Audrey Gillan Tuesday January 11, 2005 The Guardian The British public is not allowed to be told evidence heard against a British soldier at a court martial in Germany yesterday after a judge imposed reporting restrictions on the press. As the case began against Fusilier Gary Bartlam, 19, of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who is accused of ill-treatment of Iraqi civilians, a Ministry of Defence prosecutor asked deputy judge advocate general Michael Hunter to gag the press. The judge pointed out that his decision was “for legal reasons” and he would allow the details to be reported...

As we approach the crowning of our Emperor for another four years, a short two months to the day when he launched the United States into its imperialist policy of pre-emptive invasions of foreign states, we might pause to reflect on how deeply this administration analyzed the causes that gave rise to the atrocity of 9/11, the ostensible basis for our attacking a nation that had done nothing to the US to warrant its destruction and occupation. Consideration might be given, for example, to the two antagonists who entered the lists recently, appearing almost simultaneously before the American public,...

aqsalter writes “Apple has finally created a new section for information from an IT Professionals viewpoint, with articles about all the good stuff. Previously Apple shied away from having any obvious IT focus, but it seems Apple are acknowledging their influence in the IT sphere, with two high-profile HPC clusters and enterprise class tools for managing open source technologies.” Slashdot [article]

Time to mix things up. Meet iPod shuffle, the unpredictable new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read your moods? Load it up. Put in on. See where it takes you. Choose from 512MB or 1GB models starting at £69 (UK) / €99 (Ireland) and surprise yourself. iPod shuffle: Smaller than a pack of chewiing gum and much more fun.* Random is the New Order Welcome to a life less orderly. As official soundtrack to the random revolution, the iPod Shuffle Songs setting takes you on a unique journey through your music collection � you never know...

Live the digital life in stylish simplicity. At just 16.5 cm wide and just over 5 cm tall, Mac mini provides what you need to have more fun with your music, photos and movies � right out of the box. And it boasts a miniscule price to match: Mac mini starts at £339 (UK) / €519 (Ireland). Get a Mac for Less The modular design of Mac mini lets you upgrade your current system to the elegance, simplicity and reliability of Macintosh. If you already own a monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can get up and running in minutes. Or choose any combination of new devices...

Britons held by the US in Guantanamo Bay will be returned to the UK, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is expected to tell the Commons on Tuesday. Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham, and Martin Mubanga, Richard Belmar and Feroz Abbasi, from London, have been held by the US for almost three years. They were detained in the Cuban camp as part of the US-led “war on terror”. It is not yet clear how many of the four Britons are to be freed. Mr Straw is due to speak at around 1230 GMT. Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, said the government has “long sought” the release of British detainees...

It caught my eye, it’ll probably catch yours. The failure of the government’s policy to stem drug imports is revealed today by research which shows that Britain is awash with cheap drugs, with a line of cocaine now costing less than a cappuccino. The price of ecstasy, heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis has tumbled to a record low in the last year, as dealers pumped ever greater quantities onto the market, encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to become regular users. The failure by customs and police to smash trafficking gangs and cut off supplies to the streets is an embarrassment...

Mahmud Abbas, a single candidate, has won an impressive victory at the elections of the head of the Palestinian National Administration. This follows from the official results of the Sunday elections, which were published by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Palestine on Monday. Abbas got 62.3% of the votes. This gives broad powers to him for the implementation of the reform and for the holding of peace talks with Israel. What can I say? I doubt there will be much help from the new Palestinian leader, but there is always hope…