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Edward Snowden Charged With Espionage

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 22 Juni 2013 | 12.14

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who revealed secret government spying programmes, has been charged with espionage by US authorities.

A provisional arrest warrant has been issued and Hong Kong authorities have been asked to detain him.

US prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint, charging Mr Snowden with three offences including unauthorised communication of national defence information, which comes under the Espionage Act, and theft of government property.

He is also charged with willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorised person.

All three crimes listed carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty.

The former CIA technician, who has worked for America's National Security Agency (NSA), leaked details of American telephone and internet surveillance programmes.

Edward Snowden charge sheet Court papers list three offences including theft of government property

He revealed the existence of a surveillance system called Prism that was set up by the NSA to track the use of the internet directly from ISP servers.

The NSA and FBI have said that the secret programme provided "critical leads" in preventing "dozens of terrorist events" - although some terror experts dispute the claims.

President Obama has also said the programmes were carried out with "systems of checks and balances" and overseen by the courts and the US Congress.

The Prism revelations sparked outcry in the UK when The Guardian reported that the GCHQ eavesdropping agency had been accessing information about British citizens through Prism.

Mr Snowden fled to Hong Kong on May 20 after copying the last set of documents he intended to disclose at the NSA's office in Hawaii.

Umbrella and placards supporting Edward Snowden Protests in support of Mr Snowden have taken place in Hong Kong

Sky News Asia correspondent Mark Stone said the move marks the official start of government attempts to bring him back to the US.

"We are yet to hear from the Hong Kong police and authorities on whether or not they will act on the request by the Americans to arrest Edward Snowden.

"It's my understanding that they know exactly where he is. The Americans haven't yet asked for his extradition, they have simply asked the authorities to arrest him."

There are reports a private plane is on standby to take Mr Snowden from Hong Kong to Iceland, where he hopes to get asylum.

The latest documents from Mr Snowden claim to show that British spies have secretly accessed fibre-optic cables carrying emails, Facebook messages and other communications.

The Guardian reports that GCHQ can analyse data from the network of cables that carry global phone calls and internet traffic under an operation codenamed Tempora.

It claims that communications between innocent people are being processed, as well as those from people marked out as security threats.

An undated aerial handout photo shows the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland The NSA programme helped to prevent terror attacks, say US spy chiefs

"It's not just a US problem," Mr Snowden told The Guardian.

"The UK has a huge dog in this fight. They (GCHQ) are worse than the US."

Mr Snowden worked for the NSA as an employee of various outside contractors, including Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton.

"I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building," Mr Snowden previously told The Guardian.


12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brazil Protests: President Promises Reforms

Brazil's President has promised to improve public services but says any further violence will not be tolerated in a speech to the nation rocked by mass protests.

During a TV broadcast Dilma Rousseff appealed for unity and said the government knew there were many things "we can do quicker and better".

"I am the president of all Brazil. Of those who support the demonstration and those who do not."

Demonstrators shout anti-government slogans behind part of a banner during one of many protests around Brazil's major cities in Sao Paulo Dilma Rousseff has condemned the violence by 'a minority'

Reaching out to those who feel the government should direct more money to public services rather than on hosting major sporting events, she insisted that "football and sport are symbols of peace and peaceful coexistence".

But she added she would not stand by if demonstrations turned violent, as has been the case in several cities hit by cases of looting and attacks on public buildings including the foreign ministry and several government offices.

"The government cannot stand by as people attack public property ... and bring chaos to our streets," she stressed.

President Dilma Rousseff President Rousseff supports peaceful protest

"We need to inject oxygen into our political system, and make it more transparent and resistant to the tough challenges facing a countries marked by extreme disparity between rich and poor."

But she insisted that "we cannot put up with violence".

"People have a right to criticise," added Ms Rousseff saying she would staunchly defend that right.

She added: "We need to oxygenate our political system ... and make it more transparent."

Ms Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-85 military regime and was imprisoned for three years, pointedly referred to sacrifices her generation made to free the nation from dictatorship.

Her comments came after nearly one million demonstrators took to the streets on Friday across the country to denounce alleged corruption, poor public services and billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Ms Rousseff had cancelled a trip overseas because of the unrest, but stayed away from the public eye for most of the week.

Law enforcement troops take cover behind their shields as protesters throw stones during a demonstration outside the stadium before the Confederations Cup soccer match between Nigeria and Uruguay in Salvador Nearly a million protesters took to the streets on Friday

But critics of Ms Rousseff and her government have accused them of paying "lip service".

Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Ms Rousseff next year's elections.

"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favour of the protests is not helping her cause," Mr Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."

At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo on Thursday night when a motorist - apparently enraged about being unable to drive along a street - rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators.

Unconfirmed news reports also said a 54-year-old cleaning woman had died on Friday after inhaling tear gas.


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Syria: Rebels Risk Own Lives Over DIY Weapons

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 21 Juni 2013 | 12.14

By Sam Kiley, Middle East Correspondent, in northern Syria

High explosive powder is shaken into the nose cone of an improvised missile through a funnel fashioned from a mineral water bottle.

Then along comes a man with a long bolt. He shoves it down into the powder and starts whacking it with a steel headed hammer.

One spark, a drift of cigarette ash, and the detonation of this arms factory would be heard and seen for many, many miles.

We agreed with our hosts, Syrian rebels with no connection to al Qaeda-linked groups, that we would not reveal the location of this installation. The reason was obvious.

For more than two years rebels fighting Bashar al Assad had been begging the outside world for help.

They had seen how effective a no-fly zone had been in Libya.

Syria Some of the extraordinary weapons being produced

A generous interpretation of a United Nations Security Council Resolution which mandated the use of "all necessary means" to protect Libya's civilian population had meant that Nato and her allies were able to deploy aircraft effectively as the rebel air force.

Surely, given the scale of Mr Assad's assault on his own people, the Syrian fighters reasoned, they would get the same sort of support their Libyan brothers had enjoyed. They were wrong.

The West, led by the US, was heavily focussed on getting out of, not into, conflicts in the Islamic world. Namely Iraq and Afghanistan.

And there was no chance that Russia would allow a UN resolution that sanctioned the use of air power against its ally in Damascus.

So no no-fly zone, and no weapons shipments - aside from limited supplies from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The rebels were forced to improvise, or die. Weapons had to be made if they could not be given, or captured.

Syria This explosive device looked like a cartoon bomb

The factory we saw turned out some extraordinary weapons. The most primitive was a "cannon" which ejected an explosive charge, made from a length of pipe stuffed with explosive which was detonated by a fuse that had to be lit with a match before being fired. It looked like a cartoon bomb.

A similar, smaller, contraption had been made from an old shotgun. The rebels make their explosive out of fertilizer and sugar.

Mortar barrels and rockets are turned on industrial lathes, using pipes bought from a builders' merchant.

The rocket detonators are hand turned. A worker dropped one last week, and paid for the mistake with his life.

"We have invested a lot of money and effort in trying to get better at this, some of us have been killed working here - one man died last week, and many have lost pieces of themselves," said Abu Yahya, the manager of the factory.

The US has recently decided to send lethal aid to the rebels - not game-changing equipment such as anti-aircraft weapons or tank killing missiles - just small arms and rocket propelled grenades.

Syria The weapons-makers are self-taught engineers

These will be welcome - but they are the sort of thing that the rebels make for themselves.

The US is reluctant to send more powerful equipment because of fears that it could find its way into the hands of al Qaeda-affiliated groups who could then use anti-aircraft missiles to shoot down civilian aircraft.

Prime Minister David Cameron supports arming those rebels with no affiliations to al Qaeda - but whether he can sell the idea to parliament remains in question.

Many British MPs do not believe that their national interests would be served by backing rebels who may turn against Europe.

But there remains another, more subtle, problem.

The arms factory we saw was a hive of innovation and improvisation. The self-taught engineers were making a remote controlled rocket launcher out of plastic drainage pipes, the working parts of an adjustable TV satellite receiver, and an old starter motor.

That level of artisanal arms manufacturing may, one day, pose a threat to the outside world from people who were abandoned by it.


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Clashes In Brazil As One Million March

By Jason Farrell, Sky Correspondent In Rio de Janeiro

Almost a million protesters have taken to the streets in cities across Brazil to denounce poor public services, government corruption and overspending on the World Cup.

Some protests turned to mayhem. In the capital Brasilia, riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators while they stormed a government building.

Clashes have also taken place in the Amazon jungle city of Belem, in Porto Alegre in the south, in the university town Campinas north of Sao Paulo and in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador.

Protests in Rio de Janeiro A man confronts riot police in Rio

The biggest of the demonstrations was in Rio de Janeiro. More than 300,000 protesters marched towards the Maracana football stadium where many clashed with the police.

It began with a carnival atmosphere. Demonstrators were draped in flags or with stripes of Brazil's national green, yellow and blue painted onto their faces.

They gathered in front of the domed Candelaria church in downtown Rio and chanted slogans: "We welcome the World Cup but we want health and we want safety."

Brazil mass protests: one million march Riot police have struggled to maintain order

Law student Wallace Tarenta told Sky News: "I have come here because we need more money for hospitals and teachers and security - not more stadiums for the cup."

Protester Jorge Vieira added: "Brazil is a strong country, we have good natural resources and a strong government - but nothing goes to the people."

Several city leaders have already accepted the protesters' demands to revoke an increase in bus and subway fares.

But anger has now turned to the lack of investment in public services and the comparative high expenditure on next year's football World Cup.

BRAZIL Protests Protesters in Sao Paolo

On the face of it, Brazil has it all: a growing economy, a World Cup and the 2016 Olympics to look forward to.

But protesters say a corrupt government is damaging the lives of working people while squandering money on showcase stadiums.

With riots breaking out in cities across the country the world is now watching Brazil and wondering how it will cope with the pressures of hosting two of the world's biggest sporting events.


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Brazil Protests: Elite Troops Sent To Hot Spots

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 20 Juni 2013 | 12.15

Brazilian protesters outraged over the costs of hosting next year's World Cup have clashed with police outside a football stadium, as the government deployed elite forces to contain the unrest.

Violence erupted near the £155m Castelao stadium in the city of Fortaleza where the national side faced Mexico in the Confederations Cup.

Protests in Fortaleza Protesters march towards the Castelao stadium in Fortaleza

Some 15,000 demonstrators gathered near the venue - one of several hosting matches in the tournament.

Protesters hurled stones at the police, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Sky Sports News reporter Geraint Hughes, in Fortaleza, said: "Many of (the protesters) tried to gain access to the game. There were some running battles between police and protesters."

Demonstrators confront Brazilian riot police as they attempt to approach the Estadio Castelao during the Confederations Cup soccer match between Brazil and Mexico, in Fortaleza National forces block the march

The national force was also sent to five out of six states including Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Minas Gerais and Brasilia, while an additional 6,000 state police troopers were deployed to Fortaleza.

Demonstration initially sparked by a hike in bus fares in Sao Paulo have quickly spiralled into nationwide marches against corruption, poor public services and the £9.5bn cost of staging the 2014 World Cup.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the past two weeks to voice their anger over the spending.

Demonstrators run during clashes with riot police near the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza Demonstrators run as police attempt to disperse the crowds with tear gas

"We are protesting the use of public funds for the construction of stadiums, money that should be used for education," said 18-year-old Matheus Dantas, amid a sea of Brazilian flags.

The fresh violence flared on Wednesday night as authorities in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro announced a U-turn on public transport fare increases.

Several other Brazilian cities including Porto Alegre and Recife had already rolled back their fare hikes.

Protesters hold signs before the Confederations Cup Group A soccer match between Brazil and Mexico at the Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza Protests during the Brazil and Mexico Confederations Cup tie

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has promised to "listen to the voices calling for change".

On Tuesday, riot police and tens of thousands of protesters clashed in Sao Paulo - the largest city.

And what could be the country's biggest demonstration in three decades is planned for Rio later, with around half a million people expected to line the streets of the city ahead of another Confederations Cup game between Spain and Tahiti.


12.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

US 'Postpones' Taliban Talks Amid Karzai Fury

Taliban Insurgency: A Timeline

Updated: 4:44pm UK, Tuesday 18 June 2013

As Afghan forces take control of national security, marking a major milestone for the withdrawal of US-led combat troops, here is a timeline of the 12 years of Taliban insurgency in the country.

:: September 11, 2001 - al Qaeda hijackers fly passenger planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is known to live in Afghanistan, which is ruled by the Taliban.

:: October 7, 2001 - A US-led military campaign begins with air strikes against Afghanistan, followed by troops, to hunt down bin Laden and topple the Taliban.

:: December 2001 - The Taliban are forced from power, but bin Laden is not found. Plans are laid for an interim government and a multinational force. Hamid Karzai is appointed to lead the government and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) begins to deploy.

:: October 9, 2004 - Afghanistan's first presidential election takes place. Mr Karzai is proclaimed the winner. He is declared to have won another term in November 2009, amid accusations of massive electoral fraud.

:: February 2007 - Taliban insurgents attack at US base as vice president Dick Cheney visits, killing 24 people.

:: November 2008 - Barack Obama is elected US president, and vows to end the war in Iraq and focus on Afghanistan.

:: December 1, 2009 - Mr Obama orders a "surge" of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan but says withdrawals will begin in July 2011. The number of NATO-led forces reaches a peak of 150,000 in the summer of 2010.

:: May 2, 2011 - Osama bin Laden is killed by US special forces in the Pakistan town of Abbottabad.

:: June 22, 2011 - Mr Obama announces the withdrawal of 33,000 US troops by the middle of 2012.

:: July 2011 - Western troops and officials begin handing authority to Afghan forces in some areas.

:: August 6, 2011 - 30 US troops, mostly special forces, and eight Afghans die when the Taliban shoots down their helicopter in the biggest single loss for foreign troops in the war.

:: September 20, 2011 - Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president and Mr Karzai's peace envoy, becomes the most senior politician to be killed since the start of the conflict in an assassination blamed by Afghan officials on the Taliban.

:: November 27, 2011 - US air strikes kill 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Pakistan to suspend overland NATO supply routes into Afghanistan for several months.

:: December 6, 2011 - At least 84 people die in suicide blasts at shrines on the Shiite holday day of Ashura. The biggest attack takes place in Kabul, killing 80.

:: February 2012 - Deadly protests kill 40 people and force Mr Obama to apologise after US troops burn copies of the Koran on an Afghan military base.

:: March 11, 2012 - A rogue US soldier walks off his base in Kandahar and kills 16 Afghans, most of them women and children.

:: February 2013 - Mr Obama announces 34,000 US troops will return from Afghanistan by mid-February 2014. There are currently 98,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.

At least 3,336 foreign troops have died since the start of operations in 2001.


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Four US Troops Killed In Attack In Afghanistan

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 19 Juni 2013 | 12.14

Taliban Insurgency: A Timeline

Updated: 4:44pm UK, Tuesday 18 June 2013

As Afghan forces take control of national security, marking a major milestone for the withdrawal of US-led combat troops, here is a timeline of the 12 years of Taliban insurgency in the country.

:: September 11, 2001 - al Qaeda hijackers fly passenger planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 people. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is known to live in Afghanistan, which is ruled by the Taliban.

:: October 7, 2001 - A US-led military campaign begins with air strikes against Afghanistan, followed by troops, to hunt down bin Laden and topple the Taliban.

:: December 2001 - The Taliban are forced from power, but bin Laden is not found. Plans are laid for an interim government and a multinational force. Hamid Karzai is appointed to lead the government and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) begins to deploy.

:: October 9, 2004 - Afghanistan's first presidential election takes place. Mr Karzai is proclaimed the winner. He is declared to have won another term in November 2009, amid accusations of massive electoral fraud.

:: February 2007 - Taliban insurgents attack at US base as vice president Dick Cheney visits, killing 24 people.

:: November 2008 - Barack Obama is elected US president, and vows to end the war in Iraq and focus on Afghanistan.

:: December 1, 2009 - Mr Obama orders a "surge" of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan but says withdrawals will begin in July 2011. The number of NATO-led forces reaches a peak of 150,000 in the summer of 2010.

:: May 2, 2011 - Osama bin Laden is killed by US special forces in the Pakistan town of Abbottabad.

:: June 22, 2011 - Mr Obama announces the withdrawal of 33,000 US troops by the middle of 2012.

:: July 2011 - Western troops and officials begin handing authority to Afghan forces in some areas.

:: August 6, 2011 - 30 US troops, mostly special forces, and eight Afghans die when the Taliban shoots down their helicopter in the biggest single loss for foreign troops in the war.

:: September 20, 2011 - Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president and Mr Karzai's peace envoy, becomes the most senior politician to be killed since the start of the conflict in an assassination blamed by Afghan officials on the Taliban.

:: November 27, 2011 - US air strikes kill 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting Pakistan to suspend overland NATO supply routes into Afghanistan for several months.

:: December 6, 2011 - At least 84 people die in suicide blasts at shrines on the Shiite holday day of Ashura. The biggest attack takes place in Kabul, killing 80.

:: February 2012 - Deadly protests kill 40 people and force Mr Obama to apologise after US troops burn copies of the Koran on an Afghan military base.

:: March 11, 2012 - A rogue US soldier walks off his base in Kandahar and kills 16 Afghans, most of them women and children.

:: February 2013 - Mr Obama announces 34,000 US troops will return from Afghanistan by mid-February 2014. There are currently 98,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.

At least 3,336 foreign troops have died since the start of operations in 2001.


12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jill Meagher Killer Sentenced To Life In Prison

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of Irishwoman Jill Meagher in Melbourne, Australia.

Adrian Ernest Bayley, who had pleaded guilty to raping and murdering the 29-year-old on September 22 last year, was told he will not be able to apply for parole for at least 35 years.

The 41-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing, plus 15 years for the rape.

Victorian Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Nettle told Bayley: "The nature and gravity of your offending and its antecedence ensure that nothing but life imprisonment will suffice.

"It was a savage violent rape of the worst kind.

"Your killing of the deceased ranks among the worst kind conceivable.

"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt you pose a risk to the sexual safety of the community."

Justice Nettle said Bayley would not have received a minimum term if he had not pleaded guilty.

Ms Meagher was attacked as she walked back to her flat after having drinks with colleagues from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Tom Meagher Jill Meagher's husband Tom at court in Melbourne

Bayley dragged her into a Melbourne alleyway, before raping and murdering her.

The serial sex offender was on parole at the time after serving eight years in prison for raping five women previously.

He was also on bail, after causing serious injury to a man outside a night club.

Ms Meagher's heartbroken family including husband Tom, brother Michael, and mother Edith McKeon were in court to hear the sentence.

Her father, George McKeon, made an emotional statement afterwards, saying: "Jill was brutally raped and murdered and is never coming back.

"Because of Ben Leonard and the team at Victoria Police and Richard Lewis and his colleagues at Public Prosecutions Victoria, justice has now been done."

The court heard Ms Meagher, in all probability, had the greatest and best of her life ahead of her, before she was stolen from her husband and parents by Bayley.

Her husband had been robbed of the love and companionship of his life partner, Justice Nettle said.

"You were determined to have your way with her and so you overpowered her and raped her where she stood," the judge said.

Jill Meagher Jill Meagher on her wedding day

"You are a recidivist violent sexual offender who has had little compunction about sexually offending when the mood takes you.

"You dragged her off the street at night while she was quietly going about her business a stone's throw from her home.

"The rape was savage and degrading."

At a previous hearing the court heard Tom Meagher's victim impact statement where he said he was haunted by visions of what happened to her.

He said his future had been taken away and replaced with a life of fear, insomnia and anger.

"What was stolen from me on the 22nd of September 2012 was love, my best friend and my entire world," Mr Meagher said in his statement.

"I think of the waste of a brilliant mind and a beautiful soul. I am half a person because of this crime."

At the same hearing Ms Meagher's brother, Michael McKeon, said there were no adequate words to describe the impact of the loss of his sister.

"I am in dreadful pain, I must carry on with living a full life, yet I will never forget my sister," he said in a statement read to the court.

The couple had moved to Australia in 2009 after getting married and set up life in Melbourne.

Six days after the attack Bayley led police to her body, buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of the city.

Her murder struck a chord in Melbourne with 30,000 people marching through the city to remember Jill and also highlight wider concerns about violence against women.


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G8 Summit: Cameron Urges Unity Over Syria

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 18 Juni 2013 | 12.14

David Cameron was today hoping for a show of unity over Syria from the world's most powerful nations after a late-night showdown at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Western nations last night faced down Russian president Vladimir Putin at a summit dinner over his support for the regime of dictator Bashar Assad.

Downing Street welcomed a "very positive" response from the Russian leader, reviving hopes for a peace conference to pave the way for a political transition in the war-torn Middle Eastern state.

While nobody at the summit was in any doubt about  the continuing differences between Moscow and the West, sources suggested Mr Putin was ready to sign up to five key principles discussed at last night's dinner.

The five points include support for  a transitional authority that will command the support of all Syria's communities - effectively ruling out a place for Assad.

David Cameron and Barack Obama at the G8 summit David Cameron is banking on the support of Barack Obama over Syria

Tension over Syria has dominated the annual gathering of world leaders, which comes days after president Barack Obama suggested the US may send weapons to opposition forces.

Mr Putin has set himself firmly against any Western supply of arms, warning that they could end up in the hands of extremists opposed to European values, who "eat the organs" of their enemies. He has also said he is ready to supply Assad with anti-aircraft missiles.

Mr Cameron put Syria top of the agenda at last night's summit dinner with the aim of restoring momentum towards a proposed peace conference in Geneva.

Downing Street said the Prime Minister regarded the dinner, at the Lough Erne golfing resort near Enniskillen, as "an opportunity for a clarifying moment on Syria".

The PM is understood to want a clear statement of intent in the final summit communique this afternoon.

British officials last night said he was ready to go ahead with a statement with or without Russian agreement - but signals were that Mr Putin was ready to sign up.

The Russian and American presidents met  for face-to-face talks which are thought to have focused on Syria.

Mr Obama acknowledged the pair had "differing perspectives" but had a shared interest in reducing the violence and preventing the use of chemical weapons.

Mr Cameron also today hopes to secure agreement on action to block the payment of ransoms to terrorist kidnappers, as well as an international initiative to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance by sharing information between tax authorities.

But campaigners raised concerns that any agreement on tax information-sharing may be confined only to the rich world, leaving out the developing countries which miss out on billions in tax revenues because of individuals and companies secreting their wealth in offshore bolt-holes.


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World Cup Protests: Violent Clashes In Brazil

More than 100,000 people have marched through cities across Brazil to protest over rising public transport prices and the cost of staging the 2014 football World Cup.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Sao Paolo, while youths clashed with police in central Rio.

Police used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse small groups of masked youths who started a fire near Rio's state legislative assembly attempting to break into the building.

In Porto Alegre, some protesters set a bus on fire and threw rocks at empty commuter trains.

Students protest in Brasilia Students protest outside the National Congress building in Brasilia

Elsewhere, there were peaceful protests through the capital Brasilia, on Monday, where more than 200 youths briefly occupied the roof of the National Congress and some 5,000 later formed a human chain around the building.

Protests also were reported in Curitiba, Belem, Salvador and Belo Horizonte.

"This is a communal cry saying, 'We're not satisfied,'" said Maria Claudia Cardoso, in Sao Paolo.

A protest in Rio de Janeiro A fire near Rio's state legislative assembly

"We're massacred by the government's taxes, yet when we leave home in the morning to go to work, we don't know if we'll make it home alive because of the violence.

"We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact that we're not taking it anymore."

Sandra Amalfe added: "We need better education, hospitals and security - not billions spent on the World Cup."

A demonstrator holds a banner during one of the many protests around Brazil's major cities in Sao Paulo A protester against Brazil's hosting of the World Cup

The protests follow the opening games of the Confederations Cup over the weekend, just one month before a papal visit, a year before the World Cup and three years ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In a brief statement, President Dilma Rousseff, who faces re-election next year and whose popularity rating recently dipped for the first time in her presidency, acknowledged the protests, saying: "Peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and part of democracy. It is natural for young people to demonstrate."

The unrest, which began last week after the announcement of increased bus fares, has rapidly spread to other cities with demonstrators focusing their anger not just on the transport fares but also on the £9.5bn the government is allocating for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.


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