UK Pentagon hacker fights extradition to U.S.

British man Gary McKinnon appeared in court Tuesday to try to prevent his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for allegedly hacking into U.S. government computers at the Pentagon and NASA. McKinnon, who has admitted breaking the law and intentionally gaining unauthorized access to computer systems, wants to be tried in Britain rather than the United States.

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Beaten Back, Iran’s Opposition Looks To Reform From Within

Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi lashed out defiantly at Monday’s certification, following a partial recount initiated by the clerical body that oversees Iran’s elections, of the June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “From now on we will have a government..

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EU slashes ‘roaming’ cellphone costs

Cellphone users in the European Union will enjoy significant savings when "roaming" within the bloc’s 27 member states from Wednesday with the introduction of new pricing rules. Under the new system, the maximum cost of making calls between two EU member states will be €0.43, down from €0.46, while receiving calls now costs €0.19, down from €0.22. Cellphone operators are also required to bill their customers by the second after the first 30 seconds of a call, rather than per minute — a measure the Commission says will cut phone bills by 20 percent.

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Is a Trade War with China Brewing?

When the U.S. Senate last February introduced a clause requiring the purchase of U.S.-made steel and iron in Washington’s $787 billion stimulus package, the Chinese government decried the “Buy American” measure as a dangerous step toward trade protectionism, stressing that Beijing would not respond in kind.

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Analysis: Why is Iran so upset with Britain?

The contested election results in Iran have brought thousands onto the streets of Tehran in protest. So why have the voices of two of Iran’s most prominent critics — the United States and its leading ally the UK, so far been comparatively muted in their support of the protesters and in their criticisms of the regime?

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Finally, a British Inquiry into the Iraq War

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted public pressure for a comprehensive inquiry into the Iraq war. On June 15, his successor, Gordon Brown, raised the white flag, informing the House of Commons that he had ordered an inquiry even before British troops complete their withdrawal from Basra this summer. “Thanks to our efforts and those of our allies over six difficult years, a young democracy has replaced a vicious 30-year dictatorship,” said the Prime Minister.

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Torres hat-trick as Spain thrash New Zealand

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres scored a hat-trick within 11 first-half minutes as Spain thashed New Zealand 5-0 in their opening Confederations Cup Group A match in Johannesburg on Sunday. The victory, Spain’s 13th in succession, means the European champions have now extended their unbeaten run to 33 matches, just two short of Brazil’s world record of 35 matches without defeat between 1993 and 1996. Spain took a sixth minute lead when Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas slotted the ball to Torres, who curled his shot home from the edge of the box

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Pirate Party wins surprise Euro seat, calls for Web freedom

A Swedish political party which wants to legalize file-sharing on the Internet scored a surprise victory Sunday when it took a seat in the European parliament. The Pirate Party won 7.1 percent of the Swedish vote to claim one of the country’s 18 seats in the European parliament. “Together we have changed the landscape of European politics,” Pirate Party leader Rick Falkvinge told file-sharing news Web site TorrentFreak after the win

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