|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Paul Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin, thought likely to be named Romney's running mate in Norfolk on Saturday Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is to spring a surprise by naming his vice presidential choice early on Saturday morning – a hint that Romney's team has rushed forward the announcement to bolster his struggling campaign. Paul Ryan, the congressman from Wisconsin, is said to be Romney's choice to be his running mate, with Republican sources and multiple US news organisations naming the 42-year-old chair of the House Budget Committee as the ticket's number two. Ryan is likely to be a popular pick with fiscally conservative Republicans, who admire Ryan's authorship of the congressional Republican party's attempts to grapple with spending cuts. But Democrats will be licking their lips at the prospect of Ryan's promotion, seeing him as the public face of threatened cuts to healthcare and welfare services through the so-called Ryan budget plan. Romney's decision to announce his running mate at 8.45am ET on a Saturday, at an event in Norfolk, Virginia, threw America's political pundits into disarray, with no announcement expected until after the Olympics had ended and certainly not in the relative dead time of a weekend morning. But the Romney campaign has come under increasing pressure and some criticism from its allies in the Republican party for a lacklustre campaign to date, with polls continuing to show a small but resilient lead for President Barack Obama despite the sagging economy. Romney himself has been bedeviled by a series of gaffes and missteps, including his jibe at the readiness of the London Olympics organisation, and has been unable to throw off controversies over his own tax returns. The Republican candidate refuses to release more than the last two years of his tax returns, leading some – including the democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid – to speculate at what the wealthy Massachusetts financier might be hiding. The choice of Ryan will delight conservatives such as the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, which recently urged Romney to pick the seven-term congressman, saying that Ryan "best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election. More than any other politician, the House budget chairman has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline." One early hint of Romney's choice was the venue: aboard the warship the USS Wisconsin, named after Ryan's home state. Ryan's relative youth belies his influence within the congressional Republican party, as head of the influential Budget committee but also as the party's policy-maker advocating once unthinkable ideas such as converting government-funded healthcare known as Medicaid into a voucher-like system to slash costs. The choice of Ryan, however, means Romney has spurned more attractive alternatives who would appeal to a wider pool of voters, such as the rising star of the Republican party, Marco Rubio of Florida, the more experienced Condoleeza Rice, or the robust New Jersey governor Chris Christie, another favourite of Republican grassroots. Ryan's career is almost entirely within Washington DC and Capitol Hill, likely to subtract from Romney's claim that he represents an outsider's view of Washington and its politics. The announcement comes at the start of a four-day bus tour by Romney to visit crucial swing states including Virginia, North Carolina Florida and Ohio, and will be used as a chance to introduce the relatively unknown Ryan to the US public. The news of the announcement came at 11pm ET on Friday night in a statement by the Romney campaign. Confirmation of Ryan's elevation came via the normally cautious Associated Press, which reported that "a Republican with knowledge of the situation" had told it that Romney has chosen Ryan. "The Republican spoke on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorised to disclose the decision," the AP reported.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • 4x100m relay team smash 27-year-old world record
• Carmelita Jeter storms home in final leg The American women's 4x100m relay team dramatically crashed Jamaica's London 2012 sprint party by annihilating a 27-year-old world record to win gold in an extraordinary performance that left the stadium stunned. Carmelita Jeter stormed home in the final leg to record a time of 40.82sec and destroy a record of 41.37 set by East Germany in 1985 when the communist country dominated women's track and field while it was known to have been running an institutionalised doping programme. The perfect run also swept away the Olympic record set by East Germany in 1980. The Jamaican quartet came home to take silver in a time of 41.41 after a tricky first changeover, a run that would in itself have been good enough to take the Olympic record. Ukraine took bronze in a time of 42.04. The race was the climax to a gripping battle for sprint supremacy that has played out all week between the women of America and Jamaica. The first honours went to the Caribbean island last Saturday when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made history by retaining her Olympic 100m title from Beijing. America hit back in the 200m on Thursday where America's Allyson Felix prevailed. It has been a contest full of great respect and sportswomanship, fluent running and compelling competition and climaxed with the relay showdown that featured all the key players. The American quartet was anchored by Jeter, who won silver in the 100m, while Felix ran the first bend. Jamaica fielded the 100m gold and bronze medallists, Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown. Earlier in the evening, Great Britain's quartet of veterans and young hopefuls, crashed out of the 4 x 100m relay with yet another disqualification in a major competition. The team of the 200m specialist Christian Malcolm, the 100m semi-finalist Dwain Chambers and two bright hopes for the future in the 21-year-old Danny Talbot and Adam Gemili, 18, managed to get around safely in the heat until the final hundred metres when Gemili, on the anchor leg, received the baton outside the changeover zone. The mistake was doubly disappointing because the British team ran a fast race to come second behind Jamaica who ran the fastest 100m relay ever seen in the UK in 37.39sec. For Gemili, the 18-year-old who only turned seriously to running at the beginning of the year and caused a sensation by making it as far as this week's 100m semi-final, it was a first outing in a British relay team. He ran the anchor leg and was distraught at the finishing line when he realised the mistake at the changeover with Talbot. "Maybe I went early, maybe I went a bit hard," Gemili said. "It is disappointing because we ran 37.9 and that last changeover was sloppy so we really could have been in contention in the final had we have made it." Talbot said he was shouting: "Hand! Hand!" to Gemili as he came off the bend, but Gemili said it was hard to hear above the noise in the stadium as the partisan crowd roared the British team on. "This is a big stage and it can be overwhelming," said Malcolm as he comforted the younger runners. Chambers, who is unlikely to run in another Olympics, stressed the remarkable progress that Gemili has made at these Games, but there will be questions about how the British team could fail again after the head coach, Charles van Commenee, had promised: "There will be practice, much more practice," in order to avoid just this. Last month, at the European championships in Helsinki, it was Chambers who was responsible for the team's failure when on his return to the team he dropped the baton. It was the third time in the past four years that they have made such a mistake. They were disqualified in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and dropped the baton in at the European championships in 2010 and world championships in 2011. In the same heat Jamaica's fast men remained on course to extend their country's sprint domination, but will be pushed hard by America. The world record holders sent out a team of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, 100m and 200m silver medallist Yohan Blake and Kemar Bailey-Cole, leaving the double gold medallist and self-anointed "legend", Usain Bolt, to rest until Saturday night's final, the last event of the London 2012 athletics programme. They stormed to first place. The gauntlet had been thrown down to the Americans and minutes later the USA team of Jeff Demps, Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons and the 100m bronze medallist, Justin Gatlin, went just faster than the Jamaicans with Gatlin roaring down the home straight to post a time of 37.37, which then became the fastest ever time seen in the UK. The speed of the winning runs raised hopes that either America or Jamaica, bolstered by Bolt's return, may round off the stadium action by breaking Jamaica's world record of 37.04 set at the 2011 world championships by the team of Carter, Frater, Bolt and Asafa Powell. Canada, Japan, Trinidad & Tobago, France the Netherlands, Australia and Poland also qualified. St Kitts & Nevis, whose top sprinter Kim Collins was dropped by his national Olympic committee after he left the Olympic village to spend a night in a hotel with his wife, were knocked out. In the women's 4x400m relay Great Britain fielded their strongest possible quartet, with Christine Ohuruogu, the 400m silver medallist, anchoring the race strongly behind Shana Cox, Lee McConnell and Eilidh Child. They ran home to qualify for the final in third place with a time of 3.25.05, albeit at a distance behind America who were brought home by DeeDee Trotter. The strong US quartet were apparently untroubled by the withdrawal last month of the 2010 world indoor champion, Debbie Dunn, after she returned a positive drugs test. Russia qualified in second. "It is nice to just qualify and get the hard bit out of the way and know that we have another day to fight," said Ohuruogu. Jamaica qualified first in the first heat in a time of 3.25.13, ahead of Ukraine and France who also qualified.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sources familiar with Standard Chartered case say regulator 'angered' government with explosive attack on UK bank The US Treasury and the Federal Reserve were blindsided and angered by the decision of a New York banking regulator to launch an explosive attack on Standard Chartered over $250bn in alleged money-laundering transactions tied to Iran, sources familiar with the situation said. By going it alone through the order he issued on Monday, the head of the recently created New York State Department of Financial Services, Benjamin Lawsky, also complicated talks between the Treasury and London-based Standard Chartered to settle claims over the transactions, several of the sources said. Lawsky's action, which included releasing embarrassing communications and details of the bank's alleged defiance of US sanctions, is rewriting the playbook on how foreign banks settle cases involving the processing of shadowy funds tied to sanctioned countries. In the past, such cases have usually been settled through negotiated settlements and public shaming has been kept to a minimum. In his order, Lawsky said Standard Chartered's dealings had exposed the US banking system to terrorists, drug traffickers and corrupt states. But the upset expressed by some federal officials, who were given virtually no notice of the action, may help Standard Chartered to portray the allegations as coming from a relatively new and over-zealous regulator. Given the content of the order, which described Standard Chartered as a "rogue institution" that "schemed" with the Iranian government and hid from law enforcement officials some 60,000 secret transactions over nearly 10 years, the bank may need to come up with a strong defense. Lawsky did not respond to several requests for comment on Tuesday. A Fed spokesperson said that it had been working closely with various prosecutorial offices on matters involving Iran and other sanctioned entities but could not comment on ongoing investigations. White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the government took alleged violations of sanctions "extremely seriously" and the US Treasury remained in close contact with federal and state authorities on the matter. The Treasury declined to add to that comment. New York's attack on the integrity of Standard Chartered and threat to revoke its state banking license wiped $17bn off the bank's market value on Tuesday. Shares in Standard Chartered fell 16.4% to £12.28 Tuesday, after earlier touching a three-year low of £10.92. The stock has fallen 24% since news emerged of the New York action on Monday. The loss of a New York banking license – effectively a permit to conduct transactions worth hundreds of billions of US dollars – could be a death knell for a global bank like Standard Chartered. The 160-year-old bank said it had been in talks with US authorities over its Iran transactions since early 2010 and stressed that the accusations by New York had come as a shock. In a statement Monday, the bank said it was "engaged in ongoing discussions with the relevant US agencies. Resolution of such matters normally proceeds through a coordinated approach by such agencies. The group was therefore surprised to receive the order from [the New York bank regulator] given that discussions with the agencies were ongoing."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mitt Romney's team puts out new attack ad accusing president of exploiting woman's death from cancer for political gain Mitt Romney's campaign team mounted a counter-attack Friday over a controversial pro-Obama ad linking the Republican presidential challenger with a woman's death from cancer. The cancer ad is the most negative piece of campaigning yet, and has dominated the political agenda for three days. It overshadowed other issues at the daily White House press conference on Friday. The Romney camp put out an ad of its own, accusing Barack Obama of seeking to exploit the tragedy of the woman's death for political gain.
Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney campaign adviser, denounced the cancer ad, released on Tuesday. "When you start running ads accusing your opponent of killing people, then you have lost credibility and I think that's where the Obama campaign finds itself," Fehrnstrom said. "I don't think a world champion limbo dancer could get any lower than the Obama campaign right now." In the ad, paid for by one of the main Super Pacs backing Obama, Priorities USA Action, a former steelworker Joe Soptic recounts how when Bain Capital, which Romney headed, shut down his steel plant in 2001, he lost his family health benefits. His wife died of cancer five years later. Although Priorities USA Action insists it is not accusing Romney of being to blame for the woman's death, that is the implication: that the cancer might have been caught at an early stage if the plant had not closed and the Soptic family still had insurance coverage. The Romney campaign counters that the ad is inaccurate on several counts, not least that the woman had health coverage of her own. The White House is refusing either to endorse the ad or denounce it. Obama spokesman, Jay Carney, insisted that his campaign had no control over the actions of Priorities USA Action. "We have no control over third-party ads," he said. Asked about whether the cancer link was appropriate in a political campaign, he said: "It's not for me to do." Although Priorities USA Action insists it is planning to go ahead with airing the ad in swing states at a cost of $20m, it will have to decide whether the row is causing more damage to the Obama campaign than Romney's. It could make it harder for Obama to claim the moral high ground if, as expected, pro-Romney Super Pacs launch similar negative ads. One positive for the Obama campaign is that negative campaigning, while frequently deplored, usually works, and that Romney will be smeared by the ad anyway. The row is distracting voters from Romney's attempts to focus the election on economic issues. Carney claimed that there is no co-ordination between the Obama campaign and Priorities USA Action. But the founder of the Super Pac, Bill Burton, is a former White House spokesman, while David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser, was raising funds for the group earlier this year. An Obama campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, while briefing reporters alongside Carney on an Obama campaign flight this week, initially denied the campaign knew anything about Soptic. It later turned out that he had appeared in an earlier campaign ad. The Romney ad issued on Friday says: "What does it say about a president's character when his campaign tries to use the tragedy of a woman's death for political gain? What does it say about a president's character when he had his campaign raise money for the ad then stood by as his top aides were caught lying about it? "Doesn't America deserve better than a president who will say or do anything to stay in power?"
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Boyfriend of Tia Sharp's grandmother arrested after a body was discovered during a search of a house in New Addington Police hunting for the missing schoolgirl Tia Sharp searched her grandmother's house three times before finally finding a body and launching a manhunt for the last man to see her alive, Scotland Yard has admitted. Senior officers attempted on Friday night to head off criticism of their inquiry into the 12 year old's disappearance - which has now become a murder investigation - after the discovery of the body during the fourth search of the terraced house in New Addington, south east London. Stuart Hazell, 37, who lived at the property with Tia's grandmother Christine Sharp, was arrested in Merton south-west London. He is being held on suspicion of murder. Hazell was arrested at 8.25 pm when a member of the public called police after they mounted a manhunt to find him. As Hazell was being arrested a senior Metropolitan police officer acknowledged there would be many questions asked about why they had taken so long to find the body. No identification has taken place yet but there is little doubt that it is that of the missing schoolgirl, who was on summer holiday from Raynes Park high school, and went missing more than a week ago, on Friday 3 August. "A number of searches took place at the address," said Commander Neil Basu. "When Tia was first reported missing, officers searched her bedroom as is normal practice ... A further search of the house took place in the early hours of Sunday morning by a specialist team. This was then followed by another search of the house by specialist dogs on Wednesday lunchtime." But it was only on Friday afternoon, after a full forensic search of 20 The Lindens was finally carried out that the body was found. It is understood it was found in the confines of the house, not outside or in any outbuilding. Tia's mother Natalie was informed of the discovery on Friday afternoon and a postmortem examination will be carried out in due course. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "A murder inquiry has been launched after a body was found at 20 The Lindens, New Addington." Hazell was believed to be the last person to see Tia alive. He said she had left the house at noon to go into Croydon to buy some flipflops, but there was always a suspicion that the schoolgirl had not gone far from the property. But police were also following up two sightings of Tia which suggested that she might have left the house, as Hazell had suggested. As the inquiry went on, however, Hazell's claim that Tia had gone into Croydon was not backed up by CCTV footage. Examining hundreds of hours of tape, police failed to find any trace of Tia in the town, and their focus returned more intently to the house in New Addington. By Friday a decision was made to search again, in a detailed and extensive way and Ms Sharp was asked to leave the property. When asked where Hazell was, Christine Sharp said: "I don't know where Stuart is, he is out doing his own thing. He has had it hard, he knows the finger is being pointed at him." Police interviewed Hazell as a witness on Wednesday but released him without further action. He was never arrested. He did an interview with ITV News on Thursday to deny any involvement in the disappearance of Tia. "Did I do anything to Tia? No, I didn't. I love her to bits. She is like my own daughter," he said. "I know deep down she walked out of here. I know deep down she walked down that path. What happened after that I don't know." It was Hazell who led a candlelit vigil this week for the schoolgirl, wearing a white T shirt with a picture of the missing girl and the words: "Find Tia" beneath it. Basu said the family had been kept up to date with developments. "Our priority is to support the family of Tia at this distressing time and identify the body which has been discovered as quickly as possible." Friends on the estate have been walking the streets all week, carrying posters of Tia and asking the public for help in finding her. Within minutes of the discovery of a body at the house on Friday members of the local community arrived to express their sadness and shock. But there was some anger directed against the family and the police. Ginny Oteng, 46, a mother of three, said: "I have kids of my own the same age as Tia, and I was worried because I thought there was a child snatcher out there. Eileen Minogue, 40, said: "I feel disgusted. It is heartbreaking. "I feel for the genuine family, her mum Natalie, the cousins and aunts who have been in that house who have had sleepless nights waiting for Tia to come home. All the while her body was there." One man shouted abuse at the police and asked: "Weren't you watching him?" Gavin Barwell, MP for Croydon central wrote on his blog: "The police and forensic teams now have a serious job to do and I ask that we all please allow them to get on with trying to close a case which has, in such a short period of time, affected so many of us in Croydon and around the country. "Despite the sad end to an emotional week, I want to praise the community in New Addington for their relentless dedication to trying to help their neighbour's family. So often in times of tragedy come inspirational displays of community."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Olympics semifinals pit the USA men's basketball team (6-0) against the Argentinian national team (4-2) today at North Greenwich Arena.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The USA men's basketball team defeated Argentina in the Olympics semifinals on Friday, will face Spain on Sunday for the gold medal.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | David Coombs claims in Article 13 motion that WikiLeaks suspect is being punished through 'degradation' and 'humiliation' The harsh conditions forced upon Bradley Manning in military detention have been laid out in detail as part of a court filing in which the US army is accused of a "flagrant violation" of his right not to be punished prior to trial. The Article 13 motion, published Friday by Manning's civilian lawyer David Coombs on his website, claims that Manning, who is accused of leaking state secrets to WikiLeaks, was held in a 6x8 ft cell for 23 to 24 hours a day. In addition, when not sleeping, Manning was banned from lying down, or even using a wall to support him. The motion also claims that Manning was punished through "degradation and humiliation", notably by forcing him to stand outside his cell naked during a morning inspection. This, his Coombs claims, was "retaliatory punishment" for speaking out over his treatment. Manning, 24, is accused of being behind the biggest leak of state secrets in US history. Hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world, as well as war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, were published by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. The information was provided by Manning from his military base near Baghdad, army prosecutors have claimed. They have indicted Manning on 22 counts, including charges of aiding the enemy – charges that carry a maximum penalty of death, although prosecutors have indicated that they will not seek capital punishment. Coombs is attempting to get all charges dismissed on the grounds that he was subjected to illegal pre-trial treatment – in violation of the constitutional prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The claim relates to the nine months that Manning spent after being transferred to the Quantico marine base in Virginia following his arrest in May 2010. "Manning was awoken at 0500 hours and required to remain awake in his cell from 0500 to 2200 hours," Coombs claims in the motion, adding that he "was not permitted to lie down on his rack during the duty day. Nor was Manning permitted to lean his back against the cell wall; he had to sit upright on his rack without any back support". The motion further states that Manning was only allowed 20 minutes of "sunshine call" a day. In addition, he was permitted by guards to take no more than five minutes in the shower. On the rare occasions that he was allowed out of his cell, Manning was forced to wear shackles with metal hand and leg restraints. At least two guards accompanied him at all times. Manning was handed a pair of running shoes without laces for his trips outside, but they would fall off when he attempted to walk. As a result he "elected to wear boots instead", the document alleges. The conditions were imposed, the US military has claimed, for Manning's own protection under a so-called "prevention of injury" order, or POI. But Manning's lawyer says there is clear evidence showing that the conditions were not imposed because of a risk of self-harm, and were instead used as a form of punishment. "The Brig's arbitrary policy to keep Manning subject to the harshest conditions possible shows an intent to punish Manning," the document says. Coombs cites an incident in which Manning was forced to strip for an inspection after he remonstrated over his treatment at the detention centre. "It is well established that forced nudity is a classic humiliation technique. The only permissible inference is that the Brig intended to punish Manning by subjecting him to humiliating treatment because Manning correctly pointed out the absurdity of his POI status," it is claimed. Manning was eventually transferred from Quantico before his pre-trial hearings. His time at Quantico was later condemned by Juan Mendez, the UN's special rapporteur on torture. A 14-month investigation by Mendez concluded that Manning had been subjected to cruel and inhuman conditions. The defence motion is brought under Article 13 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It states that "no person, while being held for trial, may be subjected to punishment or penalty other than arrest or confinement upon the charges pending against him, nor shall the arrest or confinement imposed upon him be any more rigorous than the circumstances required to insure his presence." Under Article 13, if a judge decides that a member of the armed forces has been illegally punished before trial, he can grant the prisoner credit on the amount of time they have already served in custody, or can even dismiss all charges outright.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: Follow all of the action at the Olympic Stadium with Sean Ingle's updates now
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Maine senator wants Hilary Clinton to intervene over Canadian lobstermen's 'intimidation' of their American counterparts A substantial fall in the price of Maine lobsters has led to a cross-border dispute, as processing plants in Canada anger local fishermen by importing the cheaper catch from their US counterparts. Frustration over the influx of cheap lobster has boiled over in New Brunswick in recent weeks, leading to ugly scenes as hundreds of lobstermen have taken to the streets in order to force delivery trucks to turn around. Such picketing has brought the Canadian lobster meat-processing industry to a near standstill, forcing thousands of workers to down tools and fracturing long-standing good relations with US fishermen. Maine senator Olympia Snowe felt compelled earlier this week to ask US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to intervene, warning that "acts of intimidation, violence, or coercion" could no longer be tolerated. On Thursday, in an effort to take some of the heat out of the situation, a New Brunswick judge granted a 10-day injunction, banning lobstermen from blockading fish processing plants. Christian Brun, executive secretary of the Maritime Fishermen's Union in New Brunswick, told the Guardian that his members were being encouraged to abide by the court ruling. "We are hoping that this can be resolved as soon as possible," he said. Brun said that the among lobstermen anger had been building for years, as the price being paid to harvesters has been continually squeezed. Some lobstermen, he said, have been forced to the point of bankruptcy. "The source of the problem is we have never seen so many lobsters," Brun said. "Over the last generation we have seen a tripling of lobster landings. And as an industry we have not been able to develop markets to the same degree as the increased catches." The tipping point came with a bumper early crop of soft-shelled lobsters off the Maine and New Brunswick coast this summer. Warmer waters have increased the food supply, drawing crustaceans out into the open earlier than usual. Greater catch sizes in Maine have produced diminishing returns for lobstermen, with some reporting a drop in the off-the-boat price of up to 75%. This has in turn seen a glut of cheap lobster meat being trucked north to processing factories in New Brunswick, prompting the province's lobstermen to take action. "When local plants send the message saying, 'We are not sure we can buy your lobsters,' then the reaction is going to be quite visceral and it continues to be so," Brun said. He added that many lobstermen in the province were at breaking point and felt the need to act. "Right now they have nothing to lose in protesting and blockading," he said. Others think the direct action has gone beyond the acceptable. Matt McAleney, general manager of Maine-based New Meadows Lobster, said that "decades of great working relations with Canada" were unravelling because of "intimidation" by New Brunswick lobstermen. He said: "If I'm a driver and just doing my job – a job I have done 100 times before – and then 400 lobstermen come out from everywhere and surround my truck, that seems pretty threatening to me. "And we are not talking about 400 accountants – lobstermen are big dudes. Even if we are just talking about 50 against one driver, even Bruce Lee is going to feel intimidated in those circumstances." The Maine Lobstermen's Association expressed "complete sympathy" with the financial woes of its Canadian colleagues but said it "strongly rejects" methods of protest that "disrupt, threaten, interfere with or otherwise impose obstacles on international commerce". McAleney believes the situation will be resolved. "It will eventually work itself out, it always does," he said. The 10-day injunction on protests ordered by authorities in Canada has allowed lobster meat-processing plants to continue operating. New Brunswick premier David Alward, who has described the recent action of fishermen in the province as "very unfortunate and unacceptable", said in light of the injunction that he hoped and expected to see "a more reasonable flow of lobster moving forward in the coming days". But the impasse between processors and lobstermen appears to be far from over. Canadian lobstermen are demanding $4 per lb for their catch. So far processors have only agreed to $2.50 to $3. Maine lobstermen have reported that they are going as low as $1.35 per lb. At such prices, said fisherman Eugene Robichaud of Richibucto, New Brunswick lobstermen would go "down the hole". Harvesters have complained that the return for a boatload of lobster has barely been enough to cover fuel, bait and other expenses. "If the price is too low, I'm going to have to pay to go fish," said Maurice Martin, also of Richibucto. Such desperation is behind the protests outside processing plants in recent weeks. At the height of the blockades, lobstermen held up "No More US Lobster" signs and threw Maine lobster to the ground, calling it "garbage". But Canadian fishermen are also blaming their own government for not helping to prop up the price of their catch. At one recent protest, lobstermen in New Brunswick rallied outside the office of fisheries minister Keith Ashfield, dumping large metal traps in the reception area. With feelings running high, some see the 10-day injunction on blockades as an opportunity to take a step back and try to hammer out a deal. "Right now we have a very small and tight space in which we have to find a solution," Brun said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Social network settles dispute with FTC over 'deceptive act' of making confidential information public without consent Facebook has agreed to tighten its privacy policies after it settled a long-running dispute with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The social network was accused by the regulator last year of introducing "unfair and deceptive" changes to its privacy policies in 2009, including settings that made users' confidential profile information public without their consent. Facebook also shared personal information including status updates, geographic location and marital status with advertisers and third-party applications without telling users, the FTC said. News of the settlement, which ties Facebook to biannual privacy inspections by an independent watchdog for the next 20 years, came just a day after Google was fined a record $22.5m (£14.4m) by the FTC for circumventing privacy protections on Apple's Safari web browser. The allegations laid bare by the FTC about the two internet giants will heighten concern about the security of peoples' private data in some of the most popular digital destinations. Facebook boasts more than 955 million active monthly users, according to its latest figures. Google controlled two-thirds of the US search market in June and its share is even greater in most European countries, said the metrics firm ComScore. The FTC said Facebook was liable for "a broad range of deceptive conduct" relating to what it tells users about their private profile information. The bulk of the charges against Facebook relate to its overhaul of users' privacy settings in November 2010. The FTC said that Facebook failed to tell users that it changed the settings so they could no longer restrict access to their name, profile, picture, gender, friend list, pages, or networks. "Facebook's failure to adequately disclose these facts, in light of the representation made, constitutes a deceptive act or practice," the FTC said. The social network also made public users' photos and videos even after their accounts had been deactivated. The five , commissioners were split over whether to settle the dispute, with three voting in favour, one abstaining, and Commissioner J Thomas Rosch dissenting on the basis that Facebook had denied liability for its actions. He argued that it should at least be required to take the position that it neither confirmed nor denied liability – a position he also argued in dissenting from the 4-1 verdict over Google's fine. Google denied liability to the FTC; it was fined because it was already the subject of a consent order similar to that now tying Facebook.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Naser Jason Abdo planned 'massive attack' on Texas restaurant filled with troops to win justice for people in Afghanistan in Iraq A US soldier convicted of collecting bomb-making materials for what he told authorities would be a "massive attack" on a Texas restaurant full of troops was sentenced Friday to life in prison. Private First Class Naser Jason Abdo, a Muslim, was planning a religious mission to win "justice" for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a recorded jail conservation with his mother played for jurors at trial. In a recorded police interview, Abdo said he wanted to carry out the attack "because I don't appreciate what my unit did in Afghanistan." His plan, according to what he told authorities, was to place a bomb in a busy restaurant filled with soldiers, wait outside and shoot anyone who survived. Abdo, 22, appeared in court Friday with a covering over his mouth after previously being accused of spitting blood on authorities who were escorting him. His hands were shackled. Abdo represented himself at the sentencing after he said he and his attorneys weren't communicating effectively. A federal jury convicted Abdo in May on six charges, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. He had been absent without leave from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when arrested with bomb-making materials last summer at a Fort Hood-area motel. He also was found guilty of attempted murder of US officers or employees and four counts of possessing a weapon in furtherance of a federal crime of violence. Abdo 17 decided to follow Islam at the age of 17. He enlisted in the military in 2009, and thought it would not conflict with his religious beliefs. But according to an essay that was part of his conscientious-objector status application filed in June 2010, Abdo reconsidered as he explored Islam further. Abdo said in his discharge request that other soldiers harassed him about his religion during basic and advanced training. As he neared deployment, he said he studied Islam more closely to learn "whether going to war was the right thing to do Islamically." Abdo's unit was deployed to Afghanistan without him. He said he would refuse to go even if it resulted in a military charge against him. His conscientious objector status was put on hold after he was charged with possessing child pornography in May 2011. Two months later, Abdo went awol from the Kentucky post. In the essay included in the conscientious objector-status application, Abdo described a 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage that left 13 dead and dozens wounded as "an act of aggression by a man and not by Islam." Major Nidal Hasan faces the death penalty in the Fort Hood shootings if convicted. His court-martial is set for later this month.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Severe drought affecting midwest adds to fears of global food crisis and sends some commodity prices to record levels The US government slashed its forecast for drought-hit corn production by 17% on Friday, raising fears of a new global food crisis and sending some commodity prices to record levels. The US department of agriculture said corn output would only reach 10.8bn bushels for 2012-13, while yields were likely to be 123.4 bushels per acre – the lowest return for 17 years. Predicted soybean production has also been slashed from 3.05bn bushels four weeks ago to 2.7bn on Friday as farmers see crops devastated by the country's worst drought in more than half a century. The latest reduction in estimates propelled corn futures on the Chicago commodity exchange to $8.30 a bushel and accelerated a 60% increase in prices over the last two months. The US is the biggest producer of corn, soybeans and wheat in the world and a poor harvest means prices will rise and stockpiles will remain depleted. The key midwest growing area has been hit by the worst drought in 56 years. The department of agriculture earlier this week said that half of the nation's corn crop was rated poor to very poor while the latest US drought monitor map showed conditions continuing to worsen. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Wednesday that the first seven months of 2012 were the warmest on record for the nation; temperatures in July broke a record high that was set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Some fear that growing signs of shortages will prompt some countries to impose export bans or make panic purchases, as they did in 2008, during the last dramatic price spike. "Several urgent actions must be taken to address the current situation to prevent a potential global food price crisis," said Shenggen Fan, head of the International Food Policy Research Institute, an agricultural think tank funded by the World Bank. He said countries should reduce the amount of grain used for biofuels, reigniting the "food not fuel" debate about whether valuable land should be devoted to growing corn for use as ethanol on the forecourt at a time of rising food costs. José Graziano da Silva, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at the United Nations, said he wanted to see a halt in US government-backed production of ethanol, which is mixed with petrol to make "greener" fuel. "An immediate, temporary suspension of that [US government] mandate would give some respite to the market and allow more of the crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses," he said. The FAO's food price index, which measures monthly cost changes for a food basket of cereals, oilseeds and others, has hit 213 points, up six points on a month ago. Senior economists at the agency warned there was the potential for the situation to develop like the food crisis seen in 2007 and 2008, when there were violent protests against the price of food in countries such as Egypt and Haiti. There are further concerns about agricultural yields, with warnings from Japan of more bad weather emanating from a recurrence of the El Niño storm patterns. The rise in corn and soybean prices has also brought back a debate over the role of financial speculators in the commodity markets, with reports that Commerzbank and two of its peers are withdrawing from certain food-related investments. "Climbing prices are creating reputational risk for banks," Alexis Dawance, a former manager of the agricultural-focused Global Agricap Fund, told Reuters. "The big grain traders probably have much more impact in food and commodity trading, but this is part of the bigger picture, with all the fat cat-bashing that has been going on... if food prices continue to rise you will see this happening more and more." Responding to the surge in food prices, the British-based charity Oxfam warned that the developing world would be hit hardest. "This is not some gentle wake-up call – it's the same global alarm that's been screaming at us since 2008," said Hannah Stoddart, Oxfam's head of economic justice policy. "The combination of rising prices and forecast low reserves means the world is facing a double danger. As usual, it will be people in developing countries who will be hit the hardest, with millions who are currently 'just getting by' starting to go hungry as a result."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Like those currently in place, new sanctions are expected to target Assad's cabinet members and Iranians who support them The Obama administration is preparing new sanctions on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's regime and its allies. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton heads to Turkey for weekend talks with top Turkish officials and Syrian opposition activists, and senior officials travelling with her said fresh sanctions aimed at hastening the downfall of the Assad regime were imminent. The sanctions are expected to complement existing penalties, which have targeted Assad's inner circle, including his entire cabinet, along with Iranian individuals and entities that have been providing support to the regime. They come as Clinton prepares for Saturday's discussions in Istanbul that will focus on forming a "common operational picture" with the Turks and Syrians to guide a democratic transition in post-Assad Syria, the officials said. Clinton will also boost humanitarian relief to tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the country, they said. In Istanbul, Clinton is also expected to announce an additional $5.5m in US humanitarian aid. The new assistance will bring the total US aid to $82m since the crisis began 17 months ago. Coordinating support for the Syrian opposition will be a key agenda item, the officials said, adding that Clinton was keen to understand the Turkish position as conditions inside Syria deteriorate with rebel forces gaining strength and effectiveness. The United States and its western allies are stopping short of providing lethal assistance to the opposition, but it has become an open secret that several Arab countries are supplying weapons and ammunition. The officials said Clinton would take what she learns in Istanbul from the Turks and the Syrian activists she meets and begin to discuss points of agreement with European foreign ministers in the coming days in preparation for a new Friends of Syria meeting to be held in at an as-yet unscheduled date in late August or early September. In Syria, government forces were fighting rebels outside Damascus and in the northern city of Aleppo as civilians continued to flee into Turkey to escape the civil war. The government of Britain said Friday it was offering the rebels nearly $8m in assistance to pay for communications equipment and medical supplies. Meanwhile, in New York diplomats at the United Nations were looking for someone to replace Kofi Annan, a former UN chief, who has abandoned his effort to find a peace agreement in Syria and is leaving by the end of the month.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As police study shooter's motivation and dignitaries pay their respects, mourners begin 48-hour reading of Sikh holy book Thousands of mourners paid their final respects Friday to six worshippers gunned down by a white supremacist at a Sikh temple in the US almost a week ago for reasons that authorities say may never become clear. A day after the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin opened for the first time since Sunday's attack, the mourners, many of them Indian-American from across North America, milled through a nearby school gymnasium and by the six caskets. Sikh singers sang hymns in the Punjabi dialect. One paused to translate.
"Dear God, you have given me this body and this soul. This body is doing whatever you want me to do. You take this soul, this is your soul," he said.
Several dozen police officers stood by, watching the service. At least one covered his head in the Sikh tradition. "We are united today not only by a shared sense of loss but by a belief in the healing power of faith," the country's top lawyer, US attorney general Eric Holder, told the crowd. After the ceremony, a series of priests were to read the Sikh holy book from cover to cover at the temple in a rite honoring the dead called "Akhand Path." It takes 48 hours. "We want to pay homage to the spirits who are still in there," said Harpreet Singh, a nephew of one of the victims. One bullet hole in a doorway leading to the main prayer hall has been left unrepaired as a memorial to the shooting victims. Federal investigators might never know for certain why 40-year-old Wade Michael Page chose to attack strangers. The army veteran opened fire with a 9 mm pistol, killing five men and one woman and injuring two other men. The dead included Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the temple president, who was shot as he tried to fend off Page with a butter knife. Authorities say he ambushed the first police officer who responded, shooting him nine times. A second officer shot Page in the stomach, and Page killed himself with a shot to the head. The officer who was injured, Oak Creek police lieutenant Brian Murphy, was upgraded Thursday to satisfactory condition. The others killed in the attack were: • Ranjit Singh, 49, and his 41-year-old brother, Sita Singh, two priests whose families were back in India and whose lives in America revolved around their faith. • Suveg Singh Khattra, 84, a former farmer in India who was a constant presence at the temple. • Prakash Singh, 39, a priest who was remembered as fun-loving and who enjoyed telling jokes. • Paramjit Kaur, 41 who worked 66 hours a week to provide for her family but found time to pray every day for at least an hour. The FBI roped off the temple for four days while agents conducted their investigation. They handed the keys back to Sikh leaders Thursday morning. Workers spent repairing bullet damage, shampooing blood-stained carpets and repainting walls. Kuldeep Chahal, 35, a teacher from Toronto, arrived at the temple with several others after driving 12 hours. Chahal brought banners and cards that temple members in Canada had signed for families of the victims. "The reason we came down is because we definitely want to show the community how much we support them," Chahal said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | As police study shooter's motivation and dignitaries pay their respects, mourners begin 48-hour reading of Sikh holy book Mourners began paying their final respects Friday to six worshippers gunned down by a white supremacist at a Sikh temple in the US almost a week ago. A day after members were allowed back into the Sikh temple of Wisconsin for the first time since Sunday's attack, the country's top lawyer, US attorney general Eric Holder, and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker were scheduled to speak. Then a series of priests will read the Sikh holy book from cover to cover in a rite honoring the dead called "Akhand Path". It takes 48 hours. "We want to pay homage to the spirits who are still in there," said Harpreet Singh, a nephew of one of the victims. Hundreds of mourners, many of them Indian-American, milled through a school gymnasium and by the six caskets to the sound of chanting as images of the victims were projected on a large screen. The mourners greeted victims' family members with hugs. Federal investigators might never know for certain why 40-year-old Wade Michael Page chose to attack strangers. The army veteran opened fire with a 9mm pistol, killing five men and one woman and injuring two other men. The dead included Satwant Singh Kaleka, 65, the temple president, who was shot as he tried to fend off Page with a butter knife. Authorities say he ambushed the first police officer who responded, shooting him nine times. A second officer shot Page in the stomach, and Page killed himself with a shot to the head. The officer who was injured, Oak Creek police lieutenant Brian Murphy, was upgraded Thursday to satisfactory condition. The others killed were Ranjit Singh, 49, and his 41-year-old brother, Sita Singh, two priests whose families were back in India and whose lives in America revolved around their faith.
Suveg Singh Khattra, 84, a former farmer in India who was a constant presence at the temple. Prakash Singh, 39, a priest who was remembered as fun-loving and who enjoyed telling jokes. And Paramjit Kaur, 41 who worked 66 hours a week to provide for her family but found time to pray every day for at least an hour. The FBI roped off the temple for four days while agents conducted their investigation. They handed the keys back to Sikh leaders Thursday morning. Workers then spent the day cleaning up, repairing bullet damage, shampooing carpets and repainting walls to rid the temple of traces of the carnage. As children played outside and women cooked an impromptu meal in the temple's kitchen, Amardeep Kaleka, the temple president's son, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a more positive spirit existed after the temple was cleaned.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Club's bankers forced to slash launch price to $14 before much-anticipated IPO, with shares enjoying only modest gains Manchester United's first day on the New York Stock Exchange got off to a flat start as shares eked out a tiny gain in early trading, after their launch price was slashed. United's bankers had been looking to sell shares for between $16 and $20, but cut the launch price late on Thursday to $14 – shaving as much as $100m off the windfall expected for the team and its owners, the Glazer family. Shares crept up by 5% in early trading. While the club failed to raise the money it had been seeking, United has still officially become the most valuable sports club in the world, valued at about $2.3bn. Manchester United's co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer, and chief executive David Gill, applauded the start of trading from the Wall Street exchange's balcony, which was adorned with the club's emblem. New York traders wore the United's new home jersey on the trading floor – but their support did little to boost the stock price. Wall Street analysts had been dismissive of the sale before the initial public offering (IPO). One analyst called the club's share sale "merchandise" and predicted further trouble ahead. "Winning teams don't necessarily make winning investments," said Sam Hamadeh, the founder of analyst PrivCo. Hamadeh said small investors were "tired of being burned by big-brand names that turn out to be poor investments". "Look at Facebook, look at Groupon – both turned out to be a disaster for small investors. I think they should be applauded for avoiding this one," he said. United, one of the world's most famous soccer clubs, has found it difficult to find a stock exchange to call home. Once listed on the London Stock Exchange, the club was bought by the Glazer family in 2005 and saddled with huge debts. The lower flotation price comes after the Glazers, which also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, previously failed to garner enough support to sell shares on exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore. The sale is the largest since Facebook's ill-fated IPO in May, and raised $233.2m, to be split equally between the club and the Glazers.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Club's bankers forced to slash price to $14 before much-anticipated IPO, with shares failing to push on in trading Manchester United's first day on the New York Stock Exchange got off to a flat start as shares eked out a tiny gain in early trading before falling back to the slashed launch price. United's bankers had been looking to sell shares for between $16 and $20, but cut the launch price late on Thursday to $14 – shaving as much as $100m off the windfall expected for the team and its owners, the Glazer family. Shares crept up by 5¢ in early trading. But even this modest gain was wiped out by close, ending back at $14. The lackluster response from investors will come as a disappointment, especially given that the NYSE ended up, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 42.76 points in the day's trading, to 13,207.95. While the club failed to raise the money it had been seeking, United has still officially become the most valuable sports club in the world, valued at about $2.3bn. Manchester United's co-chairmen Avram and Joel Glazer, and chief executive David Gill, applauded the start of trading from the Wall Street exchange's balcony, which was adorned with the club's emblem. New York traders wore the United's new home jersey on the trading floor – but their support did little to boost the stock price. Wall Street analysts had been dismissive of the sale before the initial public offering (IPO). One analyst called the club's share sale "merchandise" and predicted further trouble ahead. "Winning teams don't necessarily make winning investments," said Sam Hamadeh, the founder of analyst PrivCo. Hamadeh said small investors were "tired of being burned by big-brand names that turn out to be poor investments". "Look at Facebook, look at Groupon – both turned out to be a disaster for small investors. I think they should be applauded for avoiding this one," he said. United, one of the world's most famous soccer clubs, has found it difficult to find a stock exchange to call home. Once listed on the London Stock Exchange, the club was bought by the Glazer family in 2005 and saddled with huge debts. The lower flotation price comes after the Glazers, which also owns the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, previously failed to garner enough support to sell shares on exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore. The sale is the largest since Facebook's ill-fated IPO in May, and raised $233.2m, to be split equally between the club and the Glazers.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Sensata plant in Freeport is profitable and competitive, but its majority owner, Bain Capital, has decided to ship jobs to China – and forced workers to train their overseas replacements The shock of losing a precious job in a town afflicted by high unemployment is always hard. A foundation for a stable family life and secure home instantly disappears, replaced with a future filled with fears over health insurance, missed mortgage payments and the potential for a slip below the breadline. But for Bonnie Borman – and 170 other men and women in Freeport, Illinois – there is a brutal twist to the torture. Borman, 52, and the other workers of a soon-to-be-shuttered car parts plant are personally training the Chinese workers who will replace them. It's a surreal experience, they say. For months they have watched their plant being dismantled and shipped to China, piece by piece, as they show teams of Chinese workers how to do the jobs they have dedicated their lives to. "It's not easy to get up in the morning, training them to do your job so that you can be made unemployed," said Borman, pictured, a mother of three who has worked for 23 years at the Sensata auto sensors plant. Borman knows her eventual fate in the stricken economy that surrounds Freeport. "I am going to be competing for minimum wage jobs with my own daughter," she said. Such scenes have been common in America as manufacturing has fled abroad in search of cheaper wages. But, in the midst of the 2012 presidential election, Freeport is different. For Sensata is majority-owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm once led by Mitt Romney, that has become a hugely controversial symbol of how the modern globalised American economy works. Indeed, Romney still owns millions of dollars of shares in the Bain funds that own Sensata. So as Sensata strips out costs by sacking American workers in favour of Chinese ones, the value of Romney's own investments could rise, putting money into the pockets of a Republican challenger who has placed job creation in America at the heart of his bid for the White House. The story of how Bain became involved in a car factory in a small town amid the rolling farmland of northern Illinois is emblematic of modern financial wheeling and dealing. Bain bought the firm that was to become Sensata in 2006, when it was the Texan arm of a Dutch company. It then floated it on the stock exchange in 2010, but kept a majority stake. Sensata came to own the Freeport plant at the beginning of 2011 as part of a wider purchase of a car parts business from Honeywell. Sensata spokesman Jacob Sayer said closing the Freeport plant to cut costs was a key element of the Honeywell deal. "If that had not been part of the strategy, then the deal would not have been so attractive," he said. Bain has declined to comment. But it has made a lot of money from owning Sensata, quadrupling its initial 2006 investment. In business circles that focus on the bottom line is all that matters. But, not surprisingly, it cuts less ice in Illinois. Workers insist their operation is profitable and makes top quality auto sensors. "I understand business needs to make a profit. But this product has always made a ton of money. It's just that they think it is not enough money. They are greedy," said Tom Gaulraupp, who has put in 33 years at the plant and is facing the prospect of becoming jobless at the age of 54. Mark Shreck, a 36-year-old father-of-three, confessed he was one of the few workers not surprised at the layoffs, as this is the second time his job has moved to China. "I feel this is what companies do nowadays," he said. The Freeport workers have appealed to Bain and Romney to save their plant. The local town council, several Illinois politicians and the state's Democratic governor have all rallied to their cause. "This company is competitive globally. They make a profit here. But Bain Capital decided to squeeze it a little further. That is not what capitalism is meant to be about," said Freeport mayor George Gaulrapp, 52, pictured. The anger towards Bain and Romney is palpable. Romney has become the target for the emotions of a community who built lives based on the idea of a steady manufacturing job: a concept out of place in the sort of fluid buy-and-sell world from which Bain prospers. "I didn't have a clue what Bain was before this happened," said Cheryl Randecker, 52. "Now when I hear Romney speak it makes me sick to my stomach." President Barack Obama's campaign has sought to make Bain's record of buying and selling companies – often involving job losses – a key part of its strategy of painting Romney as an out-of-touch super-rich financier. In turn, Romney, who left Bain in 1999, has defended his long career there, saying Bain ends up generating economic growth and spurring job creation. Far from profiting from layoffs, Romney has portrayed Bain as a model for the American future. That argument stuns Illinois governor Pat Quinn. "If he thinks that is the model for American economic growth then he is barking up the wrong tree," Quinn told The Guardian. Of course, no one at the Romney campaign wants to be linked with the Freeport plant closure. "Governor Romney is not familiar with this issue and has not been involved in the management of Bain since 1999," said campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. Nor does anyone at Sensata want to discuss the social costs of their decision. "We don't have any statement on the impact it has on Freeport," said Sayer. Bain did not return a request for comment. But the impact is enormous on individuals and city alike. Freeport, a city of 26,000, is struggling. Its downtown features empty store fronts and businesses barely getting by. The loss of 170 solid well-paying jobs will ripple out into this economy, further straining city resources, hurting businesses and eventually adding to Freeport's foreclosure problem. "There is a sense of fright. People don't know what this means for their families, their health insurance and whether they will keep their homes," said mayor Gaulrapp. It is already happening. Tom Gaulrapp – no relation to the mayor – worries he will be homeless. "It is a real possibility," he said. Randecker's daughter has already quit nursing college in Iowa to save money. Joanne Penniston, 35, is wondering if she will have to leave town. "I would have to uproot my whole family," she said. Dot Turner, who joined the firm when she was 18 and freshly married and then put in 43 years on the factory floor, has suddenly found long cherished retirement plans thrown into disarray. She is 62 and knows finding another job will be tough. "I should not be standing in an unemployment line at this stage of my life," she said. Turner too finds it hard to hear Romney talk of creating jobs when the post she has worked at for four decades – and which paid for three children to go to college – has just been sent overseas by a firm majority-controlled by Bain. "When Romney talks about creating jobs, it is just a big fairy tale," she said. There is little chance of a happy ending for Freeport. The workers collect petitions and hold demonstrations. But they know they are likely doomed. "We are not stupid. We know we are unlikely to save our jobs. But if we get the next company that tries it to think twice, then maybe we save our neighbour's job. Or our children's," said Tom Gaulrapp. Meanwhile, bit by bit, the machines inside the Freeport plant are being packed up, beginning their long journey to China. By the end of the year it will be over. "It is kind of like part of your family being shipped out - I worked with that stuff for years. Now there's nothing left but a discoloration on the floor where the equipment used to sit," Gaulrapp said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Lee Myung-bak visits Takeshima/Dokdo chain, centre of territorial rankles for decades, despite Tokyo protests Japan and South Korea were heading for a diplomatic showdown on Friday, after Lee Myung-bak became the first sitting South Korean president to visit a group of islands at the centre of a decades-old territorial dispute. Lee, who will step down as president later this year, ignored calls from Japanese leaders to cancel the trip to one of the islands that make up the Takeshima chain, known as Dokdo among Koreans. After arriving by helicopter from the nearby island of Ulleungdo, Lee said that South Korea "must continue to protect its territory". He left the island later in the afternoon and was due to speak to reporters on his return to Seoul. Lee's visit drew an angry response from Japan, which insists the islands, which lie roughly equidistant between the two countries in the Japan Sea – or the East Sea according to Koreans – are an integral part of its territory. In Tokyo, the government's chief spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, described Lee's visit as "extremely regrettable". Later, the government said it was ordering its ambassador in Seoul, Masatoshi Muto, to return to Tokyo to discuss the dispute. Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Gemba, said the visit would have a big impact on bilateral ties, but did not specify what, if any, countermeasures were being considered. Officials in Seoul said Lee's visit was not designed to provoke Japan, with which South Korea enjoys close tourism and economic ties, albeit against a backdrop of resentment over Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. An unnamed official said the trip was intended only to highlight the island's importance as a natural reserve. "There shouldn't be anything unusual in a national leader visiting a place that is our territory," the official told Reuters. A freshwater lagoon helps sustain about 80 species of plants, and dozens of birds and insects. The meeting of cold and warm water currents has led to a profusion of fish and other marine life. The islands sit amid rich fishing grounds and, according to some reports, near frozen natural gas deposits that could be worth billions of dollars. A coastguard garrison has been stationed on Takeshima since 1954, and their only known civilian residents are Kim Seong-do, an elderly fisherman, and his wife, Shin-yeol. Lee's visit comes soon after Japan renewed its claim over Takeshima in its annual defence paper, and days before South Korea marks the anniversary of its liberation from Japanese rule at the end of the second world war. Some interpreted the move as an attempt by Lee to appeal to nationalist sentiment in the south and improve the chances of his party's candidate, Park Geun-hye, in December's presidential election. South Korea's constitution bans sitting presidents from seeking a second term. Lee's ruling New Frontier party said Lee had demonstrated South Korea's "determination to protect our territory". But the main opposition Democratic United party said Lee should have used his final months in office to resolve longstanding disagreements over Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women before and during the war, and the use of school textbooks glorifying Japanese militarism. The visit has also raised the stakes at the Olympics, where Japan and South Korea are due to play for the bronze medal in the men's football tournament in Cardiff on Friday. The Takeshima islands, comprising two small islands and more than 90 rocks and reefs, were made part of Japan's Shimane prefecture in 1905. The countries' competing claims are mired in historical ambiguity, and complicated by several name changes and cartographical evidence from myriad Korean, Japanese and western sources stretching back centuries. In 2010, South Korea's media reported the discovery of a 1949 US military map that, according to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, "clearly states that Dokdo belongs to Korea".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Attack on special forces troops carried out by shooter wearing some form of uniform, says Nato An Afghan wearing a uniform killed three US soldiers in the southern province of Helmand, a spokeswoman for Nato-led forces in Afghanistan said on Friday. "All we know is that they were killed by an Afghan in a uniform of some sort," the spokeswoman told Reuters. They added that it was too early to say if the shootings were by a rogue security force member or a Taliban infiltrator. Afghan officials said the three men were all special forces members and were killed while attending a meeting in Sangin district late on Thursday. So-called green-on-blue shootings, in which Afghan police or soldiers turn their guns on their western mentors, have seriously eroded trust between the allies as Nato combat soldiers prepare to hand over to Afghan forces by 2014, after which most foreign forces will leave the country. According to Nato, there have been 24 such attacks on foreign troops since January in which 28 people have been killed. Last year, there were 21 attacks in which 35 people were killed. In a grim 24 hours for the Nato-led force, three US soldiers and an American aid worker were killed earlier on Thursday in the eastern province of Kunar, in an attack by a suicide bomber.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates on the latest news from Syria as the UK pledges extra funding to Syrian rebels
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