Peter Jackson Enters Turkish Debate Over Gollum

A doctor is facing up to two years in prison for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by sharing pictures of him next to JRR Tolkien's creature on social media.

But Jackson has given a statement  to The Wrap website saying that the images used are in fact of Smeagol, the good side of the character.

The director, along with screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, stated: "If the images below are in fact the ones forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically: None of them feature the character known as Gollum.

"All of them are images of the character called Smeagol.”

Lawyer Hicran Danisman told the Associated Press she was forced to argue in court that "Gollum is not a bad character" because she got "nowhere" with a defence case based on freedom of expression.

Ms Danisman said that prompted the judge to rule that a committee, including psychologists and movie experts, should provide an assessment of Gollum's character.

But Jackson said: "Smeagol is a joyful, sweet character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others.

"He is not evil, conniving, or malicious — these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol."

Smeagol/Gollum are played by Andy Serkis in the films but the British actor has not commented on the case.

The trial was adjourned until 23 February.

Migrant Dies Amid Macedonia Border Protests

Macedonia has erected a fence to keep migrants out

The man, believed to be Moroccan, died after climbing on to the carriage of a stationary train near the border and touching the overhead cable, according to local police.

A group of Moroccans then picked up his body and moved towards the crossing crying: "Allahu Akbar (God is great)".

Greek police then fired tear gas to move them back.

The incident happened as migrants from Pakistan, Iran and other countries who are being prevented from crossing into EU states through Macedonia set up roadblocks in protest.

Groups of migrants used empty barrels, pieces of wood and metal to make a barrier about 120 metres (394 feet) from the Greek-Macedonian border.

They are stopping all Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis from entering the area.

Macedonia is only allowing people from those three countries to cross as it considers everyone else to be economic migrants.

"If we don't cross, no one does!" the protesters chanted as police stood guard.

Scuffles broke out between migrants and refugees on the border, and a refugee camp set up in the area was looted of food and water during the melee.

"Why aren't they allowing us to cross?" said 30-year-old Pakistani Eli, who refused to give his surname in case of reprisals.

He said he had been living in Greece for six years and wanted to go to Germany.

"We're waiting until they open (the border). Why is there this discrimination going on?

"The border must either open for all or close for all."

Meanwhile, buses full of people who had arrived elsewhere in Greece kept coming.

So far, more than 886,000 people have arrived on Europe's shores this year - about four times more than last year, according to the UN.

Half of those are believed to be Syrians fleeing the war.

Separately, Pakistan has refused to accept the return of 30 of its people who were deported from Greece.

Its decision - for which it gave no reason - comes a week after talks with the EU to resolve a row over forced repatriations.

Some 50,000 Pakistanis are given legal permission to work in Europe each year.

EU figures show 21,000 who were working without permission were ordered to return home.

California Massacre Couple Named: 14 Dead

Triage units have been set up near the scene

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik were shot dead following a police chase, San Bernardino police said.

They wore "assault-style" clothing which held magazines and were armed with assault rifles and handguns during the attack at the Inland Regional Center, a facility for people with disabilities.

US-born Farook was an environmental specialist at the public health department, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, and had been at the centre for a Christmas party with colleagues.

Mr Burguan said: "He was at the party. He did leave the party under some circumstances that were described as angry or something of that nature.

"They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission."

Bomb squad officers were also sent to the building after three explosive devices all connected to each other were discovered and destroyed.

The suspects fled the scene in a black SUV, and police later stopped a vehicle matching that description in Redlands.

Shots were fired from the vehicle and a fake bomb was thrown from the SUV during the chase, according to authorities.

Police confirmed both suspects were killed in a shootout. One officer suffered non life-threatening injuries.

A third person seen running away from the vehicle was detained, but it was unclear if they were involved in the attack.

The attack - on an auditorium packed with around 100 people - is the deadliest shooting in the US since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, in December 2012, when 27 people including the gunman were killed.

Brandon Hunt, who works at the centre, said a holiday party for health department workers was being held inside at the time.

The motive for the attack is unknown and an FBI spokesman told a news conference: "We do not know if this is a terrorist incident."

Terry Petit fought back tears as he said he had received texts from his daughter saying she was hiding from gunfire at the facility.

Mr Petit read a message to reporters outside the Inland Regional Center that said: "People shot.

"In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."

Television images showed people being evacuated with their arms raised from the building, where hundreds of people work.

US President Barack Obama again called for strengthened gun control laws and stronger background checks.

He told CBS News: "The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world."

There have been more than 350 shootings this year, in which four or more people were wounded or killed in the US, according to shootingtracker.com.

California shooting, misinformation

Erdogan was in Qatar at the time of the shooting [Thibault Camus/AP

The killing of at least 14 people in a mass shooting in the US state of California has given way to speculation about the attackers' motives and false claims about their identities.

Police in San Bernardino said 28-year-old US citizen Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire on a social services centre while it was hosting a Christmas celebration.

They were shot dead by police hours later after an intense manhunt.

In the aftermath of the killings, the identity of the slain suspects became an issue of debate on Twitter, with users pointing fingers at either right-wing or Muslim groups.

When information leaked out seemingly confirming the Muslim identity of the suspects, focus immediately turned to their possible motives, with an ISIL link being drawn by many users.

An early misidentification of one of the attackers said a Qatari national by the name of Tayyeep Bin Ardogan had taken part in the attacks.

The shooting San Bernardino left at least 14 people dead and many others injured [Mike Blake/Reuters]

Los Angeles Times reporter Rick Serrano, in a tweet, since deleted, attributed the claim to the police, as did broadcaster Fox News.

Serrano has since clarified that the identification appears to be a hoax but thousands of Twitter users continue to repeat the claim, seemingly unaware that the name sounds very similar to that of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, or that Arabic, which is spoken in Qatar, does not have a letter with a "p" sound.

Murtaza Hussain, a Canadian investigative journalist, told Al Jazeera that the rush for news outlets to get information out had given greater credence to unsubstantiated sources.

"Sometimes this rush to be 'first' can have almost comical implications, as news organisations fail to make even the most simple fact checks in a race to get their privileged information out there before anyone else," he said.

"Tayeep Ardogan is just the latest example of this phenomenon and the potential for profound disinformation and hysteria to spread through the news media, and particularly through the 24-hour news cycle."

The mistake has left some people bemused but also questioning how the US media found it acceptable to publish the name without first clarifying whether it was correct.

While US police have refused to comment on a motive, many anti-Islamic users have pointed the finger at the apparent religious affiliation.

There have been at least 353 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to shootingtracker.com 

Google accused of collecting data on school kids

Google has been collecting information about schoolchildren's browsing habits despite signing a pledge saying it was committed to their privacy, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a complaint filed Tuesday.

The digital rights group said Google's use of the data, collected through its Google for Education program, puts the company in breach of Section 5 of the Federal Communications Act and asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.“Despite publicly promising not to, Google mines students’ browsing data and other information, and uses it for the company’s own purposes," the EFF said.

Google and Microsoft both have extensive programs for educators. Google sells low-cost Chromebooks and tablets, and it offers free apps that teachers and students can use in the classroom.

The tools can be a boon to cash-strapped schools, which have signed up in big numbers. Last month, Google said more than 50 million students and teachers around the globe were using Google Apps for Education, along with 10 million Chromebooks. The Google-powered laptops are "the best-selling device in U.S. K-12 schools," according to Google.

But the EFF has some issues with the way Google delivers those services. It says the company records everything students do while they're logged into their Google accounts, regardless of the device or browser they're using, including their search history, the search results they click on and the videos they watch on YouTube.

Google aggregates and anonymizes the data collected through its education services, the EFF said, but not when the students are using other Google services. And it argues that truly anonymizing data is "difficult to the point of being impossible," especially when it's tied to identifiable accounts at the time of collection.

Google's practices "fly in the face of commitments made when it signed theStudent Privacy Pledge," the EFF said, referring to a document signed by 200 companies including Google, Microsoft and Apple.

In light of the pledge, the EFF says, Google's collection of student data amounts to an unfair or deceptive business practice. It wants the FTC to investigate, force Google to destroy the student data it's collected, and bar it from collecting any more.

Google declined to discuss the specifics of the EFF's allegations but provided a statement: “Our services enable students everywhere to learn and keep their information private and secure. While we appreciate EFF's focus on student privacy, we are confident that these tools comply with both the law and our promises, including the Student Privacy Pledge."

The EFF apparently won at least one concession from Google. It had an issue with the way the Chrome Sync feature in the Chrome browser is turned on by default in Chromebooks and shares student data across different Google services. Google told the EFF it would soon disable that setting in Chromebooks sold to schools.

"While that is a small step in the right direction, it doesn’t go nearly far enough to correct the violations of the Student Privacy Pledge currently inherent in Chromebooks being distributed to schools," the EFF said.

California Massacre Suspects Dropped Off Baby

Video: Shooting Suspect Family's Shock

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, told Farook's mother they were going to a doctor's appointment after leaving their child on Wednesday.

Hours later they were shot dead following a police chase.

Farook, who was born in the US, worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County, inspecting restaurants for health violations and public pools at apartment and housing complexes.

On Wednesday, he attended the annual holiday gathering for employees of his department, but left after an apparent dispute, returning later with Malik dressed in assault clothing and armed with legally purchased long rifles.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that the shooting spree had been clearly planned in advance and that the suspects left several explosive devices, apparently pipe bombs, at the scene of the shootings.

Officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who have been in touch with the family, said the couple were married two years ago and have a six-month-old baby girl.

They left the baby with Farook's mother in nearby Redlands on Wednesday.

At a CAIR news conference, Farook's brother-in-law Farhan Kahn said he was "shocked" by the news.

He said: "I'm very sad that people lost their life and there are victims out there. I am in shock that something like this could happen.

"I spoke to him about a week ago. I have no idea why would he do that, why would he do something like this."

Mr Burguan said officers went to a house in Redlands and saw the couple leave in a black SUV. Police then pursued that vehicle to San Bernardino, where they were fatally injured in a gun battle.

Farook's family was originally from South Asia, while Malik was believed to be from Pakistan and to have lived in Saudi Arabia before coming to the US, according to CAIR Los Angeles chapter executive director Hussam Ayloush.

He said that Farook had an older brother, who had served in the US military.

David Bowdich, an assistant regional FBI director, said on Wednesday that authorities had not ruled out terrorism.

He said: "It is a possibility, but we don't know that. It's possible it goes down that road. It's possible it does not."

Obama calls for gun reforms in wake of San Bernardino shooting

President Barack Obama reiterated his call for more gun control reforms to make mass shootings in the U.S. "rare as opposed to normal" in the wake of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

Speaking to CBS News moments after news broke of the shooting, Obama called for "common sense gun safety laws" and urged lawmakers to pass a law to prevent individuals on the "No Fly List" who are barred from boarding commercial flights from legally purchasing firearms.

"We don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer," Obama said in the interview. "We should never think that this is just something that just happens in the ordinary course of events because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."

Obama said the pattern of U.S. mass shootings "has no parallel anywhere else in the world."