Cricket banker charged in ‘global fraud’

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged businessman Robert Allen Stanford with orchestrating an $8 billion fraudulent investment program. Stanford is the tycoon who bankrolled the Twenty20 Super Series cricket competition in the West Indies last year

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Google’s newest Android prepares to battle Apple

Google launched the latest salvo in the cellphone wars Tuesday with the unveiling of the newest handset to carry its Android platform. Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Vodafone’s HTC Magic smartphone will make its European bow in the UK, Spain, France and Germany in the coming months. In Italy it will be available under a non-exclusive contract.

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Facebook faces furor over content rights

On an otherwise placid holiday weekend, one blog’s commentary on a change to Facebook’s terms of service created a firestorm of banter on the Web: does the social network claim ownership to any user content on the site, even if the user deletes it? Facebook reorganized its terms of service last Wednesday. In a blog post, company legal representative Suzie White provided an explanation

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Pakistani woman watches Taliban take over town she loves

Gul Bibi and her three children fled the Taliban’s bloody interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, hoping one day to return. But now that the Pakistani government has recognized Taliban rule in the region in exchange for a temporary cease-fire, she said those hopes have been dashed. She warned that the government’s deal with the Taliban will have worldwide implications

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Universal cellphone charger will ring the changes, say makers

Cell phone makers Tuesday pledged to end one of modern life’s chief frustrations — and introduce a universal charger for handsets by 2012. The GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association), which represents more than 750 of the world’s cell phone operators, made the announcement at its annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Tuesday

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Men ‘plotted to blow up jets with liquid bombs’

Eight men plotted to use bombs disguised in drinks containers to blow up planes heading towards the United States in mid-flight in the name of Islam, a British court heard Tuesday. Prosecutors told London’s Woolwich Crown Court the men planned to make the explosives from household objects to resemble drinks bottles, batteries and other items to be carried onto aircraft in hand luggage, the UK’s Press Association reported. The foiling of the alleged plot in August 2006 triggered the imposition of strict new security measures at international airports around the world, restricting the quantity of liquids passengers can carry on to aircraft

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