Civilian gets 7 years for secrets leak

United States: A former civilian defence contractor was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison on Wednesday for divulging military secrets to his Chinese girlfriend.

Benjamin Bishop showed poor judgment and jeopardised national security because of an intimate relationship, said US Judge Leslie Kobayashi.

Mr Bishop will get credit for about a year he has already spent at the federal detention centre in Honolulu since his arrest in March 2013.

Joblessness falls but 25% still out of work

Greece: Unemployment dropped in the second quarter but still afflicts more than a quarter of the workforce, the statistical authority said yesterday.

Around 1.28 million people, or 26.6 per cent, were unemployed in April-June, compared with 1.34m, or 27.8 per cent, in January-March.

Nearly a million jobs have been lost during Greece’s economic crisis amid harsh austerity measures imposed at the behest of international bailout lenders.

Shi’ite rebels hit suburb of capital

Yemen: Shi’ite rebels have reached a suburb of the capital Sana’a where they are fighting Sunni militias and besieging a university.

Fighting in Shamlan has forced thousands to flee home. The Houthi rebels are surrounding the Iman University where 60 people had been killed in the fighting over 48 hours.

The Houthis have recently routed their rivals, expanding the area under their control in northern Yemen.

200 firms vow jobs for young Europeans

Switzerland: Some 200 companies pledged yesterday to create new work and training opportunities for Europe’s young jobseekers, of whom a quarter are unemployed.

An alliance of firms set a goal of creating thousands of additional jobs — or apprenticeships and internships that lead to jobs — over the next few years.

Among Europe’s youth, joblessness is above 23 per cent and twice that in Spain and Greece.

Top EU court OKs bag check-in fee

Luxembourg: The European Union’s highest court said yesterday that airlines were allowed to charge passengers an extra fee for checking in luggage.

The Court of Justice ruled that “checked-in baggage cannot be considered to be compulsory or necessary” for carrying passengers, thus granting carriers the right to charge a supplement.

Judges found that a Spanish law blocking luggage surcharges violated EU law because it stopped airlines charging for “complementary services.”

Watson ‘touched’ by politics visit goodwill

Uruguay: British actor Emma Watson said yesterday that she was “immensely touched” by the reception she received as a visiting goodwill ambassador for the UN women’s agency.

Hundreds of young people greeted the Harry Potter actor on Tuesday as she delivered a 4,000-signature petition to parliament calling for greater political participation by women.

Only 13 per cent of Uruguay’s MPs are women and there has never been a female president.

‘So help me God’ optional in oath

United States: Airmen taking enlistment oaths can omit the words “so help me God” if they choose, air force officials announced on Wednesday.

The policy change comes after an atheist airman struck out the words on his Department of Defence re-enlistment paperwork.

Military officials said that his unit was unable to process the documents and that he must swear to God or leave the service, but his humanist group threatened to sue.

Toshiba to cut 900 jobs in PC business

Japan: Electronics titan Toshiba said yesterday that it would cut 900 jobs in a restructuring of its PC business.

The conglomerate claimed the move would cut operating profit by 45 billion yen (£252 million) but did not change its earnings forecast.

The job cuts are expected to cut Toshiba’s fixed costs by over 20 billion yen (£112m).