News:Liberty attacks new school search powers for phones

By Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News

New search powers being given to schools over mobile phones are more suitable for terror inquiries, human rights pressure group Liberty says.

England's head teachers will be allowed to search for phones without consent in a bid to combat cyber-bullying.
The Education Bill, to be debated in the Commons next week, also allows heads to delete data from the phones.
The government says heads asked for the powers and will be expected to use them sensibly.
In the past, schools were able to confiscate mobile telephones but were not legally allowed to search for them without pupils' consent.more here

News:Garrido 'fit to stand trial' over Jaycee Dugard kidnap

A California judge has ruled that a man accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard, a young woman held captive for 18 years, is mentally competent to stand trial.

Phillip Garrido is now due back in court later this month to enter a plea. The judge ruled he was fit for trial after reviewing psychiatric reports.
Mr Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are accused of abducting Ms Dugard in 1991, aged 11, from a street near her home.
Mr Garrido allegedly fathered her two daughters while keeping her captive.
Ms Dugard was discovered and the couple arrested in California in August 2009.
The 18 counts against the couple include kidnapping for sexual purposes, rape, lewd acts on a child, false imprisonment and production of child pornography with the victim, according to the indictment document.
In addition, Mr Garrido is charged under special allegations stemming from a 1977 rape conviction, including being a habitual sex offender.
more here

News:Girl of four died in sat-nav error crash in Blackrod

A four-year-old girl died in a car crash after her parents followed sat-nav instructions which contradicted road signs, an inquest heard.

Ariana Bardhaj was killed when her parents' car collided with another vehicle as they drove along the A6 in Blackrod, Bolton, on 11 September.
Fernando and Trish Bardhaj, of Blackpool, said they had not seen the no right turn signs into Station Road.
Giving a narrative verdict, the coroner said Ariana died of multiple injuries.
The hearing at Bolton Coroners' Court heard that learner driver Mr Bardhaj had just taken over the driving from his wife. more here

Cyber war-rules for engagement

The world needs cyber war "Rules of Engagement" to cope with potentially devastating cyber weapons, Russian and US experts will tell world leaders at a security conference on Friday.

The cyber proposal, seen exclusively by Newsnight, comes from the influential EastWest Institute in New York.
It describes "rendering the Geneva and Hague conventions in cyberspace".
Cyber security is on the agenda at the annual Munich Security Conference for the first time this year.more here

News:Pakistan urged to free schoolboy arrested for blasphemy

Human Rights Watch has called on the Pakistani government to release a teenager who has been charged under the country's controversial blasphemy law.

Muhammad Samiullah, 17, is under arrest in the southern city of Karachi.
He is accused of blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad in an examination paper. Human Rights Watch called the boy's case "truly appalling".
The blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since a Christian, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death in November.
She denies insulting the Prophet Muhammad in her Punjab village in June 2009.
In January, a bodyguard of Punjab governor Salman Taseer assassinated him for supporting calls to amend the law, leading to what correspondents say is a climate of fear with few people daring to even mention the legislation.
Critics of Pakistan's blasphemy law say it has been used to persecute minority faiths in Pakistan, and is sometimes exploited for grudges.
more here

News:Mauritania: 'Al-Qaeda men die' as troops fire on car

Mauritanian soldiers have fired on a car packed with explosives outside the capital killing three suspected members of al-Qaeda's North African branch.

The army said several soldiers were also injured in the operation in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
It believes the three men were about to mount an attack in Nouakchott.
An army spokesman said the car was one of three all-terrain vehicles tracked by the security forces since crossing from Mali.
"The car was transporting three terrorists trying to infiltrate the capital by launching a kamikaze attack," Col Mohamed Ould Ahmed told the Associated Press news agency. more here

News:Six exoplanets in close orbit around far-flung star

By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News

A solar system including six planets around a star 2,000 light-years away has been spotted by astronomers.

The planets range between two and four-and-a-half times the radius of Earth, and between two and 13 times its mass.
Five of the planets orbit the star closer than Mercury orbits our Sun.
The find, published in Nature, is the first from the latest data release from the Kepler space telescope - which includes details of more than 1,000 additional exoplanet candidates.
The planets are likely to have atmospheres made of light gases, but also likely to be too hot to support life. more here