Rifle from 1882 found leaning on tree

16 January 2015 Last updated at 17:00

Archaeologists have found a 132-year-old rifle propped against a tree in Nevada's Great Basin National Park.

It is unclear exactly how long the Winchester rifle had been left there, but it was long enough to leave the stock cracked and buried in dirt.

"It really is a mystery," said Nichole Andler, a spokeswoman for the park.

The Winchester rifle was common at the turn of the 20th century in the US West during a time when the now parklands were used for mining and ranching.

More than 700,000 rifles were made by the firm between 1873 and 1916.

Records for the gun show it was manufactured and shipped in 1882, but park experts have not yet been able to track its use since then.

"It probably has a very good and interesting story," Ms Andler told the Washington Post.

"But it probably is a story that could have happened to almost anyone living this sort of extraordinary existence out here in the Great Basin Desert".

The park is located in the eastern part of Nevada, and and is known for its caves and 5,000-year-old pine trees.

Ms Andler said the gun might have been overlooked in the past because the grey stock of the wood blended in with the tree.

The gun will be preserved in its current state and put on display at the park.

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Oscars head calls for more diversity

17 January 2015 Last updated at 09:27

The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts says she would like to see more diversity in Oscar nominations, after a row about this year's nominees.

All 20 contenders in the main acting categories are white and there are no female nominees in the directing or writing categories.

The Academy, which picks the contenders, has faced strong criticism.

But Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was proud of the nominees and that the body was "making strides" towards diversity.

Ms Boone Isaacs, who is the first African-American president of the Academy, told AP the organisation is "committed to seeking out diversity of voice and opinion''.

"In the last two years, we've made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members,'' she said.

She added she would "love to see" greater diversity among the nominees.

'Selma' snub

After the nominees were announced, people mocked the make-up of the awards using the "OscarsSoWhite" hashtag.

There has been much focus on Martin Luther King biopic Selma, with director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo both missing out.

At the Critics' Choice award, another Selma actor, Wendell Pierce, said there would be "amazement" Oyelowo was not nominated once people saw the film.

But Ms Boone Isaacs said acclaim for Selma was reflected in its Best Picture nomination, which is chosen by all the academy members.

She said that while the Academy continued to make efforts to become more diverse, the wider industry needed to do the same.

"We hope the film industry will also make strides toward becoming more diverse and inclusive.''

Individual branches of the Academy choose the nominees, with actors choosing the acting categories, for example.

The more than 7,000 members then vote for a winner.

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the race for this year's Oscars with nine nominations each.

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US top court to rule on gay marriage

16 January 2015 Last updated at 21:53

The US Supreme Court will rule this year on whether gay couples have a right to marry across all states.

The justices said they would hear a combined case about marriage bans in four states.

But a supreme court ruling on the cases could fully legalise gay marriage in the US.

The court previously struck down a US law preventing federal recognition of marriages in states allowing same-sex unions.

After that ruling, a wave of decisions in the regional federal appeals courts ended numerous state gay marriage bans.

Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia now issue marriage licences to same-sex couples. Fourteen state bans remain.

On Friday, the justices said they would take up cases from gay and lesbian plaintiffs in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

In November, a US appeals court overturned rulings striking down marriage bans in those four states, the first appeals court to do so since the Supreme Court's initial gay marriage ruling.

The US high court previously declined to intervene in cases that had made it to the appeals court level, effectively allowing marriages to go forward.

During two-and-a-half hours of arguments, the justices will consider two related questions - whether the US constitution requires states to issue marriage licences to gay and lesbian couples and whether states must recognise such marriages performed in other states.

The case will be argued in April and a decision is expected by late June.

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US news sites hacked on Twitter

16 January 2015 Last updated at 21:59

The Twitter accounts of the New York Post and United Press International (UPI) have been hacked with fake tweets on economic and military news.

In one post, the Pope was quoted on UPI's Twitter feed as saying that "World War III has begun".

Meanwhile, the New York Post's account said that hostilities had broken out between the United States and China.

It is the latest hack of a high-profile social media account, four days after US military command was compromised.

UPI, which is based in Washington, confirmed in a statement that both its Twitter account and news website had been hacked.

Six fake headlines were posted on its Twitter account and a breaking news banner was added to a fake story about the Federal Reserve on its homepage, the statement added.

A tweet on the New York Post's account said the USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier, was "engaged in active combat" against Chinese warships in the South China Sea.

A Pentagon official said the tweet about hostilities with China was "not true", AFP reports. The tweets have all since been deleted.

The New York Post says it is investigating the hack.

It comes just days after US President Barack Obama unveiled proposals to strengthen cyber security laws after a spate of attacks on high-profile US targets, including the Pentagon Twitter feed and Sony Pictures.

The Twitter account of the US military command was suspended last Monday following an attack by hackers claiming to support Islamic State.

In November hackers also released reams of confidential data stolen from Sony Pictures, and in recent years cyber criminals have attacked other US companies such as Home Depot and Target.

A number of media organisations, including AFP and the BBC, have also been subjected to cyber attacks over the past two years.

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Golfer survives Hawaii 'kidnap'

18 January 2015 Last updated at 07:14

Australian golfer Robert Allenby says he was kidnapped from a bar in Hawaii, robbed and beaten, before being dumped in a park.

Mr Allenby, 43, says he may have been drugged before he was taken from the bar on Friday. He was helped back to his hotel by a retired military man.

"I didn't think I was going to survive this one," he told the AAP news agency.

The golfer had been planning to fly out of Hawaii after missing the cut at the US PGA Tour's Sony Open.

Local television said the incident was being investigated as second-degree robbery.

"I was separated from my friend in the bar after we had paid the tab at 22:48 (08:48 GMT) and he went to the bathroom and next thing you know I'm being dumped in a park miles away," he said.

He said a homeless woman spotted him being dumped from a car, after being robbed of his phone and wallet.

The military veteran paid for a taxi for him back to the hotel, he said.

Pictures shown on the Golf Channel showed Mr Allenby with cuts on his nose and forehead and bruising around his eye.

His caddie Mick Middlemo told the channel Mr Allenby woke up groggy with no initial recollection of what happened to him.

Allenby is ranked 271 in the world and has won four titles on the elite PGA [Professional Golfers' Association] Tour.

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UK and US to stage 'cyber war games'

16 January 2015 Last updated at 17:15

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LIVE: Barack Obama and David Cameron hold a joint news briefing

The UK and US are to carry out "war game" cyber attacks on each other as part of a new joint defence against online criminals.

The first exercise, a staged attack on the financial sector, will take place later this year, Downing Street said.

The "unprecedented" arrangement between the two countries was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of talks with US President Barack Obama.

The two men discussed a range of other issues, including counter-terrorism.

They are holding a press conference in the Oval Office of The White House after talks lasting about an hour.

Mr Cameron has previously said in relation to cyber attacks that there should be no "means of communication" which "we cannot read".

He is expected to talk to the US president about getting companies such as Google and Facebook to allow governments to view encrypted messages.

'Modern threat'

In terms of the planned cyber war games Downing Street said they will aim to improve the flow of information between the US and UK about threats.

No 10 said agents will co-operate in "cyber cells", involving MI5 and the FBI, and they will be the first the UK has established with another country.

Speaking to BBC political editor Nick Robinson after arriving in Washington on Thursday night for a two-day visit, Mr Cameron said cyber attacks were "one of the big modern threats that we face".

The first war game will involve the Bank of England and commercial banks, targeting the City of London and Wall Street, and will be followed by "further exercises to test critical national infrastructure", Downing Street said.

Money will also be made available to train "the next generation" of cyber agents.

Analysis by Gordon Corera, BBC security correspondent

The tensions and confusions over what cyber security means are all too apparent this week.

Is it about defending corporate networks against hostile attackers of the type who targeted Sony? That's the focus of today's announcements about war-gaming and threat cells.

Or is it about getting hold of data and communications about terrorists? That seemed to be the focus earlier in the week, with briefings that the visit would focus on getting US companies to be more helpful in providing data to British authorities.

The two are different in focus and it is not yet clear how much progress on the latter the prime minister will make with a president whose relations with the tech sector are already difficult post-Snowden.

There is also some tricky overlap between the two fields, for instance on how far information should be encrypted so it cannot be read or stolen.

Encryption may foil foreign cyber spies but also stymie law enforcement.

The measures come in the wake of the recent hacking of Sony Pictures' computers and the US military's Central Command's Twitter feed, where comments were posted promoting Islamic State (IS) militants.

The cyber attack on Sony Pictures led to data being leaked from its computers exposing emails and personal details about staff and stars.

The hackers, who called themselves #GOP or Guardians of Peace, also threatened cinema chains planning to screen Sony's satirical North Korea comedy, The Interview, the plot of which involves a bid to assassinate the country's leader Kim Jong-un.

Sony initially cancelled the film's release after leading US cinema groups said they would not screen it, a move which Mr Obama later described as "a mistake".

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PM: "Cyber attacks are one of the biggest modern threats we face"

Mr Obama has said cyber threats were an "urgent and growing danger" and unveiled domestic proposals to strengthen the law.

The UK's National Audit Office warned in 2013 that a lack of skilled workers was hampering the fight against cyber crime.

Mr Cameron said the UK was already prepared for a cyber attack, saying GCHQ had "massive expertise", but added more needed to be done.

He said: "We need to be able in extremis to interrupt the contact between terrorists.

"It's also about protecting people's data, people's finances - these attacks can have real consequences to people's prosperity."

'Beef up filters'

The BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones said there had been a lot of concern over Mr Cameron's inference that governments should be able to view encrypted data.

He said not only were civil rights groups worried, but major players in the technology industry said banning encrypted messages could harm British trade if UK companies were seen to be not private.

Our correspondent also told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that smaller social networking sites were just as well used by potential hackers as the well-known ones.

He said he had found an example of an exchange on the site Ask.fm which appeared to be from an IS fighter asking another user which country he should go to for weapons training.

In relation to the site being used for this type of communication Doug Leeds, the chief executive of Ask.com, which owns Ask.fm, said: "We have taken some action, and we're looking to take more, what we have done so far is beef up our filters to try and look for patterns that would suggest that this is going on."

Howard Schmidt, a former eBay and Microsoft executive, told the BBC attitudes around privacy and the right to encrypt personal data were still hotly debated in the US in light of the revelations disclosed by fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

Among other things, Snowden's leaks detailed the National Security Agency's practice of harvesting data on millions of telephone calls made in the US and around the world, and revealed the CIA intelligence agency had snooped on foreign leaders.

A recent report by GCHQ, the UK government's communications security agency, on the issue of cyber attacks said that more than 80% of large UK companies experienced some form of security breach in 2014, and attacks were on the rise.

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US-Cuba travel restrictions eased

16 January 2015 Last updated at 17:29

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Cubans hope that with the lifting of trade restrictions they will be able to import rare commodities such as car parts, as Will Grant reports

New travel and trade rules between the US and Cuba have come into effect in the biggest policy shift between the two countries in more than 50 years.

Measures include allowing US citizens to use credit cards in Cuba and for US businesses to export some technologies.

Americans will be able to take home up to $100 (£66) in alcohol and tobacco from Cuba.

The move implements last month's agreement to re-establish ties severed since 1961.

Although the latest moves put a large dent in the US trade embargo against Cuba's communist government, only Congress can lift it completely.

Earlier this week, US officials said Cuba had completed the release of 53 political prisoners agreed as part of the historic deal.

Policies 'out of date'

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the changes would "immediately enable the American people to provide more resources to empower the Cuban population to become less dependent upon the state-driven economy".

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Tomas Bilbao: "Failed policy of isolation and confrontation"

While ordinary tourism is still banned, the new regulations will allow US citizens to travel to Cuba for any of a dozen specific reasons without first obtaining a special licence from the government.

United Airlines announced on Thursday plans to begin flying to Cuba from its terminals in Houston and Newark.

US credit and debit cards can be used there and there will be no more limits on how much money US citizens can spend in Cuba each day.

About 170,000 authorised US travellers went to Cuba last year, according to the US Department of Commerce.

US firms will also find it easier to export mobile phones and software to Cuba, as well as provide internet services there.

Cuba currently has one of the lowest internet penetration rates in the world - estimated at about 5% by the White House.

A change in the regulations will also allow US investments in some small businesses and agricultural operations.

'Repression against Cubans'

The thaw in relations between the two countries was announced last month in simultaneous televised speeches by President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.

Next week, US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson will lead a delegation to Cuba to discuss migration issues.

They will be the first high-level talks since the easing of relations was announced.

President Obama used his executive powers to ease the embargo, defying hardline critics. Analysts say Congress is unlikely to agree to lift the embargo completely any time soon.

Cuban-American Republican Senator Marco Rubio said Mr Obama's policy would harm ordinary Cubans.

"This is a windfall for the Castro regime that will be used to fund its repression against Cubans," he said in a statement.

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UK and US in joint anti-terror push

17 January 2015 Last updated at 00:23

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David Cameron: "Britain and America face threats to national security by people who hate what our countries stand for"

Britain and the US are to share expertise on preventing radicalism and tackling domestic "violent extremism".

Prime Minister David Cameron announced the move following talks with President Barack Obama at the White House, warning that they both faced a "poisonous and fanatical ideology".

The taskforce will report back to the two leaders within six months.

Mr Cameron also said Britain would deploy more unarmed drones to help ground forces tackle Islamic State.

The prime minister is on a two-day visit to Washington for talks with President Obama, likely to be his final Washington visit before the UK general election in May.

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Barack Obama on Islamic State: "We are systematically taking out their fighters"

At a press conference in the White House, Mr Obama hailed Mr Cameron as a "great friend" while the British prime minister said the US was a "kindred spirit".

The talks between the two leaders came a week after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris which killed 17 people.

Concerns over additional attacks by Islamic extremists intensified on Thursday, after an anti-terror raid by police in Belgium, to pre-empt what officials called a major impending attack.

'Fanatical ideology'

UK police have said there is "heightened concern" about the risk to the UK's Jewish communities and are considering stepping up patrols in certain areas.

Mr Cameron said it was a "sensible, precautionary" measure to take to "reassure those communities".

Mr Cameron said: "We face a poisonous and fanatical ideology that wants to pervert one of the world's major religions, Islam, and create conflict, terror and death.

"With our allies we will confront it wherever it appears."

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK's police lead for counter-terrorism, has said police have been reviewing their own security since the Paris attacks.

"We are also considering what further measures we might put in place to enhance the security of police officers, given some of the deliberate targeting of the police we have seen in a number of countries across Europe and the world," he said.

"Chief constables across the country are reviewing how to strengthen the protection of their officers from such attacks."

President Obama said the US, UK and its allies were "working seamlessly to prevent attacks and defeat these terrorist networks".

Asked whether an attack was "imminent" in Britain, Mr Cameron said the terror threat level, set independently by the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre, was currently at "severe" - meaning an attack is "highly likely".

'Long struggle'

He warned that the fight against terrorism "is going to be a long, patient and hard struggle" but added that he was "quite convinced we will overcome it".

The prime minister also announced that the UK would send an additional 1,000 troops to take part in Nato military exercises in the Baltic states and eastern Europe amid heightened tensions in the region following Russia's conflict with Ukraine.

On Iran, Mr Cameron cautioned against further sanctions on the country over its nuclear programme, warning that it would be "counter-productive" and could undermine efforts for a diplomatic solution.

He said the UK and US remained committed to ensuring Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon, but added: "The best way to achieve that now is to create the space for negotiations to succeed."

Mr Cameron said he had called "a couple" of US senators earlier in the day to make the case against further economic penalties while talks are ongoing.

Ahead of the talks at the White House, which lasted just over an hour, it was announced that the UK and US are to carry out "war game" cyber attacks on each other as part of a new joint defence against online criminals.

The White House also confirmed that Mr Cameron had pressed Mr Obama to transfer British resident Shaker Aamer from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to the UK.

The Saudi Arabian citizen, who lives in London with his British wife and children, has not been charged but has reportedly only been cleared for release to his country of birth.

National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said: "The president committed to the prime minister that we will prioritise this case, while making sure any action taken is consistent with our national security."

Meanwhile, following Mr Obama's visit to Stonehenge last September, Mr Cameron presented him with a Henry Moore print of the monument, one of just 40 made. The prime minister was given a first edition of Benjamin P Thomas's 1952 biography of Abraham Lincoln and a pair of brass bookends.

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Backlash over police sniper training

17 January 2015 Last updated at 00:31

US police officers have been criticised for using mug shots of black suspects for target practice in Florida.

The images used by North Miami Beach Police were discovered by a female soldier who used the firing range after a police training session.

Sgt Valerie Deant recognised her brother as one of the target images, according to NBC Miami.

Police Chief J Scott Dennis said that his officers had used poor judgment but denied racial profiling.

He told NBC that using real suspect images was an important part of training for his sniper team and that his officers had not violated any policies.

"There is no discipline forthcoming from the individuals who were involved with this," he said.

A police spokeswoman added on Friday that officers use targets of all races and genders in their training sessions.

'Speechless'

The six targets left behind by police were found last month by Sgt Deant, a band member of the Florida Army National Guard.

"I was like, why is my brother being used for target practice?" she told NBC Miami on Friday.

The photo of her brother Woody Deant had been taken after his arrest as a teenager for drag racing. It had been shot several times.

Mr Deant said he was "speechless" when he heard the news.

"Now I'm being used as a target? I'm not even living that life according to how they portrayed me as. I'm a father. I'm a husband. I'm a career man. I work nine to five."

Police Chief Dennis said they were "very very concerned" that one of the targets had been of a man who would be on the streets of North Miami Beach.

He said that the department would no longer use images of suspects they had arrested.

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Obama to seek tax raises on wealthy

18 January 2015 Last updated at 11:54

President Obama is to use Tuesday's State of the Union speech to call for tax increases on the wealthy to help the middle class, officials say.

The proposals would raise $320 billion (£211 billion) over a decade, to fund benefits such as tax credits.

The speech is the centrepiece of the US political diary and may shape both Mr Obama's legacy and the 2016 election.

But the president faces resistance to his proposals, with Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress.

With the US economy growing, President Obama will stress that it is time for ordinary US families to feel the benefits.

According to US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the plans include:

• Closing a loophole allowing the wealthiest Americans to pass on certain assets tax free
• Raising capital gains tax on the richest earners from 23.8% to 28%
• New fees on US financial firms with more than $50 billion (£33 billion) in assets

The revenues would raise more than enough to fund the proposed benefits for the middle class, according to the officials.

These include tripling child tax credits, help for families with two working spouses and extra incentives to save for retirement.

The speech is also set to include a plan to expanding free community college education and proposals on cyber-security.

The State of the Union speech will be President Obama's first since the Republicans seized control of the two Houses of Congress at elections last November.

'Tax hike'

His proposals have already been dismissed by some in the party.

"Slapping American small businesses, savers, and investors with more tax hikes only negates the benefits of the tax policies that have been successful in helping to expand the economy, promote savings, and create jobs," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G Hatch said.

Administration officials hope to find some common ground with their opponents.

They also say the increase in capitals gains taxes, likely to be resisted by many Republicans, returns the rate to what it was under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

The New York Times said the decision to present the tax plan during Tuesday's speech marked the start of a debate over taxes and the economy that will shape both the president's legacy and the 2016 presidential campaign.

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