A suspected killer and one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives has been placed on a worldwide most wanted list after more than two years on the run. Shane O’Brien, 30, is alleged to have killed 21-year-old Josh Hanson in an unprovoked knife attack in a bar in Hillingdon, west London, in 2015.

He has now been placed on Interpol’s worldwide most wanted list and there is a £50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and prosecution. O’Brien left the UK on a privately chartered flight from Biggin Hill airport in the wake of the death of Hanson at the RE bar in Eastcote. Hanson was stabbed in the neck in the early hours of 11 October 2015 and died from his injuries at the scene.

O’Brien, originally from Ladbroke Grove, is described as white, 6ft, with grey eyes, dark brown hair, a full beard and a tattoo on his back of an owl holding a skull, covering up a previous one of “Shannon 15-04-06”. Since fleeing the UK, he is thought to have lived in the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates before returning to Europe.

It emerged that he was arrested in Prague in early 2017 on suspicion of criminal damage and assault before he was released on bail. He had dramatically changed his appearance and gave his name as Enzo Mellonceli, one of the Italian aliases he has been using. Police say he has been travelling “extensively” and there were reported sightings in Gibraltar, Nice in France and Prague following an appeal for information in October last year.(theguardian)…[+]

Facebook and Google have become the targets of the first official complaints of GDPR noncompliance, filed on the day the privacy law takes effect across the EU. Across four complaints, related to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Google’s Android operating system, European consumer rights organisation Noyb argues that the companies have forced users into agreeing to new terms of service, in breach of the requirement in the law that such consent should be freely given.

Max Schrems, the chair of Noyb, said: “Facebook has even blocked accounts of users who have not given consent. In the end users only had the choice to delete the account or hit the agree button – that’s not a free choice, it more reminds of a North Korean election process.” If upheld, the complaints could result in more than £3bn in fines for each company – the maximum possible under the new law being the higher of €20m (£17.5m) or 4% of an organisation’s annual revenue. The complaints, filed on behalf of unnamed users of the sites, were sent to Facebook’s Irish headquarters and Google’s home in Mountain View, California.(theguardian)…[+]

The disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has been charged with rape, a criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for alleged incidents involving two separate women, after he earlier surrendered to authorities in New York.

During a brief court appearance on Friday, Weinstein remained quiet as his lawyers agreed he would post $1m (£750,000) bail and wear an electronic monitoring device. He also surrendered his passport, and agreed not to travel beyond New York and Connecticut. A prosecutor told the judge that the investigation was ongoing, and that authorities have encouraged other survivors to come forward.

“The defendant used his position, money and power to lure young women into situations where he was able to violate them sexually,” she said. Speaking outside court, Weinstein’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said his client intends to plead not guilty. He called the charges “constitutionally flawed” and “not factually supported”.

It is the first criminal case to be brought against Weinstein since the revelations about him erupted last October and sparked the #MeToo movement. Weinstein, 66, was led in handcuffs, with a detective on either side holding his arms, from the police station into a waiting car. A few minutes later he arrived at criminal court in Manhattan, and was marched in by the detectives to be arraigned on the charges. He has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.(NU)…[+]