Oz Olympics: Swimmers Suffered Toxic Culture

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Australia's 2012 Olympic swimming team was consumed by a "toxic" culture involving bullying, the misuse of prescription drugs and a lack of discipline, a damning report has found.

The independent review of the team's poor performance in London found a failure of leadership and culture with Australian swimming's worst Olympics in two decades undermined by a lack of moral authority and discipline which manifested in a "schoolyard clamour for attention and influence".

The independent review, commission by Swimming Australia in the wake of the London flop, cited incidents of "getting drunk, misuse of prescription drugs, breaching curfews, deceit, bullying".

"Situations were left to bleed", the report said, adding that swimmers were left to feel alone and without support.

"Swimmers described these Games as the lonely Olympics and the individual Olympics."

The Australian team managed to win just one gold medal, despite being tipped for huge success. 

The women's relay team celebrate the gold medal win

"As the first week unravelled, the swimmers felt undefended, alone, alienated ... they felt confused and unsupported by their own team in some cases and not supported well enough by SAL (Swimming Australia Limited), even from the stands."

The report found the "glorification of a few was seen somewhere between embarrassing and irritating to other team members".

"One person said he felt that it was not really about whether you swam your heart out, it was about whether you could sell your heart out," it said.

"Some athletes let their emotion play out as bravado, withdrawal, disinterest and sulking.

"This tension was not nipped in the bud ... indeed it was heightened with scuttlebutt and assumptions and diagnoses of doom from the media and the pool deck.

"Things were managed quietly rather than brought to a head and several examples of coaches passing over the responsibility for hard conversations were given."

The swimming team entered London amid claims of schoolboy pranks at a lead-in camp, with allegations that senior members of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay team devised an initiation ritual involving taking a prescription sleeping pill on a bonding night.

The review recommended creating an ethical framework for Australian swimming - a position of what the sport, governing body and athletes won't stand for, and also stated goals and values.

There also should be clear processes designed for managing issues around standards and expectations, it said.

"There is a dire need to develop and enable leadership throughout swimming," the report explained, recommending multi-faceted leadership development programmes for athletes.

Responding to the report, head coach Leigh Nugent said: "I don't want to use the word "toxic". I know that's been reported, it's not as emotive as that sounds. I believe that we are addressing the cultural issues now and that's where we are going to go."

The review comes at a difficult time for Australian sport with a recent government report describing doping as "widespread". The year-long investigation found multiple allegations of drug misuse across a number of sports but mainly AFL - Australian Rules Football, and NRL - rugby league.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Magdalene Laundries: Formal Apology Expected

By Vicki Hawthorne, Ireland Correspondent

The Irish government is expected to issue an official apology to women subjected to regimes of hard work and prayer in Catholic-run workhouses.

A report published two weeks ago found the state was involved in sending women viewed at the time to be "fallen" or immoral to live in Magdalene Laundries between 1922 and 1996.

It is thought that the government, which has always denied direct involvement in the system, will release details of a compensation scheme for those who were held there.

Around 10,000 women were kept in 10 laundries around Ireland, where they worked long hours for no pay.

Many say they also sustained both physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the nuns who ran them.

Single mothers were often sent to the laundries as well as women who were poor or homeless, and those who had been found guilty of petty crimes.

Mr Kenny's apology was criticised

After the McAleese report was published, Irish prime minister Enda Kenny told the country's parliament: "To those residents who went into the Magdalene laundries from a variety of ways, 26% from state involvement, I'm sorry for those people that they lived in that kind of environment."

However, Mr Kenny's statement did not go far enough for the women who survived the laundries.

Groups such as Magdalene Survivors Together and Justice for Magdalenes have long campaigned for a full apology from the government as well as compensation.

The Justice for Magdalenes group said the prime minister's statement fell "far short of the full and sincere apology deserved by the women who were incarcerated against their will in Ireland's Magdalene laundries".

The Irish parliament will debate the Magdalene Laundries and the McAleese report later.

The chairman of Magdalene Survivors Together, Steven O'Riordan, has said 20 women from the group will be in the public gallery of the house to listen to the debate and they expect to receive a full apology. 

Survivor Maureen Sullivan, who will be there, said: "Who would have imagined that a little over seven years ago, I along with all these other women would be going to the Dail (the Irish parliament) to hear a leader of our country apologise for what happened to us?

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen but it looks like it will.

"It just goes to show that you must never give up, ever."

Justice for Magdalenes has proposed a benchmark lump sum of €100,000 (£86,200) for Magdalene survivors, in addition to a package of services including pensions and lost wages.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chinese Military's 'Global Hacking HQ Found'

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

An unassuming 12-storey building in a suburb of Shanghai has been identified as the possible headquarters of a global hacking operation allegedly run by the Chinese military.

According to Mandiant, an American computer security company, extensive evidence collated over three years points to a white tower block in Datong Road, in the Pudong district of the city.

The building is reportedly the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398.

Mandiant has spent several years working for a number of well-known multinational companies who all believe they have been victims of state-sponsored hacking.

Sky News understands that five UK firms described as 'large companies - brand names' have previously employed the services of Mandiant.

Using evidence passed to its analysts by the multinationals, Mandiant has deciphered codes, analysed IP addresses and conducted a series of reverse-engineering processes.

"The details we have analysed during hundreds of investigations convince us that the groups conducting these (hacking) activities are based primarily in China and that the Chinese Government is aware of them," the report says.

The 74-page report - called Exposing one of China's Cyber Espionage Units - contains remarkable detail of the hacking operations.

Military staff outside (city8.com)

Mandiant has identified 20 separate hacking groups in China which it calls Advanced Persistent Threats (APT).

The report focuses on just one, APT1, which is believed to operate from inside the Shanghai building.

"From our unique vantage point responding to victims, we tracked APT1 back to four large networks in Shanghai, two of which are allocated directly to the Pudong New Area," the report says.

The company studied the area of Shanghai pinpointed by their analysis and discovered the Chinese military building.

Mandiant was not able physically to prove that the hackers were inside the building but is convinced that they could not be anywhere else.

"Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398 or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighbourhood," the Mandiant's founder Kevin Mandia is quoted as saying.

Of significant concern is the suggestion that hackers originating in China, including the APT1 group, are far more prevalent and sophisticated than previously assumed.

Not only had groups linked to China stolen commercial property, but some had also infiltrated US state infrastructure companies giving them the ability, potentially, to manipulate critical infrastructure including power grids and water supplies.

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied having anything to do with state-sponsored hacking.

In January, the New York Times disclosed that Chinese hackers with an alleged Chinese military "footprint" had stolen the corporate passwords of all its employees and gained access to the personal computers of 53 employees.

"Reaching such conclusions for no reason with uncertain evidence and no proof and saying that China participates in relevant online attacks is totally irresponsible," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said in response to that allegation.

The alleged New York Times hacking had apparently taken place at the same time as the newspaper ran a report which suggested that outgoing Chinese premiere Wen Jiabao's family had accumulated at least $2.7 bn (£1.7bn) in "hidden riches".

Mandiant believes the activity it has uncovered represents just a tiny part of a massive hacking operation in China.

It said: "Though our visibility of APT1's activities is incomplete, we have analysed the group's intrusions against nearly 150 victims over seven years."

At Tuesday's regular foreign ministry news conference, officials shed little light on the report.

"Hacking is an international problem," Hong Lei told Sky News.

"It is neither professional nor responsible to make groundless accusations without evidence."

When pushed on the fact that the report appears to provide plenty of evidence, the spokesman said: "I don't know how this evidence in the report is tenable."

He did not elaborate.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Reeva Steenkamp Funeral: Family Pay Tribute

The family of shot Reeva Steenkamp have paid an emotional tribute following her funeral, as one mourner said her killer must "stay in jail".

They attended a private service in Port Elizabeth as her boyfriend, the athlete Oscar Pistorius, appeared in court charged with premeditated murder.

Ms Steenkamp died from gun wounds

Mike Steenkamp, her uncle, said they would remain positive about her life: "We have to keep Reeva in our hearts forever." 

He also thanked well-wishers in South Africa and around the world for their "tremendous" compassion.

Ms Steenkamp's brother, Adam, said: "There's a space missing inside all the people that she knew that can't be filled again. We'll miss her."

Mourners including her father Barry and mother June earlier comforted each other outside a crematorium in the city, in southern South Africa, before the 29-year-old's casket was carried inside.

Gavin Venter, who used to work for Barry Steenkamp, said: "Without a doubt (Pistorius) is a danger to the public ... He must stay in jail. He's already shown how dangerous he can be for what he did to Reeva."

The model and law graduate died from gunshot wounds on Thursday.

Hundreds of miles away from the funeral, prosecutors have been laying out details of the case against Pistorius, 26, at a bail hearing in Pretoria.

They say Paralympian and Olympian Pistorius, who denies murder, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before firing four times through a bathroom door at his luxury home in Pretoria, killing her.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the packed court that an unarmed Ms Steenkamp locked herself inside the cramped bathroom because she was scared after a row.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gun Laws: Colorado Votes To Limit Ammunition

Colorado is to introduce a limit on ammunition magazines and insist on background checks for all firearms giving it some of the toughest gun laws in the US.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, which left 20 schoolchildren dead, and under pressure from the White House, the Democratic-controlled house narrowly voted in favour of a number of gun control measures.

The state, which is home to two of America's worst gun massacres, has been considering tightening up its laws since Columbine in 1999.

Rhonda Fields, a Democrat from Aurora - where 12 people were killed in a shooting in a cinema last year - sponsored the bill limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

He said: "There is a common thread that we see in these massacres.

"They're using high-capacity magazines so they can unleash as many bullets as they can, to kill as many people as they can, in our schools, our theatres and our churches."

The memorial to those gunned down in the Aurora movie theatre shooting

Mrs Fields, whose son was shot dead in 2005, added: "Enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of bloodshed."

The House also approved bills requiring background checks on all gun purchases, including those between private sellers and firearms bought online; a ban on concealed firearms at colleges and stadiums; and a requirement that gun purchasers pay for their own background checks.

The ammunition restrictions measure would limit magazines to 15 rounds for firearms, and eight for shotguns.

Colorado now joins California, Massachusetts, Hawaii and New York in a ban on magazines that hold over 10 rounds. New Jersey bans magazines that hold over 15 rounds and Maryland those that hold over 20.

Republicans said that the move restricted Second Amendment rights, which guarantee Americans the right to bear arms, and would not prevent mass shootings like the ones in Aurora and the Connecticut elementary school in December.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Columbine murdered 13 at Columbine

"This bill will never keep evil people from doing evil things," said Republican Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg.

Republicans also said students should have the right to defend themselves.

"Do not disarm our young adults in general and our young women in particular on our college campuses in the name of a gun-free zone," Republican Rep. Jim Wilson said.

The debate highlighted a fundamental philosophical difference between many Democrats and Republicans.

The Democrats' leader in the House, Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, said he resented "the implication that unless we all arm ourselves, we will not be adequately protected."

The vote on Colorado's gun control debate is part of the shift in the region's politics to the left, including the legalisation of marijuana in Washington state and Colorado. Washington also upheld the legality of gay marriage in November.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Diamond Heist: Raid At International Airport

Armed robbers have pulled off an audacious heist at Brussels airport, making off with diamonds worth around $50m (£32.2m).

The robbery - which took place on Monday night and lasted just three minutes - was "one of the biggest" ever, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre said, adding that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich.

Earlier reports had put the value of the shipment at about £300m.

The gang of eight  hooded thieves hit a Brinks transport truck on the airport tarmac as its contents were being loaded onto a Swiss aircraft bound for Zurich.

An airport spokesman said the robbers cut a hole in a perimeter fence but was unable to explain why it had been so easy for them to avoid security.

"We abide by the most stringent rules," Jan Van Der Crujsse said.

Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the masked men, who were wearing police uniforms and carrying machine guns drove two vehicles up to the plane.

They seized at least 120 packages, which was only a partial haul from the shipment, she said.

The pilot, co-pilot and staff from a Brink's armoured car that transported the gems were held up but "no shots were fired and no-one was injured," Ms Bijnens explained.

A specialist Belgian prosecutors unit dealing with organised crime is "pursuing all lines of enquiry", she said, and is collaborating also with Swiss authorities.

"This was not a random robbery, It was well-prepared - these were professionals."

There are more than 4,500 diamond dealers in Antwerp, the hub for a worldwide industry going back at least 500 years.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oscar Pistorius: 'I Did Not Mean To Kill Her'

Oscar Pistorius said he had no intention of killing his girlfriend and loved her deeply according to an affidavit read out in court by his lawyer.

Earlier in the hearing, prosecutors claimed Pistorius got up from bed, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before shooting Reeva Steenkamp through a closed bathroom door. 

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the details showed it was a premeditated murder, adding there was "a motive to kill".

But in a statement detailing his version of events, Pistorius said he woke up in pitch darkness to a sound in the bathroom believing an intruder had climbed through the window. He described his sense of terror.

Oscar Pistorius is charged with murdering Reeva Steenkamp

The 26-year-old didn't realise Ms Steenkamp wasn't in bed and shot at the door on his stumps, feeling vulnerable without his prosthetics.

The Paralympian said he then put on his prosthetic legs and used a cricket bat to break open the bathroom door where the 29-year-old was alive, slumped over in the toilet. He called the paramedics before she died in his arms.

"I'm absolutely mortified at the death of my beloved Reeva," the statement said.

Pistorius added that he had previously received death threats, so kept a 9mm pistol under his bed.

:: How The Hearing Unfolded In Court

In an affidavit from close friends of the pair, Ms Steenkamp's best friend said the model told her she would marry Pistorius if he asked.

The magistrate had to stop the proceedings briefly as Pistorius sobbed uncontrollably as he listened.

A gun being carried from Pistorius' home

Earlier, magistrate Desmond Nair ruled that, for the purpose of the bail hearing, the case was a schedule six offence or premeditated murder, which means it will be difficult for the sports icon to get bail. 

Outlining the prosecution case, Mr Nel said Ms Steenkamp fled to the small, cramped bathroom and locked herself in because she was scared after they'd had a row on Valentine's Day.

Ms Steenkamp was killed by three of the four shots fired by Pistorius at his home in South Africa last Thursday. The family attended her funeral in Port Elizabeth this morning.

Mr Nel said the defence had a number of questions to answer, including:

:: Why did Pistorius carry Ms Steenkamp's body down a staircase after she was shot?

Relatives and friends at the funeral of Ms Steenkamp

:: Why didn't Pistorius look for his girlfriend if he suspected there was a burglar in the house?

:: Why did Ms Steenkamp lock herself in the toilet - was she afraid of being shot or killed?

:: Why did he put on his prosthetic limbs and walk seven metres to the bathroom?

Mr Nel said: "If I arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated. The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven metres and I kill. The motive is 'I want to kill'. That's it."

Pistorius, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, broke down in tears at the start of the hearing.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, inside the court in Pretoria, said the double amputee's "face was creased in pain" and he was "weeping" as he was formally charged with murder.

The prosecutor said Pistorius, nicknamed the Blade Runner, "killed an innocent woman".

At the start of proceedings, Pistorius, in a grey suit and tie, nodded after the chief magistrate asked if he was well. And he nodded his appreciation when his brother, Carl, pressed his shoulder in support.

Journalists jammed into the courtroom, which was full with almost 100 people, including Pistorius' father, Henke, and sister Aimee.

The hearing has been adjourned until Wednesday.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Double Identical Twins Born On Same Day

A woman has given birth to two sets of identical twin boys at the same time, a one-in-70-million chance experience.

Tressa Montalvo, 36, was not on any fertility drugs and said that she and her husband Manuel were simply trying to have a little brother or sister for their two-year-old son Memphis.

"We planned the pregnancy - I guess we just succeeded a little too much," she said.

Mrs Montalvo gave birth to the four brothers at The Woman's Hospital of Texas, Houston, via caesarean section.

When Mrs Montalvo was 10 weeks pregnant, her doctor told her she was having twins, and on a subsequent visit, the doctor detected a third heartbeat.

Tressa Montalvos: "We were blessed with four"

The Montalvos were later informed they were having four babies, not just quadruplets but two sets of twins.

The odds of delivering two sets of naturally occurring identical twins is somewhere in the range of 1 in 70 million, according to the hospital.

Two boys shared one placenta and the other boys shared another placenta.

Ace and Blaine were born at 8.51am on February 14 and weighed 3lbs 10oz (1.64 kg), and 3lbs 15oz (1.79 kg), respectively.

Mr Montalvo wants to keep trying for a girl

Cash and Dylan followed a minute later, weighing 2lbs 15oz (1.33 kg), and 3lbs 6oz (1.53 kg), respectively.

"We tried to stick to the A-B-C-D theme when naming them," Mrs Montalvo said. "We didn't expect it, we were trying for just one and we were blessed with four."

Mr Montalvo said that they would keep on trying for more children because he still wants a girl.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Goal-Line Technology To Be Used At World Cup

Fifa has confirmed that goal-line technology will be in place for the 2014 World Cup.

Sepp Blatter, president of world football's governing body, had previously said he was committed to bringing in goal-line technology for the tournament in Brazil.

It was tried out at the Club World Cup in December, and Fifa will now roll it out for this summer's Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup.

"The aim is to use GLT in order to support the match officials and to install a system in all stadia, pending the successful installation, and pre-match referee tests," Fifa said in a statement.

"With different technologies on the market, Fifa has launched a tender today, setting out the technical requirements for the two forthcoming competitions in Brazil."

At present, only Hawk-Eye and GoalRef have been granted a licence by Fifa.

Both are likely to compete against each other - and possibly other manufacturers - for the World Cup rights.

Hawk-Eye is already used in tennis and cricket. The English company was bought by Sony Corp., a World Cup sponsor, during the testing process.

GoalRef uses magnetic sensors in the goalposts to track an "intelligent" ball, made by Danish company Select.

Both systems relay information within one second to the referee's wristwatch.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oscar Pistorius: Clashing Accounts Of Shooting

Two very different versions of what happened in the moments before Reeva Steenkamp's death have been heard at a bail hearing for Oscar Pistorius.

The athlete has been charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine's Day. He denies murder.

Below are the key arguments from the prosecution, along with Pistorius' account of events as read from his statement in court.

:: The Prosecution

Pistorius fired his gun four times into the door of a bathroom, knowing that Ms Steenkamp was inside after an argument.

She had locked herself in the room after fleeing down a seven-metre passage from the bedroom following the row at Pistorius' luxury home in Pretoria, South Africa.

Pistorius followed her with his 9mm pistol, first putting on his prosthetic legs.

He shot his gun four times through the door, killing an "unarmed and defenceless" woman. The door was then broken open from the outside.

There was "no possible explanation" to support Pistorius' claim of mistaken identity - that he believed the person inside the bathroom was a burglar.

If that were the case, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued, why wasn't Pistorius' first thought to the whereabouts of his girlfriend?

Mr Nel argued there was a motive for the killing.

:: The Defence

Pistorius had "no intention" of killing his "beloved" Ms Steenkamp and he is "absolutely mortified" by her death.

In the early hours he heard a noise and thought an intruder had come through a bathroom window and was hiding there. He felt vulnerable and shouted for the intruder to get out and for Ms Steenkamp to call police.

It was dark and Pistorius thought Ms Steenkamp was lying on her bed, not that she was in the bathroom. He wanted to protect her.

Pistorius hobbled to the bathroom on his stumps and fired his gun, a 9mm pistol he kept under his bed because he had received death threats.

After the shooting, he returned to his bed and saw that Ms Steenkamp was not there.

He shouted for help, broke open a door with a cricket bat and found her still alive. He carried her downstairs.

He had got up to fetch a fan from the balcony when he heard the noise in the toilet earlier, which is why he did not notice Ms Steenkamp was not on the bed.

23.12 | 0 komentar | Read More