|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • American beats favourite James Magnussen to title
• 'The Missile' comes second by one one-hundredth of a second Nathan Adrian destroyed James Magnussen's ambition of adding the Olympic title to his world crown when the American out-touched the Australian by one one-hundredth of a second in the 100m freestyle at the Aquatic Centre on Wednesday. Magnussen, known as "The Missile", had been the firm favourite coming into London 2012 but doubts arose when the Australian sprint freestyle relay squad finished out of the medals. Wednesday's race was a proper head to head down the second length with Adrian taking the title in 47.52 seconds. Magnussen finished second in 47.53 with Canada's Brent Hayden taking the bronze medal in 47.80.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Many in Latino neighbourhood say they live in violence – and that the at-large city council is not designed to serve their needs The mayor of Anaheim, the city in southern California where public anger over a spate of police shootings has sparked protests among the Latino community, has visited the site of the latest fatality in a show of solidarity with residents. Tom Tait and city councilwoman Lorri Galloway heard concerns from residents on Tuesday night at the scene of the fatal shooting of Manuel Diaz, 25, who was shot two weeks ago during a police chase. The major did not comment afterwards but Galloway told reporters they had a "broken community" and hoped the healing could begin. Tait also acknowledged the lack of representation of Latinos within the city leadership and said it was time for a change in the way officials are elected. While much of the unrest has focused on relations between the Latino community and the police, activists say much of the tension stems from the lack of a voice on the city council. Despite the city having a 54% Latino population, there are no Latino representatives on the council. "I think the time has come actually for districting," Tait told KABC News. "Now there is good arguments for both, but just in good government sort of argument, it seems like districts make more sense. Most cities our size have districts." Community groups welcomed Tait's comments but said that the quickest way to fair elections would be to settle a lawsuit filed in June which demands that Anaheim change its system to elect by districts rather than at large. Eric Altman, executive director of Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (Occord), said the current crisis highlights a city council out of touch with its community. "It's great to see that there is a growing awareness that Anaheim needs to move to district based election" he told the Guardian. "We'll have to wait and see exactly what is being proposed. The fairest and quickest way to fair elections is to act now to settle the lawsuit." The lawsuit, filed in June by three Latino community leaders and the American Civil Liberties Union, claims the city is violating the state's voting rights act and demands that Anaheim change its system to elect by districts rather than at-large. Even if the city is divided into six districts, one plan reportedly being discussed by the council, it would still have less representation than all other Californian cities of similar size, including Oakland, Bakersfield and Riverside, according to Altman. "There's a lot of soul searching and hard analysis that has to happen about how to move forward in terms of police community relations but you can't do that effectively if three council officials and the mayor live in Anaheim Hills and the other lives in the colony" he said. Anaheim Hills is a wealthy part of the city, far from the troubled neighbourhoods where the shootings have occurred and where many Latinos say they live in fear of violence. Only three Latinos have ever served on the city council in its 142-year history – a by-product of the "at large" voting system which removes the obligation to hold local council seat elections district by district. In a statement, Marisol Ramirez, a member of Occord, said: "They can't fully understand the needs of neighborhoods like mine – that's why we need every neighborhood to be represented on the city council." Occord has also called on the authorities to have a "long hard look" at the need for reform, including community policing and a police commission. Two men, Manuel Diaz, 25, and Joel Acevedo, 21, were fatally shot by Anaheim police on the weekend of 21 July. Authorities said Diaz, who was unarmed, was avoiding arrest and that Acevedo had fired at officers during a foot chase. Three investigations are now under way into the shooting of Diaz, including one by the FBI and the attorney general. An internal investigation by Anaheim police is also underway. The city council will meet on 8 August, where leaders will consider a 6 November ballot measure to establish districts within the city. Protesters on Monday delivered a petition to the attorney general calling on him to investigate the violence police have allegedly used against people protesting the shootings. A spokesperson for Kamala Harris, the attorney general, told KABC she will wait for the Orange County District Attorney's Office to conclude its investigation before deciding if her office will look into the shootings. Tait has already met with the US attorney's office and the FBI and both have agreed to look into the officer-involved shootings. "There is no question that a timely and thorough investigation into the incidents in Anaheim is needed," Shum Preston of Harris's office said. The deaths of Diaz and Acevedo bring to five the number of people killed by police shootings in Anaheim this year. There have been eight shootings in the city this year involving the police, according to officials.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republican hopeful asks 'What exactly accounts for prosperity if not culture?' as polls show him behind in three swing states Mitt Romney returned from his contentious foreign tour to face bleak news in the opinion polls. But one of his first acts was to defend widely condemned comments he made in Jeruslam that appeared to suggest Israel was more economically successful than the Palestinian territories because it has forged a superior culture. A New York Times/Quinnipiac University poll on Wednesday shows Romney lagging in three important swing states – Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida – where voters regard Obama as more likely to care about their "needs and problems". Romney's attempts to play up his business experience have not sat well with many voters, who said he was too focused on making money at Bain Capital, and that did not provide the experience necessary to rebuild the US economy and create jobs. The Obama campaign has attacked Romney over his years at Bain, saying he profited by shipping American jobs overseas. Concern about the economy remains the single most important issue. The poll showed likely voters in the three states to be evenly divided on who will handle the economy best, which is not good news for Romney given that he is counting on the recent poor economic figures, including rising unemployment and the low growth rate, to bolster his campaign. Overall, Obama leads Romney by six percentage points in Florida and Ohio, and by 11 percentage points in Pennsylvania. Four years ago, Obama won all three states. Romney will probably have to take Ohio and Florida to win the presidency. "If today were 6 November, President Barack Obama would sweep the key swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania and – if history is any guide – into a second term in the Oval Office," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. The Romney campaign tried a new line of attack on Wednesday with a television advert criticising the financial rescue of the American car industry, widely regarded as one of Obama's successes. The ad features a car dealer in Ohio – where Obama was campaigning on Wednesday – claiming that the auto bailout killed his business because some dealerships were forced to close. "I received a letter from General Motors. They were suspending my credit line. We had 30-some employees that were out of work," Al Zarzour said in the advert. Romney has said the bailout was a misuse of government money and that the car industry should have been subjected to a "managed bankruptcy". But that may not prove a vote winner in Ohio, where the Obama campaign said that the auto bailout saved thousands of jobs in car dealerships. Frank Benenati, an Obama campaign spokesman, said: "Let's get this straight: the very person who argued for the US auto industry to go bankrupt – something that would have caused more than a million jobs lost and utter economic devastation in the midwest – is now trying to attack the president on how it was handled?" Romney tried to defuse the row around his comments in Israel during which he suggested that Israel's culture explains why it is more economically successful that the Palestinian territories. "During my recent trip to Israel, I had suggested that the choices a society makes about its culture play a role in creating prosperity, and that the significant disparity between Israeli and Palestinian living standards was powerfully influenced by it. In some quarters, that comment became the subject of controversy," Romney wrote in the National Review. "But what exactly accounts for prosperity if not culture?" Romney said that the culture of freedom in the US was the single most important factor in America's economic success. "Like the United States, the state of Israel has a culture that is based upon individual freedom and the rule of law. It is a democracy that has embraced liberty, both political and economic," he said. Romney's original comments were met with a torrent of derision, which noted that years of Israeli occupation, blockades and the colonisation of parts of the West Bank as well as military assaults have hit the Palestinian economy hard.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Restaurant becomes hub for the anti-same-sex marriage brigade as large crowds turn out in support of the chicken chain In an unusual act of fast-food activism, Americans opposed to same-sex marriage were encouraged to dine at the chain restaurant Chick-fil-A today. Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and Fox News contributor, created the event after the chicken sandwich chain CEO Dan Cathy expressed his opposition to the unions in mid-July during an interview with the Baptist Press. The company has a history of donating millions to causes that oppose same-sex marriage, and in the interview, Cathy said: We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family owned business, a family led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.
The Facebook group for the event lists more than 615,000 attendees and on social media, people are sharing photos of the packed restaurants.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Syrian president, who has sent written message to armed forces, likely to come under pressure to demonstrate leadership Bashar al-Assad has not been seen in public since the bomb that killed his powerful brother-in-law and three other senior security chiefs in Damascus on 18 July. The message he sent on Wednesday to the "heroes" of the Syrian armed forces was a written one, published in a military journal. Assad did not attend the funeral of Assef Shawkat, married to his sister Bushra, but he was seen on TV swearing in a replacement defence minister. Fears for his own security – at a time when armed rebels have been able to strike in the very heart of the capital – appear to be keeping him in his palace and safely out of sight. Rumours that Assad had fled to the coastal city of Latakia and that his British-born wife, Asma, had sought refuge in Russia were never substantiated. But there is bound to be pressure for the president to demonstrate leadership by appearing in person before too long.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Regime forces use artillery and aircraft to attack parts of Syria's second city as Assad praises army for facing 'terrorist gangs' Syria's government has used artillery and aircraft against targets in Aleppo as revenge killings by opposition forces underlined the brutality of the spreading conflict and the president, Bashar al-Assad, praised his army for facing what he called "criminal terrorist gangs". Helicopters were seen operating above the northern city as Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters claimed to have captured several of its key neighbourhoods. In Damascus, state security sources told the AFP news agency: "The army and the terrorist groups have both sent reinforcements for a decisive battle that should last several weeks." Fighting also erupted between rebels and government forces near two Christian areas of the capital for the first time since the uprising began 17 months ago. It has since claimed an estimated 20,000 lives. Assad's message – marking Syrian armed forces day – was clearly intended as a morale-booster to troops overstretched by the prolonged uprising, now widely defined as a civil war that encompasses large areas of the country. "The fate of our people and our nation, past, present and future, depends on this battle," the president said in his first statement since four of his senior security officials were assassinated in a bomb blast two weeks ago. "My trust in you is great, and the trust of our people in you that you are the defender of its just causes," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency. In a vivid illustration of the cruelty of the war, video footage from Aleppo showed the apparent killing of four Assad loyalists while the corpses of government militiamen in a nearby police station suggested rebels were using the same brutal tactics for which the Syrian leader's own forces have been condemned. A clip posted on YouTube shows four militiamen being led into a crowded yard before a prolonged burst of gunfire is unleashed as people chant: "Allahu Akbar." When the smoke clears a crumpled pile of bodies can be seen by a wall. In the video, which could not be independently confirmed, the men were identified as members of the state-run shabiha militia from the city's Berri family. Two of them were in their underwear as they were led down a flight of stairs and lined up in front of a wall. Gunmen firing with semi-automatic rifles continued shooting after their victims had fallen to the ground, their bodies piled one on top of another. Bashir al-Haji, spokesman for the FSA's Tawhid ("Unity") Brigade, told the Guardian in a phone interview that the shootings were in retaliation for an incident on Tuesday when 15 FSA people were killed by Berri shabiha when a truce was supposed to be in force in that part of Aleppo. "We were able to kill 20 of them and arrest another 50," he said. "We held a field trial for them. We have judges and lawyers who are in the opposition. They found that seven of the Berri clan were involved in killing and they decided to execute them. Others are being kept for trial after the collapse of the regime." In a separate development, the FSA denied a report that it had acquired shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles that could be used to shoot down government aircraft. NBC news reported that the weapons had been delivered via Turkey. The US government has said it is not supplying lethal weapons to Syrian rebels but Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been pressing to do so and have the cash to buy them on the international black market. "It's all a big 'if'," said Brigadier Ben Barry of London's International Institute for Strategic Studies. "If the FSA acquired a meaningful air defence capability that would reduce the effectiveness of regime attacks. But most regime attacks are by guns and artillery." The rebels have threatened to turn Aleppo into the "grave" of the Assad government. Thousands of residents have fled and those who remain face shortages of food and fuel and the risk of injury or death. The balance of forces is still hugely in favour of the government, but there are signs that the morale of the armed anti-Assad opposition is improving. FSA leaders are careful not to reveal their strategy, but Mustafa al-Sheikh, a former army general who now heads the FSA's supreme military council, told the Guardian from the Syria-Turkey border area: "The fighting is like hit-and-run. We are not aiming to get control of any city in Syria, but we want to exhaust the regime and speed up its collapse." Another defector, from Syrian special forces, warned that more needed to be done to reach out to the country's ruling Alawite community, many of whose members fear an existential threat if the Assad regime is overthrown. "They are fearful and traumatised and they will need protection," the defector said. The leader of Iraq's most influential Sunni tribe, Sheikh Ali Hatem Sleiman al-Duleimi, has meanwhile confirmed that members of the tribe are continuing to cross from Iraq's Anbar province into Syria. "They don't need to seek permission, economically, spiritually or financially," he said. "They are going as brothers, as humanitarians and as people lending military help." Duleimi said security in Anbar province, which borders Syria's eastern desert, was now worse than at any time since US troops battled Islamic fighters led by al-Qaida-aligned groups there from 2004 to 2007. Additional reporting by Lubna Naji and Mona Mahmood
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: Michael Jamieson has added to Britain's medal tally on day five. Follow the action from the Aquatics Centre with Sean Ingle
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Defence attorney Mark O'Mara had claimed judge Kenneth Lester's comments from the bench were 'disparaging' A Florida judge on Wednesday rejected a motion asking him to step down from the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, ruling the defence request was "legally insufficient". Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O'Mara, in a motion filed July 13 asking the judge to step down, accused Judge Kenneth Lester of bias, citing what he called "gratuitous" and "disparaging remarks" Lester made in a July 5 ruling raising Zimmerman's bond from $150,000 to $1m. The ruling followed a bond hearing held after prosecutors accused Zimmerman and his wife, Shellie, who has been charged with perjury, of lying to the court about their finances. In his order dismissing the motion for him to recuse himself, Lester wrote that, by law, he must assume O'Mara's allegations were true. "The court is not permitted to deny the allegations supporting the motion as untrue, reject them as unfounded, or comment upon them at all," Lester wrote in his order. He went on to rule that despite the factual basis of the allegations they were not sufficient to require that he recuse himself. "The court finds the motion to be legally insufficient," Lester wrote. In his July 5 order raising Zimmerman's bond, Lester rejected arguments by O'Mara that Zimmerman posed no risk to the community and his portrayal of the case against Zimmerman as weak. "Under any definition, the defendant has flouted the system," Lester wrote at the time. He said Zimmerman's "stories changed with each retelling". Lester also said O'Mara attempted to portray Zimmerman as a confused young man who "experienced a moment of weakness" and may have acted out of a sense of betrayal by the justice system. "This court finds the opposite. The defendant has tried to manipulate the system when he has been presented the opportunity to do so," Lester wrote. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old who is white and Hispanic, shot and killed Martin, 17, in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, where Martin was visiting his father. The black teen was unarmed and walking back from a store when Zimmerman called a 911 dispatcher and said the teen looked suspicious. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self defense after Martin attacked him and repeatedly slammed his head to the ground. Martin's killing drew national attention after police initially declined to arrest Zimmerman, citing Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law and his assertion that he used deadly force because he feared his life was in danger.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Lawyers for feminist punk band members attack conduct of trial over protest in Moscow cathedral Three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot have been deprived of sleep and food by the Russian authorities, according to their lawyers, during a trial that critics say is part of a campaign to discredit the vocfierous critics of the president, Vladimir Putin. One of the women needed medical attention in court on the third day of a trial over the "punk prayer" the Pussy Riot band performed against Putin on the altar of Moscow's main cathedral in February. Opponents say the trial is politically motivated and part of an attempt by Putin to silence the opposition, which has in the past eight months organised the biggest protests since he first rose to power in 2000. A day after the opposition leader Alexei Navalny was charged with theft, federal investigators also suggested a fellow protest organiser, Gennady Gudkov, who is a member of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, had been involved in illegal business activity. The defence lawyer Violetta Volkova stepped up criticism of the Pussy Riot trial by saying Maria Alyokhina, 24, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, had been woken up at 5am and kept in a tiny room for hours without breakfast before being taken to court. "The trial is being conducted in an outrageous way," she said after a separate court rejected a plea for a month's recess to give the defence more time to read the prosecution's 3,000-page case against the Pussy Riot members. "The court sessions are lasting 11 hours a day, and our clients are not being allowed to eat or sleep adequately." Volkova said hearings lasted late into the evening and the women got back to their cells long after midnight. Alyyokhina felt ill in court on Wednesday and received treatment. "It has been very difficult," said Stanislav Samutsevich, the father of one of the defendants. "She [Samutsevich] looks like she has just been on a long hunger strike. I think it is because they have been bringing them here several days in a row, and not feeding them from morning to night … They have driven them to exhaustion." The trio are charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and face up to seven years in prison. On the opening day of the trial on Monday, the women said they meant no offence and were motivated by anger over vocal support for Putin from the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, during the presidential election campaign. "This is a political case … and this is another sign that they will be sentenced to prison," another defence lawyer, Mark Feigin, said. The defence lawyers say the authorities want to swiftly wrap up the high-profile trial, which has touched off a debate over the close ties between church and state, while public attention is relatively low because of summer vacations. But the trial is depicted by the opposition as one of a series of signs that Putin, who won the election in March, is determined to suppress dissent now that he has taken office. The federal Investigative Committee said in a statement that after looking into allegations raised against Gudkov, it had found enough evidence to continue its investigation. It will send the results to prosecutors and the Duma, which has the power to revoke Gudkov's immunity from prosecution as a member of parliament. Gudkov says he has done nothing illegal. Navalny was charged on Tuesday over a sale of timber in 2009 in Russia's Kirov region, where he was advising the governor at the time. He denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are absurd. The United States said it was troubled by the charges against Navalny and Pussy Riot, as well investigations that have been launched into participants at a protest on 6 May at which violence broke out. "All of these developments raise serious concerns about the politically motivated prosecutions of the Russian opposition and pressure on those who express dissenting views," the US state department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said on Tuesday. The 6 May protest was staged a day before Putin began his new six-year term as president. Since then, parliament has passed a law increasing fines for protesters and tightened controls on foreign-funded campaign and lobby groups. Putin, who has repeatedly warned against rocking the boat in speeches since his election, signed a law on Monday toughening punishment for defamation and another one on Tuesday that opponents say could be used to censor the internet. He did not comment on the Pussy Riot trial or the US concerns during meetings with paratroopers on Wednesday. The Pussy Riot trial is seen by the opposition as part of the crackdown. Although many Russians did not approve of the protest, most do not want harsh punishment for the three women. In a nationwide survey conducted on 20-23 July and published on Tuesday, Levada found that 26% of Russians believed the defendants deserved prison sentences of more than six months. A local leader of the ruling United Russia party in Putin's hometown of St Petersburg has also taken the unusual step of openly calling for their immediate release in an open letter posted in his blog.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US secretary of stat contrasts US commitment to democracy and human rights with rival powers' focus on exploiting resources Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has launched an 11-day tour of Africa by contrasting America's commitment to democracy and human rights with rival powers' focus on exploiting resources. Although Clinton did not mention any country by name, her remarks will be widely interpreted as a swipe at China, which eclipsed the US as Africa's biggest trading partner three years ago. The secretary of state is accompanied by a US business delegation on a seven-nation tour that will include Africa's youngest country, South Sudan, and a private visit to its elder statesman, 94-year-old Nelson Mandela. During her first stop on Wednesday in Senegal, Clinton told a university audience that the US was committed to "a model of sustainable partnership that adds value, rather than extracts it" from Africa. Unlike other countries, she continued, "America will stand up for democracy and universal human rights even when it might be easier to look the other way and keep the resources flowing." Resource-hungry China is often criticised for turning a blind eye to dictatorships and internal repression in its partnerships with African states such as Angola, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. It built the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa as a gift and has just doubled its credit line to Africa to $20bn (£12bn). Emilio Viano, a professor at the American University, told Voice of America radio: "One of the major objectives of the visit is to compete with China and try to limit China's influence, business making and political power in Africa." He added: "The US wants to use this [visit] as a manoeuvre to limit the influence of China. This will not be done openly; it will be done, of course, diplomatically, without naming names, but certainly cautioning African leaders not to strike deals too easily with China." The Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Xian Xuejun, recently criticised "some western politicians and media [who] tend to make irresponsible remarks on China-Africa relations, attempting to mess up our co-operation." Senegal is a key US ally in francophone Africa. Clinton praised her host's democratic credentials following an election earlier this year which saw a smooth transition of power from president Abdoulaye Wade to Macky Sall. She was also expected to discuss security issues with Sall after a coup in neighbouring Mali opened the way for al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants to seize the country's northern region. This has added to US concerns about militant groups such as Somalia's al-Shabaab and Nigeria's Boko Haram. The US Africa Command, known as Africom, has been pouring resources into training forces throughout west Africa, while Clinton will look to strengthen security ties with Kenya and Uganda in the east. Jennifer Cooke, the head of the Africa programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Reuters: "The security threats are becoming much more visible and in some ways dangerous than they were before. "There are big global issues on the table, and the US does not have the kind of finances available to mount splashy new economic initiatives in Africa." Clinton's trip will take her to South Sudan on Friday, where she will be the most senior US official to visit since the country declared independence in July last year. Further stops include Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa, where Clinton will stop in Mandela's home village of Qunu on Monday for a private meeting with the country's first black president. She will conclude the trip on 10 August at the funeral of Ghana's late president John Atta Mills, whose sudden death last month led to an orderly succession that underlined the country's stability. Barack Obama visited Ghana in 2009 but there has been disappointment in some circles that, despite the president's Kenyan heritage, he has not come up with an eye-catching policy initiative in Africa. Human Rights Watch urged Clinton to tackle some African leaders over government secrecy and abuses by police and security forces. It highlighted South Africa's protection of state information bill as a potential threat to journalists and whistelblowers. Daniel Bekele, Human Rights Watch's Africa director, said: "While some of the countries on Secretary Clinton's agenda engage in serious human rights violations, others have made notable progress in promoting transparency and accountability. Human rights protection is essential to good governance and development." Throughout the tour, Clinton is expected to highlight US programmes on development, education and HIV/Aids, as well as US economic interests. Brooks Spector, a former US diplomat and now political commentator based in South Africa, said: "Clinton is interested in demonstrating some real support for increased trade with Africa – something important as the renewal date for the African Growth and Opportunity Act grows nearer. A key component of this, of course, is that a whole group of American business representatives are also coming at the same time for the kinds of meetings that would help put some heft behind these fine words. "Naturally, too, if this kind of business interest contributes to giving the Chinese a bit of competition in their efforts to take advantage of African resources and trade opportunities, well then, no one in Washington will be particularly unhappy either."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | IPCC scientists tell Senate committee drought, wildfires and hurricanes are becoming normal because of climate change Drought, wildfires, hurricanes and heatwaves are becoming normal in America because of climate change, Congress was told on Wednesday in the first hearing on climate science in more than two years. In a predictably contentious hearing, the Senate's environment and public works committee heard from a lead scientist for the UN's climate body, the IPCC, on the growing evidence linking extreme weather and climate change. "It is critical to understand that the link between climate change and the kinds of extremes that lead to disaster is clear," Christopher Field, a lead author of the IPCC report and director of global ecology at the Carnegie Institute for Science, said in testimony. "There is no doubt that climate has changed," he went on. "There is also no doubt that a changing climate changes the risks of extremes, including extremes that can lead to disaster." He later told the committee that those climate-related disasters would have profound effects on industry and agriculture. Field was the first IPCC scientist to appear before the committee since February 2009. It was a time when there was real optimism about prospects for action on climate change under the new Obama Administration. By Wednesday, however, it was universally acknowledged there was no prospect of moving climate change legislation through Congress. There was also little chance the scientists' presentations would persuade the most prominent Republican climate contrarian, Senator Jim Inhofe, who told the committee: "The global warming movement has completely collapsed." Senator Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, also noted she had deliberately avoid calling any administration officials or government scientists. The Republican's campaign against Obama's green agenda, with their attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency and his clean energy loans, would make their presence a political distraction, she indicated. But Boxer told reporters before the hearing she had faced growing pressure from the public to air the issue of climate change. The Republican-controlled House has turned down 15 requests from Democrats for a similar hearing. Field, in his testimony, warned that the devastating extremes of the last year could soon become routine. "The US experienced 14 billion-dollar disasters in 2011, a record that surpasses the previous maximum of 9," he said. "The 2011 disasters included a blizzard, tornadoes, floods, severe weather, a hurricane, a tropical storm, drought and heatwaves, and wildfires. In 2012, we have already experienced horrifying wildfires, a powerful windstorm that hit Washington DC, heat waves in much of the country, and a massive drought." He went on to make a point of warning Texans that the future of farming and ranching could be put in jeopardy because of climate change. The committee also heard from James McCarthy, a Harvard oceanographer and IPCC author, who warned that sea-level rise was occurring about three times faster than scientists believed even a decade ago. The hearing quickly veered off course from reviewing the latest climate science to the intractable politics surrounding climate change in America. In one of the liveliest exchanges, Bernie Sanders of Vermont continued his effort to take down Inhofe for his statements that climate change is a hoax and a conspiracy. Sanders asked the scientists on the panel for their opinions on some of Inhofe's more notorious assertions – that climate change is a hoax, that the planet is actually in a state of cooling, and that such environmental concerns were a conspiracy by the UN, Al Gore, and Hollywood. The scientists did not support Inhofe's claims.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tetra Pak heir given suspended sentence after pleading guilty to charge of preventing Eva Rausing's decent and lawful burial Hans Kristian Rausing, an heir to the Tetra Pak packaging fortune, admitted he hid the body of his "beloved" wife Eva for two months in a barricaded bedroom in the upstairs annex of their mansion because he was unable to "let her leave", Isleworth crown court has heard. Her resting place, the court heard, was a squalid room to which entry was banned for anyone but the couple, and which for the last four years had become their home as they retreated from the world in the grip of a drug addiction that had blighted their adult lives. When finally faced with the reality of her death, after the police arrested him for driving under the influence of drugs on 9 July, Rausing told a psychiatrist: "I know it sounds selfish but I just didn't want her to leave." Appearing in court on Wednesday, Rausing, 49, spoke only to answer to his name, and to reply "guilty", when asked how he pleaded to the charge that he prevented the decent and lawful burial of his wife of 19 years. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for two years, and ordered to undergo a two-year drug rehabilitation programme. His only detailed comments on why he had left his wife's body decomposing under a pile of clothes next to a bed in their ramshackle room came in a statement he made to police which was read to the court. "My condition has stabilised," he said. "I fully understand my beloved wife of 19 years has died and I am devastated … by her death. "I do not have a very coherent recollection of the events leading up to and since Eva's death save to assure you that I have never wished her or done her any harm. "I did not supply her with drugs. I have been traumatised since her death. "I did not feel able to confront the reality of her death … I tried to carry on as if her death had not happened. I batted away inquiries about her. I took some measures to reduce the smell. I believe in the period since she died I have suffered some form of breakdown." Sitting behind the glass-fronted dock, Rausing wore a pair of headphones and blinked slowly as the court heard Alex Cameron QC, representing him, describe how the addictions the couple had overcome for 11 years took hold again when they succumbed to the urge to have a glass of champagne on millennium eve. By 2008 Rausing had become an effective recluse and the couple lived together in the upstairs room on the second floor of their mansion in Chelsea, barring anyone else from entering. "They were deeply ashamed of their situation, and the thought of meeting people and explaining their situation was too much to bear," said Cameron. Rausing's only human contact was with his wife, on whom he was completely dependant, the barrister said. Until that point the couple – who met in their mid 20s in drug rehab, married in 1992 and had four children – had lived for some 11 years as a normal, happy family. But Rausing, in particular, had always been plagued by a reserve and insecurity. "Despite or because of the economic circumstances of his upbringing, the defendant had always had unusually strong social anxiety, and feelings of inferiority and a tendency to medicate his anxiety by drug taking and to deal with emotional conflict by denial," Cameron said. Rausing was present when his wife, 48, died of suspected heart failure coupled with drug taking on the morning of 7 May – a time of death established by her pacemaker, which was fitted some years before to treat heart problems. His wife had not long returned from California on 29 April, and had seen her financial adviser on 3 May, because she had been concerned about her husband's increasingly chaotic lifestyle. Faced with her death he was "initially numb and paralysed". "He has no recollection at all of the next 10 or 12 hours," said Cameron. "He didn't move the body. He described her as appearing quite restful. "He felt quite unable to face up to the fact that Eva had died and almost like a small child couldn't face up to telling anyone else, so took steps to delay the moment of facing up to the reality." But the truth began to unfold when Rausing was arrested on 9 July while driving erratically in Wandsworth, south London. In his car the police found large amounts of post addressed to his wife, and drug paraphernalia including a crack pipe in the footwell of the vehicle. Tests showed the presence of cocaine, morphine, temazepam and diazepam in his body. When asked where his wife was, Rausing welled up, and said she had gone to California two weeks earlier. During a search of his six-storey home in Cadogan Place later police noticed the staff were hesitant when they asked for access to the second-floor annex. James O'Connell, prosecuting, said: "Officers took the lift up to the second floor and as they did so they noticed a smell indicating to the officers that there may be a decomposing body there. "They noticed a room which had been sealed by locks and the use of gaffer tape. On entry it was discovered in a very untidy state. "There was a bed and on top of it a pile of clothes and other material. It was under this pile of clothes that a body in an advanced state of decomposition was found. "It was noted subsequently that some deodorising powder had been used on the clothing and items on top of the body," Sentencing Rausing on Wednesday, Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson said: "If ever there was an illustration of the utterly destructive effect of drug misuse on an individual and their family, it is to be found in the facts of this case. "Your relapse into the misuse of drugs together with your wife … is graphically illustrated by the difference between the rooms that visitors saw in your home and the utter squalor of the room you really lived in." Had he been no more than a rich drug user, he would have received an immediate jail term, but the judge said he took into account Rausing's mental state at the time and his continuing need for treatment. Rausing also admitted driving while under the influence of drugs, and received a two-month concurrent suspended jail sentence for the offence.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Federal open market committee to release statement this afternoon amid mixed signals about the fragile US recovery US stock markets rose on Wednesday morning after two down days as investors pinned their hopes on action from the Federal Reserve. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will release the latest statement from the Federal open market committee at 2.15pm amid signs mixed signals about the fragile US recovery. In testimony before Congress, Bernanke has consistently stated that the Fed is considering further action should the recovery appear to be stalling. As if on cue, a key poll showed economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in July for the second month in a row after 34 consecutive months of expansion. The Institute of Supply Management's purchasing managers index (PMI) – which measures the acquisition of goods and services – stood at 49.8% in July, barely moving from June's reading of 49.7%. The index must be above 50% to indicate growth. Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board in New York, said the Fed was in a fix. Republicans have already criticised the Fed's actions and are likely to pounce on any action from the Fed ahead of November's election. "This is going to get increasingly political as the election approaches. If they don't act now or in September, I don't expect any action until December, if at all," Goldstein said. Goldstein said the economy seemed to be "muddling along rather than falling off a cliff," and that he believed the Fed was unlikely to act unless evidence of a severe weakening in the US economy emerged. With economy emerging as the key battleground of the 2012 election, economic indicators have seldom been more closely watched. Last week the commerce department announced that US gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of an economy's health – stood at 1.5% in the second quarter, down from 2% in the prior three months, and 4.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011. The number was seized by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as evidence of president Barack Obama's failure to turn around the US economy. On Friday, the labour department will unveil the latest non-farm payroll figures, a monthly tally of the number of jobs the US is creating, and the most politically sensitive poll of the lot. Last month, the US created just 80,000 new jobs, but this month economists are expecting 100,000 – a break-even point for the jobs market, but well behind the 200,000-plus jobs the US was creating in the winter months. There were some good signs for Obama on Wednesday. Private businesses hired 163,000 people last month, according to the latest poll by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. The number was well above expectations. Economists' surveyed by Dow Jones has expected 108,000 new jobs. Chrysler, saved from collapse by the Obama administration, also announced a 13% rise in car sales for July. On Monday the car firm announced a second quarter profit as US car sales boomed. "I think the Fed is likely to err on the side of caution. We are muddling through, albeit slowly," said Goldstein.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Wiggins outstrips Tony Martin to seal fourth Olympic gold
• Chris Froome secures bronze medal for Great Britain
• In pictures: all Wiggins's Olympic medals
• Richard Williams: Wiggins rides into history books With the yellow jersey swapped for Stella McCartney's blue and red creation, the Bradley Wiggins inside remained the same, dominating the Olympic time trial as he had done both the long contre la montre stages at the Tour de France to continue his annus mirabilis. The 32-year-old is now Britain's most prolific Olympian, his gold medal taking his personal tally to seven, one ahead of Sir Steve Redgrave. Continuing his unbeaten run in full-distance time trials this season, Wiggins finished 42sec ahead of the world champion Tony Martin of Germany, with the Tour de France runner-up Chris Froome giving Great Britain a second medal by taking bronze. With four events covered, the home cyclists' tally stands at three medals in four events. In terms of momentum that can only bode well for the track events which start on Thursday. Fabian Cancellara, the defending champion, whose participation had been in doubt following a heavy crash in the road race which had left him with a heavily bruised shoulder, was far from his usual imperious self. So often Wiggins's nemesis in the past, the Swiss was out of the picture before half of the 44km had been covered. His deficit on Wiggins at the 18km mark was 31sec, which sounds minimal but represents a mountain in these circumstances. "Wiggo, spin to win", proclaimed the banner close to the start, along with the mod roundel which has become synonymous with the first British winner of the Tour de France, and the sideburned national hero's legs spun smoothly enough, his back barely moving in spite of the effort, in contrast to Froome's "busier" style and the American Taylor Phinney's imitation of a nodding dog. He lay only second at the first checkpoint but pulled ahead by the second, 18.4km into the race. The rest was like his Tour de France: a seamless road to victory, with the difference that here he was cheered on by a vast crowd of mainly British support. The men's course was based on the same loop through Cobham and Esher as the women, but to make up the greater distance, two additional circuits were added: one at the start, westwards towards Walton on Thames, turning at the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, and a second at the end north through Teddington and Strawberry Hill. The picture was the same as for the women's event earlier in the afternoon: massive crowds thronging town centres and verdant lanes alike. The crowds around the start and finish area, and across Hampton Court bridge, were gathered three and four deep on the barriers, union flags of all kinds waving in the breeze, cycling club jerseys proclaiming that they had travelled from all corners of the UK: Clitheroe, West Wales, south London. The passage of each rider, no matter their nationality, was greeted with a deafening drumming on the advertising hoardings. The time trial may look seamless given the metronomic progress of most of the participants, but plenty can go wrong. Luis-León Sánchez, a stage winner in the Tour de France, had his progress halted within metres of descending the start ramp when his chain snapped, and then followed that up with a puncture; the New Zealander Jack Bauer misjudged a bend and came close to crashing. In a discipline where medals can be decided by seconds, such incidents can be catastrophic. The initial running was made by Tony Martin of Germany, the reigning time trial world champion, who broke a bone in his wrist during the Tour de France, and pulled out early in Saturday's road race to save his strength for Wednesday. After just under 8km he led Wiggins and Cancellara by six seconds, with the American Taylor Phinney at 9sec and Froome a further 1sec behind. The battle for medals was clearly going to be tight. Ten kilometres later, the picture had become clearer: Wiggins led with 23min 14sec, 11sec ahead of Martin, the gold medal battle looking to be between the world champion and the Tour winner. Froome was 24sec down on Wiggins, while Cancellara's challenge was fading, his time being 23:45 to Phinney's 23:59. The final time check, in Esher high street, with 15km to run, reflected the Tour champion's dominance. Martin had slipped away again, 23sec back, Froome was now at 42sec, with Cancellara now at 1:20. Shortly after passing through the town, belting down the Portsmouth Road, Wiggins overtook Sánchez, who had started four and a half minutes ahead, and disappeared into the distance, a Ferrari to a horse and cart. That image said it all: Wiggins dominant in a final triumphant lap of honour at the end of the greatest summer of his life.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Binyamin Netanyahu tells visiting US defence secretary that sanctions and diplomacy have so far failed to end standoff Time is running out for the international community to halt Iran's nuclear programme by peaceful means, the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told US defence secretary Leon Panetta in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Sanctions, diplomacy and declarations of a willingness to take military action as a last resort had not yet convinced the Iranians to stop their programme, he said. "However forceful our statements, they have not convinced Iran that we are serious about stopping them. Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear programme." Netanyahu said earlier that although sanctions were hurting the Iranian economy, such measures had "yet to move its nuclear programme even a millimetre backwards". Panetta is the fourth senior US administration official to visit Israel in recent weeks as concern has mounted in Washington that Netanyahu is preparing the ground for a military strike in the coming months. In an attempt to reassure Israel – and counter the robust support for military action pledged by presumptive Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Jerusalem earlier this week – Panetta told the prime minister: "We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, period. We will not allow them to develop a nuclear weapon, and we will exert all options in the effort to ensure that that does not happen." The question of whether Israel will unilaterally strike against Iran's nuclear sites in the coming months has returned to the fore after a period of relatively dampened speculation. There have also been fresh reports of a split between the Israeli political and security establishments over the merits of early unilateral action, following open opposition to such a move from former security chiefs. In a series of television interviews as Panetta arrived in Israel from Egypt, Netanyahu said any decision would be taken by the country's political leadership. But, he added, "I have not taken a decision". Following reports that senior defence officials, including military chief of staff Benny Gantz and Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, were opposed to Israel acting alone, the prime minister said: "In every democracy the decision-maker is the political echelon and the implementer is the professional echelon. That is how it always was and that is how it always will be." He said Israel had the right to defend itself. "Things that affect our fate, our very existence, we don't entrust to others – not even to our best friends," he said. Gantz denied that he was behind the reports, saying: "None of these stories was released by me … I tell the political echelon what I have to say, and they listen." The Israeli military was prepared for a military strike, he said. "As we see it, 'all options are on the table' is not a slogan, it is a working plan and we are doing it." Earlier Panetta met his counterpart, Ehud Barak, and toured an Iron Dome battery near Ashkelon, close to the border with Gaza. Israel deploys the weapons against rockets and missiles fired from Gaza. Panetta denied reports that the purpose of his visit was to share with Israel an operational plan drawn up by the Pentagon to stop the Iranian nuclear programme by force in 18 months, by which time the administration believes it will be at a critical threshold.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Chicken joint becomes unlikely location for pro- and anti-gay marriage supporters, as ire builds over CEO's anti-gay stance The hub of the same-sex marriage debate in the US moves to an unlikely location this week – the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Courtesy of Mike Huckabee, Fox News contributor and former Republican presidential candidate, Wednesday is "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day". Friday, meanwhile, has been designated "National Same-Sex Kiss Day" by the gay rights group Glaad. The political face-off has come about because the CEO of the restaurant chain – which exhorts its customers to "eat mor chikin" – recently affirmed his opposition to same-sex unions, and the company has donated to anti-gay groups. Huckabee, naturally, supports Chick-fil-A's stand. To show his appreciation, he put out a plea for people to patronize their local Chick-fil-A joint or show support for the restaurant on social media. Huckabee requests no protests or demonstrations, just for people to spend money at the Chick-fil-A restaurant. On his site, he wrote: The goal is simple: let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles, and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we're considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant.
By encouraging customers to eat at Chick-fil-A – where a classic chicken sandwich is loaded with 440 calories, 1400 mg of sodium, 60 mg of cholesterol and 16 g of fat – the former Arkansas governor is disavowing his early 2000's health food kick, where he dropped 105 pounds after removing fast food from his diet and exercising. More than 580,000 people are attending Huckabee's Facebook event, which has received support from several conservative power players including Rick Santorum, Citizens United and the Rev Billy Graham. Days before Huckabee launched his appreciation event, Glaad announced its own chicken-sandwich related piece of activism, with National Same-Sex Kiss Day – conveniently located at Chick-Fil-A. As of Tuesday, Glaad's Facebook group had more than 8,500 supporters, but their support is spread across a variety of Facebook events and groups, with the greatest at 1,000 supporters. Unlike Huckabee's Christian crew, the same-sex marriage supporters are making a demand for action, with Glaad encouraging people to fill the stores and post photos and videos of their same-sex kiss. Glaad is also encouraging same-sex supporters who can't make it to a Chick-fil-A to donate the $6.20 cost of a combo meal to their organisation. Chick-fil-A – a private company – became a focal point in the same-sex marriage debate when Don Cathy, thecompany's CEO, affirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage. Chick-fil-A has donated millions to anti-gay groups, but comments from Cathy revealed his anti-same sex marriage stance. In an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said: "We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that." Cathy's comments ignited an acrimonious battle at stores and online, as activists from both sides argued about Chick-fil-A's political stance. Big-city mayors weighed in on the battle with many publicly denouncing the fast food joint. Boston mayor Thomas Menino wrote an angry letter urging Chick-fil-A to reconsider plans to open a location in the city and San Francisco mayor Edwin Lee tweeted:
Then, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin demonstrated her support for the restaurant by sharing a photo of her and husband Todd inside a Texas Chick-fil-A.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ted Cruz routs establishment candidate David Dewhurst in a Republican upset – follow all the US political developments live
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Member of multibillion-pound packaging dynasty given a 10-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty Hans Kristian Rausing, an heir to the Tetra Pak fortune, has been given a 10-month suspended custodial sentence after admitting he denied his wife, Eva, a decent and lawful burial. Isleworth crown court heard a story unfold of a loving couple's terrible drug addiction and social isolation, and Rausing's total denial after his wife's death on 7 May. Eva Rausing's body lay for two months under a pile of clothes behind the sealed door of a second floor annexe in the couple's home in Belgravia, London, until police searching the house detected the smell of decomposition and discovered the body. The judge, Richard McGregor-Johnson, recorder of the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, sentenced Rausing to a 10-month custodial sentence suspended for two years. He will be required to undergo a two year residential drug treatment programme. Rausing, wearing a blue suit, white shirt and red tie, sat silently in the dock, speaking only to answer to his name and say "guilty" to the charge. As the case against him was outlined he listened through earphones, blinking slowly, but otherwise impassive. The court heard that Rausing told a psychiatrist who assessed him after his wife's body was found: "I know it sounds selfish but I didn't want her to leave." Rausing, the court heard, was a total recluse who relied on his wife for all human contact. In a statement to police after he had been treated in hospital following the discovery on 9 July of his wife's heavily decomposed body, he said: "I have been in hospital since 10 July 2012. My condition has stabilised and I fully understand my beloved wife of 19 years has died and I am devastated … by her death. "I understand the police wish to interview me under caution but I do not have anything to say. "I do not have a coherent recollection of the events leading up to and since Eva's death save to assure you that I have never wished her or done her any harm. "I didn't supply her with drugs. I have been traumatised since her death. I didn't feel able to confront the reality of her death. With the benefit of hindsight I didn't act rationally. "I tried to carry on as if her death had not happened. I batted away inquiries about her. I took some measures to reduce the smell. "I believe in the period since she died I have suffered some form of breakdown." No final cause of death has been given for Mrs Rausing as toxicology tests are still being carried out. The court heard that Mr Rausing was arrested in Wandsworth on 9 July when people saw him driving erratically and alerted the police. When officers stopped his car they found within it a pile of post addressed to Eva Rausing, and drug paraphernalia. When officers asked where his wife was, Rausing replied she had been in America for the last two weeks. But the police decided to search his home in Chelsea, which was described as a "substantial property". James O'Connell, prosecuting, told the court: "They were permitted entry. The staff were hesitant about allowing them access to the second floor of the premises. It appears part of it is an annexe which for some years had only been accessed by Mr and Mrs Rausing. "Officers decided to go up. They took the lift up to the second floor. As they did so they noticed a smell indicating to the officers that there may be a decomposing body there. "They noticed a room which had been sealed. The annexe was sealed by locks and the use of gaffer tape. On entry it was discovered in a very untidy state. "There was a bed and on top of it a pile of clothes and other material. It was under this pile of clothes that a body in an advanced state of decomposition was found. It was noted subsequently that some deodorising powder had been used on the clothing and items on top of the body." Police inquiries revealed that Mrs Rausing had returned to the UK from California on 29 April. She had met her financial adviser because she was concerned about her husband, who was leading an increasingly chaotic life. "That was the last time she was seen by witnesses the prosecution spoke to," said O'Connell. The court heard that a postmortem had concluded that Mrs Rausing died on the morning of 7 May. Her pacemaker helped to establish her time of death. Alex Cameron QC, representing Mr Rausing, said: "In the words of Shakespeare, the defendant committed this offence while the balance of his mind was disturbed." He said: "Both the defendant and his wife had addictive problems in their youth, and as a doctor's report makes clear, despite or because of the economic circumstances of his upbringing, the defendant had always had unusually strong social anxiety, and feelings of inferiority and a tendency to medicate his anxiety by drug-taking. He said the couple had met in a drug rehabilitation centre in 1989 and married in 1992. "The relationship between the defendant and his wife was loving. With her taking very much the lead, they led a completely normal and happy life for 11 years after emerging from rehab," he said. "Those who work for them said that they adored each other and were extremely down to earth." But he said their total abstinence came to an end on New Year's Eve 1999 when Eva Rausing decided to have a glass of champagne. He husband joined her and their addictions began to take over once more. In 2007 something happened in their lives which turned Hans Rausing into a total recluse. "His only human contact was his wife," Cameron said. The couple lost the support of Narcotics and Alcoholics Anonymous and withdrew into a lonely life, he said. When he was arrested by the police, Rausing had taken drugs. Tests revealed the presence of cocaine, morphine, diazepam and temazepam in his body. Toxicology reports on Eva Rausing showed cocaine, opiates and amphetamines in her blood,. Cameron said: "[Rausing)] was initially numb and paralysed and he has no recollection at all of the next 10 or 12 hours. He didn't move the body. He told [a doctor] he felt quite unable to face up to the fact that she had died and couldn't face up to telling anyone else." In an assessment of Mr Rausing, Dr Mike McPhillips, a psychiatrist, said he was suffering from "acute adjustment disorder" in the aftermath of his wife's death. He felt overwhelmed and could not cope and he told the doctor: "I know it sounds selfish but I just didn't want her to leave." Mr Rausing also pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of drugs.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Four pairs disqualified in disgrace after farcical matches
• Indonesians and Koreans appeal against decision
• Players were booed on court and warned by referee Four pairs of women's doubles badminton players, including the Chinese top seeds, have been ejected from the Olympic tournament for trying to throw matches in an effort to secure a more favourable quarter-final draw. The Badminton World Federation, the sport's governing body, read a brief statement to a packed throng of media at the Wembley Arena venue for the sport, saying the players had been disqualified for breaching two parts of the players' code: "Not using one's best efforts to win a match and conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport." The decision comes after the BWF charged the players, one pair from China, two from South Korea and one from Indonesia, in the wake of farcical scenes in the final group stages of the tournament on Tuesday. Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli, the Chinese top seeds, and their South Korean rivals, Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, were booed by spectators as they repeatedly hit shots wide or served into the net. The referee, Thorsten Berg, warned the players over their conduct. The Korean pair won the match 21-14, 21-11, ensuring that Yu and Wang would avoid playing their No 2-seeded Chinese team-mates until the final. The longest rally in the first game was four strokes, and at one point the match referee came on to the court to warn the players. There were similar scenes in a later group match between Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, another South Korean pair, and the Indonesians Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii. Berg threatened the players with disqualification because of their behaviour. The Koreans eventually won by two sets to one. The statement, read by Thomas Lund, the chief executive of the BWF, said the South Korean and Indonesian teams had appealed against the disqualification. A decision on this was expected imminently, he said. BWF and Olympic officials need to sort the matter out quickly given that the women's doubles quarter finals are scheduled to begin at 5pm on Wednesday. If the disqualifications are upheld it is not known whether the four surviving pairs, one each from China, Taiwan, Japan and Denmark, will go straight into the semi-finals or if the four losing pairs from the other group – from Russia, Canada, Australia and South Africa – will be promoted. Gail Emms, the former British badminton star who won silver in the mixed doubles at the 2004 Games, called the lack of trying "disgraceful". She told BBC Radio 5 Live: "You cannot do this in an Olympic Games, this is something that is not acceptable and it just makes not only our sport but the organisers and the poor crowd who had to watch, who pay good money to watch two matches … It was just disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful." Yu, from the Chinese pairing, defended her performance after the match, saying she wanted to ease up ahead of the knockout phase. "Actually, these opponents really were strong. This is the first time we have played them, and tomorrow it's the knockout rounds. So we've already qualified, and we wanted to have more energy for the knockout rounds." It is the first time the Olympic badminton tournament has included a group stage, set up in an effort to give more matches and exposure to players from lesser badminton nations. In the past every round was knockout. A member of staff at the BWF, asking not to be named, said the issue of players trying to lose matches to improve their draw in the quarter finals had been raised at the pre-tournament meeting of national team managers, but dismissed. The Chinese badminton team, he added, were known to closely follow instructions from coaches on how to best massage a draw. "Lots of people knew this would happen," he said. "In a way, it's probably best for the sport. I imagine the IOC [International Olympic Committee] ordered tough action, as I can't imagine the BWF doing this alone." South Korea's head coach, Sung Han-kook, blamed the Chinese for Tuesday's events. "If they played right, the Chinese team, this wouldn't happen," he said. "So we did the same." Petya Nedelcheva, the Bulgarian women's singles 15th seed, who was playing on an adjacent court at the time of the first incident, was forthright in her general criticism of China. "China control everything," she said. "I don't know who controlled the match to lose, but if it is China again – they did it so many times last year, they didn't play against each other in 20 matches. They do what they want." The online magazine Badzine published figures in December last year showing that of the 99 all-Chinese matches played in major tournaments in 2011, 20 were walkovers or ended in a retirement.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: Will Bradley Wiggins become Britain's most decorated Olympian? Find out with Barry Glendenning
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US defence secretary's visit to Israel comes as Binyamin Netanyahu and military appear at odds over unilateral action Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, is meeting political leaders and security officials in Israel, as the country's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, insisted he would take a decision about whether or when to attack Iran's nuclear facilities amid reports that the Israeli military is opposed to such a move. In a series of television interviews as Panetta arrived in Tel Aviv from Egypt, Netanyahu said Israel had the right to defend itself. "Things that affect our fate, our very existence, we don't entrust to others – not even to our best friends," he said. Following media reports that senior defence officials, including military chief of staff Benny Gantz and Mossad chief Tamar Pardo, are opposed to early unilateral action, the prime minister said any decision would be taken by the country's political leadership. But he added: "I have not taken a decision." "In every democracy the decision-maker is the political echelon and the implementer is the professional echelon," he said. "That is how it always was and that is how it always will be." Referring to former prime minister Menachem Begin's decision in 1981 to bomb a nuclear reactor in Iraq against the advice of security officials, Netanyahu said: "It was obvious that the political echelon makes the decisions because it both sees the big picture and shoulders ultimate responsibility. The principle remains the same." Gantz denied he was behind the media reports, saying: "I tell the political echelon what I have to say, and they listen." The Israeli military was prepared for a military strike, he said. "As we see it, 'all options are on the table' is not a slogan, it is a working plan and we are doing it." After a period in which speculation over whether Israel would strike Iran's nuclear sites in the coming months quietened, the question has returned to the fore. There have been fresh reports of a split between the political and security establishments over the merits of early unilateral action, following open opposition to such a move from former security chiefs. There is also some speculation that Israel may choose to act ahead of the US elections in early November, especially if Barack Obama's chances of re-election are strengthened. Panetta's visit – he is the fourth senior US administration official to visit Israel in the past few weeks – follows that of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who pledged the US "will not look away" in the face of an existential threat to Israel from Iran. A senior Romney aide suggested that Romney would back unilateral action taken by Israel. Panetta denied that he would share with Israeli officials US contingency plans to attack Iran if sanctions and diplomacy failed to halt the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in an attempt to dissuade Israel from acting alone. "I think it's a wrong characterisation to say we are going to be discussing potential attack plans. What we are discussing are various contingencies and how we would respond," he said at a press conference in Cairo before leaving for Israel. The defence secretary is meeting his counterpart, Ehud Barak, as well as Netanyahu. He will tour an Iron Dome battery, which Israel deploys against rockets and missiles fired from the Gaza Strip. Panetta said on Monday that international sanctions against Iran were having "a serious impact in terms of the economy in Iran. And while the results of that may not be obvious at the moment, the fact is that [the Iranians] have expressed a willingness to negotiate and they continue to seem interested in trying to find a diplomatic solution." Netanyahu also conceded that sanctions were hurting the Iranian economy, but had "yet to move its nuclear programme even a millimetre backwards". At a meeting between Panetta and Barak early on Wednesday, the Israeli defence minister said: "The relationship between Israel and America in the security field is stronger and tighter than ever … Israel and the US have many shared interests, and we will certainly be busy; there is much to discuss."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Combat aircraft and artillery pound Aleppo late into the night in what has become crucial test for both sides of rebellion Syrian combat aircraft and artillery pounded Aleppo late into the night as the army battled for control of the key city, where rebel fighters said troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had been forced to retreat. During the day on Tuesday large clouds of black smoke rose into the sky after attack helicopters turned their machine guns on eastern districts for the first time in the latest fighting and a MiG warplane later strafed the same area. After nightfall, Reuters journalists in Aleppo heard loud explosions somewhere near the city. At least 10 volleys of shells lit up the night sky and drowned out the sound of the Islamic call to prayer. Carloads of rebel fighters shouting "God is great" sped off towards the fighting. The battle for Aleppo, Syria's second city, has become a crucial test for both sides in the 16-month-old rebellion. Neither Assad's forces nor the rag-tag rebels can afford to lose if they hope to prevail in the wider struggle for Syria. Syria's civil war has entered a far more violent phase since 18 July, when a bomb killed four top members of Assad's inner circle. Serious fighting has reached Aleppo over the past week. Rebels also launched an assault on the capital, Damascus, in July but were repulsed. Heavy gunfire echoed around the Salaheddine district in the south-west of Aleppo, scene of some of the worst clashes, with shells raining in for most of the day. Neither the Syrian army nor rebel fighters are in full control of the quarter, which the government said it had taken on Sunday. Rebel fighters, some in balaclavas and others with scarves around their faces, fired machine guns and assault rifles around street corners at invisible enemies. Wounded civilians and fighters were carried to makeshift dressing stations. Syrian state television said on Tuesday that troops were still pursuing remaining "terrorists" there – its usual way of describing rebel fighters. A rebel commander in Aleppo said his fighters' aim was to push towards the city centre district by district, a goal he believed they could achieve "within days, not weeks". The rebels say they now control an arc that covers eastern and south-western districts. "The regime has tried for three days to regain Salaheddine, but its attempts have failed and it has suffered heavy losses in human life, weapons and tanks, and it has been forced to withdraw," said Colonel Abdel-Jabbar al-Oqaidi, head of the Joint Military Council, one of several rebel groups in Aleppo. Oqaidi told Reuters that more than 3,000 rebel fighters were in Aleppo but would not give a precise number. According to an NBC News report that a western official did not dispute, the rebels have acquired nearly two dozen surface to air missiles, delivered to them through neighbouring Turkey. It is not clear what kind of systems they are or whether the rebels have the training to use them, but the missiles could tilt the fighting if the rebels are able to target the Syrian government's air operations. The fighting has proved costly for the 2.5 million residents of Aleppo, a commercial hub that was slow to join the anti-Assad revolt that has rocked Damascus and other cities. Rebels say they will turn Aleppo into the "grave" of the Assad government. Thousands of residents have fled and those who remain face shortages of food and fuel and the risk of injury or death. "We have hardly any power or water, our wives and kids have left us here to watch the house and have gone somewhere safer," said Jumaa, a 45-year-old construction worker, who complained it was nearly impossible to observe the fasting month of Ramadan. Makeshift clinics in rebel-held areas are struggling to deal with dozens of casualties after more than a week of fighting. Up to 18,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Aleppo and many frightened residents were seeking shelter in schools, mosques and public buildings, according to figures given by the UN refugee agency in Geneva. Rebel fighters, patrolling parts of Aleppo in pick-up trucks flying green, white and black "independence" flags, face a daunting task in taking on the well-equipped Syrian army, even if the loyalty of some of its troops is in doubt. Armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, they are up against a military that can deploy fighter jets, helicopter gunships, tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, artillery and mortars. The most powerful military force in the region, Nato member Turkey, has been moving armoured columns towards the border, although it has given no indication they will cross over. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once a friend of Assad, has become one of his most vocal opponents. Erdogan spoke by phone to President Barack Obama on Tuesday. "God willing, the brotherly Syrian people and the Middle East will soon be freed from this dictator with blood on his hands, and his regime, which was built on blood," Erdogan said late on Tuesday in his monthly television address. "Assad and his bloodstained comrades know well that they have reached the end, and that their fates will not be different from those of previous dictators." Western and Arab states have for months been urging the Syrian opposition to unite. On Tuesday, the opposition appeared further fractured when a group of exiled Syrian activists announced a new opposition alliance to form a transitional government – a challenge to the Syrian National Council, a long established group they said had failed. The head of the Free Syrian Army attacked the new political coalition, describing its leaders as opportunists who were seeking to divide the opposition and benefit from the rebels' gains. Assad, a member of the Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, is now opposed by the leaders of other Arab states, nearly all of which are led by Sunni Muslims, as well as by Turkey and the west. Within the region he retains the support of Shia-led Iran, and in the UN security council he has been protected by China and Russia. The UN general assembly said on Tuesday it would hold a meeting on the crisis in Syria this week and diplomats say it will probably vote on a Saudi-drafted resolution condemning the security council for failing to take action against Damascus.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Government orders investigation after more than 620 million people across 20 states were left without power India's top electricity official says power has been restored across the country after a major system collapse led to the worst blackout in history. An estimated 620 million people were without power after India's northern, eastern and north-eastern grids failed on Tuesday. Electricity workers struggled throughout the day to get power back to the 20 affected states. They restored most of the system in the hours after the crash. The energy minister, Veerappa Moily, told reporters on Wednesday that power had been fully restored. The government has ordered an investigation into what caused the crisis. Moily said he did not want to point fingers. Other officials said the crisis might have been caused by states drawing too much power from the grid but some analysts dismissed that explanation.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Washington signals shift in policy by cutting aid and rebuking Kagame administration for apparent support for rebels in DRC The US is retreating from years of solid public support for Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, in a major shift that suggests Washington's concern at continued bloodletting in the Democratic Republic of Congo now outweighs western guilt over the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The Rwandan government has hit back at the latest accusations of its support for rebels in the DRC, calling a detailed United Nations report that prompted the US, Britain and other countries to cut aid last week an orchestrated attempt to "cast Rwanda as the villain". But Washington appears unpersuaded after publicly endorsing the report which lays out evidence of Rwanda providing fighters and military equipment to rebels in the eastern DRC where 18 years of conflict have cost the lives of several million people. The US state department broke with its history of limiting criticism to private communications to say "we have deep concerns about Rwanda's support to the Congolese rebel group that goes by the name M23". Washington cut military aid and its war crimes chief warned that the Rwandan leadership could find itself under investigation by the international criminal court. Tom Malinowski, a former member of President Bill Clinton's national security staff and now Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said Washington acted in the face of what it regarded as undeniable evidence. "At no point in the last 18 years has the United States and Rwanda's other allies responded as strongly to evidence of wrongdoing by the Kagame government," he said. "At some point people get sick of being lied to. This administration, like past administrations, has gone out of its way to give the Rwanda government the benefit of the doubt and the ability to respond to critics when they've been charged with this kind of behaviour, and to explain themselves. "But when the evidence is this clear and the government continues to categorically deny what the US government knows to be true, it's very difficult to maintain patience. What we're seeing now is patience dissolving." The report also accuses Rwanda of protecting an accused war criminal, Bosco Ntaganda, who heads M23 and was indicted by the international criminal court six years ago. Malinowski, who was a state department official before working at the White House, said that for many years Kigali was given considerable leeway because western inaction at the beginning of the 1994 genocide had contributed to the slaughter of about 800,000 Tutsis. It also helped that Kagame is admired in Washington and London for leading the reconstruction of Rwanda and overseeing a thriving economy even if doubts crept in about his tight control of politics which left little space for real opposition. But Malinowski said there was a growing belief within the US administration that Rwanda was using one crime to cover up another. "We all went through that awful searing experience and the sense of guilt that President Clinton expressed many times about the international community's failure to help Rwanda in that moment of need. Unfortunately Kagame has played on that guilt over the years to mask additional crimes that frankly we should also feel a little bit guilty about not having confronted," he said. US policy is also guided by a 2006 law sponsored by then-senator Barack Obama which was intended to help Kinshasa protect its mineral resources from plunder and permit Washington to withhold aid from countries destabilising the DRC. There have been several reports over recent years detailing Rwandan military support for rebels in the DRC including one known as the "mapping exercise" which laid out the huge scale of killing and suffering in the late 1990s. Even as the UN prepared to publish the latest report there was resistance to its acceptance from some in the US administration, led by Washington's ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. She initially sought to block a crucial annex detailing evidence of Rwandan support for the DRC rebels from being attached to the main report and made public. But that move was undermined when the DRC government in Kinshasa protested and details were leaked. Kinshasa this week described Rwandan support for the rebels as an open secret. The US announced it was withdrawing $200,000 in military assistance to Rwanda. Britain, Rwanda's single largest bilateral donor which initially showed no willingness to act over the UN report, followed Washington's lead and said it would delay payment of the latest batch of £16m in aid. The Netherlands and Germany cut assistance too. Germany's development minister, Dirk Niebel, said he had warned Rwanda a month ago. "Rwanda did not use this time to rebut these serious allegations," he said. "Suspending budget aid is a clear sign to the Rwandan government." The US war crimes chief, Stephen Rapp, added to the pressure by warning that Rwanda's leaders could face investigation and prosecution by the international criminal court for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity if it could be shown they were arming Congolese rebels responsible for atrocities. Although Rwanda is not a signatory to the Rome statute creating the ICC, the DRC is and Rapp noted that the former Liberian president Charles Taylor was jailed for crimes committed in a neighbouring country. The Kagame administration has reacted furiously to the shift in US policy, apparently in part because it was unexpected. Rwanda's foreign minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, accused western governments of treating her country like a child. "This child-to-parent relationship has to end … there has to be a minimum respect," she said. "As long as countries wave cheque books over our heads, we can never be equal."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | One of the towering figures of American cultural and political life for more than six decades has died of complications from pneumonia The novelist, essayist, wit and contrarian Gore Vidal, one of the towering figures of American cultural and political life for more than six decades, has died of complications from pneumonia, aged 86. Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angels at about 6.45pm on Tuesday, his nephew Burr Steers said. Vidal had been living alone in the home and had been sick for "quite a while", Steers said. Winner of the National Book Award in 1993, Vidal's literary output was prodigious, with more than 20 novels, including the transsexual satire Myra Breckinridge, the black comedy Duluth, and a series of historical fiction charting the history of the United States. But his greatest work was, perhaps, his life itself – an American epic which sprawled beyond literature to encompass Hollywood, Broadway, Washington and the Bay of Naples, with incidental roles for almost every major American cultural and political figure of the 20th century. Vidal, who once said he had "met everyone, but knew no one", gave JFK the idea for the Peace Corps, was called in to rescue the script for Ben-Hur, ran unsuccessfully for both Congress and the Senate, and got into a fist-fight with Norman Mailer. Born in 1925 at the hospital of the US military academy where his father was a flying instructor, Vidal entered a family of privilege and power. His grandfather, Thomas Gore, was the democratic senator for Oklahoma; his father was director of air commerce under Franklin Roosevelt and a founder of TWA; his mother was a Broadway actor. His parents divorced in 1935, when Vidal was nine, and he enlisted in the US army when he was 17, serving for four months in the winter of 1945 on a supply ship off Alaska. He began writing his first novel while on night watch in port, taking its title – Williwaw – from the sudden winds of the Bering Sea which create devastating tidal waves and can swamp a ship. The novel was completed as Vidal waited for discharge in the Gulf of Mexico and published in the summer of 1946. The scandal which surrounded the publication of his third novel, The City and the Pillar, created a squall powerful enough to blow Vidal's promising literary career definitively off course. Despite the world-weary tone of a brutal review in the New York Times, which suggested that it added nothing new to the "groaning shelf" of homosexual literature, a story with an unashamedly gay protagonist unleashed a storm of protest in a country where sodomy was still illegal. Inspired by Vidal's great love, a school friend called Jimmy Trimble who died at the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, it became an instant bestseller, catapulting the author to national celebrity, and almost finishing him as a writer. According to Vidal, the New York Times waged a campaign throughout the 1950s to obliterate him as a novelist by refusing to review his work. "If you didn't get a daily review in the New York Times you didn't exist as a novelist," he said. "It meant that everybody else, Time, Newsweek and all the other papers, would follow suit. You were out." Vidal spent the 1950s working as a screenwriter for television and the movies, writing over 30 original scripts and notching up two Broadway hits: Visit to a Small Planet and The Best Man. Much of it was written at speed, rapidly constructing a scenario around a director a set and a star, but by the end of the decade he had built a powerful enough reputation that he was called in to work on the script for Ben-Hur. In 1960 he made the first of his attempts to follow his grandfather into politics, narrowly failing to take a staunchly Republican district for the Democratic party with the campaign slogan "You'll get more with Gore". His mother's earlier marriage to Hugh Auchincloss made him a cousin of Jackie Kennedy, giving Vidal a front-row seat at the court of Camelot, before banishment in 1963 after a row with Bobby Kennedy. After heading for Rome with his long-term partner, Howard Auster, he returned to fiction with a bestselling novel, Julian, based on the life of a late Roman emperor; a political novel, Washington DC, based on his own family; and Myra Breckinridge, a subversive satire that examined contradictions of gender and sexuality with enough comic brio to become a worldwide bestseller. His novels continued to oscillate between satire and historical fiction, with comedies such as his sequel to Myra Breckinridge, Myron, and the reality TV satire, Duluth, interspersed with a series of novels that gradually pieced together a sweeping political history of the US. His quick wit and acid tongue made him a sought-after commentator; he himself once quipped: "I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television." A stint on ABC opposite William Buckley, covering the 1968 Republican and Democratic conventions, degenerated into abuse, with Vidal calling Buckley a "crypto-Nazi", Buckley suggesting that the "queer … [should] go back to his pornography", further attacks in the magazine Esquire, and suits for libel on both sides. The same refusal to back down characterised his dispute with Norman Mailer, whose attitudes towards women had brought rebukes from Gloria Steinem and Kate Millett. Vidal entered the fray with an article suggesting there was "a logical progression" from Henry Miller to Mailer to Charles Manson. Mailer responded at a Manhattan dinner party in 1977 by throwing a glass of whiskey in Vidal's face, head-butting him and then throwing a punch. Vidal is said to have replied: "Lost for words again, Norman?" Near misses
A second tilt at office came in 1982, when Vidal came second in the race to become the Democratic party candidate for the senate in California. Later in life he came to the conclusion that he "probably didn't want" a political career, but remained proud of his political near misses, suggesting that he "might have had a life in politics if it wasn't for the faggot thing". Vidal always rejected attempts to categorise people by sexual orientation, arguing that: "There are no homosexual people, only homosexual acts." While he claimed to have slept with thousands of men and perhaps women – when asked whether his first sexual encounter had been homosexual or heterosexual he replied he had been "too polite to ask" – Vidal always maintained that his 53-year-long relationship with Howard Auster was sexless. His collection of essays, United States, won the National Book Award in 1993, the same year that Vidal's friend Bill Clinton became president. He was unable to attend the ceremony, sending apologies from Italy and suggesting that as the panels had presumably already "picked the wrong novelist and the wrong poet", he was "not so vain as to think you've got it right this time, either!" – a rare outburst of humility from the writer who declared: "In America, the race goes to the loud, the solemn, the hustler. If you think you're a great writer, you must say that you are." He regarded the election of George Bush to the White House almost as a personal affront, repeatedly asserting that Bush had "stolen" the election from his distant cousin Al Gore, claiming that the "Bush junta" used the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for pre-existing plans to invade Afghanistan, and accusing the regime of "high crimes against the constitution of the United States". Increasing frailty forced him to sell the clifftop villa in Ravello where he had lived for 30 years in 2004, and Vidal returned to Hollywood, where he continued working on an eighth volume of his Narratives of Empire sequence and a play involving General MacArthur and President Truman. Asked by Robert Chalmers in 2008 if he had any regrets, he claimed to have nothing that he deeply regretted in life, but rejected the suggestion that this made him lucky. "Maybe," he suggested, "I just played the game harder."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Apple lawyer tells California jury that Samsung chose to imitate iPhone 'because it was easier to copy than innovate' Samsung deliberately chose to duplicate Apple's iPhone because "it was easier to copy than to innovate," a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant told a jury Tuesday. The claim came in Apple's opening statements in a California trial that pits Apple against Samsung in a high-stakes battle for the future of the smartphone market. Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said the company had taken a big risk with the iPhone, entering a market dominated by giant mobile phone manufacturers. Apple had created a phone that "the world had never seen before," he said. McElhinny presented slides that featured old Samsung phones from 2006 and compared it to the Korean company's newer smartphones from 2010. McElhinny showed jurors an internal Samsung document that said the company was facing a "crisis of design" following the launch of the iPhone. In another document, a Samsung executive described the iPhone as "easy to copy". Apple is suing the South Korean electronics giant for $2.5bn, asserting in a suit filed last year that Samsung made "a deliberate decision to copy" the iPhone and iPad, infringing technology patents. Samsung is now the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. Samsung's lawyer Charlie Verhoeven told jurors: "We're not standing here telling you ladies and gentleman of the jury that the iPhone wasn't commercially successful. It was an inspiring product to everyone, including the competition." But he said being inspired by a product and seeking to make better products "is competition." "It's not copying," he said. Verhoeven said Samsung had supplied key components for Apple's devices and that it, too, was an innovator. "Evidence is going to show that Apple didn't invent the rectangular shaped form factor. Apple didn't invent having a touch screen," Verhoeven said. After jury selection Monday the complex, four week trial began with an 18-minute video introduction to patent law. Judge Lucy Koh explained the difference between a design patent and an utility patent – a design patents covers how something looks, whereas a utility patent covers how it works. Apple wants to make permanent a preliminary ban on the sale of Samsung tablets in the US sales and extend that ban to Samsung's smartphones. Samsung has accused Apple of using patents to "stifle legitimate competition and limit consumer choice to maintain its historically exorbitant profits." It is also counter-suing Apple, claiming Apple infringed its own patents. Samsung is demanding royalties, too. Intellectual property attorney Manotti Jenkins of Valorem Law Group said: "A patent case of this magnitude has the possibility of impacting phone technology for years to come." Jenkins said he expected more litigation of this type as companies continue to use the courts to protect and expand market share. In the second quarter of 2012, Samsung accounted for 32.6% of global smartphone shipments, up from 29% in the quarter ending in March, according to the research firm IDC. Apple's share fell to 16.9% from 23% over the same period.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Lawyers for Rupert Murdoch's company have protested against criminal charges amid fears over broadcasting contracts
Directors within Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could face corporate charges and prosecution for neglect of their duties, in plans that are being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service. Company lawyers, fearing a dramatic escalation of the hacking scandal by criminalising the boards on which Murdoch family members sit, are understood to have protested to the authorities. A criminal prosecution could have a strong adverse impact on the deliberations by Ofcom as to whether News Corp representatives are "fit and proper" to hold UK broadcasting licences. Asked about representations that have been made to the police or the CPS about the unfairness of possible corporate charges, a News International spokesman said yesterday that Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is leading the police inquiries into phone hacking, conceded the company culture had now changed: "She agreed that the current senior management and corporate approach at News International has been to assist and come clean." The company's protestations that it had turned over a new leaf appeared to receive some support from Lord Justice Leveson at his inquiry last week, when he brought up its past alleged obstruction of the police. Leveson said at the inquiry: "I received evidence of the response which the police received when they visited News International in 2006. "Would it be right for me to conclude at this stage that whatever might have happened in the past at News International titles, the senior management and corporate approach now has been to assist and come clean, from which I might be able to draw the inference that there is a change in culture, practice and approach?" Akers responded: "Yes, sir. I don't disagree with any of that." One problem for News International, however, is the wording of section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the hacking legislation under which eight senior News of the World journalists and executives have already been charged. It provides for the corporate prosecution of a company which commits such an offence, and also of any director whose neglect or connivance led to the crime. The most senior executive so far charged with offences, and the only News International board member, is Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive, who denies separate allegations of an attempted cover-up of the hacking scandal, as well as denying the charges of involvement in hacking. She only joined the board in 2009 and resigned last year. Rupert Murdoch's son James joined the News International board in April 2008, and resigned last year. His father also recently resigned all his UK newspaper board positions. The only other senior Murdoch executive on the NI board throughout the period of the original hacking scandal was its previous chief executive, Les Hinton, who left the UK boards in 2007. He said later: "I was ignorant of what apparently happened." Hinton rejected heavy criticisms of him by a Commons committee investigating the phone hacking, which accused him of "selective amnesia" in his dealings with them. The report, published earlier this year, claimed he misled parliament and was "complicit" in a cover-up of the true extent of the hacking. The culture, media and sport committee also accused James Murdoch of willful blindness in failing to investigate the extent of phone hacking. Opposition MPs on the committee branded Rupert Murdoch as unfit to be in charge of a large media firm, although Tory members refused to support this. The CPS is not making any public statements. But the disclosure that it was advising the police on possible corporate criminal charges was made by Akers during her Leveson testimony, when she said that advice was being obtained "in respect of both individual and corporate offences". Despite subsequent speculation that this was a reference to possible action against the company by the US justice department, it is understood that the CPS is only looking at potential UK offences. News International said: "We are aware of the reference made by DAC Sue Akers in her evidence to the Leveson inquiry."
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