US man denies mailing guns to Australia

A US man has denied he posted an assault rifle and a 9mm pistol to buyers in Australia.

Adam Joseph Bunger, 33, was arraigned in the District Court in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Wednesday accused of using encrypted German-based website Black Market Reloaded to find buyers in Australia, the UK and other nations for guns.

An international investigation began in June when authorities in Sydney inspected a package sent via express post from the US and discovered a Star Echeverria, Modelo Super 9mm pistol hidden inside an Xbox game console.

In July, authorities allege two more packages sent by Bunger, one bound for Australia containing a disassembled assault rifle hidden in a DVD player and the other containing an "Uzi style pistol", headed to a UK address, were seized.

Bunger, from Bowling Green, entered not guilty pleas to charges of exporting firearms contrary to US law and dealing in firearms in foreign commerce while not a licensed importer, manufacturer or dealer.

Bunger's trial is set for December 16.

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MPs don headscarves in Turkish parliament

FOUR female MPs with the Islamic conservative AK party have broken a long-standing taboo by wearing headscarves in the Turkish parliament.

The last time an MP wore a headscarf in parliament was in 1999, when parliamentarian Merve Kavakci caused an uproar by her appearance in one.

Her actions led to her losing her seat in parliament and her Turkish citizenship.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip of the AK party last month overturned the ban on Islamic headscarves except in courts of law and the security forces.

The September 30th move was a part of a package of political reforms aimed at strengthening democracy, including granting greater freedoms for the Kurdish minority.

The reforms were announced months after mass protests against Erdogan's perceived authoritarian governing style and ahead of elections next year.

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Safe assumption phone was tapped: Carr

BOB Carr says while he was foreign minister it was a "safe assumption" to operate as though his phone calls were being monitored.

Mr Carr's comments come after media leaks from former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and other foreign leaders, had their personal phones tapped by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

The revelation has created an uproar in Germany and across Europe amid conflicting reports as to whether US President Barack Obama knew of the eavesdropping.

When asked by ABC's Lateline on Thursday whether he operated under the assumption that his calls were being monitored while he was Australia's foreign minister, Mr Carr said it was a "safe assumption".

"In travelling in some parts of the world, one felt that advice more pressing than in other parts of the world," the recently retired NSW senator said.

Mr Carr, who was foreign minister under the former Labor government, says the lesson to be learned out of the leaks is whether allowing security agencies to pursue "adventurous objectives" is worth the potential loss of prestige.

"The Americans are going to have a vigorous debate about whether their national interest has been compromised by a too adventurous activity from intelligence agencies set up, strengthened, and strongly resourced after September 11," he said.

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UK Trial told Brooks, Coulson had affair

FORMER News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson had an affair for at least six years, a jury has heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis has told jurors at the Old Bailey that in February 2004, when the pair were both working at the media giant, they had been having a relationship for some years.

He says a letter was found on Brooks's computer from February 2004, that made the relationship clear.

Edis said: "The point that I'm going to make in relation to that letter is that over the relevant period, what Mr Coulson knew, Mrs Brooks knew too. And what Mrs Brooks knew, Mr Coulson knew too - that's the point.

"Because it is clear from that letter that, as of February 2004, they had been having an affair which had lasted at least six years."

Edis told the court that the pair had been having an affair dating back to around 1998, spanning the period covered by their phone-hacking conspiracy charge.

The court heard that the letter - apparently written by Brooks in response to Coulson trying to end the affair - included a declaration of her love for her colleague.

Edis told jurors he was not revealing the affair to deliberately intrude into their privacy or to make a "moral judgment".

"But Mrs Brooks and Mr Coulson are charged with conspiracy and, when people are charged with conspiracy, the first question a jury has to answer is how well did they know each other? How much did they trust each other?

"And the fact that they were in this relationship which was a secret means that they trusted each other quite a lot with at least that secret and that's why we are telling you about it."

He says the revelation is likely to attract a "great deal of publicity" and may draw some "unfair, unkind and unnecessary" comment.

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