UK Backpacker Murders: Police Websites Hacked

The international hacking group Anonymous said on its Facebook page 14 Thai police websites had been targeted.

Of those it listed, nine could not be accessed on Tuesday.

The words "Failed Law", "We Want Justice", and a hashtag #BoycottThailand were displayed on some of the hacked sites, along with the name of the Myanmar-based "Blink Hacker Group".

Thai police have confirmed the attacks but insist no confidential data has been taken.

Protesters hold up pictures of migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun

"They're not good enough to hack into our system and steal any of our data," police spokesman Dechnarong Suthicharnbancha said.

Last month a Thai court found Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun guilty of killing Britons Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, whose bodies were found on a beach on the holiday island of Koh Tao in 2014.

Officers investigating the murders were accused of gross incompetence, mishandling evidence and torturing the suspects.

However, a judge dismissed the torture allegations, saying there was no evidence it took place.

The guilty verdicts sparked angry protests in Myanmar where hundreds have joined ongoing demonstrations outside the Thai Embassy in Yangon.

They say Lin and Htun, both 22, are both innocent scapegoats and are demanding they be released. Both have been sentenced to death.

The latest hacking attacks were carried out after a 37-minute video was posted on Anonymous' Facebook page on Sunday.

In it a masked person questioned the competency of the Thai police force and its handling of the murder investigation and other cases.

Ireland Wants Star Wars Fans to Visit Location Used in New Movie

Tourism Ireland has released a video it hopes will attract Star Wars fans to Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of Kerry used as a location in the box office blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The video shows film director J.J. Abrams and other crew members discussing why the team chose the UNESCO World Heritage Site as a film location.

“I remember when we all flew in, it was special and we knew it,” executive producer Tommy Harper said in the video.

TheJournal.ie reports the video will be shared around the world. The campaign comes despite concerns last year that filming at Skellig Michael would damage the island’s ecology, although government officials said there was no substantial damage.

Tourism Minister Paschal Donohoe said Skellig Michael’s appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens exposed the island’s beauty to “potentially hundreds of millions of people.”

“By the end of November 2015, we had surpassed our best ever year on record for the number of overseas visitors,” Donohoe said. “We are determined to build on that.”

Skellig Michael will also feature in the next film of the series, which will be released in 2017.

Number Of People With Diabetes Hits Four Million

Data from GPs analysed by the charity Diabetes UK shows there are now 4.05 million people living with the condition.

This includes 3.5 million adults who have been officially diagnosed, an increase of 119,965 on the previous year's figure and an increase of 65% over the last decade.

Around 549,000 people are also believed to have Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to unhealthy lifestyles, but have not been diagnosed.

If this trend continues, an estimated five million people will have the condition by 2025.

Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "With four million people in the UK now living with diabetes, the need to tackle this serious health condition has never been so stark or so urgent."

He said there was a need for a "concerted effort" spearheaded by the Government to address the fact that almost two in every three people in the UK are overweight or obese and therefore have an increased risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

Mr Askew added: "Basic measures such as making healthy food cheaper and more accessible, introducing clearer food labelling and making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives would have a profound influence."

According to the charity, more than 24,000 people with diabetes die prematurely every year because of failures in accessing the best care.

This includes receiving eight annual checks in areas such as foot care and eyesight.

The checks - which only 60% of diabetes sufferers currently receive - are designed to prevent complications which can lead to limb amputation, blindness, kidney failure and even death.

Diabetes UK also warned that people are missing out on education courses designed to help them manage their diabetes, with more than a third of English regions still not running them.

The charity also claimed hospital care for people with the condition is consistently poor and puts some lives at risk.

Some 80% of the £10bn spent on diabetes every year by the NHS goes on treating preventable complications.

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: "Sadly, too many people suffer from Type 2 diabetes and its serious health consequences.

"We must help prevent those at high risk of developing it from doing so."

Inside Out Without the Inside Part Is Short and Sad

Almost everyone who saw Pixar’s Inside Out teared up watching an 11-year-old girl grapple with change and complex feelings. Jordan Hanzon, a film student at the University of Utah, figured out a way to make Inside Out even sadder, though.

Hanzon edited out all of the “inside” scenes and left only Riley’s slow journey to tweendom. The result is surprisingly dark. Turns out that without the “inside” scenes, the film ends up looking like an animated version of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.Without the levity provided by Riley’s internal emotions — the humorous interactions between Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust — it makes you realize that the film is unexpectedly bleak. Turns out that it wasn’t just Bing Bong (sob!) who caused all the waterworks during the film.

Shadow Culture Secretary First Reshuffle Scalp

Mr Dugher tweeted that the Labour leader had removed him from post, saying: "Just been sacked by Jeremy Corbyn. I wished him a happy new year."

He said Mr Corbyn told him he was being demoted to the backbench for warning the Labour leader against a "revenge reshuffle" in an article for New Statesman.

He wrote that revenge wasn't "very Jedi" or "very new politics".

At the weekend the former shadow culture secretary, who ran Andy Burnham's leadership campaign, cautioned that the Labour party could be left with a "politburo of seven" and that Mr Corbyn risked turning it into a "religious cult".

Mr Burnham paid tribute to Mr Dugher saying he could "leave the frontbench with his head held high".

Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson lamented Mr Dugher's departure calling him a "rare politician – a talented working-class MP who hasn’t lost his strong Yorkshire roots".

Mr Watson said: "Politicians with his ability and commitment can make a difference in any role. Labour’s loss in the shadow cabinet will be compensated for by Michael’s free thought on the backbenches."

Shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said: "Very sorry to see Michael Dugher leave shadow cabinet. Michael is a formidable campaigner who provides an important and authentic voice."

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to reveal details of his reshuffled shadow cabinet later after a series of meetings with senior colleagues last night although it is not expected to be as far-reaching as previously thought.

Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn and shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, who were both rumoured to be under threat, were among those to meet the party leader on Monday.

Both left without making comment to waiting journalists.

However, there was speculation Mr Corbyn may have ditched his plan to drop Mr Benn in the face of a threatened mutiny by other MPs.

The shadow foreign secretary had a very public disagreement with the Labour leader over military a

Mr Corbyn wanted to stop divisions with his top team - 11 of the shadow cabinet voted against him on airstrikes.

Some, including former London Mayor and Corbyn ally Ken Livingstone, had suggested Mr Benn could do a job swap with Mr Burnham.

Mr Benn offered no comment to waiting reporters as he left the Labour leader's office after a meeting lasting more than an hour on Monday evening.

However, Ms Eagle is expected to lose her position.

Emerging from the party leader's office, she told journalists: "I don't have anything to say to you."

Ms Eagle voted against Mr Corbyn on Syria and is a staunch supporter of the Trident nuclear deterrent - another issue on which she is at odds with the leader.

Mr Livingstone, who is opposed to Trident, was controversially appointed to chaperone her in carrying out the party's defence review.

As the reshuffle talks began on Monday Mr Corbyn moved journalists away from his office telling them: "Excuse me guys do you mind not hanging around outside my office door, could you all leave please."

Sky's Darren McCaffrey had documented the Labour leader's first shadow cabinet reshuffle in September revealing in his blog post awkward and damaging details of the decision-making process.

Labour MP John Woodcock, who has been critical of Mr Corbyn, questioned the timing of the reshuffle and pointed out the party had had a free vote on airstrikes in Syria.

U.N. Condemns Attacks on Saudi Missions in Iran

(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates) — Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead Monday and scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence sparked by the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday. Within hours, the United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticizing Iran.

The concerted campaign by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival.

“What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented … It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University. “This is the Saudis saying: ‘There is no limit to how far we will go.'”

The standoff began Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges — the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.

Al-Nimr, a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, long denied advocating violence. News of his execution has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

Vahid Salemi—APIranian women wave flags that read, "Death to America and we shall never accept humiliation," during a rally to protest the execution by Saudi Arabia last week of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, in Tehran, Iran, Jan.4, 2016

In Iran, protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. Late Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation authority suspended all flights to and from Iran, saying the move was based on the kingdom’s cutting of diplomatic ties.

Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible. In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Iran’s U.N. envoy Gholamali Khoshroo said more than 40 protesters have been arrested and that authorities are searching for other suspects.

In response to a Saudi letter, the U.N. Security Council late Monday strongly condemned the attacks by Iranian protesters on Saudi diplomatic posts. The council statement, agreed to after hours of negotiations, made no mention of the Saudi executions or the rupture in Saudi-Iranian relations.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long vied for influence in the Middle East. Their rivalry deepened following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

An early battleground was Bahrain, where the Shiite majority staged mass protests in 2011 demanding political reforms from the Sunni monarchy. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates sent in troops to help quash the revolt, viewing it as an Iranian bid to expand its influence.

Bahraini officials since have accused Iran of training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. In October, Bahrain ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires to leave within 72 hours and recalled its own ambassador after alleging that Iran sponsored “subversion” and “terrorism” and funneled arms to militants.

Sudan, which has been looking to Saudi Arabia for aid since the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011, on Monday announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks. Sudan once was closer to Iran, but in recent years has tilted toward Saudi Arabia, and has contributed forces to the Saudi-led coalition battling Shiite rebels in Yemen.

The UAE, a country of seven emirates, has a long trading history with Iran and is home to many ethnic Iranians. It said it would reduce the number of diplomats in Iran and recall its ambassador “in the light of Iran’s continuous interference in the internal affairs of Gulf and Arab states, which has reached unprecedented levels.”

Saudi Arabia had previously severed ties with Iran from 1988 to 1991 over rioting during the hajj in 1987 and Iran’s attacks on shipping in the Persian Gulf. That diplomatic freeze saw Iran halt pilgrims from attending the hajj in Saudi Arabia, something required of all able Muslims once in their lives.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Ali Esfanani, spokesman of the Judicial and Legal Committee, said security issues and the fact that Iranian pilgrims wouldn’t have consular protection inside the kingdom made halting the pilgrimage for Iranians likely, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

World powers have sought to calm the tensions. On Monday, Germany called on both sides to mend ties, while Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted an unnamed senior diplomat as saying Moscow is ready to act as a mediator.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was en route to Riyadh on Monday with plans to later visit Tehran. Iran, a staunch supporter of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the opposition, have participated in three rounds of international talks aimed at ending the conflict. De Mistura has set a Jan. 25 target date for a fourth round of talks.

The White House urged Saudi Arabia and Iran to not let their dispute derail efforts to end the Syrian civil war.

“Hopefully they will continue to engage,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “It is so clearly in the interests of both countries to advance a political solution to the situation inside of Syria.”

Saudi Arabia’s U.N. Ambassador Abdallah al-Moualimi said late Monday tha tSaudi Arabia will attend the Jan. 25 talks in Geneva on Syria. Iran has not said whether it will attend.

Meanwhile, al-Nimr’s family is holding three days of mourning at a mosque in al-Awamiya village in the kingdom’s al-Qatif region in predominantly Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia. Authorities have already buried the sheikh’s body in an undisclosed cemetery, his family said.

Early Monday, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said a shooting targeting security forces in the village killed a man and wounded a child. It offered no motive for the attack, nor for another it said saw a mob beat and briefly kidnap a man who was driving through the area.

Obama to embark on fresh push for tighter gun controls

President Barack Obama will meet with the United States’ top prosecutor Monday to discuss new firearm control measures, with the White House eyeing executive action as a way to push through ways to curb America’s gun violence.

The president will meet Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey to discuss the administration's options for tightening gun rules without going through the Republican-controlled Congress, which does not support the wide-ranging legislative changes that Obama prefers.

At the top of the list is an effort to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as federally licensed gun dealers. The changes would be aimed at some unregistered sellers who skirt the background check laws by selling at gun shows, online or informal settings.

Other moves being considered include improving reporting of lost and stolen weapons and beefing up inspections of licensed dealers, according to a person familiar with the plans who would not be named discussing proposals before they are finalized.

Guns are a potent issue in U.S. politics. The right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution, and the National Rifle Association, the top U.S. gun rights group, is feared and respected in Washington for its ability to mobilize gun owners. Congress has not approved major gun-control legislation since the 1990s.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has already proposed an executive action to close the gun show loophole, cheered Obama's plans. "I am absolutely convinced we can have gun safety measures consistent with the Constitution," she said during a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire.

"I will take on that fight. I'm very hopeful and excited that the president is going to take some action with executive action in the next week or two," she said. "But if it's a Republican who walks into the White House, within the first day, the executive orders will be reversed."

Republicans have roundly criticized the president's plans, calling them an overreach of executive authority.

"This president wants to act as if he's a king, as if he's a dictator," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, said on “Fox News Sunday.” The governor, who was criticized by fellow Republicans for embracing Obama in an appeal for aid after Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey in 2012, called the president a "petulant child."

"This is going to be another illegal executive action, which I'm sure will be rejected by the courts," Christie added.

Obama will take part in a one-hour town-hall-style forum on gun control broadcast on CNN at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, the White House said.

The event, moderated by anchor Anderson Cooper, will give Obama a chance to respond to criticism and raise public support for the measures before his State of the Union address on Jan. 12.

Obama launched a push to tighten U.S. gun laws after the massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, in which a young man armed with a semiautomatic weapon took the lives of 20 children and six educators.

But the push stalled in Congress. Last month's fatal shootings in San Bernardino, California, by a couple who authorities suspect were inspired by ISIL, gave further impetus to the White House to try again through executive actions.

"It would be better for our security if it was harder for terrorists to purchase very powerful weapons," Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Saturday in Hawaii, where Obama was concluding a two-week vacation. The president returned to Washington on Sunday.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month showed 65 percent of respondents saying it was important that gun control be addressed in the United States, while 29 percent said it was unimportant.