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Iran Quakes Kill Dozens


Three earthquakes and several aftershocks have claimed the lives of at least 50 people in western Iran.

Around 850 people were also injured as homes were destroyed.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 4.7, struck a mountainous region on Thursday night local time followed by a second measuring 5.1 which hit the industrial cities of Boroujerd and Doroud.

A third tremor, measuring 6.0, hit Doroud and surrounding villages on Friday morning. So far, 12 aftershocks have been registered.

Officials say 50 bodies were recovered from Silakhor, a region north of Doroud.

Many casualties were in bed when the quakes struck. Other people fled their homes in panic, with many spending the night in open spaces.

Provincial official Ali Barani said several villages hardest hit have been flattened.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "We are always prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to people around the world."

The earthquakes have been classified as moderate, but such quakes have killed thousands of people in the past in the Iranian countryside where houses are often built of mud bricks.

In February 2005, a 6.4 magnitude quake hit the town of Zarand in southern Iran, killing 612 people and injuring more than 1,400.

A magnitude 6.6 quake flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam in the same region in December 2003, killing 26,000 people.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight quake everyday on average.
Sky

Fears For Civil Liberties


Police in Australia have been given powers to secretly tap phones, read emails and monitor text messages under new laws.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the new rules are the biggest changes to Australia's phone-tapping laws in 27 years, and updated legislation to take account of new technology.

But the Australian Council of Civil Liberties said: "These powers allow police for the first time to tap the phones of innocent third parties, people who are not even suspected of a criminal offence."

Australia has gradually toughened security laws following 9/11, giving law enforcement agencies powers to detain people without charge for extended periods if they are suspected of having knowledge of an attack.

The new laws allow police, intelligence agencies and investigating authorities to secretly retrieve emails and text messages from phone companies and Internet service providers.

But critics say the laws would target lawyers and journalists, and allow authorities to go "on fishing expeditions" to find evidence of criminal behaviour or hunt down sources of leaks.

Australian Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said: "Conversations between a person and their lawyer, their doctor, their religious leader or their member of parliament can now be intercepted with no consideration for professional privilege."

Mr Ruddock defended the laws, saying they gave authorities the power to fight serious crime.

"They ensure law enforcement and security have the investigative tools to continue the fight against serious crime and terrorist activity."

In December last year, Sydney's beaches were hit by race riots after rival gangs used mobile phone text, or SMS, messages to call their supporters together.
Sky