, a number of measures have been implemented to protect the network and its users," parliamentary authorities said in a statement.
Officials declined to comment on the nature of the cyber security breach, but said there was no evidence that data had been accessed.
"We have no evidence that this is an attempt to influence the outcome of parliamentary processes or to disrupt or influence electoral or political processes," a statement said.
"Our immediate focus has been on securing the network and protecting data and users."
All parliamentary passwords were reset and The Australian Cyber Security Centre  -- part of the country's signals intelligence agency-- is among those investigating.

Australian parliament computer network breached

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has said that it swung to profit in the most recent quarter even as revenues dipped for its newspaper operations.
Profit in the three months through December amounted to USD 119 million, compared with a loss of USD 66 million a year earlier, for the conglomerate that publishes the Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, and titles in Australia.
Revenues rose 21 percent year-over-year as gains from new video subscription services, Australian pay TV and other operations offset weakness in the news and information unit.
The New York-based group also saw gains from its digital real estate and book publishing operations.
Chief executive Robert Thomson said the results show "the power of premium content and authenticated audiences in a fact-challenged world that craves credibility."
He noted digital subscription gains at the Wall Street Journal, and stronger digital advertising revenues in both the US and Australia.
Wall Street Journal digital subscriptions ...

Murdoch's News Corp posts profit amid struggles at newspapers

The United States has called on all sides in Nigeria including the military to ensure that next week's election is "free from outside pressure and intimidation."
Amid mounting tensions over potential violence and vote-rigging, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Thursday said the February 16 vote offered "an opportunity for Nigeria to solidify its place as a democratic leader in Africa."
"The United States government supports a free, fair, transparent and peaceful election that reflects the will of the Nigerian people," Pompeo said in a statement.
"Nigerian security services must provide a safe and secure environment for the Nigerian people to exercise their rights. Those who interfere in the electoral process or incite violence must be held to account," he said.
Fraud accusations and violence have marred elections since civilian rule was restored in 1999 in Africa's most populous country, although observers say the last vote in 2015 that elected President Muhammadu Buhari were generally ..

US urges Nigeria to hold vote free of 'intimidation'

US President Donald Trump has said that he does not expect to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline in trade war negotiations between the two economic superpowers.
"Not yet," Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday when asked if a meeting had been arranged for within the next month.
Asked if a meeting could happen before March 1, he said: "No." Trump has said that final resolution of the trade dispute would depend on him and Xi meeting "in the near future."
There had been speculation that Trump might meet the Chinese leader after he flies to Vietnam in late February for a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
The United States has threatened to more than double existing tariffs on Chinese goods at the start of March if there is no agreement on measures to reform China's trade practices, which Washington says are deeply unfair.

Trump says no Xi meeting expected before trade talks deadline

Congressional Democrats have unveiled an unprecedented plan to reverse climate change and eliminate all US carbon emissions within 10 years, by taking drastic steps that would require transformational action across the economy.
The "Green New Deal" introduced by liberal congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a rising Democratic star in the House, and Senator Ed Markey on Thursday is a dramatic, potentially unrealistic, statement of intent on a sustainable path forward.
"This is our first step," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.
"Today is the day we choose to assert ourselves as a global leader in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy and charting that path."
The plan does not detail exactly how America will wean itself off of fossil fuels, or how much the ambitious transformation will cost.
The Republican Party hammered the deal as a "socialist wish list" which could cost upwards of $2 trillion.
The non-binding resolution is effectively a blueprint of dramatic action -- it ...

US Democrats unveil carbon-neutral 'Green New Deal'

Washington and Beijing are still a "sizeable distance" apart in the trade talks, and no date has been set for a meeting between the countries' leaders, a top White House adviser said Thursday.
The remarks helped deepen losses on Wall Street, which opened lower on Thursday following downbeat economic forecasts for major European economies.
President Donald Trump last week said he expected to meet with China's President Xi Jinping in person "in the near future" to seal a final trade deal.
But top White House economist Larry Kudlow told Fox Business on Thursday that "No date has been set, no time, no place, no nothing at the moment."
And while Trump was "optimistic" about prospects for a deal, there remains a "sizeable distance" separating the two sides, Kudlow said.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 300 points following Kudlow's remarks and shortly before 1730 GMT was down 1.3 per cent for the day at 25,075.31.
Last week, Trump and Chinese officials had expressed 

'Sizeable distance' remains in China trade talks: White House adviser

French energy giant Total announced Thursday it had found "significant" gas off the southern coast of South Africa, a discovery expected to boost the nation's struggling economy and reduce reliance on imports.
"Total has made a significant gas condensate discovery on the Brulpadda prospects,... in the Outeniqua Basin, 175 kilometres off the southern coast of South Africa," it said in a statement.
Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the potential quantities "could be around one billion barrels of global resources, gas and condensate light oil".
"So it could be quite big, it's probably quite big," he told journalists in Paris.
"Having said that this region is quite difficult to operate, with huge waves, so the weather is not very easy," he said of the block with water depths ranging from 200 to 1,800 metres.
South Africa's Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe welcomed the news of the discovery in the deep waters as "potentially a major boost" for the economy which grew less than one .

Total makes 'significant' offshore S.Africa gas find

Recent gains by Kurdish-led forces in Syria have shrunk the Islamic State group's "caliphate" to less than one percent of its original size, the US-led coalition said on Thursday.
Major General Christopher Ghika, the coalition's deputy commander, described the size of the last patch of land held by the jihadists as "now less than one percent of the original caliphate".
The coalition and allied Kurdish forces have captured "approximately 99.5 per cent" of IS-controlled territory, he said in a statement.
At its height, the jihadist proto-state proclaimed by IS in Syria and Iraq in June 2014 was roughly the size of Britain.
But it has since lost most of that territory to various offensives.
The jihadists are now clinging on to a small sliver of land near the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria and many residents are fleeing and turning themselves in ahead of a final offensive.
Jihadists "are attempting to escape through intermixing with the innocent women and children attempting to flee .

IS down to less than 1% of original 'caliphate': coalition

President Donald Trump blasted Democrats on Thursday as they prepared to launch a barrage of investigations into his Russia ties, real estate business and long-hidden taxes.
Empowered by their election takeover of the House of Representatives, Democrats were to hold two hearings Thursday focused on Trump's tax returns and his controversial policy to separate immigrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border.
Trump's acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker is scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
The committee is threatening a subpoena if he refuses to testify and hand over communications with the president related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling.
And House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is staffing up to expand their probe into Trump's political and business ties to Russia, with Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen scheduled to testify in late February.
"The Dems and their .

Trump lashes out as Democrats open probes into his taxes, Russia ties

A decision by Australian airline Qantas on Thursday to cancel an order for Airbus A380 superjumbos raised fresh questions about the future of the world's largest passenger jet, which has struggled to find enough buyers to justify its production.
Launched with fanfare a decade ago, the double-decker plane capable of seating up to 850 people was hailed as a revolution for the industry as it prepared for soaring numbers of long-haul passengers.
It was also seen as a bold challenger to Boeing and the US giant's stranglehold on the large-aircraft market.
But after an initial spurt of orders the A380 has hit bumpy skies, with aviation experts suggesting its future is now in doubt.
When one expert was asked if the whole programme could be wound up, he said: "Honestly, it seems inevitable."
"Airbus is facing a difficult dilemma, and the more orders dwindle, the more it becomes pressing," said the expert, who asked to remain anonymous.
"Economically, the programme is lopsided" and "the current 

Future of Airbus's A380 superjumbo in doubt as demand fades

Medical services in Guinea are on alert after a man died from Lassa fever, health officials said on Thursday, with some 80 people being monitored for the deadly disease.
Lassa fever is caused by a haemorrhagic virus which belongs to the same family as Marburg and Ebola.
The virus was found in a 35-year-old man from the southwestern town of Kissidougou. He died on January 29 in Mamou, some 400 kilometres away, according to officials.
Kissidougou is where an outbreak of Ebola began in December 2013, leading to thousands of deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"(We) have set to work to see if there are any hidden cases and to trace all the contacts" of the deceased man, said Sakoba Keita from the National Health Security Agency (ANSS).
Keita said it was not yet clear whether this was "an isolated case or an epidemic".
Around 80 people -- 30 in Kissidougou and 50 in Mamou -- are being monitored but none have so far shown any symptoms of the disease, Keita said.
Lassa takes its name 

Lassa fever outbreak scare in Guinea

The United States sharply rebuked Germany on Thursday for deporting a wanted Islamic militant to Turkey instead of extraditing him to New York to stand trial on terror-related charges.
Adem Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen, has been charged by a US federal grand jury with conspiring to carry out a 2008 suicide bombing in Afghanistan, which left two US soldiers dead and 11 others injured.
Yilmaz, also known as Ebu Talha, was deported to Turkey recently after serving 11 years in a German prison for his role in planning large-scale attacks in Germany.
The United States had demanded that Yilmaz be handed over to face the charges against him brought in New York.
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said he was "gravely disappointed" by Germany's decision to deport Yilmaz to Turkey rather than extradite him to the United States.
"The German government deliberately helped Yilmaz escape justice by placing him on a plane to Turkey," Whitaker said in a sharply-worded statement.
"The German ...

US rebukes Germany for deporting Islamic militant to Turkey

The United Nations aid chief on Thursday urged Yemen's Huthi rebels to grant access in the coming days to a food storage site in Hodeida containing enough grain to feed millions of starving civilians.
The Huthis are refusing to allow UN aid agencies to cross front lines and reach the Red Sea Mills, which are located in a government-controlled area, because of security concerns, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said.
Yemen's government and Huthi rebels agreed during talks in Sweden in December to a ceasefire in Hodeida, a redeployment of forces and access to humanitarian aid, under a deal seen as a major step towards ending the devastating war.
"Access to the mills grows ever more urgent as time passes and the risk of spoilage to the remaining grain increases," said Lowcock in a statement.
"I implore all parties, in particular Ansar Allah affiliated groups, to finalize an agreement and facilitate access to the mills in the coming days." Ansar Allah is the official name of the Shiite Huthi ...

UN wants Yemen's Huthis to stop blocking access to grain warehouse

Russian authorities have detained Jehovah's Witnesses in the central region of Mordovia, police said on Thursday, as part of a crackdown which the UN warned was setting a "dangerous precedent".
Russia brands the US evangelical Christian movement a totalitarian sect and in 2017 designated it as an extremist organisation, ordering its dissolution in the country.
On Wednesday, a Russian court sentenced Dennis Christensen, a Danish Jehovah's Witness, to six years in prison for "extremism" - the first adherent of the movement to be sent to prison in Russia.
The same day, several Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in Mordovia, police said.
"The large-scale operation" was conducted by the FSB security service together with police and other law enforcement agencies, police said.
"An investigation is under way," police said in a statement.
The sentencing of Christensen provoked an outcry, with rights groups comparing Moscow's pressure on the group to the persecution of the Soviet era.
The UN on 

Russia detains more Jehovah's Witnesses amid crackdown

One of Pakistan's leading women's rights activists has been released from police custody, she told AFP Thursday, after Amnesty International said she and others had been detained "arbitrarily".
Gulalai Ismail was arrested along with 17 other members of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), a peaceful organisation defending the rights of ethnic Pashtuns, during a protest in Islamabad on Tuesday.
"It was very painful for my family, who tool 30 hours to know where I was," she told AFP, adding that she had been freed late Wednesday.
She was separated from the other activists, she said, and was not placed under official arrest.
"They didn't charge me with anything. They didn't let me contact my lawyer. They just kept moving me around," she said.
"You cannot arrest citizens and just disappear them."
An Islamabad police official dealing with the case swept the claims aside.
Police follow "a proper procedure and her claims of an encounter are unthinkable," he told AFP, referring to ...

Pakistan women's rights activist released from detention

The European Commission sharply cut its eurozone growth forecast for 2019 on Thursday as an unexpected slowdown in Germany and protests in France weigh on the economy in Europe.
The EU also cut Italy's growth rate to a five-year low, a situation that risks reopening bitter differences between Brussels and Rome about the government's spending plans this year.
The commission, the EU's executive arm, is now expecting growth of 1.3 per cent in the eurozone this year, a significant cut from 1.9 per cent predicted in November. It said the full European Union would grow by 1.5 per cent instead of the earlier 1.9 per cent.
The health of the German economy is fast emerging as a worry for the EU as slumping demand for foreign cars in China takes a toll on Europe's export powerhouse.
The commission said Europe is facing international headwinds that have now taken the steam out of a post-crisis recovery in the eurozone.
The slowdown "reflects external factors, such as trade tensions and the ...

EU slashes eurozone growth forecast as Germany cools

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May vowed Thursday that she would reach a deal to ensure Britain leaves the European Union on schedule on March 29, after talks with EU leaders.
"I'm going to deliver Brexit, I'm going to deliver it on time. I'll be negotiating hard in the coming days to do just that," May told reporters in Brussels.

AFP

AFP

Page 758 - Afp