A writer has won £24,000 in damages in a libel suit against columnist Katie Hopkins over tweets she said caused "serious harm" to her reputation.
Food blogger Jack Monroe sued Hopkins over tweets which implied she defaced or condoned the damage to a war memorial in central London.
The case arose after the memorial to the women of the Second World War in Whitehall was vandalised with the words "F*** Tory scum" during an anti-austerity protest.
Monroe's lawyer told the High Court that Hopkins' tweets to Monroe - apparently in a case of mistaken identity amounted to an allegation that would "inevitably cause serious damage to reputation".
The judge heard it was a "widely published allegation" that Monroe had "either vandalised a war memorial or approved of such an act".
Jonathan Price, for Hopkins, argued: "This relatively trivial dispute arose and was resolved on Twitter in a period of several hours".
He asserted "no lasting harm, and certainly no serious harm", to Monroe's reputation resulted from it.
But Mr Justice Warby ruled "whilst the claimant may not have proved that her reputation suffered gravely, I am satisfied that she has established that the publications complained of caused serious harm to her reputation".
He said their publication "not only caused Ms Monroe real and substantial distress, but also harm to her reputation which was serious".
The judge concluded: "Ms Monroe is entitled to fair and reasonable compensation, which I assess at £24,000."
Monroe, who also campaigns over poverty issues, tweeted: "It"s taken 21 months but today the High Court ruled that Hopkins statements to/about me were defamatory. I sued her for libel. and I won."
It is not the first libel suit Hopkins has been involved in recently.
In December, Hopkins apologised to a British Muslim family over a Mail Online column in which she accused them of being extremists after they were refused entry to the US for a trip to Disneyland.
The newspaper was ordered to pay the family £150,000 in libel damages.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Brexit: Ireland's Enda Kenny backs charging UK for EU divorce
The Irish premier has indicated he backs the idea of charging the UK to leave the EU - a bill that many believe would be about £50bn.
As the PM meets EU leaders for the last time before Article 50 is triggered, Ireland's Enda Kenny told Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam: "When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation. And obviously the extent of that level of money will be determined."
Mr Kenny, who made the comments as he arrived at the EU Council meeting in Brussels, said the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, would lead any such negotiations.
"Britain will have a say," added Mr Kenny.
As the PM meets EU leaders for the last time before Article 50 is triggered, Ireland's Enda Kenny told Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam: "When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation. And obviously the extent of that level of money will be determined."
Mr Kenny, who made the comments as he arrived at the EU Council meeting in Brussels, said the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, would lead any such negotiations.
"Britain will have a say," added Mr Kenny.
Domino's shares plunge as inflation bites into consumer spending
Shares in Domino's Pizza have plunged after it posted a sharp slowdown in sales growth and said rising inflation was starting to bite into consumers' appetite for spending.
Analysts said tougher competition from rival Pizza Hut and an unsuccessful winter promotional campaign were also to blame. Shares fell 13%.
Pre-tax profits for the year to 25 December rose 13% to £82.5m as revenues climbed to £361m and more than 250,000 pizzas a day were sold in the UK and Ireland alone.
But a 7.5% rise in like-for-like sales over the year, slowing to 1.5% in the first nine weeks of 2017, was well below the double digit increases in 2015.
Chief executive David Wild said it was to be expected that the pace of its sales growth would eventually slow.
He also admitted that its 'Winter Survival' deal needed to be refreshed after four years.
Mr Wild also said consumers were "worried about rising prices" with inflation being driven higher thanks to the post-Brexit vote fall in the pound.
"They've seen petrol prices go up, food price increases and energy price increases and that's impacting their spending," he added.
Domino's confirmed that it planned to open a further 80 stores in the UK this year as part of its expansion plans, creating 3,000 jobs.
Analysts said tougher competition from rival Pizza Hut and an unsuccessful winter promotional campaign were also to blame. Shares fell 13%.
Pre-tax profits for the year to 25 December rose 13% to £82.5m as revenues climbed to £361m and more than 250,000 pizzas a day were sold in the UK and Ireland alone.
But a 7.5% rise in like-for-like sales over the year, slowing to 1.5% in the first nine weeks of 2017, was well below the double digit increases in 2015.
Chief executive David Wild said it was to be expected that the pace of its sales growth would eventually slow.
He also admitted that its 'Winter Survival' deal needed to be refreshed after four years.
Mr Wild also said consumers were "worried about rising prices" with inflation being driven higher thanks to the post-Brexit vote fall in the pound.
"They've seen petrol prices go up, food price increases and energy price increases and that's impacting their spending," he added.
Domino's confirmed that it planned to open a further 80 stores in the UK this year as part of its expansion plans, creating 3,000 jobs.
Assange: WikiLeaks will help tech firms beat CIA cyber-hacking
WikiLeaks will allow tech companies exclusive access to the CIA's hacking techniques so they can prevent the agency getting at their data.
In an online news conference, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange revealed tech firms had asked him for more details about the alleged cyber-spying tools used by the CIA, which his firm leaked.
Mr Assange said: "We have decided to work with them (tech firms), to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out."
Once tech firms have patched their products, WikiLeaks plans to release all of the data - what Mr Assange called "a lot more information" about the hacking tools - to the public.
"Once this material is effectively disarmed by us we will publish additional details about what has been occurring," he added.
Mr Assange was speaking two days after his anti-secrecy website publishednearly 9,000 documents purporting to show the Central Intelligence Agency has been using smart TVs and other electronic devices to snoop on targets.
He was scathing in his assessment of the agency, adding: "This is a historic act of devastating incompetence, to have created such an arsenal and then stored it all in one place."
Claiming that the technology was nearly impossible to keep under wraps - or under control - he said: "WikiLeaks discovered the material as a result of it being passed around.
"It is impossible to keep effective control of cyber weapons... If you build them, eventually you will lose them.
"So do various cyber mafia already have it? Do foreign intelligence agencies already have it? It's quite possible numerous people already might have it.
"This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA."
The material leaked by Mr Assange's website showed that CIA hackers can turn a TV into a listening device, bypass popular encryption apps, and possibly control a person's car.
Assange's briefing was streamed live from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has been living as a fugitive from justice since 2012.
The CIA has so far declined to comment directly on the authenticity of the leak, but in a statement it suggested that the release had equipped adversaries "with tools and information to do us harm."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump has "grave concern" about the release of classified material and believes CIA systems are outdated.
In an online news conference, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange revealed tech firms had asked him for more details about the alleged cyber-spying tools used by the CIA, which his firm leaked.
Mr Assange said: "We have decided to work with them (tech firms), to give them some exclusive access to some of the technical details we have, so that fixes can be pushed out."
Once tech firms have patched their products, WikiLeaks plans to release all of the data - what Mr Assange called "a lot more information" about the hacking tools - to the public.
"Once this material is effectively disarmed by us we will publish additional details about what has been occurring," he added.
Mr Assange was speaking two days after his anti-secrecy website publishednearly 9,000 documents purporting to show the Central Intelligence Agency has been using smart TVs and other electronic devices to snoop on targets.
He was scathing in his assessment of the agency, adding: "This is a historic act of devastating incompetence, to have created such an arsenal and then stored it all in one place."
Claiming that the technology was nearly impossible to keep under wraps - or under control - he said: "WikiLeaks discovered the material as a result of it being passed around.
"It is impossible to keep effective control of cyber weapons... If you build them, eventually you will lose them.
"So do various cyber mafia already have it? Do foreign intelligence agencies already have it? It's quite possible numerous people already might have it.
"This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA."
The material leaked by Mr Assange's website showed that CIA hackers can turn a TV into a listening device, bypass popular encryption apps, and possibly control a person's car.
Assange's briefing was streamed live from Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has been living as a fugitive from justice since 2012.
The CIA has so far declined to comment directly on the authenticity of the leak, but in a statement it suggested that the release had equipped adversaries "with tools and information to do us harm."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump has "grave concern" about the release of classified material and believes CIA systems are outdated.
Brexit: Ireland's Enda Kenny backs charging UK for EU divorce
The Irish premier has indicated he backs the idea of charging the UK to leave the EU - a bill that many believe would be about £50bn.
As the PM meets EU leaders for the last time before Article 50 is triggered, Ireland's Enda Kenny told Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam: "When you sign on for a contract you commit yourself to participation. And obviously the extent of that level of money will be determined."
Mr Kenny, who made the comments as he arrived at the EU Council meeting in Brussels, said the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, would lead any such negotiations.
"Britain will have a say," added Mr Kenny.
Two men attack commuters with axe at Dusseldorf rail station
Several people have been injured after being attacked by two men wielding axes at the main railway station in Dusseldorf.
German police say two suspected attackers have been arrested after the incident that took place on Thursday at 9pm.
A police spokesman said more suspected attackers are believed to be at large.
Around five people have been injured, one seriously.
The spokesman said: "We are not using the words 'rampage' or 'terror'."
He added there was no serious threat of further attacks but the station remained closed as police carried out a search.
German police say two suspected attackers have been arrested after the incident that took place on Thursday at 9pm.
A police spokesman said more suspected attackers are believed to be at large.
Around five people have been injured, one seriously.
The spokesman said: "We are not using the words 'rampage' or 'terror'."
He added there was no serious threat of further attacks but the station remained closed as police carried out a search.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Apple, Samsung and Microsoft react to Wikileaks' CIA dump
Several of the tech firms whose products have been allegedly compromised by the CIA have given their first reactions to the claims.
Wikileaks published thousands of documents said to detail the US spy agency's hacking tools on Tuesday.
They included allegations the CIA had developed ways to listen in on smartphone and smart TV microphones.
Apple's statement was the most detailed, saying it had already addressed some of the vulnerabilities.
"The technology built into today's iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we're constantly working to keep it that way," it said.
"Our products and software are designed to quickly get security updates into the hands of our customers, with nearly 80% of users running the latest version of our operating system.
"While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today were already patched in the latest iOS, we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities.
"We always urge customers to download the latest iOS to make sure they have the most recent security update."
Samsung - whose F8000 series of televisions was reportedly compromised via a USB connection-based hack co-developed with the UK's MI5 agency - was briefer.
"Protecting consumers' privacy and the security of our devices is a top priority at Samsung," it said.
"We are aware of the report in question and are urgently looking into the matter."
The leaks also claimed that the CIA had created malware to target PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
"We are aware of the report and are looking into it," a spokesman from Microsoft said.
The documents said that the CIA had also created "attack and control systems" that could hijack computers powered by Linux-based software.
"Linux is a very widely used operating system, with a huge installed base all around the world, so it is not surprising that state agencies from many countries would target Linux along with the many closed source platforms that they have sought to compromise," Nicko van Someren, chief technology officer at The Linux Foundation told the BBC.
"[But] rapid release cycles enable the open source community to fix vulnerabilities and release those fixes to users faster."
Google declined to comment about allegations that the CIA was able to "penetrate, infest and control" Android phones due to its discovery and acquisition of "zero day" bugs - previously unknown flaws in the operating system's code.
The World Wide Web Foundation - which campaigns for internet privacy - said the US government needed to issue a detailed response.
"Governments should be safeguarding the digital privacy and security of their citizens, but these alleged actions by the CIA do just the opposite," said the organisation's policy director Craig Fagan.
"Weaponising everyday products such as TVs and smartphones - and failing to disclose vulnerabilities to manufacturers - is dangerous and short-sighted.
"If these new assertions prove true, we call on the Trump administration and other governments to stamp out such practices."
'Incredibly damaging'
The CIA has not confirmed whether the documents - said to date between 2013 to 2016 - are real.
But one of its former chiefs was concerned by their publication.
"If what I have read is true, then this seems to be an incredibly damaging leak in terms of the tactics, techniques, procedures and tools that were used by the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct legitimate foreign intelligence," ex-CIA director Michael Hayden told the BBC.
"In other words, it's made my country and my country's friends less safe."
But one expert said the fact that the CIA had targeted such a wide range of technology was no surprise.
"The story here isn't that the CIA hacks people. Of course they do; taxpayers would be right to be annoyed if that weren't the case," blogged Nicholas Weaver, a security researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley.
"The CIA's job, after all, is [to] collect intelligence, and while its primary purview is human intelligence, hacking systems interacts synergistically with that collection.
"The actual headline here is that someone apparently managed to compromise a Top Secret CIA development environment, exfiltrate a whole host of material, and is now releasing it to the world... now the world wants to know who, and how, and why."
Embarrassment factor - Analysis by BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera
These latest leaks - which appear to give details of highly sensitive technical methods - will be a huge problem for the CIA.
There is the embarrassment factor - that an agency whose job is to steal other people's secrets has not been able to keep its own.
Then there will be the fear of a loss of intelligence coverage against targets who may change their behaviour because they now know what the spies can do.
And then there will be the questions over whether the CIA's technical capabilities were too expansive and too secret.
Because many of the initial documents point to capabilities targeting consumer devices, the hardest questions may revolve around what is known as the "equities" problem.
This is when you find a vulnerability in a piece of technology and have to balance the benefit to the public of telling the manufacturer so they can close it and improve everyone's security with the benefit to the spy agency of leaving it in place so it can be exploited to collect intelligence.
The National Security Agency faced questions about whether it had this balance right when many of its secrets were revealed by Edward Snowden, and now it may be the CIA's turn.
Wikileaks published thousands of documents said to detail the US spy agency's hacking tools on Tuesday.
They included allegations the CIA had developed ways to listen in on smartphone and smart TV microphones.
Apple's statement was the most detailed, saying it had already addressed some of the vulnerabilities.
"The technology built into today's iPhone represents the best data security available to consumers, and we're constantly working to keep it that way," it said.
"Our products and software are designed to quickly get security updates into the hands of our customers, with nearly 80% of users running the latest version of our operating system.
"While our initial analysis indicates that many of the issues leaked today were already patched in the latest iOS, we will continue work to rapidly address any identified vulnerabilities.
"We always urge customers to download the latest iOS to make sure they have the most recent security update."
Samsung - whose F8000 series of televisions was reportedly compromised via a USB connection-based hack co-developed with the UK's MI5 agency - was briefer.
"Protecting consumers' privacy and the security of our devices is a top priority at Samsung," it said.
"We are aware of the report in question and are urgently looking into the matter."
The leaks also claimed that the CIA had created malware to target PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
"We are aware of the report and are looking into it," a spokesman from Microsoft said.
The documents said that the CIA had also created "attack and control systems" that could hijack computers powered by Linux-based software.
"Linux is a very widely used operating system, with a huge installed base all around the world, so it is not surprising that state agencies from many countries would target Linux along with the many closed source platforms that they have sought to compromise," Nicko van Someren, chief technology officer at The Linux Foundation told the BBC.
"[But] rapid release cycles enable the open source community to fix vulnerabilities and release those fixes to users faster."
Google declined to comment about allegations that the CIA was able to "penetrate, infest and control" Android phones due to its discovery and acquisition of "zero day" bugs - previously unknown flaws in the operating system's code.
The World Wide Web Foundation - which campaigns for internet privacy - said the US government needed to issue a detailed response.
"Governments should be safeguarding the digital privacy and security of their citizens, but these alleged actions by the CIA do just the opposite," said the organisation's policy director Craig Fagan.
"Weaponising everyday products such as TVs and smartphones - and failing to disclose vulnerabilities to manufacturers - is dangerous and short-sighted.
"If these new assertions prove true, we call on the Trump administration and other governments to stamp out such practices."
'Incredibly damaging'
The CIA has not confirmed whether the documents - said to date between 2013 to 2016 - are real.
But one of its former chiefs was concerned by their publication.
"If what I have read is true, then this seems to be an incredibly damaging leak in terms of the tactics, techniques, procedures and tools that were used by the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct legitimate foreign intelligence," ex-CIA director Michael Hayden told the BBC.
"In other words, it's made my country and my country's friends less safe."
But one expert said the fact that the CIA had targeted such a wide range of technology was no surprise.
"The story here isn't that the CIA hacks people. Of course they do; taxpayers would be right to be annoyed if that weren't the case," blogged Nicholas Weaver, a security researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley.
"The CIA's job, after all, is [to] collect intelligence, and while its primary purview is human intelligence, hacking systems interacts synergistically with that collection.
"The actual headline here is that someone apparently managed to compromise a Top Secret CIA development environment, exfiltrate a whole host of material, and is now releasing it to the world... now the world wants to know who, and how, and why."
Embarrassment factor - Analysis by BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera
These latest leaks - which appear to give details of highly sensitive technical methods - will be a huge problem for the CIA.
There is the embarrassment factor - that an agency whose job is to steal other people's secrets has not been able to keep its own.
Then there will be the fear of a loss of intelligence coverage against targets who may change their behaviour because they now know what the spies can do.
And then there will be the questions over whether the CIA's technical capabilities were too expansive and too secret.
Because many of the initial documents point to capabilities targeting consumer devices, the hardest questions may revolve around what is known as the "equities" problem.
This is when you find a vulnerability in a piece of technology and have to balance the benefit to the public of telling the manufacturer so they can close it and improve everyone's security with the benefit to the spy agency of leaving it in place so it can be exploited to collect intelligence.
The National Security Agency faced questions about whether it had this balance right when many of its secrets were revealed by Edward Snowden, and now it may be the CIA's turn.
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