|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Burmese democracy campaigner finally receives the medal she was awarded while under house arrest in 2008 Aung San Suu Kyi has been presented with the US Congress' highest civilian honour at a ceremony in Washington, describing it as "one of the most moving days of my life." The Burmese democracy campaigner was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2008 while under a 15-year house arrest for her peaceful struggle against military rule. Her long-awaited visit to America finally provided an opportunity for her to receive the honour in person in Congress' most majestic setting, beneath the dome of the Capitol and ringed by marble statues of former presidents. The 67-year-old Nobel laureate said it was worth the years of waiting, being honoured "in a house undivided, a house joined together to welcome a stranger from a distant land." Previous recipients of the medal include George Washington, Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II. She then met privately at the White House with president Obama, another winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. They appeared relaxed and were smiling as they talked in the Oval Office. Obama "expressed his admiration for her courage, determination and personal sacrifice in championing democracy and human rights over the years," according to a statement from the White House. The White House said the president "reaffirmed the determination of the United States to support their sustained efforts to promote political and economic reforms and to ensure full protection of the fundamental rights of the Burmese people." The low-key nature of the meeting appeared to reflect concerns that Suu Kyi's Washington visit could overshadow Burma's reformist president Thein Sein, who attends the UN General Assembly in New York next week, and still faces opposition within Burma's military to political reform. At the medal ceremony, House and Senate leaders joined Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in paying tribute to Suu Kyi. Speaker after speaker at the medal ceremony marvelled that this was moment they thought they would never see: Suu Kyi before them, not only free but herself now a lawmaker. "It's almost too delicious to believe, my friend," said Clinton, "that you are in the Rotunda of our Capitol, the centrepiece of our democracy as an elected member of parliament." Buddhist monks in saffron robes and women in traditional Burmese dresses crammed into the venue alongside members of Congress, who set aside the intense rivalries ahead of the 6 November election. Lawmakers talked about years of working together across party lines on the behalf of Suu Kyi's democracy movement. At Wednesday's emotional ceremony, Democratic senate majority Leader Harry Reid lavished praise on a man who is usually his adversary, Republican leader Mitch McConnell, for long being at the forefront of efforts to help Suu Kyi for two decades. McConnell compared Suu Kyi's path of peaceful resistance to Martin Luther King and Indian independence leader Mohandas Gandhi. "It was impossible not to be moved by her quiet resolve, her hidden yet luminous heroism," the Kentucky senator said. Republican Senator John McCain, often called a hero for the years he endured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said Suu Kyi was his hero. Former first lady Laura Bush said the hope that now grows in Burma was a tribute to Suu Kyi. She said the former military regime had encountered an "immoveable object" in the opposition leader and its legitimacy broke against her character. While speakers paid tribute to Suu Kyi's resolve in the face of oppression, a spirit of reconciliation in Burma also pervaded the ceremony recognition of its recent dramatic political changes after five decades of authoritarian rule. A key aide to Thein Sein attended the ceremony, which Suu Kyi welcomed. The Treasury also announced it was taking Thein Sein off its list of individuals sanctioned from doing business or owning property in America. Since Suu Kyi won a parliamentary seat in April, the US has normalised diplomatic relations with Burma and allowed US companies to start investing there again. The administration is now considering easing the main plank of its remaining sanctions, a ban on imports. Suu Kyi voiced support for that step on Tuesday, saying Burma should not depend on the US to keep up its momentum for democracy. Some of her supporters, however, oppose it, saying reforms have not taken root and Washington will lose leverage with Burma, which still faces serious human rights issues. Clinton also expressed concern that Burma retains some military contacts with North Korea.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ruling is world's first judicial review of CIA practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries Italy's highest criminal court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of 23 Americans found guilty of kidnapping a Muslim cleric from a Milanese street and transferring him to a country where torture was permitted. The court of cassation's ruling is the final appeal in the world's first judicial review of the CIA practice of abducting terror suspects and transferring them to third countries, a practice also known as extraordinary rendition. The 23 Americans were all convicted in absentia following a trial that lasted over three years. The verdict paves the way for the Italian government to seek redress and could put the Americans at risk of arrest if they travel to Europe. "It went badly. It went very badly," lawyer Alessia Sorgato told the Associated Press. "Now they will ask for extradition." Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was kidnapped while walking to noon prayers at a Milan mosque on 17 February 2003. He had been under investigation in Italy for allegedly recruiting jihadi fighters. Prosecutors claimed CIA operatives snatched him with the help of two Italian intelligence officers, drove him to Aviano Air Force base, and then flew him to a Nato base in Germany en route to Cairo, Egypt. When Nasr emerged from an Egyptian prison four years later, he claimed he had been tortured. Among those whose conviction was upheld Wednesday was US Air Force Colonel Joseph Romano, who was in charge of Aviano AF base security. His lawyers said they intend to appeal to the EU human rights court in Strasbourg. The court confirmed the seven-year sentences for 22 Americans (all but one of whom prosecutors identified as CIA agents, who are likely now in the US) and a 9-year sentence for former Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady. The two Italian accomplices, former SISMI military intelligence officers Nicolo Pollari and Marco Mancini, were ordered to be retried in the Milan court of appeals. They had previously been acquitted on appeal citing a state-secrecy injunction. The court also ordered €1m in damages to be paid to Nasr and €500,000 to his wife. The justice ministry plans to request extraditions, Ansa news agency reported The Milan anti-terrorism magistrate who guided the prosecution, Armando Spataro, lauded the decision, telling the Associated Press it was the equivalent of finding extraordinary rendition "incompatible with democracy". Successive Italian governments denied all knowledge of the case and consistently ruled out extradition,and the judges appeared intent on holding US authorities accountable. Some agents decried being made into international fugitives for following orders from more senior CIA and state department officials in Washington, who called for the extradition while an anti-terror investigation in Italy was underway. Mark Zaid, a US lawyer representing one of the prosecuted women, said the court ruling damages the integrity of the system of diplomatic immunity. "Diplomats around the world should consider themselves at greater risk today," Zaid said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Americans for Prosperity to gather in Manhattan on Thursday to 'stand up to these extremists who despise free enterprise' An activist group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers is planning a rally in New York on Thursday to "stand up to Occupy Wall Street extremists". Americans for Prosperity will gather at the Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan to demonstrate against Occupy protesters and Barack Obama's handling of the economy. "The Occupy Wall Street crowd is nothing but a fringe element of malcontents bent on mayhem and destruction," said Steve Lonegan, Americans for Prosperity's New Jersey state director. "These are people who despise free enterprise. They are not attacking Wall Street. They are attacking the very freedoms that everyday Americans cherish to pursue their own dreams and succeed." Lonegan added that it was "time that someone stood up to the Occupy Wall Street mob". The rally, announced on Wednesday, is part of Americans for Prosperity's "Failing Agenda" bus tour across the US. The non-profit organisation has three buses crossing the US, drawing attention to what it sees as Obama's failings on the economy. The specific focus on Occupy Wall Street comes after the movement celebrated its first anniversary on Monday, although the occasion was marred by close to 200 arrests across New York. David and Charles Koch have poured money into Americans for Prosperity, which is tied to the Tea Party movement and has a focus on small government and low taxes. Although Americans for Prosperity says it "does not expressly advocate for the success or defeat of any candidate for public office", the organisation has run adverts targeting Obama. Mitt Romney attended a fundraiser held by the Kochs this summer. A spokesman for Americans for Prosperity would not predict how many people might attend the rally at the Rockefeller, but the group's website claims to be "more than two million activists strong" across the country. The group has chapters in 34 states, according to its press release. Attendees will listen to speeches from Tim Phillips, the president of Americans for Prosperity, Lonegan and others. "What the American people are really worried about is President Obama's failing agenda," Lonegan said. "They are worried about a failing agenda that is saddling future generations of Americans with trillions of dollars of debt and leaving them with a bleak future. They are worried about the economic destruction President Obama's policies have had on the economy and on job creation." Bill Dobbs, an Occupy Wall Street activist who attended the movement's anniversary event on Monday, described the rally as "an interesting development". "But the rich want almost everything, they'd like to take just about everything in sight," he said. "The 1% must be getting desperate to put their supporters out on the street."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Attorney general found to have no prior knowledge of the operation, but two other senior officials leave amid criticisms The US justice department's inspector general has cleared the attorney general, Eric Holder, of Republican accusations he had prior knowledge of a botched operation that shipped hundreds of weapons to Mexican drug cartels that were later used in killings. But a senior official resigned and another took retirement after they and others were strongly criticised in inspector general Michael Horowitz's report which lays out a "pattern of serious failures" over the operation, called Fast and Furious. Agents lost about 2,000 guns, mostly AK-47s, in a failed attempt to track their route to drug cartels. The report, published on Wednesday, recommended disciplinary action against 14 officials, including the head of the justice department's criminal division, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer º an Obama administration appointee. The secretive "gun walking" operation, run by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms (ATF) and US attorney's office in Arizona, drew attention in Washington when two of the weapons were linked to the killing of a US border patrol agent, Brian Terry, in a gun fight with drug traffickers two years ago. Hundreds of the guns also turned up at Mexican crime scenes. Republican in Congress have attempted to use criticism of Fast and Furious to unseat Holder on the grounds he has covered up his knowledge of the operation. The House of Representatives found him in contempt of Congress in June for failing to hand over documents to lengthy and often testy committee hearings – a first for a sitting member of a president's cabinet. The operation is also at the heart of conspiracy theories among some gun rights advocates of a plot to curb weapons sales. The National Rifle Association called Fast and Furious another "Watergate" and alleged that the Obama administration let the guns be shipped to Mexico in order to boost statistics on illegal weapons smuggling and introduce tighter gun control. But the 470-page justice department internal probe, which was partly redacted for public release, concluded that the "gun walking" operation was more incompetence than conspiracy, and dismissed Republican accusations that Holder knew of it beforehand. Holder greeted the report by saying it cleared his name and pointing the finger at his critics in Congress. "It is unfortunate that some were so quick to make baseless accusations before they possessed the facts about these operations – accusations that turned out to be without foundation and that have caused a great deal of unnecessary harm and confusion," he said. "I hope today's report acts as a reminder of the dangers of adopting as fact unsubstantiated conclusions before an investigation of the circumstances is completed." But Republican congressman Darrel Issa, who has led an increasingly bitter campaign against Holder with hearings in Congress, said Holder should take responsibility for the criticisms of the justice department over Fast and Furious. "Contrary to the denials of the attorney general and his political defenders in Congress, the investigation found that information in wiretap applications approved by senior justice department officials in Washington did contain red flags showing reckless tactics and faults attorney general Eric Holder's inner circle for their conduct," he said. "It's time for President Obama to step in and provide accountability for officials at both the department of justice and ATF who failed to do their jobs.|" The inspector general was, however, sharply critical of the conduct of the operation and an earlier one, Wide Receiver, during George W Bush's presidency which involved about 400 guns. The report said that Fast and Furious began as an "important and promising investigation" of the flow of weapons from American gun shops across the border to Mexican cartels but quickly got out of hand resulting in the "extraordinary" situation of the US authorities spending more than a year watching gun smugglers buy nearly 2,000 firearms for $1.5m while doing nothing about it. "There were no arrests or indictments in the case until it was learned that two weapons found at the scene of customs and border protection agent Brian Terry's December 14, 2010, murder had been purchased by an Operation Fast and Furious subject who agents had identified in November 2009, and who had bought the two guns found at scene in January 2010," the report said. "We concluded that the individuals at ATF and the US attorney's office responsible for Operation Fast and Furious failed to conduct the investigation with the urgency, oversight, and attention to public safety that was required by an investigation that involved such extraordinary and consequential firearms trafficking activity." The report identified a number of problems including lack of sufficient oversight and inadequate attention to the dangers to the public which amounted to "a disregard for the safety of individuals in the United States and Mexico"; the inappropriate use of informants, some of whom were being tracked by another US agency because they were drug smuggling; and failure to take on board the international consequences of permitting guns to be smuggled to Mexico where they were used to murder people. The report recommends disciplinary action against several people in part because Fast and Furious was permitted to go ahead even though there had been deep concerns about a similar operation under the Bush administration, Wide Receiver. It criticises Breuer and one of his aides, Jason Weinstein, for failing to notify Holder and other senior justice department officials about the existence of Wide Receiver when Fast and Furious came under question. The report said Weinstein should have recognised that Fast and Furious replicated Wide Receiver and put a stop to it. Weinstein told Fox News that he resigned so as not to "distract" from the justice department's work but he disputed the report's finding, calling them deeply flawed. Breuer raised questions about Wide Receiver at the time but said he had no knowledge of Fast and Furious until it was already under way. He acknowledged that he should have done more to ensure that the earlier "gun walking" operation was not repeated. The report is also strongly critical of the head of the ATF, Kenneth Melson, who resigned last year over the investigation and moved to another justice department post. He retired on Wednesday, as the report was released.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In the end, it all felt very different to those delirious scenes back in May when Didier Drogba rolled in the decisive penalty and Chelsea could call themselves champions of Europe. They had led 2-0, both goals coming from Oscar on a night when the Brazilian spectacularly announced his arrival at Stamford Bridge. But their first match in defence of the trophy was to finish in disappointment and the overwhelming sense they had contributed to their own downfall. Chelsea certainly did not win the European Cup with the kind of carelessness that preceded both Juventus goals. The substitute, Fabio Quagliarella, nudged the second of them through the legs of Petr Cech nine minutes from the end from a move that originated with Mikel John Obi needlessly giving away the ball. John Terry's mistake then gave Quagliarella another chance that skimmed in off the crossbar and, from a position of strength, Chelsea were suddenly looking vulnerable to an improbable defeat. Juventus, the Serie A champions and unbeaten in 42 games domestically, were certainly obdurate opponents, settling quickly and playing with the kind of assurance and togetherness that tends to be found in all the top European sides. They could also reflect on two presentable chances to open the scoring before the quick one-two from Oscar that put Chelsea in command and gave Stamford Bridge its first hard look at their £25m acquisition from Internacional. What they gleaned in those moments was confirmation that Chelsea have brought in a player of uncommon ability. Oscar has only just turned 21 but actually looks younger, with his sloping shoulders and lithe frame. For half an hour he had been on the fringes of the match, but when he burst into life it was spectacular in the extreme. His first goal was accompanied by a decent slice of fortune given the helpful deflection his 25-yard shot, from Eden Hazard's lay-off, took off Leonardo Bonucci to deceive Gianluigi Buffon in the Juve goal. What followed a couple of minutes later, however, was stunning. Ashley Cole played the ball into Oscar's feet, just outside the penalty area, and his first touch was measured to perfection to turn away from both Bonucci and Andrea Pirlo in one movement. The second touch was even better, hooking his foot round the ball to spear a looping, swerving, dipping shot into the top left corner. It was a goal of rare finesse but also great audacity from a young player making his first start. Chelsea, in truth, were fortunate to be ahead given that shortly before Mirko Vucinic had lashed his shot into the side-netting when he was clear inside the penalty area. Claudio Marchisio will also reflect that he was wasteful with an earlier chance after Stephan Lichtsteiner's long ball beat the offside trap, but Juventus, though rocked, did not lose their way. After 38 minutes Marchisio moved infield from the left wing and played a short pass into Arturo Vidal. The striker took a clever touch to move the ball into a shooting position and then drove a diagonal, left-foot effort beyond Petr Cech. Roberto Di Matteo will be unhappy that a player with such accuracy was allowed the room to score despite the close proximity of several opponents. It gave Juve a new sense of belief, just as Oscar's goal had threatened to deflate them. Chelsea's assignment was suddenly that bit more complicated and there were spells in the second half when Stamford Bridge was flooded with apprehension. Yet Chelsea did not allow Pirlo to dictate the game and though their opponents had a lot of the ball, Cech was well protected for the most part. Di Matteo had set up his team so that when they did not have possession at least one of the more-attacking midfielders would drop back. In possession, Hazard continued the good form which he has shown this season, always wanting the ball and eager to run at his opponents. Oscar's showcasing of his talents was not restricted to his goals, with some clever touches and incisive passing. Fernando Torres was a willing runner, and when Juventus started to press forward with greater conviction in the second half there were gaps for Chelsea to exploit on the counterattack. Chelsea will also look back on that moment, at 2-1, when Hazard teed up the substitute Juan Mata for a chance that he put into the side-netting. The equaliser came in the next attack, as Marchisio capitalised on Mikel's mistake to play Quagliarella behind the defence. John Terry had stepped out, trying to catch him offside, and after turning the England defender, the substitute had the time and space to put the ball beneath Cech. Briefly Chelsea rallied again, subjecting their opponents to some concerted pressure during the final few minutes, but there were no more chances to beat Buffon and Juventus, demonstrating great qualities of perseverance, deserved their draw.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In the end, it all felt very different to those delirious scenes back in May when Didier Drogba rolled in the decisive penalty that confirmed Chelsea as champions of Europe. They had led 2-0 on a night when Oscar spectacularly announced his presence at Stamford Bridge, but their first match in defence of the trophy was to finish in disappointment, exacerbated by the clear sense they had contributed to their own downfall. Chelsea certainly did not win the European Cup with the kind of carelessness that preceded both Juventus goals, and it will pain them that the Juve substitute, Fabio Quagliarella, nudged the second of them through Petr Cech's legs after a move that started with Mikel John Obi losing the ball with a sloppy pass. Shortly afterwards, John Terry's mistake gave Quagliarella another chance that skimmed off the crossbar and, suddenly, Chelsea were looking vulnerable to the possibility of losing. Chelsea's success in this competition last season was based on their high levels of concentration and organisation but those qualities were not so conspicuous here and as a result, they surrendered the chance to put themselves into a position of strength in Group E. Juventus, to give them their due, were obdurate opponents, playing with the kind of assurance and togetherness that tends to be found in the top European sides, and never losing their focus even after the two goals from Oscar that put Chelsea in command. Yet it was unusual to see Roberto Di Matteo, normally a fierce protector of his own, criticise the players and though he eulogised about Oscar's contribution, the Chelsea manager was entitled to be unhappy about the rate at which they conceded possession. When the disappointment subsides, Chelsea will be hugely encouraged by Oscar's contribution on his first start since his £25m acquisition from Internacional. His second goal was a beauty, a strike of rare finesse that dipped, swerved and looped into the top left-hand corner of Gianluigi Buffon's net, and here was the confirmation that Chelsea have signed a player of rare quality. Audacity, too. There are not many players who would believe they can beat Buffon, one of the more revered goalkeepers of his generation, from such an implausible angle. Oscar's first goal, just after the half-hour, had been accompanied by a decent slice of fortune given the deflection his 25-yard shot, from Eden Hazard's lay-off, took off Leonardo Bonucci to deceive Buffon. What followed, however, was stunning. Ashley Cole played the ball into Oscar's feet, just outside the penalty area, and his first touch was measured to perfection to turn away from both Bonucci and Andrea Pirlo in one movement. The second touch was even better, hooking his foot round the ball for a wonderful goal. Juventus, however, were too worldly to lose direction. After 38 minutes Claudio Marchisio moved infield from the left wing and played a short pass into Arturo Vidal. The striker took a clever touch to move the ball into a shooting position and then drove a diagonal, left-foot effort beyond Cech. Di Matteo will be unhappy that a player with such accuracy was allowed the room to score despite the close proximity of several opponents. It gave Juventus a new sense of belief, ensuring that the second half was suddenly that bit more complicated for Chelsea. After that it was clear the Serie A champions, unbeaten in 42 games domestically, would subject their opponents to some prolonged pressure. For the most part, Cech was well protected. Hazard continued the good form which he has shown so far this season, always wanting the ball and eager to run at opponents. Oscar's showcasing of his talents was not restricted to his goals, with some clever touches and incisive passing also notable. Fernando Torres was a willing runner and when Juventus started to press forward with greater conviction in the second half, there were gaps for Chelsea to exploit on the counterattack. Di Matteo made the point afterwards that he was particularly frustrated because, in attack, Chelsea had looked bright and imaginative. In particular, they will look back on that moment, at 2-1, when Hazard teed up the substitute Juan Mata for a chance that he put into the side-netting. The equaliser came in the next attack, Marchisio capitalising on Mikel's mistake to play Quagliarella behind the defence. Terry had stepped out, trying to catch him offside, and the substitute had the time and space to put the ball beneath Cech. Briefly Chelsea rallied again, but there were no more chances to beat Buffon. Juventus, demonstrating great qualities of perseverance, had deserved their draw.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Oscar scores twice on first start but Juventus storm back for deserved draw Paul will be here from around 7.25pm. Meantime, here's Amy Lawrence's match preview:
Roberto Di Matteo wrinkled his nose at the idea that hearing the Champions League anthem will have any special effect as his team begin their title defence. The same cannot be said of Chelsea's opponents, Juventus. The significance of their return to Europe's elite is not something to be taken lightly. The message on the club's official website this week is unashamedly giddy: Europa, siamo tornati! Europe, we're back.
Although Juve did make a return to the Champions League four years ago, when they qualified with a third-place domestic finish – eventually succumbing to Chelsea in the knockout stages, as it happened – this time is different. This time they are back as Serie A winners, league leaders and Italy's most convincing flagbearers. More...
Teams:
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Hazard, Torres, Oscar
Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Mata, Moses, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Betrand Juve: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah; Giovinco, Vucinic
Subs: Storari, Lucio, Giaccherini, Quagliarella, Matri, Isla, Marrone Ref: P Proenca (Portugal) 7.42pm: There's some people on the pitch ... they think it's all over ... no, hold on, it's the players and they know the match hasn't even begun. 1 min: Juve get the game going and quickly show their intent: crisp passing and swift movement ... until Vidal knocks the ball into touch while seeking Asamoah wide on the right. 2 min: Juve give the ball away in midfield and Chelsea sear forward with speed that Juve have so far lacked. Ramires was the principal runner and his burst yields a corner, which Juve cope defend easily. 4 min: Juve are looking a little wobbly at the back early doors and Chelsea have now forced a couple of corners without much bother. Lampard sends the latest one and David Luiz leaps highest but a deflection takes the power off his header and it's an easy save for Buffon. 6 min: Juve have been behaving like busted dope dealers in the last few minutes, surrendering possession to the boys in blue. 8 min: Oscar, making his first start, has had little involvement so far, nor, indeed, has Hazard. Ramires, meanwhile, has been very prominent, doing a mean impression of Yaya Touré so far. 10 min: Vucinic is starting to look dangerous for Juve, dropping between Chelsea's defence and midfield to receive the ball and conjure. 13 min: After a decent bout of passing from Chelsea, Lampard flips the ball wide to Ramires, who crosses first time to Torres, who is outnumbered three to one but still does enough to force a corner. Nothing of interest ensues. 15 min: So far this game has been like a cheap imitation of last night's Real-City encounter: more mistakes and far fewer chances, but at least there's a similarly pleasing amount of positivity from both sides. 17 min: Torres robs the ball off Pirlo in his own half and gallops forward, but his pass to Hazard is overhit and the momentum is lost. 19 min: Good run by Lampard, well found by Cole. Lampard then knocks the ball back to Hazard, whose cross from the left provokes panic in the Juve box, and Chelsea get another corner. Again nothing comes of it. 21 min: Shoddy by Chelsea! Shoddier by Marchisio! The Italian surged from deep, past the dozing Chelsea players to latch on to a long ball over the top. His attempt to take the ball down on his thigh goes awry, however, and Cech charges off the line to smother his shot. 23 min: Chance for Chelsea! Hazard rolled an inviting ball across the face of goal. Ramires collected it seven yards, twice feigned to shoot and then rolled it to Torres, who was marked by two defenders. Why didn't the Brazilian shoot (by) himself? 26 min: Chelsea are racking up corners like Marlo Stanfield but making much less profitable use of them. 28 min: Dreadful play all round! Ivanovic gave the ball away to Vidal to enable Juve to counter attack quickly. Vidal drew two defenders and then knocked the ball to Vucinic, who has time to size up his options 18 yards from goal ... and then blems the ball badly wide. GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Juventus (Oscar 31') He had been virtually irrelevant to proceedings for most of the match, but Oscar has made his mark, thanks in no small part to a crucial deflection off Bonucci. Hazard cut in from the left before passing to Oscar, who took on touch and then let fly from 25 yards. Buffon would have probably have saved it but Bonucci stuck out a leg to help it into the top corner. GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Juventus (Oscar 33') If his first goal carried a bit of fortune, the second was undeniably superb! With a single touch Oscar controlled a pass and wrongfooted the defence before curling a wonderful shot over Buffon and into the net from 20 yards! Oscar's no slouch. 35 min: Juventus try to get back on their feet after those two body blows, and Vidal forges a decent shooting opportunity before tonking the ball over from 18 yards. GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Juventus (Vidal 38') That's another lovely goal. Chelsea have switched off a tad since their second goal and Juve punished them, a quickfire move concluding with Vidal receiving the ball 20 yards out and lashing a low shot into the corner. 40 min: This game looks like coughing up plenty more goals, as Juve look ropy at the back but clever going forward. "There's got to be some quality headlines tomorrow morning, based on those Chelsea goals: surely time to start a headline contest?" reckons Andrew McNab before offering this effort: "Chelsea Number 11 far from statue-esque in Oscar-winning performance." 43 min: That's better from Chelsea: after a sustained spell of keep-ball, Torres rolled the ball smartly into the path of Ramires, whose 16-yard drive from the right was beaten away by Buffon. "What is strange is about this Chelsea performance is our poor set-pieces, a big change from past seasons where Chelsea were consistently a big threat," blubs Luke Garrat. "Perhaps that is the price for accommodating players such as Hazard, Oscar and Torres for the likes of Drogba, Kalou and Malouda. I'll take Oscar's goal any day though!" 45 min: Freekick to Juve 26 yards out, a little to the left. Pirlo stands over it ominously ... 45+1 min: Pirlo curls the freekick wide. In other news, Salomon Kalou's Lille are 3-0 to Bate Borisov at half-time. At home. Half-time: This game could still go either way. Two bolts from the new boy in blue have put Chelsea in front but Juve have proven they are plenty dangerous enough to overturn this deficit and win. By the same token, Chelsea look capable of scoring more. Larks ahead. 47 min: The second half begins where the first left off, with helter-skelter vibe. Chelsea are the first to threaten, Hazard donking a ball towards the back post but it's fractionally too high for Ramires, who can't steer his header on target. 50 min: more decent work by Chelsea, who circulate the ball tidily for two minutes before Ivanovic decides to have a ping: his swirling effort from 25 yards almost finds a way past Buffon. But doesn't. 52 min: Bonucci takes down Lampard, giving Chelsea a freekick on the edge of the area, almost dead central ... 53 min: Lampard curls the freekick around the wall but not past Buffon, who bats it to safety. 55 min: A pause in play as two players receive treatment: Ramires, who was felled by Buffon as the keeper clasped a cross, and Lichtsteiner, who seems to have pulled something. 58 min: Hazard shows great speed to beat Barzagi to a through-ball and then darts in front of the defender in an attempt to draw a penalty. Barzagli does touch but the ref rightly rules that the contact was not strong or sinister enough to send the Belgian to the ground, so rejects the appeals for a penalty and orders Hazard to get to his feet. 60 min: has Tito Vilanova taken Barcelona as far as he can? Sprtak Moscow are leading 2-1 at the Nou Camp! And there we were thinking that Zenit St Petersburg were the Russian team to watch this season ... 61 min: Giovinco wastes a freekick, wafting the ball high and wide from 20 yards. 63 min: pressure from Juve! First Giovinco goes close with a fine run and shot, then Bonucci heads against the back of Mikel's head four yards from goal. 65 min: Juve are getting stronger and really penning Chelsea back. Only a last-ditch intervention by David Luiz prevented Marchisio from levelling the scores from 18 yards just now. 68 min: Following an increasingly rare Chelsea foray forward, Torres falls at the edge of the box and howls hopefully for a penalty. The ref, who has had a fine game, ignores him. Chelsea substitution: Ramires off, Bertrand on. 73 min: Chelsea are defending deep and in numbers now, seemingly concerned only with clinging on to their lead. Chelsea substitution: Oscar off, Mata on. Juventus substitution: Giovinco off, Quagliarella on. 77 min: As Chelsea set about applying a death grip to the game, Juve make another change, Isla replacing Lichtsteiner. 79 min: That was lovely stuff by Chelsea, with Mata and Hazard carving Juve apart with sumptuous interplay. Alas, they couldn't crown it with a goal, Mata shooting into the sidenetting from 12 yards. GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Juventus (Quagliarella 81') Mikel gave the ball away deep in his own half and Chelsea dawdled, no one more so than Terry, who yet again let Quagliarella dart past him to receive a deep pass from Marchisio and the Italian slotted it under Cech for a deserved equaliser. 83 min: Juventus are going for a winner here and there's every chance they'll get it: Chelsea are struggling to cope with their midfield movement. 86 min: Lovely turn and shot by Quagliarella: Cech is beaten but the ball hits the top side of the bar and drops behind. Chelsea exhale. "I see EBJT is starting his annual subconscious mission to sabotage Chelsea's Champions League run early this year," drawls Luke Garrat. "Also, we lost all forward defensive pressure with the forced substitutions of Ramires and Oscar. Juve substitution: Vucinic off, Matri on. 89 min: Chelsea are steadying the ship ... Full-time: Chelsea should be happy with that result on a night that exposed plenty of problems as well as introducing the exciting Oscar.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Watchdog faults justice department for errors of judgment in gun investigation, but attorney general Eric Holder escapes criticism The justice department's internal watchdog on Wednesday faulted the agency for misguided strategies, errors in judgment and management failures during a bungled gun-trafficking probe in Arizona that disregarded public safety and resulted in hundreds of weapons turning up at crime scenes in the US and Mexico. Two senior officials left the department, one by resignation and one by retirement, upon the report's release. In the 471-page report, inspector general Michael Horowitz referred more than a dozen people for possible department disciplinary action for their roles in Operation Fast and Furious and a separate, earlier probe known as Wide Receiver, undertaken during the George Bush administration. The report did not criticize attorney general Eric Holder, but said lower-level officials should have briefed him about the investigation much earlier. The report found no evidence that Holder was informed about the Fast and Furious operation before January 31, 2011, or that the attorney general was told about the much-disputed gun-walking tactic employed by the department's bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. Gun-walking was an experimental tactic, barred under long-standing department policy. ATF agents in Arizona allowed suspected "straw purchasers," in these cases believed to be working for Mexican drug gangs, to leave Phoenix-area gun stores with weapons in order to track them and bring charges against gun-smuggling kingpins who long had eluded prosecution. Because of thin ATF staffing and weak penalties, the traditional strategy of arresting suspected straw buyers as soon as possible had failed to stop the flow of tens of thousands of guns to Mexico — more than 68,000 in the past five years. The operation was a response to criticisms of the agency's anti-smuggling efforts. The inspector general found fault with the work of the senior ATF leadership, the ATF staff and US attorney's office in Phoenix and senior officials of Justice's criminal division in Washington. He also said that poor internal information-gathering and drafting at the justice department and ATF caused the department to initially misinform Congress about Fast and Furious. "The inspector general's report confirms findings by Congress' investigation of a near total disregard for public safety in Operation Fast and Furious," said Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, which has been investigating Fast and Furious since early 2011. Two of the 2,000 weapons thought to have been acquired by illicit buyers in the Fast and Furious investigation were recovered at the scene of a shootout that claimed the life of US border agent Brian Terry. About 1,400 of the total have yet to be recovered. Holder noted in a statement that the report confirmed his assertions that the flawed strategies were driven by field agents without his knowledge or approval and that department did not set out to misinform Congress. He said the report's disciplinary recommendations are being pursued and "we now have two men in custody and we will continue to aggressively pursue the remaining fugitives to ensure justice for Agent Terry, his family and his fellow law enforcement agents." Fast and Furious has produced charges against 20 gun traffickers, 14 of whom have pleaded guilty so far. One of those criticized in the report, former ATF acting director Kenneth Melson, who headed that agency during the Fast and Furious investigation, retired upon release of the report. "Melson made too many assumptions about the case," the report stated. "Melson should have asked basic questions about the investigation, including how public safety was being protected." Melson responded in a written statement: "While I firmly disagree with many of the speculative assumptions, conclusions and characterizations in the inspector general's report, as the acting director of the agency I was ultimately responsible for the actions of each employee." Another of those criticized, justice department career attorney Jason Weinstein, resigned. Weinstein was a deputy assistant attorney general in Justice's criminal division in Washington. "Weinstein was the most senior person in the department in April and May 2010 who was in a position to identify the similarity between the inappropriate tactics used in Operations Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious," the report said. ATF agents in Arizona conducted Wide Receiver in 2006 and 2007 and began Fast and Furious in October 2009. Weinstein's lawyer, Michael Bromwich, called the report's criticism "profoundly wrong" and "deeply flawed." Among others the report singled out for criticism were former acting deputy attorney general Gary Grindler; assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer who heads the criminal division; Arizona US attorney Dennis Burke; and Holder's own former deputy chief of staff, Monty Wilkinson. The report said: • Wilkinson should have promptly informed Holder of the fact that two guns found at the scene of Terry's slaying were among the 2,000 illicitly acquired weapons in Operation Fast and Furious. • Grindler relied on the FBI to investigate the Terry killing. That reliance was misplaced, given that the bureau did not have the responsibility to determine whether errors in ATF's investigation led to the weapons ending up at the murder scene. • Breuer should have promptly informed deputy attorney general James Cole or Holder about the gun-walking problems in the earlier gun probe, Operation Wide Receiver. The inspector general said he found no evidence that former attorney general Michael Mukasey, who took office late in the Bush administration after Wide Receiver was ended, was ever informed that it used gun-walking.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Figures say insider attacks are 'serious problem' but that calling a halt reinforces the perception that US is rushing to leave The US military rushed into halting on-the-ground operations with Afghan security forces after four Americans and two British soldiers were killed by local policemen at the weekend, catching London and other Nato allies by surprise. Military sources said the suspension of routine joint operations, with approval now required from a general for Nato and Afghan soldiers to serve together, had been under discussion for several weeks following a surge of "insider attacks". Fifty-one Nato soldiers have been killed by members of the Afghan security forces, some of them by Taliban infiltrators, in 36 attacks this year – 15 of them last month alone. But the Pentagon called a halt out of concern at the effect on army morale, and damage to public and political opinion over attacks from within the same military that Nato is training. Allies were only informed after the order had been written, causing a scramble to downplay its significance by the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) command and limit the political fallout in London and other Nato capitals. Opinion is divided on what the final impact will be on military operations, given that the joint on-the-ground operations that saw Nato and Afghan troops patrolling and fighting alongside each other were central to the US-led strategy to train the 350,000-strong Afghan army to hold off the Taliban after the American pullout in 2014. "There's certainly been a fraying of the trust. There's no doubt about that," said lieutenant general David Barno, the former commander of coalition military operations in Afghanistan for two years from 2003, and now retired from the army. "One of the fundamental questions is: is this a temporary injunction to provide Nato and Isaf time to come up with some new measures that ensures the safety of their troops that are out on an advisory roles, partnering roles? Or is this going to be a longer-term restriction that prevents Nato troops serving in these very important roles? I think the jury's out on that." Barno said the suspension of joint operations is a message from the US that the insider attacks are "a very serious problem" and "this is probably an appropriate response to it at this juncture". Stephanie Sanok, a Pentagon official in the Bush administration with experience of Afghanistan and Iraq, who is now with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said insider attacks are "a real problem and challenge facing the coalition" and that stopping joint operations while Nato "figures out exactly who they're sharing bases with is long overdue". But she said it is a blow to the strategy to build a capable Afghan army to confront the Taliban. "From an operational perspective it does hinder the coalition's ability to hand over responsibility to capable partners. It hinders in terms of confidence levels in the Afghan national security forces, because they're not going to be partnering with them as much. When you partner less, obviously their capabilities are going to be less," she said. Lieutenant colonel Daniel Davis – who caused a political stir in Washington in February by accusing the Pentagon of "lying" about the situation in Afghanistan because his experience during a year-long deployment "bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by US military leaders about conditions on the ground" – said that calling off of joint operations will be damaging because it will reinforce a perception among Afghans that the US is rushing to leave. Davis said "insider attacks" have eroded trust among Nato troops of their Afghan colleagues. But, he added, confidence between the two militaries has been on the wane for some time because of overly optimistic claims by the US about the state of the war with the Taliban and Barack Obama's setting of a 2014 date for an end to American combat operations. "In my personal opinion, we (Isaf) have been responsible for a portion of the destruction of trust between the Afghan forces and Isaf troopers because so often our leaders say things like "everything's on track", "we're on the right azimuth." "But when those messages are heard by the Afghan government, the Afghan security forces, and even the Taliban, they see with their own eyes that nothing could be further from the truth. When they hear us saying these things and actually appear to believe them, they either don't trust us or they don't put any value in our ability to assess," Davis said. "When you're using the language of success to describe abject failure, you have no credibility in the eyes of those on the ground who know the truth." Davis said the pullback from joint operations will be taken by many Afghan soldiers as further evidence that the US will abandon them. "Now a lot of them are getting scared because as we're getting closer to the date in 2014 when we're completely gone, they know they're going to be on their own, unable to operate without us. Despite the constant claims that we're not abandoning Afghanistan again, they see that we are in fact leaving many of them to their own fate," he said. "I fear that as time continues to pass between now and 2014 the level of trust may degrade further. I can see where they might think: not only are you going to abandon us in 2014, you're starting to cut the cords now." Sanok agreed with Davis that setting a deadline for withdrawal has caused the Afghan soldiers to question US commitment. "I understand why people like to set deadlines and have aspirations. But it really is the conditions on the ground and they really are so changeable in Afghanistan," she said. "I think the vast majority of them will roll their eyes and say this [the halt to joint operations] is just another example of them abandoning us, and why should we care?" Sanok said some in the US military command view the suspension of joint operations as an opportunity. "The Afghan national security forces are going to have to take over responsibility anyway. Part of the US military establishment is saying: now or 2015, it doesn't matter. The Afghan national security forces are either going to sink or swim. They're just going to have to swim sooner rather than later," she said. Sanok does not agree with that view, and said she regards continued partnering as essential to getting the Afghan army into shape. But she is sceptical that Afghan soldiers are motivated to fight the Taliban. "It's not just capability, it's willingness. We can give them as much training and equipment and advice as possible. But if they're not willing to shoulder that burden, it won't work," she said. That, said Davis, is the fundamental flaw in the US approach. "I conducted several patrols with both US and Afghan troops. They [the Afghan soldiers] weren't actually interested in learning anything. They only did what they were made to do. The rest of the time, they're lying in the shade somewhere, resting. In the environment where our word means little to them, they don't seem interested in learning anything," he said. Barno is not so pessimistic about the Afghan army, but he said that the "insider attacks" are a warning as to the determination of the enemy it faces. "One of the things it clearly says to me is: this is a resilient and adaptable enemy who is still very dangerous and very capable. The Taliban is going to find seams and fissures and fractures inside of the coalition's capabilities to exploit such as insider attacks, which have immense political repercussions back in Nato countries," he said. "They will exploit that, and they will leverage that to the maximum extent. So this is a very crafty, very wily enemy and he is not at all on ropes or crushed at this point in time. He's simply adapting to the situation he finds himself him."
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• And Celtic v Benfica here 26 min: Chelsea are racking up corners like Marlo Stanfield but making much less profitable use of them. 23 min: Chance for Chelsea! Hazard rolled an inviting ball across the face of goal. Ramires collected it seven yards, twice feigned to shoot and then rolled it to Torres, who was marked by two defenders. Why didn't the Brazilian shoot (by) himself? 21 min: Shoddy by Chelsea! Shoddier by Marchisio! The Italian surged from deep, past the dozing Chelsea players to latch on to a long ball over the top. His attempt to take the ball down on his thigh goes awry, however, and Cech charges off the line to smother his shot. 19 min: Good run by Lampard, well found by Cole. Lampard then knocks the ball back to Hazard, whose cross from the left provokes panic in the Juve box, and Chelsea get another corner. Again nothing comes of it. 17 min: Torres robs the ball off Pirlo in his own half and gallops forward, but his pass to Hazard is overhit and the momentum is lost. 15 min: So far this game has been like a cheap imitation of last night's Real-City encounter: more mistakes and far fewer chances, but at least there's a similarly pleasing amount of positivity from both sides. 13 min: After a decent bout of passing from Chelsea, Lampard flips the ball wide to Ramires, who crosses first time to Torres, who is outnumbered three to one but still does enough to force a corner. Nothing of interest ensues. 10 min: Vucinic is starting to look dangerous for Juve, dropping between Chelsea's defence and midfield to receive the ball and conjure. 8 min: Oscar, making his first start, has had little involvement so far, nor, indeed, has Hazard. Ramires, meanwhile, has been very prominent, doing a mean impression of Yaya Touré so far. 6 min: Juve have been behaving like busted dope dealers in the last few minutes, surrendering possession to the boys in blue. 4 min: Juve are looking a little wobbly at the back early doors and Chelsea have now forced a couple of corners without much bother. Lampard sends the latest one and David Luiz leaps highest but a deflection takes the power off his header and it's an easy save for Buffon. 2 min: Juve give the ball away in midfield and Chelsea sear forward with speed that Juve have so far lacked. Ramires was the principal runner and his burst yields a corner, which Juve cope defend easily. 1 min: Juve get the game going and quickly show their intent: crisp passing and swift movement ... until Vidal knocks the ball into touch while seeking Asamoah wide on the right. 7.42pm: There's some people on the pitch ... they think it's all over ... no, hold on, it's the players and they know the match hasn't even begun. Teams:
Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Hazard, Torres, Oscar
Subs: Turnbull, Romeu, Mata, Moses, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Betrand Juve: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah; Giovinco, Vucinic
Subs: Storari, Lucio, Giaccherini, Quagliarella, Matri, Isla, Marrone Ref: P Proenca (Portugal) Paul will be here from around 7.25pm. Meantime, here's Amy Lawrence's match preview:
Roberto Di Matteo wrinkled his nose at the idea that hearing the Champions League anthem will have any special effect as his team begin their title defence. The same cannot be said of Chelsea's opponents, Juventus. The significance of their return to Europe's elite is not something to be taken lightly. The message on the club's official website this week is unashamedly giddy: Europa, siamo tornati! Europe, we're back.
Although Juve did make a return to the Champions League four years ago, when they qualified with a third-place domestic finish – eventually succumbing to Chelsea in the knockout stages, as it happened – this time is different. This time they are back as Serie A winners, league leaders and Italy's most convincing flagbearers. More...
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Democrats fall two votes short of passing bill that would help unemployed veterans amid accusations GOP played politics Republicans have voted down legislation that would have established a $1bn jobs programme to put unemployed veterans back to work as firefighters, police officers and in public work projects. They objected to the cost of the bill, which they said violates spending limits agreed to last year in Congress. Democrats and veterans groups say its cost are fully offset. The bill, which had bipartisan support in the Senate and would have given priority to post-9/11 veterans whose employment prospects are three points below the national average, fell two votes short of the majority of 60 needed to waive Republican objections. After the vote, at midday on Wednesday, Patty Murray, chairman of the Senate veterans affairs committee, accused Senate Republicans of "shocking and shameful" obstructive politics. She said: "At a time when one in four young veterans are unemployed, Republicans should have been able, for just this once, to put aside the politics of obstruction and to help these men and women provide for their families. "It's unbelievable that even after more than a decade of war many Republicans still will not acknowledge that the treatment of our veterans is a cost of war. Today they voted down a fully paid-for bill that included bipartisan ideas to put veterans in jobs that will allow them to serve their communities. Jobs that would have helped provide veterans with the self-esteem that is so critical to their successful transition home." Murray said the bill had been extensively rewritten to include amendments by Republicans – eight of the 12 provisions in the bill were Republican-originated ideas. She even incorporated most of the provisions of a competing Republican bill but to no avail. Democratic senator Bill Nelson of Florida, the bill's lead sponsor, said: "[With] a need so great as unemployed veterans, this is not the time to draw a technical line on the budget." Republicans said they agreed with the sentiment to help veterans but said the bill was flawed. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the federal government already had six job-training programs for veterans and there was no way to monitor how well they were working. He said that the way forward was not to increase debt. "We ought to do nothing now that makes the problem worse for our kids and grandkids," Coburn told the Associated Press. Supporters modeled their proposal partly after the Civilian Conservation Corp used during the Great Depression to employ people to build parks and build dams. A handful of Republicans joined with Democrats in voting to waive the objection to the bill: senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Dean Heller of Nevada, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Maine's Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. The Democrats needed a vote of 60 to go forward with the bill but the final vote was 58 to 40. "After everything our veterans have done for us, the least we can do is make sure they are afforded every opportunity to thrive here at home," Heller said. Minutes before the vote, Murray gave an impassioned speech from the floor, asking for unity to pass the bill which she said "should not be killed by procedural games". The vote, postponed from last week because of Republican opposition, is the latest in a series of delays which have hampered the bill's progress. Members of the House are preparing to leave Washington to campaign on their re-election. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America described the vote as a "huge disappointment". Ramsay Sulayman, of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said he was saddened to see "a very small group of people that are standing for principle to block the bill from even coming to a vote" on an issue like veteran jobs, which has seen a strong spirit of bipartisan support. "That's what we object to. If people say 'We don't like the bill' and stand up and get up and vote and go on the record ... that is different. It's sad to see a few people holding a bill to hostage." The jobs bill is based on a proposal in President Barack Obama's state of the union address in January. Harry Reid, the majority leader of the Senate, said the bill had met "one Republican stall tactic after another", in a post to his Twitter account last week. He said the tactics marked a "new low" for Republicans. Jeff Sessions, the Senate Budge Committee ranking member, said he objected to the bill on the grounds it would increase the veterans affairs department budget and would blow though the spending cap lawmakers agreed last year. Democrats argue the bills costs are already covered by plans to collect more than half a billion in unpaid taxes over the next five years, according to the Washington Examiner. The bill was held up in the Senate last week after filibustering by Rand Paul, the Republican Senator for Kentucky, to gain support for a Pakistani doctor who helped locate Osama Bin Laden. Paul has promised to block Senate action until the doctor, Shakil Afridi, is released from jail. The Pakistani government has said it will not release him. Paul has also called on the Obama administration to cut foreign aid to Pakistan until Afridi is released. Unemployment for the newest generation of veterans, post 9/11, rose to 10.9% in August, a stark contrast to the nation's unemployment rate of 8.1% in the same month. Veterans commonly find work after service in federal, state and local government jobs, a vulnerable sector in the current economy. Younger veterans are especially vulnerable to unemployment after deployment. Around 20% of 18-24-year-old veterans are unemployed.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Protests expected worldwide in response to caricatures of the prophet Muhammad published in the magazine Charlie Hebdo French embassies and schools around the world have been put on high alert in fear of a backlash after a magazine published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad and Muslims. Paris has ordered special security measures at official buildings, including diplomatic and consular representations, and instructed those in 20 particularly sensitive countries to close on Friday, the Islamic prayer day. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister said he was "concerned" at the possibility of hostile reactions to the caricatures published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The cartoons, some of which feature Muhammad, come amid continuing protests by Muslims around the globe over an anti-Islam film, Innocence of Muslims. The offices of Charlie Hebdo were firebombed last November after it published an edition entitled Charia Hebdo, supposedly guest-edited by Muhammad. On Wednesday, France's prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said in a statement: "In the current climate, the prime minister wishes to stress his disapproval of all excesses and calls on everyone to behave responsibly." Questioned on RTL radio, he added: "We are in a country where the freedom of expression is guaranteed, along with the freedom to caricature." Shortly afterwards there were calls for protests against the caricatures and the film in Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Paris. Ayrault said a request had been made for police authorisation to hold the demonstration in Paris on Saturday, but that it would be refused. On Sunday, police arrested more than 100 people who had gathered to protest against Innocence of Muslims near the US embassy in the French capital. An Afghan suicide bombing linked to protests about the film killed 12 people on Tuesday. All 75,000 copies of Charlie Hebdo sold out according to the magazine, whose editors are planning to print more on Friday. The magazine's website was unavailable all of Wednesday after it was apparently hacked and closed down. According to L'Express magazine an unnamed association had begun legal proceedings against Charlie Hebdo for incitement to hatred. Dalil Boubakeur, the senior cleric at Paris's biggest mosque, appealed for France's four million Muslims to remain calm. "It is with astonishment, sadness and concern that I have learned that this publication is risking increasing the current outrage across the Muslim world," he said."I would appeal to them not to pour oil on the fire." The publication of the caricatures, on the front cover, as well as on the inside and back pages of Charlie Hebdo brought widespread condemnation. Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, said in a statement that "inciting hatred in the name of freedom was to be totally rejected". Essam el-Erian, the acting head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, said the French judiciary should deal with the issue as firmly as it had handled the case against the magazine that published topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge. "If the case of Kate is a matter of privacy, then the cartoons are an insult to a whole people. The beliefs of others must be respected," he told Reuters. Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said French law should deal with insults against Islam in the same way as it deals with Holocaust denial. "If anyone doubts the Holocaust happened, they are imprisoned, yet if anyone insults the prophet, his companions or Islam, the most [France] does is to apologise in two words. It is not fair or logical," he said. Richard Prasquier, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, said he disapproved of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons after the killings in the row over the film. "It is in consideration of those deaths that I disapprove of Charlie Hebdo's initiative," he said in a statement. "To publish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in these times, in the name of freedom, is an irresponsible kind of panache." André Vingt-Trois, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Paris, told French radio the cartoons would "provoke revulsion among many Muslim believers, who will feel their faith has been insulted". He added: "You cannot say anything in the name of freedom of expression". Outside Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices, the magazine's editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, was unrepentant and denied he was being deliberately provocative. Charbonnier, who drew this week's front page, and two of his fellow cartoonists, have been under police protection since the firebomb attack. "The freedom of the press, is that a provocation?" Charbonnier said. "I'm not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn't go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe." Earlier he had told French journalists the latest caricatures would shock "only those who will want to be shocked". Richard Malka, the magazine's lawyer, added: "We are in a secular country … the tradition of caricaturing religion goes back more than a century." And France's interior minister Manuel Valls, who met Muslim leaders on Wednesday, said caricature was a "fundamental right" of freedom of expression. He added that protests that caused public order issues or were aimed a "sowing hatred" would not be tolerated. Announcing the security measures, Fabius said he was "against all provocation". On Wednesday evening, Egyptian authorities announced they would be ordering French schools and cultural centres to close on Thursday to head off potential trouble. In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten caused an international storm by publishing 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad. The ensuing protests across the world resulted in more than 100 reported deaths. The Danish embassy in Pakistan was bombed, and Danish embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran were set alight. One of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, who uses the name Tignous, defended the drawings. "It's just a drawing," he said. "It's not a provocation."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Title's Danish sister title to follow with supplement on Thursday, despite duke and duchess winning injunction in France A Swedish celebrity magazine has published topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, less than 24 hours after her lawyers won an injunction preventing a French publisher from using the controversial pictures. The three-page spread published on Wednesday includes almost a dozen pictures of the duchess. The Danish edition of the magazine – Se og Hør – also said that it will publish a 16-page supplement of the photos on Thursday. Carina Loefkvist, editor-in-chief of the Swedish Se og Hør (See and Hear), was unrepentant about the publication of the pictures. "This is nothing unusual, these are quite nice pictures if you compare with other celebrity pictures that we publish all the time," she said. Loefkvist added that the magazine, which had a weekly circulation of more than 100,000 last year, bought the pictures last Friday "from photographers and photo agencies, the way we always do" and "before everything erupted". Kim Henningsen, the editor of the Danish version of the magazine, said that he was "incredibly proud that we have rights to the pictures of Britain's future queen". "Our readers love to keep up with the famous and royal life and demand revealing news," added Henningsen. "It is in Se og Hør's DNA to entertain and satisfy our readers' curiosity," said Henningen in a statement on the magazine's website. "Therefore, it is always relevant for us when a duchess and the future queen of England is topless." Both magazines are owned by Denmark-based Aller Media. St James's Palace said that "all proportionate responses will be kept under review". The pictures have so far been published in France, Italy and Ireland. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on Tuesday won the first round of their legal battle against Closer magazine in France, which published five pages of pictures of the couple sunbathing on a roof terrace at a private chateau in Provence. The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Nanterre, near Paris, granted an injunction ordering the French title to hand over digital files of the pictures within 24 hours. The magistrates ruled that every photograph published in France by Closer publisher Mondadori, the media company owned by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in future would carry a fine of €10,000 (£8,000). But the ruling refers only to the 14 pictures that have already been published. Closer's editor Laurence Pieau has said she has other, more intimate, pictures. The French police raided the premises of the Paris-based magazine on Wednesday as they launched their hunt for the photographer responsible for taking the pictures. Under French criminal law, a breach of privacy carries a fine of up to €45,000 and a jail sentence of up to 12 months. The editor of the Irish Daily Star, Michael O'Kane, was suspended after publishing the topless photographs on Saturday. St James's Palace is still considering its options in relation to the publication of the pictures in Ireland and in Italy, where Mondadori-owned magazine Chi rushed out a special edition on Monday with a 26-page spread. The photographs were taken while the duchess was sunbathing on a private holiday with her husband at the French chateau of the Queen's nephew, Lord Linley, in Provence, earlier this month. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republican candidate uses USA Today opinion piece to make the case for smaller government as Obama stops by Letterman Mitt Romney's embattled campaign team mounted a determined fightback attempt on Wednesday, reframing his remarks captured on secretly recorded video as setting out a choice for voters between small government and Barack Obama's "culture of dependency". In a bid to turn the tide of damaging headlines over the video, which captured him dismissing 47% of the electorate as victims who were dependent on government, Romney used a USA Today opinion column to claim his belief in free enterprise contrasted with Obama's redistributive tendencies. Obama's supporters are equally determined to exploit the 47% row to the full. The Priorities USA Super Pac released a new television ad titled Doors, using clips from the video which was recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for Romney at the home of an investment banker in Florida in May. The Romney team has been on the defensive since the recording's release on Monday. In the video, Romney wrote off the 47% as not being his responsibility. It is too early for polls to show how much damage the secret video has done to the Romney campaign. It could be next week before the polls settle down and offer a clearer indication of the likely election outcome. The latest polls give a mixed view of the race, with some suggesting Obama's post-convention lead has largely evaporated while one by NBC and the Wall Street Journal gave him a five-point national lead. Polls in the swing states show Obama opening up a significant lead in Virginia, a state he had been expected to struggle to hold. The Romney team, in the middle of the candidate's worst week yet, embarked on its fire-fighting effort on Wednesday after a series of frantic conference calls seeking to reassure donors that the campaign remains credible. Matt Rhoades, Romney's campaign manager, issued a "memo" – in reality, a press release – putting the video in a wider context: the choice facing voters on November 6. "Mitt Romney's vision for America is an opportunity society, where free people and free enterprise thrive and success is admired and emulated, not attacked. President Obama's vision for America is a government-centered society, where government grows bigger and more active, occupying more of our everyday lives," Rhoades wrote. A Republican party spokeswoman summed it up as Romney's view that personal responsibility and hard work will deliver recovery against Obama's belief in redistribution and government dependency. Stephen Hayes, a conservative commentator, lauded the damage-control exercise. "Romney campaign turning into the skid on the video – hitting back hard on size/scope of government. Smart move," he wrote on Twitter, though adding the caveat "Will it last?" The Romney team has been helped by a decision of the liberal magazine Mother Jones, which started the firestorm by releasing excerpts from the secret video on its website on Monday night, to put out the whole 50-minute video out on Tuesday rather than opt for a drip-feed approach. In his USA Today op-ed, Romney focused on the small government versus big government theme. "My course for the American economy will encourage private investment and personal freedom. Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty," he said. The Romney team is pushing an audio clip from 1998 in which Obama expresses support for redistribution of wealth. Other than on the Drudge Report, which ran the video on Tuesday evening, the clip has failed to gain much traction in the media as it reveals little new about the president's views. The Obama campaign dismissed the audio clip as a sign of desperation on the part of the Romney campaign. Obama used an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday to attack Romney over the video. "One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country. If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone." He added: "All of us make mistakes. … What I think people want to make sure of, though, is you're not writing off a big chunk of the country because the way our democracy works." RealClearPolitcs, in its average of polls, has Obama at 48% to Romney's 45.4%, suggesting the election is still tight in spite of weeks of gaffes and other setbacks for Romney. An ad blitz by Romney and his supporters and a good performance by the candidate in the first presidential debate with Obama on October 3 in Denver could see the president's lead narrow. A Gallup poll has Obama only 1% ahead, as does AP, suggesting he has lost almost all of his post-convention poll bounce. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Obama up 5% while Rasmussen puts Romney up 2%. A Quinnipiac poll on behalf of the New York Times and CBS in six swing states has Obama 1% ahead of Romney in Colorado, 6% in Wisconsin and 4% in Virginia. A poll in the Washington Post gives Obama a staggering 8% lead in Virginia, 52% to 44%.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Bloggers question two-minute gap in fundraiser video as Republican candidate takes to USA Today opinion pages Conservative bloggers are leading a campaign to discredit the secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential candidate's embattled team mounted a determined fightback. The bloggers raised questions about a gap in the secret video recording of Romney's speech to a $50,000-a-head dinner in Florida in May and suggested manipulation. The person who made the recording has not been revealed. David Corn, the reporter on the liberal magazine Mother Jones that posted the video on Monday night, dismissed the attack by the bloggers as a "smokescreen" and "a distraction". "Everything that I obtained from the source is posted. There is nothing that is not out there. There is nothing that has been edited for deleted," he said.
The source said the video was sent in two segments. "There seemed to be a little gap and I asked the source why. The source said that at the end of the first segment the video timed out or he might have brushed it. He does not know why. "He turned it back on. He said only one or two minutes elapsed." One of the main conservatives that raised the the question of the missing minutes, Joel Pollak, of Breitbart.com, wrote that Corn had failed to live up his promise to provide all of the video and "there is new reason to suspect manipulation".
He added: "Mother Jones's entire story now deserves to be treated with suspicion, if not contempt." Corn said the row over the missing segment is puzzling to him. "What do the conservative critics think might be on this two minutes that might ameliorate what he said earlier. He added that Romney himself has not challenged the gap. The row over the missing segment came as Romney's campaign team sought to regain ground by reframing remarks he made in the video that 47% of Americans are government-dependent. Romney and his team placed his comments in the context of a choice for voters between small government and Barack Obama's "culture of dependency". In a bid to turn the tide of damaging headlines over the video, which captured him dismissing 47% of the electorate as victims who were dependent on government, Romney used a USA Today opinion column to claim his belief in free enterprise contrasted with Obama's redistributive tendencies. Obama's supporters are equally determined to exploit the 47% row to the full. The Priorities USA Super Pac released a new television ad titled Doors, using clips from the video which was recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for Romney at the home of an investment banker in Florida in May. The Romney team has been on the defensive since the recording's release on Monday. In the video, Romney wrote off the 47% as not being his responsibility. It is too early for polls to show how much damage the secret video has done to the Romney campaign. It could be next week before the polls settle down and offer a clearer indication of the likely election outcome. The latest polls give a mixed view of the race, with some suggesting Obama's post-convention lead has largely evaporated while one by NBC and the Wall Street Journal gave him a five-point national lead. Polls in the swing states show Obama opening up a significant lead in Virginia, a state he had been expected to struggle to hold. The Romney team, in the middle of the candidate's worst week yet, embarked on its fire-fighting effort on Wednesday after a series of frantic conference calls seeking to reassure donors that the campaign remains credible. Matt Rhoades, Romney's campaign manager, issued a "memo" – in reality, a press release – putting the video in a wider context: the choice facing voters on November 6. "Mitt Romney's vision for America is an opportunity society, where free people and free enterprise thrive and success is admired and emulated, not attacked. President Obama's vision for America is a government-centered society, where government grows bigger and more active, occupying more of our everyday lives," Rhoades wrote. A Republican party spokeswoman summed it up as Romney's view that personal responsibility and hard work will deliver recovery against Obama's belief in redistribution and government dependency. Stephen Hayes, a conservative commentator, lauded the damage-control exercise. "Romney campaign turning into the skid on the video – hitting back hard on size/scope of government. Smart move," he wrote on Twitter, though adding the caveat "Will it last?" The Romney team has been helped by a decision of the liberal magazine Mother Jones, which started the firestorm by releasing excerpts from the secret video on its website on Monday night, to put out the whole 50-minute video out on Tuesday rather than opt for a drip-feed approach. In his USA Today op-ed, Romney focused on the small government versus big government theme. "My course for the American economy will encourage private investment and personal freedom. Instead of creating a web of dependency, I will pursue policies that grow our economy and lift Americans out of poverty," he said. The Romney team is pushing an audio clip from 1998 in which Obama expresses support for redistribution of wealth. Other than on the Drudge Report, which ran the video on Tuesday evening, the clip has failed to gain much traction in the media as it reveals little new about the president's views. The Obama campaign dismissed the audio clip as a sign of desperation on the part of the Romney campaign. Obama used an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday to attack Romney over the video. "One of the things I learned as president is you represent the entire country. If you want to be president, you have to work for everyone." He added: "All of us make mistakes. … What I think people want to make sure of, though, is you're not writing off a big chunk of the country because the way our democracy works." RealClearPolitcs, in its average of polls, has Obama at 48% to Romney's 45.4%, suggesting the election is still tight in spite of weeks of gaffes and other setbacks for Romney. An ad blitz by Romney and his supporters and a good performance by the candidate in the first presidential debate with Obama on October 3 in Denver could see the president's lead narrow. A Gallup poll has Obama only 1% ahead, as does AP, suggesting he has lost almost all of his post-convention poll bounce. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has Obama up 5% while Rasmussen puts Romney up 2%. A Quinnipiac poll on behalf of the New York Times and CBS in six swing states has Obama 1% ahead of Romney in Colorado, 6% in Wisconsin and 4% in Virginia. A poll in the Washington Post gives Obama a staggering 8% lead in Virginia, 52% to 44%.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Bill Gates heads list of America's wealthiest with $66bn – but social media titans like Mark Zuckerberg slip down rankings Social media? So last year. Youth? Overrated. The new Forbes list of the richest Americans shows that old money endures, and that the would-be kings of the second dotcom age have been served. The top three American billionaires in this year's Forbes poll have a combined age of 206. Bill Gates, 56, heads the poll again with a fortune of $66bn, $7bn more than last year. This is his 19th year in a row at the top. Warren Buffett, 82 and the last man to oust his friend Gates, comes in second at $46bn and Oracle's Larry Ellison, 68, is third at $41bn. Conspicuous by their absence in the top ranks are the new tech titans, most notably Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. The social media media moguls lost a combined $11bn in one year, according to Forbes. The biggest loser was Zuckerberg, whose net worth has dropped $8.1bn, more than anyone in the list this year, and which prompted a fall from 14th place to 36th. Not that Zuckerberg is poor. The 28-year-old is now worth $9.4bn, the same as News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, 81. Nor is Zuckerberg alone among his social media peers in losing cash this year. Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga – the gaming firm behind Words With Friends and Draw Something – has also been burnt, as investors found the games to be less addictive than they first thought. Zynga's shares have fallen more than 66% since their debut last December. Pincus made his debut in the list last year and is out this year. But the social media backlash didn't dent the fortunes of America's wealthiest. The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is $4.2bn this year, up from $3.8bn in 2011. The total combined net worth of the 400 Club was $1.7tn, up from $1.5tn in 2011. Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) was an estimated $1.7tn in 2011. Net worth increased for 241 members, and decreased for 66 members. There were just 45 women in the list, up from 42 last year. The wealthiest was Alice Walton, one of the heirs to the Walmart fortune and whose $26.3bn made her the eighth richest woman. The Waltons occupy four of the top 10 slots, but are not the only example of family fortunes at the top of the list. Charles and David Koch, industrialist billionaires and favourite funders of all things rightwing, came in joint fourth, with a combined fortune of $62bn. The youngest man on the list, Facebook's Dustin Moskovitz, 28, and the oldest, David Rockefeller Sr, 97, shared 151st position with fortunes of $2.7bn. Also in at 151 was Oprah Winfrey.
Forbes managed to cajole $126bn worth of billionaire to pose for its latest cover celebrating their philanthropy. Gates, Buffett, Winfrey are all there. And Jon Bon Jovi. He's not on the list, but a video explains – sort of – that he's there because he gives a lot to charity.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow the day's developments as Iran's foreign minister held talks in Syria after outlining a nine-point plan for tackling the violence
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Greece's Holland Park consulate could be sold, as part of drive to raise funds
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Murdoch family put personal interests ahead of the company's, shareholders allege, as they ask judge to amend earlier lawsuit Shareholders in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp are asking a US court for permission to sue the firm's board for failing to stop the phone hacking scandal. The shareholders asked Delaware judge John Noble on Wednesday to proceed with their case against Murdoch, his sons Lachlan and James and the rest of the company's board. News Corp is attempting to have the case dismissed. In all, 50 people have been arrested in connection with the scandal, News Corp has closed its most profitable newspaper, the News of the World newspaper, and lost a deal to take over the BSkyB satellite broadcast business. The shareholders, including America's Amalgamated Bank and Central Laborers' Pension Funds, charge the company's executives put their own interests ahead shareholders and treated the firm as a "family candy jar". The lawsuit was originally filed in March 2011 over News Corp's agreement to buy Shine, a TV production company owned by Elizabeth Murdoch, the News Corp chairman's daughter, for $670m. It was amended after the phone hacking scandal emerged. "All of this harm occurred because the board chose to protect those close to Murdoch rather than investigate the misconduct when it learned about it," the shareholders said in June in their amended complaint. "These revelations should not have taken years to uncover and stop. These revelations show a culture run amuck within News Corp and a board that provides no effective review or oversight," the shareholders charged. Charles Elson, chair in corporate governance at the University of Delaware, said lack of board oversight was a difficult case to bring but that News Corp's dual class share structure could present the Murdochs with some challenges. News Corp has two classes of shares, and the Murdochs' shares give them 39% of the company votes although the family owns about 15% of the equity. "The chances of bringing these type of cases are usually pretty slim but here you have independence and conflict of interest issues vis a vis the board so there's more of a shot," said Elson. Elson said the judges in Delaware, where News Corp and many other US firms are incorporated, were interested in the conflicts that dual class share structures present to shareholders. "In my view dual class share structures cast a shade over a board's independence," he said. News Corp is under investigation by the US justice department under the foreign corrupt practices act which can impose heavy fines on US firms found to have bribed foreign officials.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Iran's foreign minister holds talks in Syria after outlining a nine-point plan for tackling the violence
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Oil company confirms disposal is imminent of troubled site where 17 people died in an explosion in 2005 BP says it is in "advanced talks" with potential purchasers for its Texas City refinery – one of its most troubled assets – and is expecting to sell it before the end of the year. Shares in BP were up 2.2p to 441.2p by mid-afternoon on Wednesday amid speculation that US company Marathon Petroleum was poised to take over America's third largest refinery for around $2.5bn (£1.5bn). Neither Marathon nor BP would comment on the identity of any possible purchaser but the UK-based company admitted it was close to the disposal of the refinery where 15 people were killed and 170 injured in an explosion seven years ago. "We are in advanced discussions regarding potential sale. We have engaged a number of interested, qualified industry participants. We remain on track to announce a transaction before year end," said BP in a statement. The sale has been triggered by BP's desire to raise $38bn of cash to pay for liabilities and possible fines related to another disaster: the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has also been happy to scale down its refining operations, where profit margins have been thin for many years. The energy group recently disposed of the Carson refinery in California to Tesoro for $2.25bn but said it planned to hang on to three core US sites: Whiting in Indiana, Cherry Point in Washington and Toledo in Ohio. Earlier this month BP sold off oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico to Plains Exploration for $5.5bn and revealed it had asked a Louisiana court to approve a multibillion-dollar settlement over the Deepwater Horizon incident with hundreds of private claimants. But that filing provoked a fierce response from the US department of justice, which said it still expected to find the company guilty of gross negligence in a court case which restarts in January. There had been hopes that the department and BP were close to some kind of out-of-court settlement. The sale of Texas City would bring to an end a sorry chapter in BP's history: safety authorities found the company guilty of over 300 violations after the fire and slapped a record fine on it.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Despite references by president and defence secretary, CIA has refused FOIA request on grounds it cannot confirm drone use The American Civil Liberties Union will go to court on Thursday in an attempt to get the CIA to hand over documents related to President Barack Obama's controversial "targeted killing" programme that uses unmanned drones to strike suspected Islamic militants. The programme has been repeatedly referenced in public by numerous senior officials, including by Obama himself and defence secretary Leon Panetta, but the spy agency has refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request from the civil liberties group because it says it will not confirm the secretive use of drones. As a result the ACLU has gone to court to argue that the CIA cannot deny the existence of a programme that has been so widely reported, including in great detail in off-the-record briefings by administration and agency officials. Jameel Jaffer, the deputy legal director of the ACLU, said: "It is preposterous. The assertion that this programme is a secret is nothing short of absurd. "For more than two years, senior officials have been making claims about the programme both on the record and off. They've claimed that the programme is effective, lawful and closely supervised. If they can make these claims, there is no reason why they should not be required to respond to [FOIA] requests." The so-called targeted killing programme has become one of the most controversial aspects of Obama's national security policy. It has been used in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia to strike at suspected terrorists and their supporters. Proponents of the programme say attacks can be highly accurate and come at little risk to American forces as there is no need for ground forces. Critics point out that there often civilian casualties and little is known about how targets are identified and targeted. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism tracks the strikes and has calculated that there have been 344 CIA drone hits in Pakistan alone since 2002, killing up to 3,325 people, including 881 civilians. Another area of concern is the use of drones to kill American citizens, such as radical American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old Colorado-born son. Both died in drone strikes in Yemen and relatives have sued top Pentagon and CIA officials for damages. The ACLU's demand for details of the programme – including documents related to its legal justification drawn up by the department of justice – is aimed at prompting a national debate on the scope of the drone programme and how it is used. Its legality is a particular issue. The memorandum justifying the legal basis for the targeted killing has now been requested by at least 10 members of Congress and three different lawsuits but it remains so secret that that acknowledging its existence is a classified matter. "The public has a right to decide for itself whether or not the programme is lawful or moral," Jaffer said. Some legal and security experts agree and believe that the current boom in drone warfare is only like to increase the demand for greater openness about how and why the weapons are used. Professor Amos Guiora, a national security and legal expert at the University of Utah, said: "Given that the drones are the warfare of the future you need a public debate about what's being done in the public's name."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | White House rivals visit Florida to speak on Spanish-language TV in effort to address key concerns of diverse Latino electorate As if his week needed to become any more challenging, Mitt Romney will appear in Miami on Wednesday to face some tough questions from a key group of voters crucial to his hopes of winning the White House – Florida's Hispanics. The Republican presidential candidate, already in trouble for his "it would be helpful to be a Latino" comment recorded at a Florida fundraising dinner, goes into an interview with the Spanish-language TV station Univision seeking to explain and defend his controversial policies on immigration and healthcare. Barack Obama, meanwhile, follows Romney to south Florida for his own appearance before the same cameras on Thursday. And while Obama enjoys a margin of popularity among Florida's 2.1 million Hispanic electors, 51% to 37%, according to the latest polls, analysts say the vote could yet tip either way. "It's hard to win the presidency and not win in Florida, and it's hard to win in Florida without winning the Hispanic vote," said Casey Klofstad, associate professor of political science at the University of Miami and an analyst for the polling group Latino Decisions. "The campaign is more about turnout than changing hearts and minds. The candidates need to court their base and go to where the votes are. The Latino vote is especially critical, and any candidate that comes through here needs to pay attention to it." To treat the Hispanic community as a single entity, however, is a mistake neither candidate is willing to make as they pursue Florida's 29 electoral college votes. Aside from common concerns over jobs and the economy, each subgroup has its own issues and idiosyncrasies that the nominees will be attempting to address. Both Romney and Obama are spending a disproportionate amount of time and resources here to get their positions across, and by Thursday night each will have visited Florida nine times since June 1, more than any other state during the campaign to date. Republicans and Democrats are also lavishing more cash in Florida than anywhere else. According to Kantar Media, the Republicans spent $7.5m on advertising from July 1 to September 10, $1.5m more than the Democrats. Many of those TV commercials on both sides have been in Spanish, and have featured voters of Cuban or Puerto Rican origin or those of other Hispanic nationalities. "This is a diverse and sophisticated electorate," Gabriela Domenzain, Obama's director of Hispanic press, told the Huffington Post. "You can't just put out one message and think that speaks to 50 million people. We get that and we try to respect it." Unsurprisingly, Romney is polling ahead of his rival among Cuban Americans in Miami, where exiles have traditionally supported successive Republican candidates for their hardline stance against the communist regime of Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl. That is unlikely to change by November, but the demographic of Cuban Americans is undoubtedly shifting, as older, more conservative Cubans who fled the island in the 1950s and 60s die and the community increasingly consists of those born in the US. Obama, therefore, has high hopes of a better showing among Cuban Americans, who make up a third of the Hispanic voting bloc and who were 63.9% in favour of Republican opponent John McCain in 2008. "There has been a change in the thinking processes of many in the Cuban American community, and a realisation that what happens in Cuba is sometimes beyond the reach of what the American government can do," said Manrique Iriarte, a Cuban-born doctor who works at Miami's Mount Sinai medical centre. "For five decades we've been hearing messages from both parties regarding the regime in Cuba. Politicians have been coming here for 50 years drinking coffee in Café Versailles and Cuba Libres on Calle Ocho – and it's not working any more. We're looking for broader messages for our lives as Americans. "Most of the Cuban American vote will always be Republican no matter what happens or who runs for the White House, but the Democrats won 25% of the vote in 2000 and 35% in 2008. The goal is 40% this time, and that seems possible." A different story for Puerto RicansFurther north, Puerto Ricans are the fastest growing community in Florida and, to some observers at least, could have more of a say in deciding the eventual winner, largely because the group has no traditional party affiliation. There are almost 900,000 Puerto Ricans in the state, double that of a decade ago, with migration promoted by a poor economy in their homeland and the fact that Puerto Rico's status as an unincorporated territory of the US grants them citizenship and freedom of movement. Puerto Ricans now account for 28.4% of Florida's Hispanic electorate, according to Pew Research Center figures, and are on course to become the largest group by the 2016 election. About 350,000 live along the so-called I-4 corridor from Tampa to Daytona Beach, where voters could determine the contest one way or the other if the rest of the state stays loyal to the Republicans in the north and the Democrats in the south. It also explains why a raft of senior Democrats including the Obamas and Bill Clinton, and several politicians from Puerto Rico, have been regular visitors. The president even stopped by a Puerto Rican café in Orlando last month for a photo op with a plate of pulled pork, rice and beans. "For us, like others, the economy and healthcare are the big issues, and I would say the majority are Democrats," said Maria Luyanda, head of her own Orlando-based insurance company and president of the Puerto Rican chamber of commerce of central Florida. "The main reason is which party tends to protect the middle class and which party protects rich people. Many of us are small business owners and we look to who will look after us." Romney's stated policies on immigration, experts say, remain an obstacle to his building support among other Hispanic voters, notably the smaller yet significant communities from Mexico (8.9%) and the Dominican Republic (4.5%). Romney has said he would veto the proposed Dream Act, which offers a path to citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, and that he supports self-deportation and stiff penalties to those who entered the US illegally or outstayed visas. Obama, by contrast, announced in June he was suspending the deportation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants between 16 and 30 and would instead give them work permits, something Romney now says he supports. "It would be better for Romney to peel away from immigration and pivot to the economy," said Klofstad, the professor at the University of Miami where Romney's Univision interview is taking place. "He needs to say that most important is job creation and the economy, it's something we can all agree on, and here's what I'm going to do." Then there's Romney's claim in a secretly filmed video at a dinner for donors in Boca Raton, Florida, that if his Mexican-born father had native parents instead of American expatriates: "I'd have a better shot of winning this." The comment infuriated many, and it remains to be seen how much of Florida's Hispanic vote it will cost him in November. For now "there's no doubt the Romney campaign has been hit hard," Klofstad said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After city teachers vote to compromise with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, 350,000 students return to classes Chicago students return to school on Wednesday after a teachers' strike ended, thrilling parents who had to stay home from work to care for their kids, pay for alternative childcare or leave them with friends and relatives for more than a week. Representatives of the 29,000 striking Chicago public school teachers and support staff voted on Tuesday to suspend their strike and accept a compromise agreement on a new three-year contract with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Some 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students return to classes after missing seven school days in the third-largest US school district after New York and Los Angeles. It was the first time since 1987 that Chicago teachers had walked off the job and nearly everyone in the city seemed relieved that it was over. "All our members are glad to back with their kids," said Karen Lewis, the outspoken former high school chemistry teacher who heads the union. Lewis led the teachers out of the classroom over Emanuel's demand for sweeping education reforms that the union believed were misguided. Only a fraction of the students went to nearly 150 centers around Chicago set up to care for children during the strike. The union had warned that the city-run centers would be a "train wreck" with caregivers lacking proper credentials. While there were no major problems, most parents opted to keep their children at home. Many kids passed the time by watching television, playing video games, doing crafts and chatting on social media. "They've been around sleeping all day," said parent Dawn McNamara of her daughter, a sophomore in high school, and her friends. "It seemed like it was going to take forever (to settle the strike)," McNamara said. Teachers were all smiles as they left the vote to end the strike on Tuesday, with one overheard telling a colleague on her cell phone: "Tell our people we're going back. We're going to see our babies." Even the tough-talking mayor Emanuel choked up slightly at a press conference after the strike was called off. Emanuel said that he fought so hard for reforms because he had seen the blank stares of some children "whose vitality has been stripped from them, any sense of a promise or a future." "The only way I know to bridge that look in their eyes and the promise and opportunity that exists in the city of Chicago is in the classrooms of the schools," Emanuel said. While the strike ended, some of the issues that spawned it remain. Most Chicago public schools are struggling academically, the high school graduation rate lags the national average substantially and the school district is in dire financial straits. Lewis said that the full membership of the union will vote in the next two weeks to formally ratify the agreement, which gives teachers an average 17.6 percent pay rise over four years and creates a new teacher evaluation system based in part on their students' standardized test results. The teacher evaluation system was a key demand of Emanuel, along with a longer school day. But the union won partial guarantees of job security and fought off Emanuel's attempt to link pay to merit. A court hearing is scheduled on Wednesday to consider Emanuel's request to have the strike ruled illegal, which was made before the union voted to end the strike. It was not clear if Emanuel's legal case against the union would continue. The union also filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school district during the dispute and litigation may continue on that grievance before a state agency. Teachers said they fear now that the strike has ended, Emanuel will proceed to close dozens of schools to help pay for the cost of the agreement with teachers. The Chicago Tribune reported last week that the school district is considering closing 120 schools and a local education information service, Catalyst Chicago, said its analysis suggested as many as 140 schools met the district's criteria for closing. Like many large cities, enrollment in Chicago public schools has fallen in recent years as population declined, and some people move to the suburbs. The district says it needs to close schools to reduce overcapacity. The union says that the district is closing neighborhood public schools and replacing them with "charter" schools, which are mostly non-union.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wang Lijun tried to tell now-disgraced party boss that wife Gu Kailai was suspected of killing British businessman, court hears China has formally implicated disgraced politician Bo Xilai in the scandal over his wife Gu Kailai's murder of a British businessman during the trial of a former police chief. A report from state news agency Xinhua published on Wednesday does not mention Bo by name, but it says that Wang Lijun attempted to tell "the Chongqing party committee's main responsible person at the time" that Gu was suspected of killing Neil Heywood. Bo was then the south-western city's Communist party boss. Wang, whom Bo had hired to spearhead an anti-gang crackdown, "was angrily scolded and hit" after raising the matter, according to the testimony of another police officer read at the hearings in Chengdu this week. The corruption cases raised by the prosecution also involve businessmen known to be close to Bo. The comments increase the prospect that the former political high-flyer may face criminal charges himself. Until now authorities have shied away from connecting Bo to the case, though accounts of his encounter with Wang had already surfaced. The authorities have not commented on Bo since April when it was announced that he was under an internal Communist party investigation for breaching discipline. The matter is particularly sensitive as China's power transition fast approaches. Bo was once tipped as a contender for top political office and won popular support for campaigns such as the drive against organised crime. But he antagonised many within the party with his ambition and alarmed liberals with his willingness to trample over human rights. But Kerry Brown, an expert on Chinese politics at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy, said the party could still deal with Bo's case internally, adding: "It seems to have been very rigorous in keeping Bo's malfeasance apart from Gu's. "That kind of story [about the confrontation] was so well known that it was hard not to try to address it." He added: "I can't see any big gains from totally trashing Bo now. Not going for the jugular might be more sensible, particularly at the moment." Wang's trial for defection, accepting bribes, abuse of power and bending the law to selfish ends – by covering up the murder – was held at Chengdu intermediate people's court on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Xinhua report, the 52-year-old secretly recorded Gu's confession to murdering Heywood the day after the killing last November, but did not initially act on it. "After arriving in Chongqing, I would often go to the home of Bogu Kailai. I felt Bogu Kailai was very good to me," Xinhua said, citing Wang's testimony. "At the time, my selfish motives were guiding me. I didn't want to face this case." According to Gu's aide Zhang Xiaojun – also convicted of Heywood's murder – Wang phoned hours after the body was cremated to utter a coded eight-character message to her: "It turned into blue smoke, flying away to the west with the cranes." But as time went on, Wang felt Gu was turning on him, Xinhua added. As his colleagues became targets of "illegal investigations", he began to feel in danger and decided to escape. That triggered his dash to the US consulate in Chengdu, where he told diplomats of his suspicions – leading to British demands for a reinvestigation of Heywood's death. Within two months, Bo had been ousted and Gu was detained for murder. Last month she received a suspended death sentence. Xinhua said Wang's trial also heard that entrepreneur Xu Ming offered homes worth over 2.85m yuan (£280,000) to a relative of the former police chief in return for the release of three associates who had been detained in Chongqing. Xu, whose association with Bo stretched over two decades, has not been seen since March and is assumed to be in custody. The former intelligence agent Yu Junshi, another long-term associate of Bo who is thought to have been detained since spring, was cited as renting villas for Wang in exchange for the release of another man.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wang Lijun tried to tell now disgraced party boss that wife Gu Kailai was suspected of killing British businessman, court hears China has formally implicated disgraced politician Bo Xilai in the scandal over his wife Gu Kailai's murder of a British businessman during the trial of a former police chief. A report from state news agency Xinhua published on Wednesday does not mention Bo by name. But it says that Wang Lijun attempted to tell "the Chongqing party committee's main responsible person at the time" that Gu was suspected of killing Neil Heywood. Bo was then the south-western city's party boss. Wang, whom Bo had hired to spearhead an anti-gang crackdown, "was angrily scolded and hit" after raising the matter, according to the testimony of another police officer read at the hearings in Chengdu this week. The corruption cases raised by the prosecution also involve businessmen known to be close to Bo. The comments increase the prospect that the former political high-flyer may face criminal charges himself. Until now authorities have shied away from connecting Bo to the case, though accounts of his encounter with Wang had already surfaced. The authorities have not commented on Bo since April when it was announced that he was under an internal Communist party investigation for breaching discipline. The matter is particularly sensitive as China's power transition fast approaches. Bo was once tipped as a contender for top political office and won popular supports with campaigns such as the drive against organised crime. But he antagonised many within the party with his evident ambition and alarmed liberals with his willingness to trample over human rights. But Kerry Brown, an expert on Chinese politics at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy, said the party could still deal with Bo's case internally, adding: "It seems to have been very rigorous in keeping Bo's malfeasance apart from Gu's. "That kind of story [about the confrontation] was so well-known that it was hard not to try to address it." He added: "I can't see any big gains from totally trashing Bo now. Not going for the jugular might be more sensible, particularly at the moment." Wang's trial for defection, accepting bribes, abuse of power and bending the law to selfish ends – by covering up the murder – was heard at Chengdu intermediate people's court held on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Xinhua report, the 52 year old secretly recorded Gu's confession to murdering Heywood the day after the killing last November, but did not initially act on it. "After arriving in Chongqing, I would often go to the home of Bogu Kailai. I felt Bogu Kailai was very good to me," Xinhua said, citing Wang's testimony. "At the time, my selfish motives were guiding me. I didn't want to face this case." According to Gu's aide Zhang Xiaojun – also convicted of Heywood's murder – Wang phoned hours after the body was cremated, to utter a coded eight-character message to her: "It turned into blue smoke, flying away to the west with the cranes." But as time went on, Wang felt Gu was turning on him, Xinhua added. As his colleagues became targets of "illegal investigations", he began to feel in danger and decided to escape. That triggered his dash to the US consulate in Chengdu, where he told diplomats of his suspicions – leading to the British demands for a reinvestigation of Heywood's death. Within two months, Bo had been ousted and Gu was detained for murder. Last month she received a suspended death sentence. Xinhua said the Wang's trial also heard that entrepreneur Xu Ming offered homes worth over 2.85m yuan to a relative of the former police chief's in return for the release of three associates who had been detained in Chongqing. Xu, whose association with Bo stretched over two decades, has not been seen since March and is assumed to be in custody. The former intelligence agent Yu Junshi, another long term associate of Bo's who is thought to have been detained since spring, was cited as renting villas for Wang in exchange for the release of another man.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Bill that would provide $1bn to help veterans who are returning home has been repeatedly sidetracked by Senate Republicans Veterans groups and Democrats are urging Republican senators to put political bickering aside and stop blocking a bill which would help offset high unemployment rates among veterans. Senators are due to vote on Wednesday on the bill which would cost $1bn over five years to help veterans find employment in public work projects and as police officers and firefighters. It gives priority to the newest generation of veterans, post-9/11, whose employment prospects are almost three percentage points below the national average. The vote, which was postponed from last week amid Republican opposition, is the latest in a series of manoeuvres which have delayed the bill, as members of the House prepare to campaign for re-election. Wednesday's vote is on a budgetary point of order, after Republicans objected to the cost of the bill, which they say violates congressional rules. Democrats and veterans groups say the bill's costs are fully offset and have accused some Republicans of playing partisan politics at the expense of helping military personnel who struggle to regain employment when they return from deployment. Ramsay Sulayman, of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said he was saddened to see "a very small group of people that are standing for principle to block the bill from even coming to a vote" on an issue which he said had seen a strong spirit of bipartisan support. "That's what we object to" said Sulayman. "If people say 'We don't like the bill' and stand up and get up and vote and go on the record … that is different. It's sad to see a few people holding a bill to hostage." Sulayman, a marine corp veteran and reservist, said it appeals to a "vast majority of the Senate who would want to get it on the floor". "Veterans employment was 10.9% in August. It is bad for everyone but there continues to be a disparity for veterans." The jobs bill is based on a proposal in President Barack Obama's state of the union address in January. Matt McAlvanah, a spokesman for Patty Murray, the Democratic senator who introduced the bill, said: "Patty Murray's position is that, with unemployment of young veterans close to 20% and veterans suicide continuing to be epidemic, we cannot put a price on the amount of care we're working to provide veterans." The Democrat-sponsored bill has already been extensively rewritten to include amendments by Republicans and has bipartisan support. Eight of the 12 provisions in the bill were Republican originated ideas. Democrats need 60 votes to waive the budget point of order and allow the bill to progress. There are 51 Democrats and two independents likely to vote in its favour. Democrats have also pinned their hopes on a number of Republicans who are strong supporters of veteran issues, including senators Scott Brown, who serves on the US Senate committee on veterans' affairs, and Dean Heller of Nevada, who has introduced two bills to help veterans. Harry Reid, the majority leader of the Senate, said the bill had met "one Republican stall tactic after another", in a post to his Twitter account last week. He said the delaying tactics marked a "new low" for Republicans. Jeff Sessions, the Senate budget committee ranking member, said he objected to the bill on the grounds it would increase the veterans affairs department budget and would blow though the spending cap lawmakers agreed last year. Democrats argue the bills costs are already covered by plans to collect more than half a billion in unpaid taxes over the next five years, according to the Washington Examiner. The bill was held up in the Senate last week after filibustering by Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky, to gain support for a Pakistani doctor who helped locate Osama Bin Laden. Paul has promised to block Senate action until the doctor, Shakil Afridi, is released from jail. The Pakistani government has said it will not release him. Paul has also called on the Obama administration to cut foreign aid to Pakistan until Afridi is released.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 'Preliminary assessment' accuses Apple and four publishers of illegal 'concerted' move to inflate pricing Ebook prices in the UK are set to plummet after the European Commission said that four major publishers and Apple "engaged in a concerted practice" to raise the price of ebooks, and required them to stop. The EC said in its official journal today [PDF] that it had found in a "preliminary assessment" that the publishers Hachette Livre, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, and the retailer Apple, had, by "jointly" moving to an agency model for ebooks, "engaged in a concerted practice with the object of raising retail prices of ebooks" or preventing ebook discounting in Europe, in breach of European law. The agency model – which has also come under intense scrutiny in America, where the US department of justice has settled with the American publishers HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette over alleged ebook price-fixing – enables publishers, rather than retailers, to set the prices of ebooks. Retailers who have not entered into agency agreements with publishers can set the prices of ebooks themselves, as Sony and Amazon have recently been doing with a swathe of 20p ebooks on sale – a move that has prompted serious concerns from authors. The EC said that while the four publishers and Apple do not agree with its preliminary assessment, they have nonetheless agreed to a range of commitments to address its "competition concerns". These agreements will see them terminating agency agreements with Apple, and, for a period of two years, refraining from restricting ebook retailers' ability to reduce the prices of ebooks. The Commission is still investigating the conduct of Pearson, parent company of the publisher Penguin, over the same issue. Philip Jones, editor of book industry magazine the Bookseller, called the agreements "a major victory for Amazon and its philosophy of low prices", just as he said the settlements in the US have been. "It looks to me that we'll see renewed discounting on the big ebooks from the major publishers just in time for Christmas, and with minimal restraints on what the big e-bookseller can do with price. Good news for ebook readers in search of a bargain, not great news for publishers, and pretty worrying news for high street bookshops," he said. Interested third parties now have a month to register "reasoned" observations on the EC's proposed commitments for publishers. "We won't know the impact of this for years, but at least the Commission has given interested parties a month to wail their discontent," said Jones. Responding to the announcement, Hachette Livre said in a statement that it "remains confident that it did not violate the antitrust [monopoly] laws, and has made no admission of liability". "Hachette Livre considers that its unilateral decision to enter into agency agreements with Apple and other e-retailers was in the best longer-term interests of the whole book universe including authors, readers and booksellers of all kinds. However, Hachette Livre has decided that the costs, length, and distractions of the proceedings before the European Commission would be too disruptive to its business and to the development of ebook markets in general," the publisher said. "Hachette Livre's main commitment has always been publishing great books and nurturing and supporting its authors and readers. This remains its motivation. Hachette Livre believes that a settlement with the EC is the best way to continue to achieve that goal." HarperCollins said it was "working with the EC to find a workable solution". Simon & Schuster and Penguin declined to comment. The other parties did not respond to requests for comment.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police search Paris offices in bid to trace photographer who snapped Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Police have raided the offices of Closer magazine searching for the identity of the photographer who took pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge topless while on holiday in the south of France. Officers arrived at 10am on Wednesday morning at the magazine's headquarters in the Paris suburb of Montrouge. They were reported to have searched the publication's offices and examined journalists' computers. A French court on Tuesday ordered Closer to hand over all copies of the photographs published on the front page and several inside pages of the magazine, within 24 hours or face punitive daily fines. The court also opened a "preliminary inquiry" following a criminal lawsuit lodged by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge into a breach of the royal couple's privacy by "person or persons unknown". Aurélien Hamelle, representing the couple, said they had been "profoundly shocked and troubled" by the photographs, which he said revealed "deeply intimate moments in the life of this couple, that have no reason to be on a magazine cover". The Tribunal de Grande Instance at Nanterre agreed and granted the duke and duchess an injunction preventing further publication of the pictures and ordering Closer to hand over the electronic files containing them. The photographer has not yet been identified.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cabinet fails to commit to phase out nuclear power plants by agreed deadline amid pressure from business lobby Japan has effectively abandoned a commitment to end its reliance on nuclear power by 2040 amid pressure from the country's business lobby, dropping a deadline recommended by a cabinet panel only days ago. The cabinet on Tuesday gave only a vague endorsement of the panel's report, released last Friday, and dropped any mention of plans to complete the phase-out some time in the 2030s. The trade and industry minister, Yukio Edano, acknowledged that meeting the target date could prove impossible. "Whether we can become nuclear free by the 2030s is not something to be achieved only with a decision by policy-makers," he said. "It also depends on the will of [electricity] users, technological innovation and the environment for energy internationally in the next decade or two." The U-turn came after sustained pressure from business and industry leaders, who said the move would harm the economy by forcing firms to shift production overseas due to the high price of imported oil and gas. The panel's recommendation was based on a two-month public consultation on Japan's future energy mix, in which the no-nuclear option proved far more popular than two other choices that involved a limited role for nuclear. Instead, the cabinet said it would take the policy document "into consideration" and listen to the views of the public, the nuclear industry, businesses, and communities that depend on atomic facilities for jobs. The energy review was ordered after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011 shook public confidence in the safety of nuclear power plants. The deputy prime minister, Katsuya Okada, said ditching the deadline did not mean the government had abandoned its goal of a nuclear-free future. "We aim to have zero nuclear power by the 2030s, but we have never said we will achieve zero by that date," he told a group of European journalists. But he conceded that a nuclear phase-out was "the wish of a large number of Japanese people". Data released last month showed 90% of comments solicited from the public during the consultation favoured the abolition of nuclear power, while only 4% wanted it to remain part of the country's future energy mix. Okada said the government had to consider the rising cost of power production many predict will result from the phase-out and a greater dependence on fossil fuels, as well as their impact on Japan's climate change commitments. The report says Japan should aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 20% from 1990 levels and to reduce energy consumption through greater efficiency by about 10% from 2010 levels. The plan also calls for renewable energy to comprise about 30% of Japan's future energy mix and the development of sustainable ways to use fossil fuels. All but two of Japan's nuclear 50 reactors have been shut down to undergo safety checks ordered after last year's earthquake and tsunami disaster triggered the world's worst nuclear accident for 25 years. Two nuclear plants under construction have been given permission to restart; the 40-year limit on the lifetime of nuclear reactors means those plants could remain in operation until the early 2050s. Japan depended on nuclear for about 30% of its electricity before the accident, and had plans to increase its share to 50%. Anti-nuclear campaigners criticised the launch on Wednesday of a new nuclear regulatory authority, whose predecessor was blamed for being part of a culture that contributed to the Fukushima disaster. Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan said that by appointing people to the body who were "heavily involved" in nuclear power generation, "the government is once again setting up the regulator for failure and endangering the health and safety of Japan's people and its economy".
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cabinet fails to commit to no-nuclear option by agreed deadline amid pressure from business lobby Japan has effectively abandoned a commitment to end its reliance on nuclear power by 2040 amid pressure from the country's business lobby, dropping a deadline recommended by a cabinet panel only days ago. The cabinet on Tuesday gave only a vague endorsement of the panel's report, released last Friday, and dropped any mention of plans to complete the phase-out some time in the 2030s. The trade and industry minister, Yukio Edano, acknowledged that meeting the target date could prove impossible. "Whether we can become nuclear free by the 2030s is not something to be achieved only with a decision by policy-makers," he said. "It also depends on the will of [electricity] users, technological innovation and the environment for energy internationally in the next decade or two." The U-turn came after sustained pressure from business and industry leaders, who said the move would harm the economy by forcing firms to shift production overseas due to the high price of imported oil and gas. The panel's recommendation was based on a two-month public consultation on Japan's future energy mix, in which the no-nuclear option proved far more popular than two other choices that involved a limited role for nuclear. Instead, the cabinet said it would take the policy document "into consideration" and listen to the views of the public, the nuclear industry, businesses, and communities that depend on atomic facilities for jobs. The energy review was ordered after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi power plant in March 2011 shook public confidence in the safety of nuclear power plants. The deputy prime minister, Katsuya Okada, said ditching the deadline did not mean the government had abandoned its goal of a nuclear-free future. "We aim to have zero nuclear power by the 2030s, but we have never said we will achieve zero by that date," he told a group of European journalists. But he conceded that a nuclear phase-out was "the wish of a large number of Japanese people". Data released last month showed 90% of comments solicited from the public during the consultation favoured the abolition of nuclear power, while only 4% wanted it to remain part of the country's future energy mix. Okada said the government had to consider the rising cost of power production many predict will result from the phase-out and a greater dependence on fossil fuels, as well as their impact on Japan's climate change commitments. The report says Japan should aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 20% from 1990 levels and to reduce energy consumption through greater efficiency by about 10% from 2010 levels. The plan also calls for renewable energy to comprise about 30% of Japan's future energy mix and the development of sustainable ways to use fossil fuels. All but two of Japan's nuclear 50 reactors have been shut down to undergo safety checks ordered after last year's earthquake and tsunami disaster triggered the world's worst nuclear accident for 25 years. Two nuclear plants under construction have been given permission to restart; the 40-year limit on the lifetime of nuclear reactors means those plants could remain in operation until the early 2050s. Japan depended on nuclear for about 30% of its electricity before the accident, and had plans to increase its share to 50%. Anti-nuclear campaigners criticised the launch on Wednesday of a new nuclear regulatory authority, whose predecessor was blamed for being part of a culture that contributed to the Fukushima disaster. Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan said that by appointing people to the body who were "heavily involved" in nuclear power generation, "the government is once again setting up the regulator for failure and endangering the health and safety of Japan's people and its economy".
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Xi Jinping speaks out on dispute over Senkaku's sovereignty following four days of public protest against Japanese China's leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping has weighed in on the country's dispute with Japan by condemning the purchase of contested islands in the East China Sea as a farce, according to state media. The vice president, expected to take charge when power is handed to a younger generation of leaders this autumn, urged Japan to stop "wrong behaviours", official news agency Xinhua added. Four days of large-scale and sometimes violent protests in cities across China appeared to have reached their conclusion on Tuesday, the anniversary of the 1931 incident that launched Japan's occupation of northern China. Authorities flooded protest areas with security and made it clear further demonstrations would not be tolerated. The island group, known to China as the Diaoyu and to Japan as the Senkaku, is surrounded by fisheries and environmental resources, but the conflict is also fuelled by historical grievances over Japanese brutality in the 1930s and 1940s. The Japanese mission sent an email to China-based citizens, saying: "It seems the protests in front of our embassy have subsided." It cited a message from Beijing police urging people not to protest in the embassy district. Beijing government workers hosed paint-bomb stains from around the building, and many Japanese businesses and factories reopened. But China's commerce ministry spokesman, Shen Danyang, warned that the dispute would harm bilateral trade, which exceeded £210bn last year. "Japan must take complete responsibility for this," he added. Professor Hu Xingdou of the Beijing Institute of Technology warned: "The Diaoyu island issue cannot be solved in the short term … it will be an obstacle to the friendship between China and Japan." He said he believed this wave of protests had been bigger and more violent than the anti-Japanese demonstrations of 2005. While protesters mostly vented their frustrations on Japanese properties or products – attacking some businesses and smashing up cars – the Hong Kong government reported an assault against a Japanese couple in its region and urged the public to respect the law. Around 50 protesters in Beijing also attacked the car of US ambassador Gary Locke on Tuesday, said embassy spokesman Nolan Barkhouse. "Embassy officials have registered their concern about yesterday's incident with the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs and urged the Chinese government to do everything possible to protect American facilities and personnel," he added. Visiting US defence secretary Leon Panetta sought to allay Chinese concerns over the US's new focus on the Asia-Pacific region, shortly after meeting Xi on Wednesday. He told young Chinese officers and cadets: "Our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region is not an attempt to contain China. It is an attempt to engage China and expand its role in the Pacific. It is about creating a new model in the relationship of two Pacific powers." Chinese rights groups have reported that a well-known dissident is being held by police after posting comments about the disputed islands last week. Jiao Guobiao, formerly a journalism professor at Peking University, was detained last week for incitement to subvert state power. According to the South China Morning Post, Jiao was detained over open letters he posted online to Ma Ying-jeou, president of Taiwan, and the nationalist Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, whose proposal to buy the Diaoyu islands triggered the Japanese government's purchase. In his letter to Ishihara he wrote satirically that he would donate money to help Japan buy the Diaoyu islands and even the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing. His letter to Ma said that if the islands were owned by Beijing, "they will become another pig sty where it can arbitrarily carry out abuses.". In Japan, police said they believed a small fire at the gates of a Chinese school in Kobe was set because of the dispute.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Russian foreign ministry explains decision to expel the US agency for international development Russia has accused the US of using its aid agency in Moscow to covertly influence the country's politics and elections, explaining its decision to expel the mission amid a wider crackdown on the opposition movement. The Russian government has given the US agency for international development (USAid) until 1 October to cease all operations in the country. The agency helps fund a number of pro-democracy and human rights groups that have provoked the Kremlin's wrath amid an unprecedented opposition movement against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In an uncharacteristically blunt statement, the Russian foreign ministry said that the decision to shut USAid was taken primarily because the agency's work "does not always correspond to [its] stated goals". "This means attempts to exert influence, via the distribution of grants, upon political processes, including elections of various levels and institutions of civil society," it said. Putin has accused the US state department of orchestrating the mass protests that have swept Moscow since he announced his intention to run for the presidency again late last year. A main target of his ire has been Golos, an independent election monitoring group that receives the bulk of its funding from USAid and was key in exposing electoral fraud in a December parliamentary vote that helped bring tens of thousands of protesters on to the streets. The foreign ministry also expressed its displeasure with the agency's work in the troubled North Caucasus, a region still wracked by the remnants of a violent Islamist insurgency. "USAid's activity in the Russian regions, especially the North Caucasus, prompted serious questions, which we warned our American colleagues about repeatedly," the statement said. USAid has been operating in Russia since the Soviet Union's collapse, funding groups that have received little or no government support, including medical NGOs devoted to fighting HIV/Aids and tuberculosis and various environmental groups. Yet the bulk of its funding goes to civil society groups focused on building up democracy and human rights in the country, including Golos, human rights NGO Memorial and corruption watchdog Transparency International. Putin has repeatedly criticised groups that receive foreign funding and has accused opposition protesters of acting on orders from Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state. The Russian parliament passed a law this summer obliging NGOs that receive foreign grants to publicly brand themselves "foreign agents", a term reminiscent of the spy terminology used during the cold war. Grigory Melkonyants, the deputy director of Golos, said it was "practically impossible" to get funding from within Russia. "Supporting human rights – be it for prisoners, or election monitoring, or anything – is a very sharp question for our current leadership. Business doesn't want to risk putting money into this," he said. Putin has taken great pains to convince the wider Russian population that any criticism of his government is a foreign plot. Russian officials and media have also accused the US of being behind the Arab spring uprisings, including in Egypt, where USAid came under pressure in the wake of Egypt's uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak. The move against USAid was announced by the state department on Tuesday and official state media in Russia remained silent on the issue on Wednesday. An official inside the Obama administration vowed that the US would find ways to continue to fund civil society groups, potentially paving the way for a long stand-off. The Russian government brought immense pressure against the British Council in the wake of the murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko in London in late 2006 in a tussle that lasted for more than a year. The foreign ministry also said its decision to shut USAid was prompted by the "maturity" of its civil society. "Russian civil society has become entirely mature and does not need 'external leadership'," it said. Government critics said the move was the latest attempt to put pressure on the opposition. In the past few months, charges have been brought against more than a dozen protesters as well as opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Opposition MP Gennady Gudkov was stripped of his mandate last week. A series of laws that increase fines for protesting and slander have been passed, as well as a bill that critics fear will tighten the government's control over the internet.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | State media's account of trial of Wang Lijun suggests possibility that fallen politician may face accusation of cover-up China has for the first time implicated the former senior politician Bo Xilai in a criminal act, in a published account by state media of the trial of his one-time police chief. Wang Lijun, ex-police chief of the south-western city of Chongqing, tried to tell "the Chongqing party committee's main responsible person at the time" – in other words, the city's then Communist party boss, Bo – that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was suspected of murdering a British businessman. But Wang was "angrily rebuked and had his ears boxed", according to Xinhua news agency's official account of Wang's trial this week in Chengdu city, near Chongqing. The virtually unmistakable reference to Bo increases the chances of him facing criminal charges, possibly for covering up a crime. Previously, Bo had been accused only of breaching internal party discipline. The Bo scandal has rocked Beijing, exposing rifts within the ruling Communist party – elements of which are strong supporters of Bo's populist, leftwing policies – at a time when China is preparing for a once-in-a-decade leadership change. Wang, 52, started the episode that led to Bo's fall from power and Gu's conviction of killing British businessman Neil Heywood after he went to a US consulate in Chengdu and, according to sources, told envoys there about the murder. Within two months of Wang's 24-hour visit to the consulate, Bo was sacked as party boss and from the Communist party's politburo and Gu was accused of poisoning Heywood. Gu has since been given a suspended death sentence for the killing in late 2011.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Overnight the Bank of Japan became the latest central bank to launch a new stimulus package, in an effort to stimulate demand
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Security boosted at French outposts as Charlie Hebdo publishes cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad Security at French embassies around the world has been reinforced after the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad. Amid continuing protests by Muslims around the globe over a controversial anti-Islam film, French ministers and religious leaders called for restraint, and riot police were posted outside the magazine's offices. French embassies and schools in 20 countries will be temporarily closed on Friday, as a precautionary measure in case of fresh protests after prayers, the foreign ministry said. The offices of Charlie Hebdo were firebombed last November after it published an edition entitled Charia Hebdo, supposedly guest-edited by Muhammad. France's prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, said in a statement: "In the current climate, the prime minister wishes to stress his disapproval of all excesses and calls on everyone to behave responsibly." Questioned on RTL radio, he added: "We are in a country where the freedom of expression is guaranteed, along with the freedom to caricature. If people really feel their beliefs are offended and think the law has been broken – and we are in a state where the law must be totally respected — they can go to the courts." He was speaking amid calls for protests in the French capital on Saturday against the film Innocence of Muslims, which has sparked a wave of retaliatory attacks on US and other western embassies around the world. An Afghan suicide bombing linked to protests about the film killed 12 people on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to more than 30. Ayrault said a request had been made for police authorisation to hold the demonstration, but that it would be refused. On Sunday, police arrested more than 100 people who had gathered to protest near the US embassy in Paris. The publication of the caricatures, on the inside and back page of Charlie Hebdo – whose website is blocked, for unknown reasons – brought widespread condemnation. Essam Erian, the acting head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said the French judiciary should deal with the issue as firmly as it had handled the case against the magazine that published topless pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge. "If the case of Kate (the duchess) is a matter of privacy, then the cartoons are an insult to a whole people. The beliefs of others must be respected," he told Reuters. Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, said that French law should deal with insults against Islam in the same way as it deals with Holocaust denial. "If anyone doubts the Holocaust happened, they are imprisoned, yet if anyone insults the prophet, his companions or Islam, the most (France) does is to apologise in two words. It is not fair or logical," he said. Richard Prasquier, president of the Representative Council for Jewish Institutions, said he disapproved of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons after the killings in the row over the film. "It is in consideration of those deaths that I disapprove of Charlie Hebdo's initiative," he said in a statement. "To publish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in these times, in the name of freedom, is an irresponsible kind of panache." Dalil Boubakeur, the senior imam at the Grande Mosquée de Paris, appealed for France's Muslim community, which is the largest in Europe, to remain calm and not "throw oil on the fire". André Vingt-Trois, the Catholic Archbishop of Paris, told French radio the cartoons would "provoke revulsion among many Muslim believers, who will feel their faith has been insulted". He added: "You cannot say anything in the name of freedom of expression." Laurent Fabius, the minister of foreign affairs, said he was "against all provocation". However, Charlie Hebdo's editor, Stéphane Charbonnier, was unrepentant. He said the latest caricatures would shock "only those who will want to be shocked". In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten caused an international storm after publishing 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad. Protests across the world resulted in more than 100 reported deaths. The Danish embassy in Pakistan was bombed, and Danish embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran were set alight.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Iran's foreign minister holds talks in Syria after outlining a nine-point plan for tackling the violence
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Iran's foreign minister is due to hold talks in Syria after outlining a nine-point plan for tackling the violence
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Overnight the Bank of Japan became the latest central bank to launch a new stimulus package, in an effort to stimulate demand
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