HSBC says data on Swiss accounts of 15,000 customers stolen

HSBC: data on 15,000 Swiss account holders stolen

GENEVA – British bank HSBC says information on 15,000 customers with accounts in Switzerland has been stolen.
HSBC says a former employee stole the information in late 2006 and early 2007. The accounts were all opened before October 2006.
The bank says it has contacted the affected customers and apologized …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Confusion over whereabouts of kidnapped British boy, Pakistani diplomat backtracks on comments

Confusion over location of kidnapped British boy

LONDON – The whereabouts of a British boy kidnapped from his family’s home in Pakistan was unclear Thursday, with conflicting reports about whether he has been found and diplomats scrambling for confirmation.
Pakistan’s High Commissioner to London, Wajid Hasan, first told The Associated Press that he had information from Islamabad … Read more : Confusion over whereabouts of kidnapped British boy, Pakistani diplomat backtracks on comments.

Myanmar’s latest law bars democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from voting in elections

Law bars Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi from voting

YANGON, Myanmar – Not only is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi effectively barred from upcoming elections, but she will not be allowed to vote – and her opposition party’s landslide win at the last polls has been formally invalidated, according to new election laws …. Read the original article  : here.

NJ father accused of impregnating daughters to create ‘pure’ family during years of abuse

NJ man accused of raping, beating 5 daughters

PATERSON, N.J. – A New Jersey man with apocalyptic visions is accused of years of terrorizing his family, raping his five daughters and impregnating three, beating his children with wooden boards and even moving at one point to avoid child welfare investigators.
The nightmarish picture of a family subjected … Read more »»».

Report: Iran sentences professor to 6 years for suspected role in postelection turmoil

Report: Iran sentences professor to 6 years

TEHRAN, Iran – An Iranian appeals court sentenced a university professor to six years in prison for suspected involvement in the country’s postelection turmoil, local media reported Thursday.
Several pro-reform newspapers, including the Bahar daily, quoted Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabaei, a lawyer for Saeed Leilaz, as saying the appeals court sentenced … Read more >>>.

Critics of Justice Dept. lawyers who had terror detainee clients draw attention, condemnation

Critics of Justice Dept. lawyers under fire
WASHINGTON – A conservative group’s bashing of several Obama administration lawyers as the “al-Qaida Seven” has struck a nerve in the U.S. legal community, prompting even some fellow Republicans to denounce the group’s attack.
In a video ad circulated over the Internet, the group called Keep America Safe … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Critics of Justice Dept. lawyers who had terror detainee clients draw attention, condemnation.

Ga.’s system to defend the poor still struggling 5 years after costly courthouse killings case

Ga.’s system to defend the poor still reeling

ATLANTA – Georgia’s public defender system is still trying to recover its financial footing five years after a courthouse gunman racked up a $3 million taxpayer-funded defense tab on the way to his conviction.
The state’s ailing system to defend the poor has struggled almost since its start in …. Source  : Ga.’s system to defend the poor still struggling 5 years after costly courthouse killings case.

Al-Qaida eyeing less-complex US attacks after seeing impact of Fort Hood, Dec. 25 militants

Success of lone gunmen may shift al-Qaida strategy

WASHINGTON – On Christmas Day, a passenger on a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit tried to blow up the plane with plastic explosives in his underwear. He failed, yet the very attempt shook the U.S. government, set federal agencies against each other and triggered months of political …. Original source  : Al-Qaida eyeing less-complex US attacks after seeing impact of Fort Hood, Dec. 25 militants.

Senior Pakistani official in London: Kidnapped boy has been located, circumstances unclear

Pakistani diplomat: Kidnapped boy has been found

LONDON – A British boy kidnapped from his family’s home in Pakistan has been located, Pakistan’s top diplomat in London said Thursday.
Sahil Saeed was snatched from his grandmother’s house in Pakistan’s Jehlum city last week after robbers held the family at gunpoint for several hours. Pakistani High Commissioner Wajid …. Read the original article  : here.

Rights complaints persist as US military frees Afghan detainees from Bagram to local leaders

Complaints persist as US frees Afghan detainees
CAMP DUBS, Afghanistan – The Pashtun tribal leaders picked at the chocolate cake and fruit laid out for them at the conference table. Politely, they listened to speeches touting a new program to release detainees from Afghanistan’s largest U.S.-run military prison if community leaders vouch … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Rights complaints persist as US military frees Afghan detainees from Bagram to local leaders.

Amy Victoria Beck: Sent To Jail

BURBANK (GaeaTimes.com)- On Wednesday, the Burbank Superior Court postponed the date of Amy Victoria Beck’s the arraignment at the court. Amy Victoria Beck along with her lawyer Michael Williamson, arrived at the Court on Wednesday morning to appear before the judge for the first time. The next date for the arraignment has been set by …. Source  : Amy Victoria Beck: Sent To Jail.

Ex-Spurs player Alvin Robertson back in jail after judge revokes bond

Ex-Spurs player Alvin Robertson returns to jail

SAN ANTONIO – Former NBA All-Star Alvin Robertson, facing sexual assault of a child and sex trafficking charges, is back in jail in San Antonio after a judge increased his bond.
Prosecutors say they had asked that Robertson’s bail be doubled to $450,000 on Wednesday after allegations surfaced that he … Read more »».

Jury finds former Marine not guilty in 2007 stabbing death of Rice basketball player Bailey

Man acquitted in death of Rice basketball player

BRYAN, Texas – A former Marine has been acquitted in the stabbing death of a Rice University basketball player during a 2007 fight outside a Texas bar.
Ronald Andrew Johnson was found not guilty Wednesday in Jonathan Bailey’s death and of the aggravated assault of Bailey’s twin brother, Janson.
Defense … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Jury finds former Marine not guilty in 2007 stabbing death of Rice basketball player Bailey.

Girlicious band member arrested in California on suspicion of cocaine possession

Girlicious band member arrested in Calif.
GLENDALE, Calif. – Police say a member of the pop group Girlicious was arrested after Glendale officers found more than a dozen plastic bags of cocaine in her Gucci purse during a traffic stop.

Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz says 21-year-old Natalie Mejia (meh-HEE’-ah) was being held Wednesday in jail in the …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Girlicious band member arrested in California on suspicion of cocaine possession.

Press group says 8 journalists kidnapped in Mexican border city; 1 dead, 2 released

Press group: 8 reporters kidnapped in Mexican city

MEXICO CITY – Eight journalists have been kidnapped in a Mexican border city in a two-week span in a wave of abductions unprecedented in the Western Hemisphere, the Inter-American Press Association said Wednesday.
The press group said only three of the journalists kidnapped between Feb. 18 and March 3 … Read : Press group says 8 journalists kidnapped in Mexican border city; 1 dead, 2 released.

Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to face burglary count related to frat house theft

Oregon quarterback Masoli to face burglary count

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who helped lead the Ducks to the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth last season, faces a burglary charge in connection with a theft at a campus fraternity house in late January.
The Lane Country district attorney’s office says Masoli and former …. Original source  : Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to face burglary count related to frat house theft.

Feds charge sushi chef, Calif. restaurant with serving illegal whale to activists in sting op

Sushi chef charged with serving illegal whale

LOS ANGELES – Federal prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against a sushi chef and a Santa Monica restaurant on allegations that they served illegal and endangered whale meat.
Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant, and sushi chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, were charged with illegally selling an endangered species product, …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Feds charge sushi chef, Calif. restaurant with serving illegal whale to activists in sting op.

Some SF drug cases dismissed, more in jeopardy amid evidence handling issues at crime lab

SF drug cases at risk amid crime lab questions

SAN FRANCISCO – At least two dozen felony drug cases were dropped Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court amid questions of evidence tampering at the city’s crime lab.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi said the alleged problem involving a lab technician could affect a number of the 6,000 drug-related …. Original source  : Some SF drug cases dismissed, more in jeopardy amid evidence handling issues at crime lab.

Photos taken by Orange County serial killer released as police look for more potential victims

Photos taken by OC serial killer released
SANTA ANA, Calif. – Huntington Beach police are asking for the public’s help in identifying any potential victims among dozens of young women apparently photographed by Rodney Alcala, convicted in the serial murders of four women and a 12-year-old girl.

Hundreds of photos recovered during court-authorized searches of Alcala’s Monterey … Original article on : Photos taken by Orange County serial killer released as police look for more potential victims.

Oregon QB Masoli to face burglary count related to frat house theft

Oregon QB Masoli to face burglary count
EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who helped lead the Ducks to the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth last season, faces a burglary charge in connection with a theft at a campus fraternity house in late January.

The Lane Country district attorney’s office says Masoli and former … Read more »»».