News Headlines - 15 February 2020
A Melbourne dentist who claims he was defamed in an anonymous online review has convinced a Federal Court judge to order technology giant Google to unmask the disgruntled customer so he can launch "groundbreaking" legal action... The order by Justice Bernard Murphy compels Google to turn over identifying information of "CBsm 23", including any names, phone numbers, IP addresses and location metadata.
The technology giant has also been ordered to provide any other Google accounts, including full name and email addresses, which may have originated from the same IP address during the same period of time.
▽Justice Department charges Huawei with stealing trade secrets, again | Engadget
The US Justice Department has charged Huawei and two US subsidiaries with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets. A 16-count superseding indictment, filed yesterday in Brooklyn, New York, adds to previous US charges filed against Huawei last January. The indictment names several defendants, including Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng, who is already facing fraud accusations and could serve years in prison.
▽Former Russian official shoots himself dead in courtroom after corruption sentence | The Independent
A former department head at Russia’s federal prison service shot himself dead in a courtroom on Wednesday after being handed a three-year sentence on corruption charges.
Local court and investigative officials at Moscow’s Chertanovsky court said Viktor Sviridov took out his pistol and fatally shot himself in the head moments after hearing the verdict and being remanded to custody.
Police are now looking into how Sviridov was able to bring the alleged service weapon into the building. Officers are reportedly investigating court security following the shooting, Russia’s RIA news agency said.
▽Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shut UK office and axe all staff | Daily Mail Online
Harry and Meghan are axing 15 staff and closing their Buckingham Palace office... The Duke and Duchess of Sussex broke the news to their team in person in January following the announcement that they were stepping down as senior working royals.
While one or two may be absorbed back into the royal household, most are now negotiating redundancy packages.
▽The ‘French Oscars’, under fire, brace for a Polanski showdown
French cinema’s annual showcase event, the local equivalent of Oscars night, is just two weeks away – but for beleaguered organisers at the Académie des Césars, it couldn’t come soon enough.
The run-up to the glitzy event has once again been upset by a growing fracas centred on Roman Polanski – this one involving the mother of all “affaires”, the late 19th-century Dreyfus Affair, which the Franco-Polish director has turned into a hugely successful, and controversial, film.
Polanski, now 86, has been wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl since 1978. He is a fugitive under American law and persona non grata in Hollywood. But his latest film, “An Officer and a Spy” (or “J'accuse” in French) has received 12 nominations at the César Awards, topping the field and sparking outrage among feminist groups who had called for a boycott of the film.
