Six In The Morning Wednesday March 25

Germanwings plane crash: Recovery operation resumes

14 minutes ago

A search and recovery operation has resumed in the southern French Alps after Tuesday's crash of a Germanwings plane with 150 people on board.

Officials warn the operation could last for days in a remote mountain ravine between Digne and Barcelonnette.

The leaders of Germany, France and Spain are due to visit the crash site.

The Airbus A320 - flight 4U 9525 - from Barcelona to Duesseldorf crashed after an eight-minute rapid descent, officials say. There were no survivors.

Officials believe 67 of the 144 passengers were German citizens, including 16 pupils returning from an exchange trip.

More than 40 passengers were believed to be Spanish and the flight was also carrying citizens of Australia, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it was "sadly likely" that some British nationals were on board.

Germanwings, a low-cost airline owned by Germany's main carrier Lufthansa, had an excellent safety record.

India supreme court strikes down internet censorship law

Decision ends ‘section 66A’ law that made posting information of ‘grossly offensive or menacing character’ punishable by up to three years in jail

Jason Burke in Delhi

India’s supreme court has struck down a controversial law that made posting “offensive” comments on social media a crime punishable by jail.

The decision on Tuesday came after a two-year campaign by free speech activists, led by a law student.

In a decision that surprised many, judges said an amendment to India’s Information Technology Act known as section 66A was unconstitutional and a restriction on freedom of speech.

“The public’s right to know is directly affected by section 66A,” said Justice R F Nariman, reading out the judgment.

Horrific footage emerges of 16-year-old Australian girl being dragged by the neck during police arrest

A magistrate ruled that Melissa Dunn was subject to unnecessary force

JON STONE

 

 

Wednesday 25 March 2015

New footage of an Australian police officer dragging a 16-year-old girl by the neck during an arrest has sparked a legal challenge by the girl’s mother.

Melissa Dunn was chased by police and arrested on a night out in January 2012 after striking a police van.

During Ms Dunn’s trial a magistrate found that police had used an “inordinate amount of force” during the course of the girl’s arrest.

But three days after the trial the young woman, who is of Aboriginal heritage, committed suicide. There is no evidence to suggest her death was related to her trial.

Jakarta bombing linked to returning IS fighters

March 25, 2015 - 5:56PM

Jewel Topsfield

Indonesia correspondent for Fairfax

Jakarta: A bomb explosion in a Jakarta shopping mall last month has been linked to members of the so-called Islamic State who fought in Syria, highlighting the danger posed by foreign fighters when they return to Indonesia.

National Police Inspector-General M. Tito Karnavian also confirmed police were investigating claims by a money-laundering watchdog that funds from Australia were supporting terrorist networks in Indonesia.

General Tito said 159 Indonesians were confirmed as having left to fight for IS in Iraq and Syria, but the real number was likely to be higher. Of the 159, 11 had been killed and 11 had returned to Indonesia. Three of the 11 returned fighters had been arrested and eight were being monitored.

AP investigation: Are slaves catching the fish you buy?

In a year-long investigation, The Associated Press uncovered a brutal slave trade that has ties to seafood consumed in the United States and Europe.

By ,Robin McDowell, Margie Mason & Martha Mendoza, Associated Press

BENJINA, INDONESIA — The Burmese slaves sat on the floor and stared through the rusty bars of their locked cage, hidden on a tiny tropical island thousands of miles FROM HOME.

Just a few yards away, other workers loaded cargo ships with slave-caught seafood that clouds the supply networks of major supermarkets, restaurants, and even pet stores in the United States.

Here, in the Indonesian island village of Benjina and the surrounding waters, hundreds of trapped men represent one of the most desperate links criss-crossing between companies and countries in the seafood industry. This intricate web of connections separates the fish we eat from the men who catch it, and obscures a brutal truth: Your seafood may come from slaves.

Japanese navy gets biggest flat-top since WWII-era aircraft carriers

Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force on Wednesday took delivery of the biggest Japanese warship since World War Two, the Izumo, a helicopter carrier as big as the Imperial Navy aircraft carriers that battled the United States in the Pacific.

The Izumo with a crew of 470 sailors is a highly visible example of how Japan is expanding the capability of its military to operate overseas and enters service as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks lawmaker approval to loosen the restraints of Japan's pacifist post-war constitution.

The 248 meter (813 feet) long Izumo resembles U.S. Marine Corp amphibious assault carriers in size and design but it is designated as a helicopter destroyer, a label that allows Japan to keep within the bounds of a constitutional ban on owning the means to wage war. Aircraft carriers, because of their ability to project force, are considered offensive weapons.