Hong Kong thumbs its nose at Internet super spy, the United States of America

   

HKSAR Government issues statement on Edward Snowden 
***************************************************

      The HKSAR Government today (June 23) issued the following statement on Mr Edward Snowden:

     Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.

     The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions. As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.

     The HKSAR Government has already informed the US Government of Mr Snowden's departure.

     Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the US Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.

Ends/Sunday, June 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:05

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BACKGROUND:

EU ratchets up pressure on US over Prism spy scheme

EurActiv-20/06/2013

EU lawmakers want to forbid the United States from accessing European citizens' data without the approval of a judge or equivalent authority, ...

US spy scandal prompts redraft of EU data bill

EUobserver.com-19/06/2013

PRISM: EU citizens' data must be properly protected against US ...

European Parliament (press release)-19/06/2013

all 18 news sources »

PRISM, meet Tempora: the British spy agency's program to capture ...

VentureBeat-by John Koetsier-21/06/2013

As is the case with PRISM in the U.S., the companies are forbidden by law to either decline to participate or to reveal the spying to their ...

US PRISM spying programme rattles EU lawmakers

Reuters-11/06/2013

U.S. officials have confirmed the existence of a huge, secret U.S. Internet spying programme, codenamed PRISM, which according to ...

EU 'assessing US relationship' amid PRISM spying claims

ZDNet-by Zack Whittaker-13/06/2013

The U.S. National Security Agency, which has been at the center of a privacy storm, after details of itsPRISM program leaked. The EU is ...

UK government is allegedly involved in US internet spying program ...

The Verge-by Carl Franzen-07/06/2013

A major intelligence agency in the United Kingdom is part of the US government's massive secret internet user spying program PRISM, ... 

US Government Spying Extends Far Beyond PRISM

SiliconANGLE (blog)-13/06/2013

Just when we thought these spying shenanigans couldn't get any worse, well… They just did. A report by Michael Riley in Bloomberg today ...

Prism: GCHQ 'penetrated BlackBerry security' to spy on G20 attendees

ITProPortal-18/06/2013

Prism, meanwhile, lets the NSA "obtain the specific communications of foreign suspects from U.S.companies with a court order. This program ...

How PRISM Sends Your Private Data Overseas

TechNewsDaily-18/06/2013

United States "persons" — citizens and residents protected by the Fourth Amendment — were said to not be part of its scope. Yet PRISM data ...

William Hague pressed to make statement on Prism internet spy ...

Telegraph.co.uk-08/06/2013

It comes after senior ministers were challenged over their alleged role in authorising use of a covert USgovernment spying project, Prism, ...

US spy programme: SC admits PIL against companies that aided ...

NitiCentral-19/06/2013

In his plea, Singh has alleged that such large-scale spying by the US authorities is detrimental to national security and urged the Apex court to ...

UPDATE:

CBS NEWS 24 June 2013

The NSC issued a statement early Monday saying it is "disappointed by the decision of the authorities in Hong Kong to permit Mr. Snowden to flee despite the legally valid U.S. request to arrest him for purposes of his extradition under the U.S.-Hong Kong Surrender Agreement. We have registered our strong objections to the authorities in Hong Kong as well as to the Chinese government through diplomatic channels and noted that such behavior is detrimental to U.S.-Hong Kong and U.S.-China bilateral relations." The statement continued, "We now understand Mr. Snowden is on Russian soil. Given our intensified cooperation after the Boston marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters -- including returning numerous high level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government -- we expect the Russian Government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to face justice for the crimes with which he is charged."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott admits to a particular difficulty

Tony marvelled at the longevity of my virginity that I had managed to protect for forty six years. “I don’t know how you do it! I couldn’t do it. I find it difficult enough staying faithful to the one woman for the rest of my life,” he said with a laugh. [Father Kevin Lee,quote from a conversation with Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott MP on 20th December 2010]

Watch International Court of Justice Australia v Japan in the matter of commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean - live June 26-July 16, 2013

The elusive white humpback whale known as Migaloo in 2012 off Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland. Picture: Marc McCormack

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928 Website: www.icj-cij.org Press Release Unofficial

 No. 2013/14

12 June 2013

Public hearings in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) Public admission and media accreditation Live and on-demand webcasts

THE HAGUE, 12 June 2013. As announced in Press Release 2013/7 issued on 11 April 2013, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the case concerning Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) from Wednesday 26 June to Tuesday 16 July 2013, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court.

1. Access for members of the Diplomatic Corps

Owing to the limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, members of the Diplomatic Corps wishing to attend the hearings are kindly asked to inform the Information Department before midnight on Sunday 23 June 2013, by e-mail to confirmation@icj-cij.org. Diplomatic missions are kindly requested to limit their delegations to two persons.

Should members of the Diplomatic Corps decide at any point not to attend a hearing for which they have reserved a seat/s, they are kindly requested to inform the Information Department so that their seat/s can be reallocated.

2. Access for media representatives

Media representatives are subject to an online accreditation procedure, details of which can be found in the Media Advisory attached to this Press Release. The accreditation procedure will close at midnight on Sunday 23 June 2013.

3. Access for members of the public

Owing to the very limited number of seats available in the Great Hall of Justice, priority access will be given to members of the delegations of States that are parties to the case, and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

A small number of seats will be allocated daily to members of the public on a first come first served basis. There will be no advance registration procedure, all previously sent requests to attend these hearings will be ignored.

4. Live and on-demand webcasts

We strongly advise members of the public to watch the hearings on the Court’s website, where they will be broadcast live and in full (www.icj-cij.org, under the heading “Multimedia”), or on the online television channel “UN Web TV (http://webtv.un.org/)”.

The hearings will subsequently also be available as a recorded webcast (VOD) on the United Nations Web TV website (http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/).

5. Schedule for and information on the hearings

The schedule for the hearings is available on the Calendar on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org). Verbatim records of the hearings will be published daily on the Court’s website (with translations to follow as soon as practicable thereafter). On the final day of the hearings, a Press Release will be issued presenting the submissions of the Parties (the Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents).

6. History of the proceedings

The history of the proceedings can be found in Press Release No. 2013/7 of 11 April 2013, which is available on the Court’s website.

_________ 

Northern Star hears a phantom call from new political party

The Northern Star today published a Page Three article about the newly-fledged, Northern Rivers based, Stop CSG Party.

In this article the journalist stated that the party was still calling for a candidate to stand in the Page electorate.

Something tells me that the print newspaper may have to retract that statement tomorrow, because the online version of the article makes no mention of looking for a Page candidate.

It is my understanding that Stop CSG is intending to only stand candidates for Senate seats at the September 2013 federal election.

So this is where Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott wants to increase population density? Oh, dear......

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott stated on 21 June 2013:

A Coalition government will put in place the policies and plans to develop Northern Australia’s potential with more investment, infrastructure, jobs and services…..

If elected, a Coalition government will produce a White Paper on the development of Northern Australia within 12 months of the election…..

Looking to build on existing key urban zones – such as Darwin, Cairns, Townsville and Karratha – with the aim of substantially increasing the population in these areas. To this end, the efficacy and targeting of current relocation incentives and personal and business tax incentives could be reviewed.      

So, under an Abbott-led government there would be sustained population expansion into prime cyclone/flood regions.

What might the experience be like for anyone relocating in the hope of tax incentives? Well it could possibly involve this……

Northern region cyclone tracks and details

Image below: Tropical cyclone tracks for cyclones that formed or moved through the Northern region from 1970 - 2004. (See also: Tropical cyclones since 1906: Search for cyclones by season and location.)

Tracking tropical cyclones for 106 years.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology WA Cyclone History:

The Pilbara coast experiences more cyclones than any other part of Australia. Since 1910 there have been 48 cyclones that have caused damaging wind gusts in excess of 90 km/h in the Karratha, Dampier and Roebourne region. On average this equates to about one every two years. About half of these cyclones have an impact equivalent to a category one cyclone. Ten of these: 1925, 1939, 1945, 1954, Shirley 1966,Sheila-Sophie 1971, Trixie 1975, Chloe 1984, Orson 1989 and John 1999 have caused very destructive wind gusts in excess of 170 km/h*. [my bolding]

Click on graphs to enlarge

Flooding is also a regular seasonal phenomenon in Northern Australia.

Australian Geographic 29 January 2013:

9-17 February 1927 - Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville, QLD 
47 deaths, 16 homes destroyed, an estimated £300,000 in damages
A tropical cyclone hit north of Cairns, causing major rainfall through Queensland, reaching as far as Toowoomba. The torrential rain led to the deaths of 47 people, damaged roads, railways, bridges and buildings - and completely destroyed 16 houses. There was also widespread loss of livestock. The estimated costs reported at the time were in the region of £300,000.

Cairns 1948

Barron River Cairns, flood map 1979

RAINFALL
Town             February Av           6pm (19/2/08)
Cairns           448mm                 394mm
Atherton        304mm                 422mm
Cooktown      354mm                 268mm
Innisfail        595mm                 629mmMareeba       311mm                 439mm

Flooding in Karratah region 2011

Townsville storm surge 2011

Townsville  2012

Darwin 2011

ABC AM 29 December 2011:

The main road linking the Top End of the Northern Territory to southern Australia is expected to re-open later today after serious flood damage on the Stuart Highway.
But it could take months before it's known what kind of environmental damage has been caused by toxic copper concentrate spilt when a freight train was derailed by the floodwaters.
The derailment and spill has prompted questions over the safety of transporting toxic substances including uranium during bad weather in the tropics.

All of which begs the question: How many thousands of dollars each year will the average household/business have to pay in additional taxes to subsidize the basic infrastructure required to accommodate these new northern populations and effect the constant need to repair storm/flood/cyclone damaged road/rail/power/water/telecommunications/community infrastructure?

Aunty ABC telling NSW something it's known for yonks - Telstra's copper wire is stuffed!

This was Aunty on the 23rd June 2013:

“Unions have told the ABC that Telstra's copper network is in a state of disrepair, with workers at the coalface of the infrastructure using plastic bags to protect cables from water.

The telecommunications pits have been nicknamed 'bag-dad' by contractors because of the plastic bags, that are in theory supposed to keep the water out.

The copper network is a crucial element of the Opposition's alternative broadband plan.”

It’s London to a brick that a quick phone survey across NSW regional areas would show that dodgy internet connections during heavy rainfall are par for the course.

On the North Coast the air would be blue in response because even landlines begin to get temperamental in the wet.

Abbott’s cut price version of the NBN will have us all paying higher prices for zero improvement to our internet connections.

Home and business electricity price increases begin to slow in 2013

Review of Regulated Retail Prices for Electricity (IPART Final Report June 2013)

From 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2016:

The average regulated price increases in 2013/14 are substantially lower than

those in recent years. This is due to:

 Much lower changes to network costs in this year, following 4 years of large

network price increases. Network costs (excluding the climate change fund

levy) in 2013/14 will decrease in real terms in the Ausgrid3 and Endeavour

Energy area, and decrease in nominal terms in the Essential Energy area.4 We

expect that revised policy and governance arrangements will result in

moderate network cost changes over the medium term.

 Relatively stable green scheme costs, following the one-off effect of the

introduction of the carbon pricing mechanism last year. Costs associated with

the carbon pricing mechanism and the Renewable Energy Target are broadly

stable in this year. We expect the costs associated with the small-scale scheme

under the Renewable Energy Target will fall over the coming years as the

impact of generous solar subsidies in the past declines. However, the costs

associated with the large-scale renewable generation under the Renewable

Energy Target are likely to continue to rise.

As Figure 1.1 shows, the main drivers of the average price changes for 2013/14

are higher retail costs (including the costs of customer service5 and the costs of

acquiring and retaining customers in the competitive market) and lower

generation costs. However, this partly reflects a reallocation of costs from the

generation to the retail cost categories.

The result of these changes in costs will add around 1.7% to average prices across NSW.

3 EnergyAustralia is the Standard Retailer in the Ausgrid network supply area.

4 Including the climate change fund levy, the Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy network charges will increase in nominal terms by 2.5% and 0.86% respectively, and the Essential Energy network charges will fall by 2.95%.

5 For example, this includes the costs of billing and handling customer inquiries........