|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Paralympians from around the world pay tribute to charged atmosphere and packed stands in London Paralympians from around the world lined up to pay tribute to London's charged atmosphere and packed stands, as Britain won another string of medals but had things far from all their own way on a day of high drama on and off the field of play. Hannah Cockcroft, the 20-year-old Twitter-addicted wheelchair sprinter from Halifax who is tipped to become one of the stars of the Games, led the way with a victory in the T34 100m to a reception that rivalled those afforded Britain's Olympic champions. Beaming as she crossed the line, she said the crowd "erupted" as she won by 10m in a Paralympic record time of 18.06 seconds. "I've been waiting for the last four years for that. I was deciding whether to cry or laugh. It's a bit surreal when you've been dreaming about it for so long and then it happens in 18 seconds," she said. David Weir, the British wheelchair racer who is targeting four medals, also received a huge cheer as he qualified in his 5,000m heat. London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said that the delirious response of British fans, and healthy viewing figures for Channel 4's coverage, had come as no surprise and argued the atmosphere in some of the venues was better during the Paralympics than its sister event a month earlier. "If I'm being honest, there was probably a better atmosphere in the Aquatics Centre than there was a couple of weeks ago, in large part because there were some very good and solid hometown performances," Coe said. "I was in the velodrome and it was a wall of noise. It's a very powerful statement. I'm not remotely surprised that we've seen this extraordinary interest and excitement." But there was embarrassment for organisers when they were forced to "sincerely apologise" after medals in the women's F35/36 discus had to be reassigned and a new ceremony arranged following "the incorrect use of results data". Mariia Pomazan of Ukraine and Wu Qing of China swapped places, while the Chinese Bao Jiongyu lost her bronze medal altogether to Australian Katherine Proudfoot. In a morning session that defied convention, the Olympic Stadium was packed with 65,000 spectators to see the world record holder Cockcroft break the Paralympic record in her heat. Cockcroft, who writes a diary column for the Guardian, announced her arrival on the world scene by winning gold in both the 100m and 200m at last year's world championships in New Zealand. She broke the record again in the final and will now target the sprint double. Sophia Warner, the cerebral palsy sufferer who quit her high powered marketing job to concentrate on the Games, narrowly missed out on a medal in the T35 200m when she finished fourth. After the Games, she will become UK Athletics commercial director. Dame Tanni-Grey Thompson, still Britain's best known Paralympian, has recalled how at previous Games the number of spectators were outnumbered by friends and family. Even in Beijing four years ago, when the stands were full, spectators often did not know what they were watching – most famously applauding a huge crash in a wheelchair race as though it were part of the entertainment. But as the action got underway in the main stadium for the first time and ParalympicsGB continued to pick up medals in the velodrome and the pool, every venue was packed with noisy fans. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) said it had now sold 2.42m tickets with just over 70,000 still to go on sale during the Games as venue configurations are finalised. Aled Davies, the first British Paralympian to win a medal when he picked up bronze in the F42/44 shot put, was one of many to pay tribute to an atmosphere that had Olympians in similar raptures three weeks ago. "I heard a lot of the Olympians talking about it and you cannot imagine, describe how electric it is in here. I actually had to slow down my technique because the crowd was carrying me so much," he said. "That atmosphere, my heart was going up and the adrenaline was up to the roof. It's really a big event." In the pool, Britain's athletes won six more medals – although there were no golds to add to that gained by Jonathan Fox on Thursday. Younger sibling Oliver Hynd beat his brother Sam to silver to huge cheers in the S8 400m freestyle, though both were beaten by Chinese swimmer Wang Yinan. The brothers have neuromuscular myopathy, a condition that severely weakens their legs, and went into the race as favourites. There was also a silver medal for James Crisp in the S9 100m backstroke, 12 years after he won the event in Sydney as an 18-year-old, and a silver for Stephanie Millward in the equivalent women's event. In the velodrome, Mark Colbourne, a former Welsh international volleyball player who only took up cycling two years ago after a paragliding accident in 2009 broke his back, has said he had to consciously try to block out the noise. He tried to prepare for the atmosphere in the velodrome by recording TV coverage of his Olympic counterparts and blasting it through headphones as he trained. But Colbourne, who won gold in the C1 3km individual pursuit in a world record time to add to the silver he won on the opening day of the Games, said that the roar still shook his helmet. "It's a dream come true for me. I only had 18 months [to prepare]. We had to raise the bar, increase the training and push me to my limits. Today was the result of all of that," said Colbourne. The day began with second place for Aileen McGlynn and Helen Scott in the women's blind and visually impaired tandem 3km time-trial, while Shaun McKeown also won silver and Darren Kenny bronze in the C3 3km individual pursuit. Jon-Allan Butterworth, a former RAF weapons technician who lost his left arm in Basra in 2007, won a silver medal in the C4/5 1km time trial. But, in a further sign that Paralympic sport is now as intensely competitive as any other, Butterworth faced questions afterwards about his comments on the eve of the Games in which he criticised his track and field teammates and said too many of his colleagues were participating "for a laugh". "Obviously there's some factual meat to the story but the way it comes across is very different. It's only friendly banter between sportspeople wanting to do our best. If you've got a forces background banter is a way of life," said Butterworth, who has since apologised. There was also drama off the field of play in the same race as Jody Cundy, favourite to win his sixth gold medal in his fifth Games, was brutally denied the opportunity amid controversy in the velodrome. A furious Cundy launched into an expletive-laden rant at officials who refused his request for a restart. He and his coach believed the starting gate had failed but judges blamed rider error, prompting Cundy to hurl a water bottle to the floor and march towards the officials. A still fuming Cundy had to be escorted from the velodrome by British officials as the crowd booed the judges. He later returned to make a contrite apology to the crowd as laid bare the depths of his disappointment.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hundreds attend behind-closed-doors ceremony in Ohio to pay their respects to giant of US space travel, who died last week Despite Neil Armstrong's legendary humility, there were moments of pomp and circumstance at his memorial service on Friday. A corps of bagpipers played When the Saints Go Marching In, a navy ceremonial guard was presented, and at the end four fighter planes flew overhead – one of them vertically, in a nod to the astronaut's skills as a rocket man. But Armstrong, who spent the past 43 years trying to shrug off the unwanted attentions that came with his celebrity status as the first person to set foot on the moon, would have approved of the ceremony being held firmly behind closed doors. "This service is closed to the media – with no exceptions", a note put out by the family pointedly directed. Only one camera, that of Nasa photographer Bill Ingalls, was permitted to record the event. Hundreds of people turned up at a private golf club in the suburbs of Cincinnati to pay their respects to a man who did so much but bragged about it so little. Armstrong died last Saturday, aged 82. Among the 10 or so space pioneers who attended were the two men who crewed alongside Armstrong in the Apollo 11 mission – Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, who followed Armstrong onto the moon's surface on 20 July 1969, and Michael Collins, who remained commanding the module that orbited 60 miles over their heads. Also there were John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, and Bill Anders, the module pilot for Apollo 8, which paved the way for the moon landing by carrying out the first manned lunar orbit in December 1968. "You'll never get a hero, in my view, like Neil Armstrong," he told Associated Press after the service. "It's going to be hard to top." Charles Bolden, NASA's administrator, said Armstrong was an "incredibly humble" man with a courageous thirst for exploration. "He was the embodiment of everything this nation is all about," he said. In recognition of the public desire to commemorate such a legendary figure, the Armstrong family has arranged following the private service for a national memorial event in Washington on 12 September. They also invited people wanting to mark his death to think of him and wink up at the moon. As if the moon had been listening, it duly performed its own service in honour of the first person to stand upon its surface by rising in full form on Friday night for the second time in the calendar month. Such "blue moons" happen on average but every three years – hence the expression that flows from it, itself a fitting tribute to a man of such rare qualities. Speeches at the Cincinnati service were given by Armstrong's two sons, Eric and Mark; one of his 10 grandchildren, Piper Van Wagenen; and by Rob Portman, a senator for Ohio who delivered the eulogy. "He touched the lives of so many," Portman said after the service which he described as a combination of emotion and humour. The choice of Portman as eulogist was something of a paradox. Despite his own track record working across party political lines, Portman recently came close to being chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate in a presidential campaign characterised by extreme partisanship and an emphasis on small government. During his career, however, Portman was known for efforts to foster bipartisan support for the causes he championed. By contrast, Armstrong's historic act in walking on the moon was the ultimate manifestation of post-war American consensus and faith in big government. It was initiated under John F Kennedy's Democratic administration and seen through by the Republican Richard Nixon. Earlier in the day, Jim Lovell who commanded the stricken moon mission Apollo 13 and Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the moon with Apollo 17 in 1972, launched a children's health fund in Armstrong's honour at Cincinnati Children's hospital medical center. At the ceremony, Lovell called Armstrong "a great American" who just "wanted to be a team player." Cernan added: "There's nobody that I know of that could have accepted the challenge and responsibility that came with [the first moon landing] with more dignity than Neil Armstrong." The two men recalled how they had visited Armstrong at his home in Indian Hill just two months before his death this week from complications from a heart-bypass operation. Armstrong cooked breakfast for them both, though they noted that he overcooked the eggs.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Company share price now worth less than half the $38 IPO price set in May as insiders may be preparing to sell more stock Facebook's shares hit new lows Friday as analysts worried the social network's insiders may be preparing to sell yet more stock. The company's share price reached a low of $18.03 on Friday before ending at $18.08, down 5.28% for the day. Facebook's shares are now worth less than half the $38 price they were sold for in May. The latest fall came as two analysts from firms associated with May's troubled initial public offering (IPO) cut their price targets on the shares. Bank of Montreal (BMO) analyst Daniel Salmon cut his target for Facebook's shares from $25 to $15 – the lowest rating of his peers – and warned the company may struggle to meet a 4% revenue-growth target in the third quarter. Bank of America analyst Justin Post cut his target on the shares to $23, arguing the company had good long-term prospects while citing concerns about the looming expiration of "lockup" agreements that prevented some early investors and company insiders from selling shares. Facebook's shares fell 6.3% after the expiration of its first lockup agreement in mid-August freed up some 271m shares for sale. Legendary Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, the first big outside investor in Facebook and a company director, used that opportunity to sell more than 20m shares, most at $20 a share. Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz has shed 1.35m shares at prices ranging from $18.79 to $20.08, adding $26.2m to his fortune. Post was more positive about the company's long-term prospects from new advertising formats but wrote "recent selling activity on the August lockup suggests to us the risk of future selling pressure". Facebook's next lockup expiration comes on 15 October, when another 249m shares will be freed up. The largest expiration comes on 14 November, when co-founder and largest shareholder Mark Zuckerberg and others will be free to sell 1.32bn shares. More shares will also be released in December and in May next year. On the day of its IPO Facebook was briefly valued at $104bn, more than the market value of Goldman Sachs and Nike added together. On Friday Facebook was valued at $38.69bn, less than Nike's $44.19bn.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Family, friends and close colleagues – but not press – pay their respects to giant of American space travel, who died last week The death of the "reluctant American hero" Neil Armstrong was marked on Friday with a funeral in the humble style of a man who shunned the limelight that was bestowed on him for 43 years after he accomplished one of the towering acts of the 20th century. The service, held in a private golf club in Cincinnati, close to Armstrong's home in the south-west Ohio countryside, was attended by family, friends and the remaining veterans of space travel. But it was kept resolutely behind closed doors. "This service is closed to the media – with no exceptions", a note put out by the family pointedly directed. Only one camera, that of Nasa photographer Bill Ingalls, was permitted to record the event. In recognition of the public desire to commemorate such a legendary figure, the Armstrong family has arranged for a national memorial service on Washington on 12 September. They also invited people wanting to mark his death on their own terms to think of Armstrong on the day of his private service and wink at the moon. The moon seemed to have been listening in, duly preparing to rise in full for a second time within the calendar month. A "blue moon" like this happens on average but every three years – hence the expression that flows from it, itself a fitting tribute to a man of such rare qualities. Among the confirmed guests were Charles Boden, the current administrator of Nasa, as well as a number of Armstrong's fellow astronauts. They included John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, and Bill Anders, the module pilot for Apollo 8, which paved the way for the moon landing by carrying out the first manned lunar orbit in December 1968. Jim Lovell, who also joined Apollo 8 and who commanded the stricken moon mission Apollo 13, was also in attendance. Earlier in the day he and Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the moon with Apollo 17 in 1972, launched a children's health fund in Armstrong's honour at Cincinnati Children's hospital medical center. At the ceremony, Lovell called Armstrong "a great American" who just "wanted to be a team player." Cernan added that "there's nobody that I know of that could have accepted the challenge and responsibility that came with [the first moon landing] with more dignity than Neil Armstrong." The two men recalled how they had visited Armstrong at his home in Indian Hill just two months before his death this week from complications from a heart-bypass operation. Armstrong cooked breakfast for them both, burning the eggs. Armstrong's two sons were set to speak at the service, which also included a Navy ceremonial guard. The eulogy was to be read by Republican senator Rob Portman, who, when the astronaut died last Saturday aged 82 put out a statement saying: "For my family and me, he was a dear friend whose ready smile, quick wit and thoughtful gestures will be greatly missed." The choice of Portman as eulogist was something of a paradox. The Ohio politician came close to being chosen as Mitt Romney's running mate in a presidential campaign characterised by extreme partisanship and an emphasis on small government. During his career, however, Portman was known for efforts to foster bipartisan support for the causes he championed. Armstrong's act along with Apollo 11 fellow crewman Buzz Aldrin in walking on the moon was by contrast the ultimate manifestation of post-war American consensus and faith in big government. It was initiated under John F Kennedy's Democratic administration and seen through by the Republican Richard Nixon. The moon walk lasted two hours and 19 minutes, and gave Armstrong instant worldwide celebrity status that he spent most of the rest of his life attempting to shrug off. Instead of embracing the after-dinner speaking circuit, as other astronauts have done, he chose instead a quiet life as an engineering professor and farmer. He left behind his two sons, a wife and former wife, step-children and grandchildren, some footprints on the surface of the moon, a moon crater named after him, and a plaque that still stands near the Sea of Tranquillity that reads: "We came in peace for all mankind."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mitt Romney visits Louisiana on first full day as official GOP nominee after 'workmanlike' speech to Republican convention Mitt Romney's election team has declared they are confident that the road to the White House lies open as their candidate headed out on his first full day of campaigning as the Republican presidential nominee. His schedule took in a surprise visit to Louisiana to speak to – and be pictured with – the emergency crews dealing with the flood damage created by hurricane Isaac. Reaction to the biggest speech of his political career – his address to the party convention in Tampa, Florida – was mixed, in large part because of a shambling warm-up performance by Oscar-winning actor Clint Eastwood. The actor disrupted the carefully choreographed convention schedule with with a surreal discussion with an empty chair representing Barack Obama. Republican strategists described Romney's 40-minute speech as "competent" and "solid" rather than inspirational, but insisted that it would play well with the tens of millions of viewers watching at home. Alex Castellanos, a Republican consultant and media commentator, said Romney had ticked all the boxes. "I thought he did a workmanlike job," he said. A former member of the Bush administration, speaking after the speech in Tampa, described it as "homely" and low-key but said it would resonate with voters tired with Obama's soaring rhetoric. Romney heeded the advice of his strategists to make the speech personal, with sections in which he dwelt on his family life. His wife Ann, on television Friday morning, said it offered a glimpse into "the deepest part of his soul". She diplomatically avoided any hint of criticism of Eastwood's performance, confining her comment to "unique". In an interview with CBS, she tactfully added: "We appreciated Clint's support, of course." In his speech, Romney spoke about two of his biggest perceived weaknesses, his Mormonism, which is normally avoids for fear of offending Christian evangelicals, and his business career at Bain Capital, an investment group that closed American companies, resulting in job losses. But there was little of substance in the speech, other than a vague five-point plan for tackling the sluggish economic recovery and a few brief foreign policy references. A senior member of Romney's campaign team, scanning the coming two months, insisted it was looking good for the candidate. He pointed to the unemployment figures coming out next week, again in October and again just days before the election, which would remind voters of the issue that is their main concern. He said that it would take a "miracle" for Obama to win, given that no president since the 1930s had won re-election with unemployment over 8%. The campaign adviser also saw a huge advantage for Romney in terms of spending. Having been formally adopted as the Republican nominee, he can now legally spend the millions of dollars he has been accumulating. Romney's campaign team cautioned against expecting much of a poll bounce, especially with the Democrats likely to be the centre of media attention next week, with their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Democratic party derided Romney's speech for lack of policy. In a campaign video on the web, the Democrats said: "Thursday was Mitt Romney's big night to tell America his plans for moving forward, yet he chose not to." David Axelrod, one of Obama's campaign strategists, in a television interview focused on Republicans who made speeches mainly talking up themselves rather than Romney. He contemptuously dismissed Tampa as "more like open mic night for 2016 candidates, and not a convention that's aimed at promoting Mitt Romney in 2012." The media response to the speech was mixed. Time's Joe Klein wrote that it was a "smart speech" but that he was not sure that it was a game-changer, or would be remembered beyond tomorrow. Klein added: "But it did lay down a subtle challenge for the president: explain why your contract should be extended." The main theme of Romney's speech, one that will be pursued over the coming weeks by the campaign, is that Obama was elected in a wave of euphoria but that his first term is ending in disappointment. "I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed," Romney said. "But his promises gave way to disappointment and division. This isn't something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we can do something. With your help we will do something." The heart of Romney's speech was a five-point plan for economic recovery that he promised would deliver 12 million new jobs within four years. The plan – deliberately lacking in detail – covered energy independence, small business, deficit reduction, skills training and international trade, and included the veiled threat of a trade war with China. Romney touched on foreign policy only briefly, pledging to show "backbone" to Russian president Vladimir Putin and deriding Obama for failing to halt Iran's nuclear development. While he praised Obama for ordering the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, there was no mention of other international issues, notably Afghanistan, and in the main he focused on attacking Obama's domestic record. He promised to repeal Obama's healthcare reform and vowed: "As president I will protect the sanctity of life. I will honour the institution of marriage. And I will guarantee America's first liberty: the freedom of religion."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Both the president and Mitt Romney plan tours of devastated regions that suffered up to $2bn in damages from hurricane The drowned town of Braithwaite slowly emerged from flood waters on Friday, revealing two bodies and ruined homes as a weakened storm Isaac moved further inland, drenching Arkansas and Missouri. The scale of the clean-up facing Louisiana, battered by hurricane force winds and rain earlier in the week, was starkest here as officials and homeowners used boats to inspect submerged properties. Mitt Romney, fresh from the Republican convention in Tampa, was due to tour damage and recovery efforts in nearby areas on Friday after an invitation from the Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal. Insurers will face a bill between $700m to $2bn, a fraction of the $41bn cost of Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans seven years ago this week, said the risk-modeling firm AIR Worldwide. Around 700,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi were still without power on Friday – down from a peak of 1m – but airports, oil refineries and other infrastructure were returning to normal. Midwest farmers hoped the rain would ease a drought without damaging crops. Romney's visit and President Barack Obama's attention to Isaac – he declared the impact on Louisiana and Mississippi major disasters in order to release federal aid – underlined both candidates' determination to avoid comparisons with George Bush's much-criticised response to Katrina. In Braithwaite, residents assessed the damage. "Just look at that, everything completely submerged," said Jimmy Delery, 57, a land and property owner as he inspected Braithwaite's rooftops from a motorboat. "We thought we knew so much about hurricanes, but we're learning so much more." Residents without boats waited on higher ground for the water to recede. Officials used a digger to claw a hole in the town's earthen levee to speed up the draining. "I'm doing OK for now but I know it'll hit me when I get in there and see my home," said Melanie Martinez, who was rescued from her rooftop on Wednesday with her family soon after Isaac made landfall. "We thought we were going to die in that house; the water was coming up so fast." Two neighbours did not make it. The bodies of the man and woman, who were not immediately named, were found in a kitchen, apparently drowned. A $14.5bn federal flood defence upgrade since the 2005 Katrina catastrophe, when 1,800 peopled died, was credited with averting serious damage in New Orleans but semi-rural communities on its outskirts such as Braithwaite relied on a more basic, state-built 8ft levee which proved no match for the waters. Many residents said the higher defences around New Orleans channelled the surge to them. "All that water had to go somewhere. Well, it came here," said Eric Desalvo, 20. The storm also damaged a dam on Lake Tangipahoa in Mississippi, prompting concerns on Thursday it could break, but authorities late said an intentional, controlled breach neutralised the danger.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 'Liquid gold' industry threatened as Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers fear burglars will sell on black market Thieves have made off with a "considerable amount" of maple syrup from a warehouse in Quebec, police have said. The warehouse, in St-Louis-de-Blandford, stocked more than $30m worth of the product. Police said it was too early to say how much had been stolen. Quebec provincial sergeant Claude Denis said on Friday that the warehouse stored more than 10m pounds (4.54m kilograms) of maple syrup. The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers says they discovered the missing syrup when a routine inventory turned up empty barrels. It said in a statement: "The federation always acts with caution to protect producers' harvests. The St-Louis-de-Blandford warehouse had been secured by a fence and locks, and visited regularly." It is believed that the thieves decanted the syrup into other containers, with the intent of selling it on. The federation said that if the thieves attempted to sell the syrup, the whole industry would be affected. "It is crucial to identify those responsible for this crime," the federation said. Quebec produces 70 to 80% of the world's maple syrup. Most of the exported product is sold in the United States. Sylvain Charlebois, a food policy researcher at the University of Guelph, told the Globe and Mail that it would be hard to track the contraband syrup. "It is going to be problematic, one way or the other, whether it's to sell through proper channels or dealing with the black market," he said. Anne-Marie Granger Godbout, executive director of the maple syrup federation, attempted to reassure consumers. "We still have enough maple syrup. There will be no shortage," she told the Globe and Mail.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fed chairman describes US economy as 'far from satisfactory' and shares continued concern over unemployment and growth Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a robust defence of the central bank's interventions to boost the fragile US economic recovery on Friday, preparing the ground for possible further action that would likely prove to be politically controversial. In a much anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Bernanke described the current economic situation as "far from satisfactory". He said that high rates of unemployment threatened to "wreak structural damage on our economy that could last for many years". The speech to the annual central bank symposium comes ahead of September's meeting of the Federal Reserve's open markets committee (FOMC), which sets US economic policy. Recently-released minutes from its last meeting show the committee has become increasingly concerned about the US recovery and is weighing further action. However, since the last FOMC meeting, some more positive economic news has emerged on jobs and housing. Next week the closely-watched non-farm payroll survey of monthly employment trends will be released. After a sharp pick up over the winter, jobs growth slowed in the spring but appears to be picking up again. Bernanke's speech highlighted the problems that remain. He said high levels of unemployment are a "grave concern, not only because of the enormous suffering and waste of human talent it entails, but also because persistently high levels of unemployment will wreak structural damage on our economy that could last for years." Any action by the Fed is likely to trigger a furious response from elements within the Republican party who have criticised his past actions and warned against new ones. "The truth is the Federal Reserve cannot rescue Americans from the consequences of failed economic and regulatory policies passed by Congress and signed by the president," the House financial services committee chairman, Spencer Bachus, told Bernanke last month at a congressional hearing. Bernanke offered a strong defense of his actions at Jackson Hole. "A balanced reading of the evidence supports the conclusion that central bank securities purchases have provided meaningful support to the economic recovery while mitigating deflationary risks," he said. Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services, said: "It sure sounds to me like he is getting ready to act." He said the FOMC would now be waiting for the non-farm payroll figures. In July the US added 163,000 new jobs, more than many economists had expected. Faucher is predicting 130,000 new jobs were added in August while other analysts are expecting about 100,000. "If it comes in below 100,000, I think the Fed will act," he said. "That would be four out of five months below 100,000. That's not good enough."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Motive for shooting unclear as authorities say the 23-year-old gunman killed himself after killing two people with an AK-47 A New Jersey supermarket employee shot and killed two co-workers with an AK-47 assault rifle in the early hours of Friday before turning the gun on himself. Authorities say the 23-year-old man left a Pathmark in Old Bridge Township around 3.30am and returned a half-hour later with a handgun and the assault rifle. Middlesex county prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said the man fired the rifle at the first workers he saw, killing an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man as other workers hid, Kaplan said. At least 16 rounds were fired, some breaking the front windows. He then killed himself, said Kaplan, who did not release the name of the gunman or either victim. The motive is under investigation. Media reports suggested the man had argued with his co-workers. Police at the scene were keeping onlookers well away from the store. A number of vehicles were in the parking lot outside, along with police vehicles. The store and its parking lot were closed. Pathmark officials had no immediate comment. Old Bridge is a community of about 65,000 just across the Raritan Bay from New York City's Staten Island borough.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Human rights group describes outcome as 'nothing short of a scandal' after investigation into treatment of detainees is closed The US justice department has announced it has ended its investigation into CIA interrogations of terrorist detainees without bringing criminal charges. The decision in the inquiries of the deaths of two terrorist suspects marks the end of a wide-ranging criminal investigation by federal prosecutor John Durham into interrogation practices during the presidency of George Bush. Durham has looked into the treatment of 101 detainees in US custody since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Durham's inquiry into another episode involving the CIA began in January 2008 when the justice department chose him to conduct a criminal investigation into the agency's destruction of videotapes it had made of its interrogations of terrorist suspects. In August 2009, attorney general Eric Holder expanded Durham's mandate to include a preliminary review of the CIA's interrogation of specific detainees overseas. In June 2011, Holder approved Durham's request to move into a full criminal investigation of the two deaths. The 2009 expansion followed the public release of an internal CIA inspector general's report that revealed agency interrogators once threatened to kill a 9/11 suspect's children, and suggested another would be forced to watch his mother be sexually assaulted. The report said some CIA interrogators went beyond Bush administration restrictions that gave them wide latitude to use severe tactics such as waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique. About the just-completed investigation of the two detainees' deaths, Holder said that "based on the fully developed factual record concerning the two deaths, the department has declined prosecution because the admissible evidence would not be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt." In a message to employees Thursday, CIA director David Petraeus said that "as intelligence officers, our inclination, of course, is to look ahead to the challenges of the future rather than backwards at those of the past. Nonetheless, it was very important that we supported fully the justice department in its efforts" and "I would like to thank everyone who played a role" in doing so. Former CIA director Michael Hayden said he was "heartened that the investigation is complete, and I'm heartened by the results. I had great confidence in Mr Durham. I just regret that many CIA officers had to go through yet another review of these activities." Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the outcome of the investigation "nothing short of a scandal." "Continuing impunity threatens to undermine the universally recognized prohibition on torture and other abusive treatment," Jaffer said. Durham's review examined whether CIA interrogators used any unauthorized interrogation techniques, and if so, whether the techniques could constitute violations of the torture statute or any other laws. The approach taken in the inquiry was not to prosecute anyone who acted in good faith and within the scope of the legal guidance given by the justice department's Office of Legal Counsel regarding the interrogation of detainees. Thursday's announcement came in the deaths of Gul Rahman and Manadel al-Jamadi. Rahman died in the early hours of 20 November 2002, after being shackled to a cold concrete wall in a secret CIA prison in northern Kabul, Afghanistan, known as the Salt Pit. He was suspected of links to the terrorist group al-Qaida. Rahman is the only detainee known to have died in a CIA-run prison. Before Durham looked into Rahman's death, two other federal prosecutors conducted separate reviews and could not prove the CIA officer running the Salt Pit had intended to harm the detainee, a point made in a government document that has been released publicly. Al-Jamadi died in 2003 at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. A military autopsy declared al-Jamadi's death a homicide. At Abu Ghraib prison, instead of turning al-Jamadi over to the Army, CIA officers took him to a shower stall. They put a sandbag over his head, cuffed his hands behind his back and chained his arms to a barred window. When he leaned forward, his arms stretched painfully behind and above his back.
Within an hour, he was dead. At least three CIA employees came under scrutiny, including a paramilitary officer who ran what was known as the detainee exploitation cell at Abu Ghraib. The officer was on the raid when a group of Navy Seals captured al-Jamadi. He processed al-Jamadi into the prison but he was not in the shower room when al-Jamadi died. The officer failed to have a doctor supervise al-Jamadi before he was processed into the prison, violating agency procedures. The officer, who was reprimanded over the incident, now works for a defense contractor.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Judge calls Berezovsky an unreliable witness after he loses case in which he claimed Chelsea owner cheated him out of £3bn The Chelsea football club owner, Roman Abramovich, has won a high court action against his rival Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky over a disputed £3bn debt. Berezovsky, 66, was in the central London court to hear the judge, Mrs Justice Gloster, rule that he had lost his claim, which involved allegations of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract. Abramovich, 45, who had denied the accusations, was not in the Rolls building courtroom to hear the final decision in the 10-month hearing. Berezovsky, the former Kremlin insider turned bitter critic of Vladimir Putin, had claimed that Abramovich cheated him out of more than $5bn (£3.2bn) and "intimidated" him into selling shares in a Russian oil company at a fraction of their value. Abramovich, who remains on good terms with President Putin, said he did not owe Berezovsky anything. It was the biggest private litigation battle in British legal history. In her judgment, Gloster said the case "fell to be decided almost exclusively on the facts; very few issues of law were involved … The case was one where, in the ultimate analysis, the court had to decide whether to believe Mr Berezovsky or Mr Abramovich." Berezovsky, she concluded, was not credible. "On my analysis of the entirety of the evidence, I found Mr Berezovsky an unimpressive, and inherently unreliable, witness, who regarded truth as a transitory, flexible concept, which could be moulded to suit his current purposes. "At times the evidence which he gave was deliberately dishonest; sometimes he was clearly making his evidence up as he went along in response to the perceived difficulty in answering the questions in a manner consistent with his case. "At other times, I gained the impression that he was not necessarily being deliberately dishonest, but had deluded himself into believing his own version of events. On occasions he tried to avoid answering questions by making long and irrelevant speeches, or by professing to have forgotten facts which he had been happy to record in his pleadings or witness statements." By contrast, Abramovich, Gloster explained, "gave careful and thoughtful answers, which were focused on the specific issues about which he was being questioned. At all times, he was concerned to ensure that he understood the precise question, and the precise premise underlying the question which he was being asked. "He was meticulous in making sure that, despite the difficulties of the translation process, he understood the sense of the questions which were being put to him. "Where he had relevant knowledge, he was able to give full and detailed answers; he took care to distinguish between his own knowledge, reconstructed assumptions and speculation … In conclusion I found Mr Abramovich to be a truthful, and on the whole reliable, witness." The judge found that the agreements between the two oligarchs were not as Berezovsky had portrayed them in his claims. "It follows that I dismiss Mr Berezovsky's claims both in relation to Sibneft and in relation to RusAl in their entirety," she said. Speaking outside the court later, Berezovsky said: "I'm absolutely amazed at what has happened today. I'm surprised completely – particularly because Lady Gloster took responsibility for rewriting Russian history." Asked whether he regretted bringing the legal action, he said: "I don't regret anything." Berezovsky indicated that he might launch an appeal against the high court's decision but said he would have to speak to his lawyers first of all. "When I came to the court I had prepared a phrase," he explained. "Churchill said that democracy is bad but there's nothing better. I was going to say an English court is bad but there's nothing better. Today I have doubts about whether that's accurate. Sometimes I have the impression that Putin himself wrote the judgment."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Apple expected to introduce new version of iPhone on 12 September and an 'iPad mini' in October Speculation is mounting that Apple will announce a new version of its iPhone on 12 September and an "iPad mini" – a smaller version of its bestselling tablet – in October. Dozens of leaked photos and samples from Apple's supply chain point to a longer, thinner phone with a larger screen and longer battery life – and a new nine-pin connector on its base, to the dismay of hundreds of companies that make accessories for the 30-pin connector on existing iPhones, iPads and iPods. It also appears a virtual certainty that Apple will introduce a smaller tablet to build on the success its 10in iPad, which dominates the sector. "I was sceptical about it, but there are so many rumours from different sources – companies in China, colleagues in China – that it seems it's a reality," said Francisco Jeronimo, smartphones and tablets analyst for the research company IDC. He said Apple had to compete with Amazon's 7in Kindle Fire, which launched in the US last October and is expected to get a revision and European release next week, and Google's Nexus 7, released in July. Two years ago Steve Jobs, then Apple chief executive, dismissed the idea of a 7in tablet "unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of the present size" to use the smaller touchscreen. For accessory companies, leaked pictures of components showing a nine-pin connector will mean hurried retooling in the hours after the products' launch. Some have booked factories in China to churn out redesigns in order to catch the Christmas market, though other sources say there will be plentiful adaptors to bridge between the new and the old connections, which Apple introduced in 2003. Apple sold 17m tablets worldwide in the second quarter of this year, a 68% share of the market, according to IDC. It remains to be seen how much the "iPad mini" will cost and whether some models might have 3G capability. The October launch date has been chosen, pundits suggest, to let interest in the launch of the next iPhone die down. Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, told CNet that Apple could "crush the opposition" by pricing an entry-level model with Wi-Fi and 8GB of storage – the same as Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire – at $249 (£157) in the US, compared with $200 for its rivals. A top-end device could sell in the US for $349 with 3G capability, she said. Jeronimo said it would need to be priced close to its rivals, but the Apple brand would draw customers who either could not afford the larger iPad or considered it too unwieldy. "It makes sense to open the market to the biggest percentage of users, those who don't have or can't afford the bigger iPad," he told the Guardian. Jeremy Davies, chief executive of Context, a retail analysis company, said: "Going for a different [iPad] form factor would break the mould as it would, in a sense, dilute the iPad lineup. Having said that, commercially it probably makes sense. If we look at the tablet market today and what competitors are bringing out, form factor and price point are probably the two areas Apple is most vulnerable in. An 'iPad Mini' launch would help prevent some of Apple's sales being cannibalised by competitors such as Samsung." The "iPad mini" would be the first truly new product Apple has announced since Jobs's death in October last year. Jobs often used to dismiss the idea of products or features just weeks before introducing them: in September 2005 he told journalists in France that Apple couldn't see the use of video on an iPod; four weeks later Jobs unveiled an iPod that played video. Apple has a history of cementing its position at the top end of the market and then grabbing the lower end. With the iPod, it established a strong position with its top-end version in 2002 and 2003, and then released the iPod mini in January 2004, which saw sales explode. It then used growing volumes to push down prices and shut out rivals. Rumours and expectations"iPhone 5" is expected to: arrive in September; have a longer, thinner screen; offer 4G connectivity (probably only for the US); have better battery life; be the first phone to use a nano Sim, smaller than those in existing smartphones; use a new nine-pin connector; and have a two-tone matte metal backing, replacing the iPhone 4's ceramic. It is not include Near Field Communications (NFC) technology for payments. "iPad mini" is expected to: arrive in October; have a 7.85in screen (measured diagonally), half the area of the 10in iPad; start with a Wi-Fi-enabled 8GB model; and be priced to compete keenly with rival $200 7in tablets from Amazon and Google.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | University professor wrote 'Free Pussy Riot' on wall in victims' blood to confuse police, Russian investigators claim Russian investigators say police have detained a man who has confessed to killing two women and then tried to mislead them by scrawling a message at the murder scene demanding freedom for jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band. The man – a 38-year-old university professor named Igor Danilevsky – was detained on Thursday in Kazan, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday. It alleged Danilevsky wrote "Free Pussy Riot" on a wall in the victims' blood because he wanted the deaths of the 38-year-old woman he was dating and her 76-year-old mother, to appear as if they were a ritual killing. The committee said Danilevsky had persuaded the woman to take out a loan to repay his debts, and promised to marry her. Police had found the knife used to stab the women to death and disfigure their faces and bodies, it said. Three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison this month for staging a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral in February, entreating the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin, who at the time was on the verge of winning a third presidential term. The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furore, with celebrities including Paul McCartney urging Russian authorities to free the band. The jailed band members' lawyer had called the murder of the two women "either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic" case. Kremlin-friendly media and Orthodox church clerics had seized upon the alleged link between the murder and the band to lambast the artists and their supporters, and compared them to mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses. Some Russian publications ran headlines claiming Pussy Riot supporters "committed" or "inspired" the double homicide. Coverage was full of the mostly negative terms used by Kremlin-friendly television networks and media in their coverage of the protesters' trial. The Orthodox church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious, but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions asking the authorities to free them.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | University professor wrote 'Free Pussy Riot' on wall in victims' blood to confuse police, Russian investigators claim Russian investigators say police have detained a man who has confessed to killing two women and then tried to mislead them by scrawling a message at the murder scene demanding freedom for jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk band. The man – a 38-year-old university professor named Igor Danilevsky – was detained on Thursday in Kazan, Russia's Investigative Committee said on Friday. It alleged Danilevsky wrote "Free Pussy Riot" on a wall in the victims' blood because he wanted the deaths of the 38-year-old woman he was dating and her 76-year-old mother, to appear as if they were a ritual killing. The committee said Danilevsky had convinced the woman to take out a loan to repay his debts, and promised to marry her. Police had found the knife used to stab the women to death and disfigure their faces and bodies, it said. Three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month for staging a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral in February, entreating the Virgin Mary to save Russia from Vladimir Putin, who at the time was on the verge of winning a third presidential term. The trial, widely seen as Kremlin-orchestrated, caused an international furore, with celebrities including Paul McCartney urging Russian authorities to free the band. The jailed band members' lawyer had called the murder of the two women "either a horrendous provocation or a psychopathic" case. Kremlin-friendly media and Orthodox church clerics had seized upon the alleged link between the murder and the band to lambast the artists and their supporters, and compared them to mass murderer Charles Manson, who also used the blood of his victims to write on the walls of their houses. Some Russian publications ran headlines claiming Pussy Riot supporters "committed" or "inspired" the double homicide. Coverage was full of the mostly negative terms used by Kremlin-friendly television networks and media in their coverage of the protesters' trial. The Orthodox church has called the band's stunt sacrilegious, but hundreds of artists, musicians and other intellectuals have signed petitions asking the authorities to free them.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Judge brands Berezovsky an unreliable witness in case claiming Chelsea FC owner cheated him out of £3bn The Chelsea football club owner, Roman Abramovich, has won a high court action against a rival Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky, over a disputed £3bn debt. Berezovsky, 66, was in the central London court to hear the judge, Mrs Justice Gloster, rule that he had lost his claim, which involved allegations of blackmail, breach of trust and breach of contract. Abramovich, 45, who had denied the accusations, was not in the Rolls building courtroom to hear the final decision in the 10-month hearing. Berezovsky, the former Kremlin insider turned bitter critic of Vladimir Putin, had claimed that Abramovich cheated him out of more than $5bn (£3.2bn) and "intimidated" him into selling shares in a Russian oil company at a fraction of their value. Abramovich, who remains on good terms with President Putin, said he did not owe Berezovsky anything. It was the biggest private litigation battle in British legal history. In her judgment, Gloster said the case "fell to be decided almost exclusively on the facts; very few issues of law were involved … The case was one where, in the ultimate analysis, the court had to decide whether to believe Mr Berezovsky or Mr Abramovich." Berezovsky, she concluded, was not credible. "On my analysis of the entirety of the evidence, I found Mr Berezovsky an unimpressive, and inherently unreliable, witness, who regarded truth as a transitory, flexible concept, which could be moulded to suit his current purposes. "At times the evidence which he gave was deliberately dishonest; sometimes he was clearly making his evidence up as he went along in response to the perceived difficulty in answering the questions in a manner consistent with his case. "At other times, I gained the impression that he was not necessarily being deliberately dishonest, but had deluded himself into believing his own version of events. On occasions he tried to avoid answering questions by making long and irrelevant speeches, or by professing to have forgotten facts which he had been happy to record in his pleadings or witness statements. By contrast, Abramovich, Mrs Justice Gloster explained, "gave careful and thoughtful answers, which were focused on the specific issues about which he was being questioned. At all times, he was concerned to ensure that he understood the precise question, and the precise premise underlying the question which he was being asked. "He was meticulous in making sure that, despite the difficulties of the translation process, he understood the sense of the questions which was being put to him. "Where he had relevant knowledge, he was able to give full and detailed answers; he took care to distinguish between his own knowledge, reconstructed assumptions and speculation … In conclusion I found Mr Abramovich to be a truthful, and on the whole reliable, witness." The judge found that the agreements between the two oligarchs were not as Berezovsky had portrayed them in his claims. "It follows that I dismiss Mr Berezovsky's claims both in relation to Sibneft and in relation to RusAl in their entirety," she said.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | WikiLeaks founder believes case against him will be dropped as William Hague admits 'solution is not in sight' to extradition row WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could remain holed up inside Ecuador's embassy in London for a year, he has predicted. The 41-year-old Australian, who faces arrest and extradition to Sweden over alleged sexual offences if he sets foot outside the building in Knightsbridge, central London, insisted he believes the case against him will be dropped. In a television interview broadcast in Ecuador, Assange said he believed it would take between "six and 12 months" for the issue to be resolved. His comments follow an admission by the foreign secretary, William Hague, that "a solution is not in sight" to the row that has strained diplomatic relations with the South American country. Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador after seeking sanctuary in the country's diplomatic mission in June. In an interview inside the embassy, he told Telesur he believed the issue "will be solved through diplomacy", the BBC reported. Assange added: "The Swedish government could drop the case. I think this is the most likely scenario. Maybe after a thorough investigation of what happened they could drop the case. "I think this will be solved in between six and 12 months. That's what I estimate." Ecuador has claimed Britain threatened to storm its embassy and make an arrest, an assertion strenuously denied by Hague. Hague said yesterday: "This may go on for a long time so we are not making a threat against the embassy of Ecuador." While talks aimed at finding a way of ending the standoff would continue, he added, "given Ecuador's position on what they call diplomatic asylum and our very clear legal position, such a solution is not in sight at the moment".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Turkey seeks urgent action to protect displace Syrians
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Turkey seeks urgent action to protect displace Syrians
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Turkey seeks urgent action to protect displace Syrians
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Angry recriminations in the Velodrome, tears of joy on the running track and more on a day of contrasting fortunes for Great Britain at the Paralympics
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Markets fixated on what Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke will say, while European unemployment rises
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Markets fixated on what Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke will say, while European unemployment set to rise
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Markets pare gains following Jackson Hole speech, while European unemployment rises
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Unanimous ruling by electoral tribunal paves way for Enrique Peña Nieto and PRI to return to power Mexico's highest election court has voted to dismiss legal challenges by the second-placed candidate seeking to overturn the results of the 1 July presidential election. The unanimous ruling by the seven-member electoral tribunal paves the way for the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary party to return to power after it lost the presidency for the first time in 71 years in elections in 2000. The party, known as the PRI, won the presidential vote with a 6.6-point advantage for its candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto. But leftwing rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador challenged the results, alleging Peña Nieto engaged in widespread vote-buying and campaign spending excesses. Before the vote in their night-time session all of the justices said they did not think supporters of López Obrador had submitted convincing evidence of the alleged abuses. "Mexico has a president elected by the people, in the person of Enrique Peña Nieto," said Justice Salvador Nava. Justice Flavio Galvan dismissed evidence submitted by the leftist coalition regarding purported abuses by Peña Nieto's campaign as "vague, generic, imprecise". The evidence included gift cards, household goods and even farm animals purportedly given out to voters by the PRI. Outside the courthouse, demonstrators who believe Peña Nieto received an unfair advantage from media outlets, pollsters and campaign donors reacted with outrage. A crowd of about 200 protesters chanted "No to imposition" and "Defend democracy," and some grabbed steel security barriers that ring the courthouse and began banging them against the building's gates. One youth group has called for a "funeral march for democracy" on Friday. Ricardo Monreal, López Obrador's campaign manager, said the justices were "acting like a gang of ruffians". The justices said some of the evidence submitted was hearsay or unclear. For example, they said the evidence included gifts allegedly given out by Peña Nieto's party, the PRI, without proof that was where they came from or that the gifts had been given to influence votes. Monreal complained that the justice wanted his coalition "to supply not just the evidence, but the victims and criminals" as well. The court appeared to have done little if any of its own investigation into the accusations, which centred on hundreds and possibly thousands of pre-paid gift cards that shoppers at a Mexican grocery store chain said they were given by Peña Nieto's party before the election. The Associated Press interviewed about half a dozen people among shoppers who mobbed one Soriana store two days after the elections to redeem the cards; almost all said PRI supporters had given them the cards, expecting they would vote for the party. The court did not apparently interview any card recipients. Galvan said only that "there is no proof of vote-buying". "It has not been demonstrated that they [the cards] were given to citizens, or if that occurred, that it was done on condition they vote for a given candidate," Galvan said. Justice Pedro Penagos agreed, saying: "Even though the existence of the Soriana cards is proven … it has not been proven they were handed out, nor that they were in exchange for votes for Enrique Peña Nieto." The court's ruling also came as electoral authorities are still investigating whether Peña Nieto's campaign had exceeded campaign spending limits. To outsiders it appeared much better funded than those of his rivals. The justices ruled those investigations may continue but would not be grounds for overturning the vote. The ruling by the full court would be the final step before what is widely expected to be the tribunal's confirmation of Peña Nieto's victory. According to the official count, Peña Nieto won 38% of the votes, followed by López Obrador of the leftist Democratic Revolution party at about 31%. The PRI has denied wrongdoing. A confirmation of its victory would end a 12-year PRI absence from Mexico's highest office, which it held without interruption from 1929 to 2000.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Unanimous ruling by electoral tribunal paves way for Enrique Peña Nieto to take reins as PRI party returns to power Mexico's highest election court has voted to dismiss legal challenges to the results of the 1 July presidential election by the second-placed candidate. The unanimous ruling by the seven-member electoral tribunal paves the way for the Institutional Revolutionary party to return to power after it lost the presidency for the first time in 71 years in elections in 2000. The party, known as the PRI, won the presidential vote with a 6.6-point advantage for its candidate, Enrique Peña Nieto. But leftwing rival Andrés Manuel López Obrador challenged the results, alleging Peña Nieto engaged in widespread vote-buying and campaign spending excesses. Before the vote in their night-time session, all of the justices said they did not think supporters of López Obrador had submitted convincing evidence of the alleged abuses. "Mexico has a president elected by the people, in the person of Enrique Peña Nieto," said Justice Salvador Nava. Justice Flavio Galvan dismissed evidence submitted by the leftist coalition regarding alleged abuses by Peña Nieto's campaign as "vague, generic, imprecise". The evidence included gift cards, household goods and even farm animals purportedly given out to voters by the PRI. Outside the courthouse, demonstrators who believe Peña Nieto received an unfair advantage from media outlets, pollsters and campaign donors reacted with outrage. A crowd of about 200 protesters chanted "No to imposition" and "Defend democracy", and some grabbed steel security barriers that ring the courthouse and began banging them against the building's gates. One youth group has called for a "funeral march for democracy" on Friday. Ricardo Monreal, López Obrador's campaign manager, said the justices were "acting like a gang of ruffians". The justices said some of the evidence submitted was hearsay or unclear. For example, they said the evidence included gifts allegedly given out by Peña Nieto's party, the PRI, without proof that was where they came from or that the gifts had been given to influence votes. Monreal complained that the justice wanted his coalition "to supply not just the evidence, but the victims and criminals" as well. The court appeared to have done little if any of its own investigation into the accusations, which centred on hundreds and possibly thousands of pre-paid gift cards that shoppers at a Mexican grocery store chain said they were given by Peña Nieto's party before the election. The Associated Press interviewed about half a dozen people among shoppers who mobbed one Soriana store two days after the elections to redeem the cards; almost all said PRI supporters had given them the cards, expecting they would vote for the party. The court did not apparently interview any card recipients. Galvan said only that "there is no proof of vote-buying". "It has not been demonstrated that they [the cards] were given to citizens, or if that occurred, that it was done on condition they vote for a given candidate," Galvan said. Justice Pedro Penagos agreed, saying: "Even though the existence of the Soriana cards is proven … it has not been proven they were handed out, nor that they were in exchange for votes for Enrique Peña Nieto." The court's ruling also came as electoral authorities were still investigating whether Peña Nieto's campaign had exceeded campaign spending limits. To outsiders it appeared much better funded than those of his rivals. The justices ruled those investigations may continue but would not be grounds for overturning the vote. The ruling by the full court would be the final step before what is widely expected to be the tribunal's confirmation of Peña Nieto's victory. According to the official count, Peña Nieto won 38% of the votes, followed by López Obrador of the leftist Democratic Revolution party at about 31%. The PRI has denied wrongdoing. A confirmation of its victory would end a 12-year PRI absence from Mexico's highest office, which it held without interruption from 1929 to 2000.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wang Xiaoning, whose conviction was supported by information from US internet firm, released after completing his term A Chinese dissident imprisoned for 10 years for subversion whose conviction was supported by evidence from Yahoo was released early on Friday after completing his term, his wife said. The US internet company drew strong condemnation from American lawmakers and rights advocates for co-operating with Chinese authorities in prosecuting dissidents and a well-known journalist. The company later apologised and settled a lawsuit with the families involved for an undisclosed amount. Wang Xiaoning's wife, Yu Ling, said in a phone interview that her husband had been released before dawn on Friday by the Beijing No 2 prison. She had been told earlier she could meet Wang at the prison gate but he was released several hours early and taken to their home. Yu said the conditions of his release meant he could not speak to the media. She said Wang appeared to be in good health but would have a medical check soon. "We're happy that the family is together again," Yu said. The couple has a son. Wang was detained in September 2002 and later sentenced for "incitement to subvert state power", a vaguely defined charge used frequently to punish political critics. Wang distributed pro-democracy writings by email and through Yahoo groups. A former engineer in China's weapons industry, Wang had been detained previously for his political activities following the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Rights groups said passages from writings cited at his trial in 2003 included: "Without a multiparty system, free elections and separation of powers any political reform is fraudulent." A lawsuit filed by Wang and others in the US showed that Yahoo's wholly owned subsidiary based in Hong Kong gave police information linking Wang to his anonymous emails and other political writings he posted online. Yahoo could not immediately be reached for comment about his release. The case sparked anger about internet companies co-operating with governments that deny freedom of speech and crack down on journalists. It has been the subject of congressional hearings in the US, where lawmakers accused the company of collaborating with an oppressive regime.
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