Man faces 'collar-bomb' charges

24 September 2011 Last updated at 06:53 GMT Mr Peters was arrested in the US state of Kentucky, and has now been extradited to Australia A man has been extradited to Australia to face charges over an alleged attempt to extort money by locking a teenage woman to a fake bomb.

Paul Douglas Peters, 50, arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning under guard on a flight from the US, where he was arrested in Kentucky in mid-August.

He was charged with kidnapping and other offences.

The charges stem from an alleged ordeal endured by 18-year-old Madeleine Pulver on 3 August.

A masked man is alleged to have entered her bedroom in a wealthy Sydney suburb as she studied, attaching a device he said was a bomb to her neck.

A police squad spent 10 hours removing the device, which was later found to contain no explosives.

Mr Peters, a successful international businessman, was later arrested in the US at the home of his ex-wife in Louisville, Kentucky. He did not fight the extradition, though his US lawyer has previously said he rejects the charges against him.

'Admiration'

Mr Peters did not attend a brief hearing at Parramotta Bail Court in Sydney, where charges of kidnapping, aggravated breaking and entering, and demanding money with menaces were filed against him.

He did not apply for bail and will remain in custody until his next hearing on 17 November.

Madeleine's father said she was now focused on studying for her final school exams

"I have great admiration for Madeleine Pulver and her family for the way they have dealt with this matter and what has been obviously a very traumatic time of their lives," Det Supt Luke Moore said on Saturday.

Det Supt Moore also thanked authorities in the United States for their efforts in finding and arresting Mr Peters.

"The job is far from done and the courts will now make their determination," Det Supt Moore told reporters in Sydney. "I am very pleased that we have been able to bring this matter to where we are today relatively swiftly."

Madeleine's father Bill - a businessman who has made millions from internet software - praised police for their work so far, adding that his daughter was focusing on studying for her final school exams.

"Maddie is a very strong young woman who I think is doing just a stellar job in the circumstances," he said, according to AFP news agency.

The Pulvers say they are mystified as to why they were targeted in the saga.

They say they have never met Mr Peters, though reports suggest he may once have worked for a company with links to the family.

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Apple faces South Korean lawsuit

18 August 2011 Last updated at 10:13 GMT The lawsuit is given weight by tough privacy regulation in South Korea Apple is facing a lawsuit brought by 27,000 South Koreans who are angry over the collection of location data on iPhones and iPads.

Each is seeking 1m won (£533) in compensation for privacy violations.

Apple has faced criticism since in emerged in April that its iPhones and iPads stored locations which could be used to create a map of the user's movements.

The lawsuit could pave the way for others around the world.

Earlier this month the South Korean communications regulator Korea Communications Commission ordered Apple's local operation to pay 3m won (£1,600) fine for violating the country's location information laws.

Quick update Apple's iPhone and iPad 3G appeared to collect information about their users' location

Kim Hyeong-seok, the lawyer representing the group, himself took Apple to court earlier this year and was awarded 1m won.

The issue came to light when security researchers found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Used with certain software, the file could generate a map of all a person's movements with the phone.

Apple denied that it has used the information to track user location, saying that the handsets were simply recording information about mobile phone towers and wi-fi hotspots with a view to using it at a later date to "improve services".

Following criticisms, it quickly issued an update which cut the amount of time stored data was kept to just a week and no longer transferred it to the owner's computer.

It also allows users to disable the location services setting on their iPhone or iPad.

Permission for the tracking was given by users among the many pages of terms and conditions for the iTunes store.

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Jose Canseco Faces TRO Filed by Ex-GF

Former Major League Baseball Player Jose Canseco received a temporary restraining order from his ex-girlfriend.

Leila Shennib, a bikini and fitness model who dated Canseco, filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) against him in Los Angeles Superior Court after Canseco began posting derogatory tweets about her on his Twitter account.

“I broke up with him six months ago and he’s been harassing me and threatening me ever since,” Shennib told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.

“One day he’s proposing to me and sending me flowers and teddy bears, and the next day he’s slamming me on Twitter, putting my phone number up there and saying hurtful things.”

According to the restraining order filed on July 21 with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Shennib requested her mother be protected under the order as well and asked that Canseco stay away from her home, vehicle and workplace.

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