|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wikileaks founder, speaking via videolink to the UN, says it is 'audacious' for US to take credit for Middle East progress The Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has accused president Obama of seeking to exploit the Arab Spring revolutions for political gain, claiming Obama's vocal support for freedom of expression had not been translated into action. Assange was speaking to a gathering of diplomats at the UN general assembly through a satellite videolink from the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he sought refuge three months ago from extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning on allegations of sex offences. The meeting was hosted by the Ecuadorean foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, who said he would once more demand the UK grant Assange safe passage to Ecuador when he meets his British counterpart, William Hague later on Thursday. He accused the British government of violating Assange's human rights, saying he could be stuck in the embassy in London for ten years, which a severe impact on his health. Assange, dressed in a shirt and half-knotted tie, appeared tired and unwell on the video. He had dark rings under his eyes and sniffed frequently during a prepared presentation. Assange focused largely on Barack's Obama address to the UN on Tuesday in which the president gave a staunch defence of freedom of speech, and voiced American support for the revolutions in the Arab world. Assange said that it was 'audacious' for the US government, "to take credit for the last two years of progress", given past American support for the ousted Arab dictators. He said Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street peddler whose suicide from despair over his life in January last year sparked the revolt, "did not set himself on fire so that Barack Obama could get re-elected." He added that it was "disrepect to the dead to claim that the United States supported the forces of change." Instead, Assange claimed that it was the leak of classified US diplomatic cables to Wikileaks by an US soldier in military intelligence, Bradley Manning, that "went on to help trigger the Arab spring." Referring to Obama's UN defence of the freedom of expression, Assange pointed to the treatment of Manning in US prison, where he was held in isolation, stripped and left naked for hours in his cell, and to the denunciation of Wikileaks by American leaders. "The time for words has run out. It is time to cease the persecution of our people and our alleged sources. It is time to join the force of change not in fine words but in fine deeds," Assange said. Assange and the Ecuadorean government argued that if he goes to Sweden to face the sexual assault allegations against him, he could be extradited from there to the US to face politically-motivated prosecution. The Sydney Morning Herald has published what it described as declassified US air force counter-intelligence reports which designated Assange and Wikileaks as "enemies of the United States", the same legal category as al-Qaida and the Taliban. The British government said it is legally obliged to carry out Assange's extradition after the Australian's appeals in the British courts were rejected. It has also said, that according to European law, it would not allow extradition to the United States on charges that could result in the death penalty. Patino argued that the UK's human rights obligations overrode its duty under EU treaty. "The United Kingdom says it defends human rights," the foreign minister said. "Would it be human to try to keep Mr Assange in the embassy for months or years". He added that Assange might spend up to ten years in the embassy "without right to his life or his privacy. "
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The author's first book for adults features drugs, sex and swearing – things that Harry Potter probably never dreamed of They call it "denial marketing": the process whereby the contents of JK Rowling's books are guarded like the crown jewels until publication day. It made sense with Harry Potter, when the world and his dog wanted to know what had happened to the boy wizard and his dastardly foes. But it creates a slight anti-climax in the case of The Casual Vacancy, a novel concerning a parish council election in a small West Country town. There are some superficial excitements here, in that the younger characters get up to things that Harry probably never dreamed of: taking drugs, swearing, self-harming, having grimy casual sex, singing along to Rihanna. The new book contains regular outbursts of four-letter words, along with the memorable phrase "that miraculously unguarded vagina" – which, leaked in a pre-publication profile, has caused a flurry of jokes on Twitter about Harry Potter and the Miraculously Unguarded Vagina. Generally, though, The Casual Vacancy is a solid, traditional and determinedly unadventurous English novel. Set in the "pretty little town of Pagford", it is a study of provincial life, with a large cast and multiple, interlocking plots, drawing inspiration from Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot. The only obvious parallel with the Potter books is that, like them, it is animated by a strong dislike of mean, unsympathetic, small-minded folk. The inhabitants of Pagford – shopkeepers, window-twitchers, Daily Mail readers – are mostly hateful Muggles, more realistic versions of the Dursleys, the awful family who keep poor Harry stashed in the cupboard under the stairs. The book seems doomed to be known as Mugglemarch. Behind its tourist-friendly façade – the hanging baskets, the war memorial, the scrubbed cottages – Pagford is of course a hot-bed of seething antagonism, rampant snobbery, sexual frustration and ill-disguised racism. The plot is set in motion when, on page five, its hero, Barry Fairbrother, falls down dead in the car park of the "smug little golf club". His death creates a "casual vacancy" on the parish council, and the forces of darkness, led by Howard Mollison, the obese delicatessen owner, see their chance to parachute in one of their own. Barry, a man of "boundless generosity of spirit", had been the main opponent of their plan to reassign the Fields, a run-down sink estate, to the district council of the nearby city, Yarvil – thereby off-loading responsibility for its drug-addled inhabitants, and driving them out of the catchment area for Pagford's nice primary school. The election heats up when scurrilous but accurate accusations, posted by "the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother", start appearing on the council website. The Casual Vacancy has all the satisfactions and frustrations of this kind of novel. It immerses the reader in a richly peopled, densely imagined world. Rowling has reportedly drawn on her own mildly unhappy West Country childhood, in a village outside Bristol and then later outside Chepstow. The claustrophobic horror is nicely done: everyone knowing everyone; Howard, scheming from behind his hand-baked biscuits and local cheeses. Rowling is good at teenagers, particularly boys, and unhappy couples. The book has a righteous social message, about responsibility for others, and a great big plot that runs like clockwork; like the Potter novels, it is efficiently organised beneath its busy surface. On the other hand, the novel is very much the prisoner of its conventions. Rowling's underclass characters are not bad, considering they were put together by the richest novelist in history, but it's a pity that they all use a kind of generalised, Dickensian lower-order-speak, that belongs more to literary custom than anything anyone ever says: "I takes Robbie to the nurs'ry"; "Tha's norra fuckin' crime"; "No, shurrup, righ'?". The plot is often predictable; it requires a large helping of artificial contrivance; and it lurches into melodrama in the final act. The rules probably require this, and it all rattles along nicely enough, but it leaves a slight sense of disappointment. No one, I suspect, reads Rowling for the beauty of her sentences but there is often a sense here that the language is not quite doing what she wants it to do. One character, we are told, "hated sudden death". Who doesn't? The metaphors regularly run away with her. One character's sexual performance was "as predictable as a Masonic handshake". What's predictable about that? The Casual Vacancy is no masterpiece, but it's not bad at all: intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny. I could imagine it doing well without any association to the Rowling brand, perhaps creeping into the Richard and Judy Book Club, or being made into a three-part TV serial. The fanbase may find it a bit sour, as it lacks the Harry Potter books' warmth and charm; all the characters are fairly horrible or suicidally miserable or dead. But the worst you could say about it, really, is that it doesn't deserve the media frenzy surrounding it. And who nowadays thinks that merit and publicity have anything do with each other? The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling. £20, 503pp
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Egyptian American had been arrested for defacing a controversial anti-Muslim subway poster with spray paint
• Open thread: has Mona Eltahawy proved a point? Prominent Egyptian-American writer and activist Mona Eltahawy has been released from police custody after being arrested in New York on Tuesday for spray painting a subway poster that equates Muslims with "savages". Eltahawy was charged with criminal mischief after she painted over a poster that read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man" and "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." The anti-Muslim American Freedom Defense Initiative paid for the posters that are in 10 New York subway stations. A US court ruled the statements are "political" and protected by the first amendment's guarantee for free speech. Journalist Robin Morgan and Eltahawy tweeted information on the progress of her arrest throughout the night and Wednesday morning as she waited to appear before a judge. Earlier Tuesday, Eltahawy said she was planning to spray paint the signs and expressed no regret following her release:
Eltahawy said two hours after her arrest, four other people were jailed for putting stickers on the same posters and were released that night. She also claimed to have seen a man rip part of one of the posters at another New York station, who said: "This is fucking New York City!" On Twitter, Eltahawy said that she was held for 22 hours, longer that her detention in Egypt during the Arab Spring, where she was arrested and suffered two broken arms after being assaulted by riot police. In a video posted online by the New York Post, a poster supporter tries to prevent Eltahawy from using the pink spray paint. They argue before two police officers appear and arrest Eltahawy. As Eltahawy is escorted out of the station by police, she says: "This is what happens in America when you non-violently protest." New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority originally ruled that the posters were demeaning and would not be permitted in the city's subways, but allowed them after the anti-Muslim group took the agency to court. The posters have been widely condemned and Jewish figures have spoken out against them. Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster wrote on CNN: "As a rabbi, I find the ads deeply misguided and disturbing … The words from our mouths have power: once released, whether intentionally or by accident, what we say shapes reality. It can bring about healing or atonement, or it can unleash violence and hatred. Geller's ads, sharply dividing the world into civilized people and savages, are only intended to hurt and tear fragile relationships apart." Eltahawy is set to return to court 29 November to face misdemeanor charges for the act.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Settlement reached in lawsuit brought by Occupy protesters who were pepper-sprayed by UC Davis campus police in November The University of California is preparing to pay about $1m to settle a lawsuit filed by demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed during an Occupy protest at UC Davis last autumn. UC and plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union filed the preliminary settlement in federal court in Sacramento on Wednesday. The agreement is subject to the approval of a federal judge. Under the proposal, UC will pay out $30,000 to each of 21 plaintiffs named in the complaint and an additional $250,000 for their attorneys to split. The settlement also calls for the UC to set aside $100,000 to pay other individuals who can prove they were arrested or pepper-sprayed during the incident on November 18 2011. The chemical crackdown prompted campus protests and calls for the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi after online videos shot by witnesses went viral. Images of an officer casually spraying orange pepper-spray in the faces of non-violent protesters became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement. A task force report released in April blamed the incident on poor communication and planning throughout the campus chain of command, from the chancellor to the pepper-spraying officers.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Morsi accuses Assad regime of killing its people 'night and day' while Ahamdinejad gives rambling speech in farewell to UN Mohamed Morsi, addressing the United Nations as the first democratically chosen leader of Egypt, called the Syrian war "the tragedy of our age" for which the whole world was responsible – and accused the Assad regime of "killing its people night and day". President Morsi called for the replacement of the regime with a democratic government representative of all the country's ethnic and religious groups, but said this should be done without outside military intervention. Instead, he pointed to a new diplomatic initiative begun by Egypt, Turkey and Iran, and called on other nations to join it. Before discussing the Syrian conflict, Morsi said the UN should make a priority of addressing the plight of the Palestinian people, saying that it was "shameful" that successive UN resolutions on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories had not been enforced. "The fruits of dignity and freedom must not remain far from the Palestinian people," he said. In his maiden speech to the UN general assembly, Morsi said the people of the Middle East would no longer tolerate dictatorship, nor would they tolerate countries that did not sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), a clear reference to Israel, whose nuclear arsenal gives it a monopoly in the region. He voiced support to a UN-sponsored conference due by the end of the year to promote the Middle East as a region free of weapons of mass destruction. Israel has rejected such a call. But Morsi also had an oblique rebuke for Iran, saying that all countries should also demonstrate the peaceful nature of their nuclear programmes to the satisfaction of their neighbours. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Iran is not co-operating with its investigation into evidence of past experimentation with nuclear weapons technology. Morsi's assessment of the region's problems came in stark contrast to the address delivered by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who focused on religious themes, particular his messianic form of Shia Islam, and did not mention the Iranian nuclear programme, which is the focus of rising tension in the region – and in the wider international community. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, recently called on the European Union to tighten its already formidable sanctions on Iran further, because of the Iranian refusal to bow to UN security council demands that it stop the enrichment of uranium. Ahmadinejad's speech was unusually esoteric for a UN session and made only one political reference to Israel, when he denounced what he called the "hegemony of arrogance" of the world's dominant powers, and said the "continued threat by the uncivilized Zionists to resort to military action against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality". No American diplomats were in the chamber for Ahmadinejad's speech because of what Washington viewed as offensive remarks the Iranian leader had made about Israel earlier in the week. British and other European states mostly sent junior representatives, who did not walk out as they had on previous occasions. "They were primed to walk out if he [Ahmadinejad] said something grossly offensive as he usually does, but this time he just seemed incoherent and incredibly boring. It was hard to make out what he wanted to say," a European diplomat said. "He seems to be losing his knack a bit." As Ahmadinejad spoke in what is last address to the UN before a presidential election, his influence at home appeared to be ebbing under pressure from his political enemies. One of his closest aides, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, the director of the state news agency Irna, was jailed on Tuesday for "publishing materials contrary to Islamic norms". In his remarks, Morsi said Egypt would "stand firmly" against the anti-American violence that has swept the Islamic world in recent weeks and was triggered by the emergence of a crude video denigrating the prophet Mohamed, which was made by an Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian American Coptic Christian. But Morsi also claimed that the dissemination of that video was part of an "organised campaign" fuelled by Islamophobia. In what appeared to be a riposte to Barack Obama's staunch defence of the freedom of expression in his own address to the general assembly, Morsi said that free speech should not include the right to insult the religious faith of millions of people.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Group finds that only 35% of families seeking admission to shelters are even admitted as city moves to open new centers Almost 20,000 children are spending the night in homeless shelters in New York City, according to new data, an increase of 24% since July 2011. The Coalition for the Homeless, which published the figures, said the number of children in shelters would be even higher were it not for the fact that 65% of homeless families seeking admission to shelters are being turned away. The homeless charity places some of the blame on the closure of the Advantage housing program in the summer of 2011. Since then there has been no rent-subsidy program in place for accommodating homeless families. The number of homeless children in NYC shelters rose from an average of 15,704 in July 2011 to an average of 18,489 in July 2012, the most recent month for which average statistics are available. A freedom of information request by the Coalition for the Homeless found that 19,537 children were in shelters on 23 September – the most recent information available – which it described as "an all-time record high". "For the first time ever there is no program in place to help people move from homeless shelters to housing," said Giselle Routhier, a policy analyst at Coalition for the Homeless. She blamed mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration for the increase in homelessness among children, the impact of which she said is "really detrimental". "Homeless kids are more likely to feel anxiety and depression and an array of other health problems. That impacts itself on schooling as well – homeless kids miss more days of school, oftentimes they do worse in school than their peers, so we know it has a very negative impact. The fact that we're seeing record numbers of children in shelters is very disturbing to us." The data show that so far in 2012, only 35.4% of families applying to stay at homeless shelters were admitted, meaning almost 65% of families attempting to stay at shelters are turned away. In 2007 51.9% of applicant families found shelter. The Bloomberg administration opened nine shelters in June and July in response to increasing demand, and plans to open five more before the end of the year. Earlier this summer the New York Times reported that the department for homeless services, who have not yet replied to the Guardian's requests for comment, acknowledged that dropping Advantage in 2011 had had an impact on the number of homeless people. The city said it ended the scheme, which provided rental subsidies of up to $1,000 a month for two years to homeless people who found jobs, after the state withdrew financial support. But Routhier said that the number of children in homeless shelters was rising even while Advantage was in place, as "a large number of families" would be forced to move back into shelter after the two-year subsidy ended. "It wasn't a real permanent solution to move folks out of homelessness. To us, the real solution is providing permanent affordable housing resources, that is something that had been done prior to 2005, where existing affordable housing resources such as public housing and Section 8 were allocated to homeless families in shelter, and right now that's not the case."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | General strike brings country to a halt in first confrontation with three-month-old government Hundreds of thousands of anti-austerity protesters took to the streets of Greece on Wednesday as the country was paralysed by a general strike in the first mass confrontation with Athens's three-month-old coalition government. In one of the biggest demonstrations in the capital in recent years, as many as 200,000 marched on the Greek parliament, according to unions in the public and private sector, which called the strike to oppose new wage and pension cuts – the price of further rescue funds from international lenders. Clashes broke out between riot police and hooded youths hurling rocks and petrol bombs at the finance ministry. The protesters, many shouting: "We can take no more. Out with the EU and IMF," and said to be part of the crisis-hit country's vibrant "anti-establishment" movement, then set light to rubbish cans and bus stops, sending plumes of acrid smoke above the capital. TV footage showed demonstrators running for cover in Syntagma Square, seat of the Greek parliament, as noxious fumes filled the air. More than 100 people were detained. With tensions running high over the new measures – part of a mammoth €11.9bn austerity package that is set to save the state more than 5% of GDP over the course of the next two years – unions are warning that the conservative-led government should take stock or worse could come. In a departure from other mass protests, members of the police force, army, navy and judicial system joined public and private sector employees on the streets. One police officer, who preferred not to give his name, said the Greek state "should feel deep shame" at imposing cuts on the very people whose protection it sought. "This is a warning to the government not to pass the measures," said Ilias Iliopoulos at ADEDY, the union of civil servants, insisting that around 350,000 Greeks took part in protest marches nationwide (police put the number in Athens at around 70,000). "Today was a huge success as witnessed by all those in the armed forces and police who also participated because they, too, will be affected by these cuts. The government must know that if it wants to push us further into a corner, we will react." Echoing a view held by many Greeks, Penelope Angelou, an unemployed mother, said passing the measures would be tantamount to a "parliamentary coup". "These parties were given our vote back in June because they promised to re-negotiate the terms of the loan agreement," she said, referring to the onerous conditions of the bailout accord Athens signed with its "troika" of creditors — the EU, ECB and IMF – earlier this year. "We are all tired," she said. "This is the third year of non-stop cuts and tax increases which have made us poor and divided us as a society. And they have not solved our problem. The recession is going from bad to worse." Since the outbreak of Europe's debt crisis in Athens in late 2009, ordinary Greeks, worst hit by repeated rounds of austerity, have seen their purchasing power drop by as much as 50% as poverty and joblessness has reached record levels. After a heated summer of tortuous wrangling with lenders, the alliance led by the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, is expected to finally give the package the go-ahead on Thursday. Time is of the essence, say officials, if the Greek economy is to receive a bumper rescue loan of €31.5bn, put on hold by the troika since July. The injection is now vital to "warming up" the cash-starved real economy. Creditors have made clear that without the controversial measures, there can be no money – a scenario that would see Greece defaulting on its debt, being forced to declare bankruptcy and leaving the eurozone. "The cuts have to happen because we are at war, an economic war," the country's defence minister, Panos Panagiotopoulos, said this week. Once endorsed, the package will be sent to the parliament for ratification, probably next week. But the government's highwire act of trying to placate lenders while ensuring that the nation is not pushed over the edge will not be easy. Polls have shown the vast majority of Greeks see the measures as deeply unfair and antisocial. Highlighting fears that the recession-inducing policies have pushed Greece into an economic death spiral, the ratings agency Fitch declared on Wednesday that far from being reduced, Athens's debt mountain was growing, with the country's debt-to-GDP ratio set to increase from its current 164.9% to 180.2% in 2014. "Once the Greek people learn exactly what the measures are there will be uproar," Iliopoulos, the trade unionist, told the Guardian. "Parliament will see mass protests. And it won't be nice."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Appointment of veteran executive Goldman seen as part of CEO Marissa Mayer's strategy to start growing the firm again Yahoo's new finance boss will receive up to $18m in salary, bonuses, restricted stock and stock options over the next four years, according to a regulatory filing. Ken Goldman, a veteran technology executive, was appointed chief financial officer of the ailing internet firm on Tuesday as new boss Marissa Mayer seeks to turn around Yahoo's fortunes. Her compensation package could total more than $70m in salary, bonuses, restricted stock and stock options over five years. Goldman, 63, will receive $1.1m in salary and bonus, and restricted stock units and performance-based stock options worth as much as $12m that over the next four years. Yahoo said he will also get 76,000 restricted stock units to make up for compensation lost when he left his previous job at Fortinet, a cyber security software firm. Tim Morse, Goldman's predecessor, served as interim CEO while Yahoo dealt with the fallout from the ousting of Scott Thompson. He was seen as a cost cutter while analysts said Goldman's appointment was part of Mayer's strategy to start growing the company again. Mayer, once one of Google's most high-profile executives, took over as CEO in July. Mayer briefed staff at Yahoo Tuesday about her plans for the company. The private talk had been billed as "an act of radical transparency" but, according to reports, she did not signal any major new moves. Mayer told staff that the company would concentrate on becoming part of its users' everyday lives, shifting further into mobile and growing its core businesses. Mayer is Yahoo's third full-time CEO since the company fired Carol Bartz in September 2011. Microsoft made a $44.6bn bid for Yahoo in February 2008. The bid was firmly rejected by co-founder and then boss Jerry Yang. Since then its fortunes have declined rapidly as the company has lost out in advertising to Google and Facebook and been hit by a series of boardroom turmoils. Yahoo is currently valued at $18.5bn. Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group, told Bloomberg: "We still need to see some actual actions." He said Mayer would need to change the "core dynamics" of the industry to restore its advertising business by making deals with other big players like AOL and Microsoft.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Egypt's Mohamad Morsi speak at the UN general assembly in New York - live coverage
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republicans challenge accuracy of new polls and say they overestimate number of voters who will show up on election day Mitt Romney's campaign team insisted Wednesday the election is not slipping beyond reach in spite of a new batch of polls showing Barack Obama pulling away in the two biggest swing states, Ohio and Florida. Victory in the two would almost certainly deliver Obama a second term in the White House. But Ed Gillespie, one of Romney's advisers, in an interview Wednesday, challenged the accuracy of the polls, usually a sign that a campaign is in deep trouble. "It is not consistent with our polling," he said. He claimed the race is much tighter than the polls would suggest. After months in which Obama and Romney have been tied, Obama has broken away, establishing polls leads that could prove decisive on 6 November. Polls at this stage in the race, with the electorate becoming more engaged, are often a good indicator of the eventual election result. In Ohio, where both Obama and Romney were campaigning Wednesday, a Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS poll put Obama on 53% to Romney on 43%. The same poll put Obama ahead too in Florida, 53% to Romney's 44%. The Obama campaign said it is guarding against complacency. Jen Psaki, an Obama campaign spokeswoman, said: "we're running the race in every swing state as if we're five points down." Gillespie, challenging the recent batch of polls, echoed points made by conservative bloggers who have suggested the polls are being skewed in favour of Obama. Gillespie said he was not whining but that the polls are disproportionately weighted towards the Democrats. His basic argument is that pollsters are expecting Democrats not only to match the massive turnout in 2008 but to exceed it. "In every single one of them they have a Democratic voter participation that is higher than the Democratic voter participation in 2008," Gillespie told Fox News. "I don't know anyone on the ground in any of these swing states that believe there will be a higher percentage of the electorate in 2012 than 2008, and yet in every single one of these surveys there's a higher percentage. Which explains, by the way, how Romney could be tied or leading among independents in these polls, and then losing the net poll to president Obama. It does not make sense." Another of Romney's campaign team, Rich Beeson, like Gillespie, also questioned the validity of the polling. Speaking to journalists on the campaign in Ohio, he said victory for Romney was not reliant on winning Ohio and that there were other paths open. "If we lose Ohio, can we still win? … I just don't deal in if-then statements," Beeson said. He added that no states were being written off. "So we don't sit down, I don't sit down and sort of lop those off. I prefer to look at the map holistically." Romney's apparent problem in connecting with voters was summed up in an embarrassing moment on the campaign trail in Ohio on Tuesday afternoon that was being broadcast widely Wednesday. Only hours after delivering a more than competent speech at a gathering of corporate chief executives, world leaders and non-governmental-organisation heads in New York, he flew to Ohio. His effective delivery to the kind of audiences he would have been comfortable with as chief executive of Bain capital contrasted with his awkwardness in front of a Republican rally in Ohio alongside his running mate, Paul Ryan. Video footage shows the crowd chanting "Ryan, Ryan". Romney, in an effort to work the crowd, tried to get them to chant "Romney-Ryan, Romney-Ryan". The video indicates this suggestion was met with near silence. Romney, on completion of a two-day bus tour in Ohio, heads for another swing state, Virginia, on Thursday.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Molotov cocktails and teargas as the autumn of unrest gets under way in Greece today, with tens of thousands of protesters in Athens
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Most Americans reject view of a clash of cultures that can only have one winner, but two-thirds of Republicans support it An overwhelming majority of Republican voters in the United States regard the west and Islam as being embroiled in "a fundamental conflict which only one side can win", according to new YouGov polling seen exclusively by the Guardian. As the UN general assembly was convening in New York, with an agenda including the ongoing conflict in Syria, the Iranian nuclear question and the Arab uprisings, the pollsters asked both American and British voters about their attitudes to the Muslim world. Opinion was reasonably evenly split on both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed somewhat more tolerant in the United States. Overall, Americans rejected the view of a fundamental clash of cultures that can only have one winner – only 39% adopted this view, against 47% who believe that "it is possible for the west and Muslims to coexist in peace". In Britain, by contrast, the respective figures were 43% and 41%, suggesting that British opinion towards Islam is somewhat more hostile overall. But American opinion is beset by a sharp partisan divide. By a near three-to-one margin, of 64% to 23%, Republicans perceive a fundamental conflict. The overall picture of American tolerance emerges only because Democratic identifiers incline even more emphatically towards the hope of peaceful co-existence, by a 68%-18% margin. The partisan gap in support for the "conflict" view is therefore 46 percentage points. Among independents, the split is right down the middle – with 45% believing peace should be possible, and 44% ruling it out. There is something of a right-left split in the UK too, but it is nothing like as marked. Amongst Conservatives, there is a 49%-40% lead for the perception of conflict, a near mirror image of the 48%-39% balance in favour of peaceful co-existence among Labour supporters. That makes the Tory-Labour gap in support for the "conflict" perspective 10 points. Liberal Democrats are the most optimistic about east-west relations, with 58% believing peace should be possible, against just 26% who say the reverse. The powerful picture of partisan division in the United States is also evident when YouGov asked respondents whether they felt that most Muslims backed the recent wave of anti-American violent protest that swept several countries after an anti-Islamic film made in the US became available on YouTube. The overall balance of opinion in both Britain and America was very similar, with 34% of Britons and 37% of Americans believing the violence had the support of half or more Muslims, against 55% of Britons and 53% of Americans who believed that it only had minority support. Once again, however, when Republicans were singled out the balance changed: by 59% to 34% they believed that the violent attacks enjoyed majority backing among Muslims. Democrats take the opposite view, by a margin of 68%-18%. British voters are, once again, less sharply divided on partisan lines. Respective proportions of 41%, 34% and 23% of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat voters believe that the rioting enjoyed majority support. And among voters of all three stripes most believe that the violence rested on only minority support. Britons and Americans alike are feeling disinclined to provide aid to foster democracy in the wake of the Arab spring. In Britain, 69% rejected the suggestion of giving aid, as did a majority of each party's voters. In the US, the idea of aid is rejected by a slightly smaller overall majority of 58%, although once again the strong partisan divide comes to the fore. Some 81% of Republicans reject the idea of giving aid, but only 36% of Democrats feel the same way. For the British element of the fieldwork, YouGov interviewed 1,739 British adults online. Fieldwork was undertaken between 23 and 24 September 2012. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). YouGov is a member of the British polling council, and complies with its rules. In the US, 1,000 adults were interviewed between 22 and 24 September.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the UN general assembly in New York - live coverage
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the UN general assembly in New York - live coverage
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cleve Foster, convicted of murder and rape in 2002, becomes 30th person executed in the US this year and the ninth in Texas Texas executed a man on Tuesday who had received three stays from the US supreme court because of questions about how forcefully his lawyers defended him. Cleve Foster, 48, was convicted with an accomplice in the 2002 murder and rape of Nyanuer "Mary" Pal, whose naked body was found in a ditch, according to a report by the Texas attorney general's office. Foster had asked the supreme court for a fourth stay of execution but it was denied on Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at 6.43pm local time at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas criminal justice spokesman Jason Clark said. The US supreme court a year ago granted a temporary stay of execution just two and a half hours before Foster was to be put to death by lethal injection. It was the third stay from the high court for Foster, who also was granted delays in January and April 2011. Tuesday's request for a fourth stay was referred by Antonin Scalia to the full court but just three of the nine justices – Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – said they would favor another stay. Foster's accomplice in the murder, Shelton Ward, died of brain cancer on death row in 2010. Foster maintained in his trial that Ward acted alone and that sex between him and the victim was consensual. The two men and Pal were regulars at Fat Albert's bar in Fort Worth when, the night before Valentine's Day in 2002, bartenders said Pal walked out with them. Pal left in her car and the men followed closely behind in Foster's truck. Eight hours later, Pal's body was found with a gunshot wound to the head and wadded-up duct tape nearby, according to the report. Foster is the 30th person executed in the United States this year and the ninth in Texas. In his last statement, Foster sent his love to his family and friends. "I love you. I pray one day we will all meet in heaven," Foster said. "Ready to go home to meet my maker." Texas has executed more than four times as many people as any other state since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Molotov cocktails and teargas as the autumn of unrest gets under way in Greece today, with tens of thousands of protesters in Athens
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | High court judge issues interim injunction to prevent cleric being sent to US for trial after last-minute appeal A high court judge has halted the extradition of the radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza pending an urgent hearing in open court. The decision follows last-minute representations from Hamza's lawyers of new material to prevent his being sent to the United States to stand trial on terror charges dating back to 1998. A Judicial Office spokesman confirmed that both Hamza and a second terror suspect facing extradition to the US, Khaled al-Fawwaz, had sought injunctions to prevent their removal from Britain. "A high court judge has considered the applications on the papers and adjourned the cases to a hearing in open court. The judge has issued interim injunctions preventing their removal prior to those hearings. The judge has directed the hearings be fixed urgently," said a spokesman. Fawwaz has been detained in Britain since 1998 when he was accused of being involved in the bombing of American embassies in three east African capitals. The two terror suspects are among a group of five cases that the European court of human rights finally cleared for extradition to the US after an eight-year legal battle. The decision by five European judges on Monday to reject their final appeals meant that all legal avenues under the extradition laws were finally exhausted. The home secretary was expected to put them on a plane within the next two to three weeks. They all claimed that they faced inhumane and degrading treatment if they were convicted in America and sentenced to serve time in a "super-max" high security prison. The grounds for their legal challenge was not immediately clear, nor has a date been set yet for its hearing. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The European court of human rights ruled there was no bar to the extradition of these men. We will continue working to ensure they are handed over to the US authorities as soon as possible." Although the grounds are not known it is possible that Hamza's appeal may relate to claims that his health has deteriorated since his last appearance in court. The BBC quoted legal sources in Fawwaz's case that he had been "delisted as a terrorist by the US authorities" and they were inviting the home secretary to reconsider her decision in the case. The Home Office is reported to regard these legal moves as little more than last-minute delaying tactics. Two of the other terror suspects, Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan, who are accused of running a pro-jihadi website, are both facing a possible private prosecution in Britain that could take precedence over any US trial. The director of public prosecutions is expected to decide shortly whether that should halt their immediate extradition.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Appeals court in San Francisco denies emergency motion for injunction to block controversial 'show-me-your-papers' provision A US federal appeals court has rejected an effort by a coalition of civil and immigrants rights activists to prevent police from enforcing an Arizona provision that is at the heart of the fierce national debate over illegal immigration. The ninth US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco on Tuesday denied an emergency motion for an injunction blocking the "show your papers" provision of SB 1070, the state's crackdown on illegal immigrants, pending appeal. The provision requires police to verify the citizenship or immigration status of people arrested, stopped or detained if there is a reasonable suspicion that they are in the country unlawfully. It went into effect on 18 September after a US district judge lifted an injunction blocking it. In June, the US supreme court confirmed that three other key provisions of SB 1070 were unconstitutional, but declined to block the "show me your papers" provision. Several other parts of SB 1070 are blocked by separate injunctions issued by the district court. Arizona's Republican governor Jan Brewer signed the state crackdown on illegal immigrants into law in April 2010, saying that the federal government had failed to secure the state's border with Mexico. Brewer is an outspoken foe of the Obama administration's stance on immigration. In a statement Tuesday, the governor said she was under "no illusion that opponents of SB 1070 will stop their baseless allegations and call off their teams of lawyers." "Know this: they will not succeed. The state of Arizona stands firmly in support of the rule of law, in defense of our citizens and together with our brave men and women in uniform," she added. Karen Tumlin, managing attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, which was among a coalition that challenged the law, said the group is exploring its legal options. "We need to continue the fight because of the unconstitutional harm it will unleash in Arizona" Tumlin said. "First and foremost, we are concerned about unlawful detention and individuals who may be profiled based on their manner of speech or the color of their skin." Obama challenged Arizona's law in court two years ago, saying the US constitution gives the federal government sole authority over immigration policy.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police respond with tear gas to firebombs thrown from sidelines of demo against €12bn cuts Violence erupted in the heart of Athens as mass protests against further austerity measures in crisis-hit Greece escalated on Wednesday. Police fired tear gas at crowds throwing rocks and petrol bombs. The exchange disrupted an otherwise peaceful march through the capital by up to 200,000 demonstrators participating in a general strike, the first big confrontation with Greece's three-month-old coalition government. Industrial action, hailed as a triumph by unions, brought the country almost to a standstill, grounding flights, disrupting transport and shutting public services including tourist sites. The governing coalition, under immense pressure to pass yet more cuts by international creditors keeping the moribund Greek economy afloat, had ordered bulletproof barriers to be erected around the parliament but had hoped the protests would end peacefully. As smoke rose over parts of the city and protesters donned gas masks, it was clear those hopes had been dashed. About 3,000 officers – twice the number usually deployed – had been standing guard in central Athens as authorities braced for rioting. "This is a warning to the government not to pass the measures," said Ilias Iliopoulos at the ADEDY, the union of civil servants, insisting that about 350,000 Greeks took part in protest marches. "Today was a huge success as witnessed by all those in the armed forces and police who also participated because they, too, will be affected by these cuts. The government must know that if wants to push us further into a corner, we will react." Prime minister Antonis Samaras's conservative-led alliance is expected to decide on Thursday on budget cuts totalling €11.9bn (£9.46bn) – more than 5% of the country's GDP. Once endorsed, the controversial austerity package will be sent to parliament for ratification. "Once the Greek people learn exactly what the measures are, there will be uproar," Iliopoulos said. "There will be mass protests." Ships stayed docked, shops pulled down shutters, and museums and monuments – including the Acropolis – closed to visitors. Air traffic controllers walked off the job for three hours and hospitals were operating with emergency staffing levels only. Much of the union anger is directed at the additional spending cuts over the next two years that Greece has promised its "troika" of lenders – the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund – in order to secure its next tranche of aid. The bulk of the cuts are expected from slashing wages, pensions and welfare benefits – heaping new misery on Greeks, who say repeated rounds of austerity have pushed them to the brink yet failed to transform the country for the better. A poll by the MRB agency last week showed that more than 90% of Greeks believe the planned cuts are unfair and a burden on the poor, with the vast majority expecting more austerity in coming years. With the country in its fifth year of recession, analysts said a strong public backlash could tear apart the weak coalition. "What people want to tell Samaras is that they are hurt – and Samaras could use this to demand concessions from the troika," said MRB's polling director, Dimitris Mavros. "The people are willing to give the government time, but on certain conditions like cracking down on tax evasion and securing a bailout extension. If the government succeeds in that, its life will also be extended."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Project aims to let anyone print a gun in their own home, raising new concerns about the legality of homemade firearms Imagine an America in which anyone can download and print a gun in their own home. They wouldn't need a license, a background check, or much technical knowledge, just a 3D printer. That's the vision a cadre of industrious libertarians are determined to turn into reality. Last week, Wiki Weapon, a project to create the first fully printable plastic gun received the $20,000 in funding it needed to get off the ground. The project's goal is not to develop and sell a working gun, but rather to create an open-source schematic (or blueprint) that individuals could download and use to print their own weapons at home. The technology that makes this possible is 3D printing, a process during which plastic resin is deposited layer by layer to create a three dimensional object. In the past few years 3D printers have become increasingly affordable, and just last week the first two retail stores selling 3D printers opened in the United States with models ranging from $600 to $2,199. Spearheading the Wiki Weapon project is Cody Wilson, a second-year law student at the University of Texas. After brainstorming the concept with a friend, Wilson assembled a group of engineers, programmers and designers to develop the printable firearm. Initially the collective, which calls itself Defense Distributed, tried to crowd-source start-up capital on the funding website Indiegogo, but after the project began receiving media attention, Indiegogo froze the group's account and refused to hand over approximately $2,000 that Defense Distributed had raised. Indiegogo asserted that the group violated company policy, claiming that the project is related to the sale of firearms. But, as Wilson is quick to point out, Wiki Weapon isn't a for-profit venture and doesn't intend to ever sell tangible firearms. The group's aim is simply to publish a schematic, which would be available online for anyone free of charge. Despite this hiccup, Defense Distributed still managed to raise the money it needed from donors by using the direct deposit platform Bitcoin. However, if what happened with Indiegogo is any indication, the project will likely face more legal hurdles in the future. Since 3D printing technology is so new, the legality of the gun publication is still somewhat opaque. According to Dave Kopel, the research director of the Independence Institute, it is legal to create pistols, revolvers and rifles at home, although some states are stricter than others. As long as an inventor isn't selling, sharing or trading the weapon, under federal law, a license isn't necessary. Homemade creations also don't need to be registered with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and are legal for use by the individual who created the weapon. But there are some exceptions to what can be printed legally. Military-grade weapons like machine guns, rocket launchers, sawed-off shotguns and explosives, as well as concealed firearms (like guns within phones or pens) need prior ATF approval before a manufacturer can create them. Federal law also requires "any other weapon, other than a pistol or revolver, from which a shot is discharged by an explosive if such weapon is capable of being concealed on the person" to be subject to ATF review. Since a potential Wiki Weapon would likely be "any other weapon", the ATF would probably have to approve a prototype, and the bureau has said as much. Either way, if a fully functional plastic Wiki Weapon is printed, it may be illegal upon creation thanks to an obscure law from the late 1980s. In 1988, Congress passed the Undetectable Firearms Act after the Glock company provoked controversy by selling firearms made with plastic polymers. The technique, which was revolutionary at the time but is common in the industry today, alarmed many gun control advocates who were concerned that plastic guns wouldn't register in airport x-ray machines. Gun rights advocates remember the uproar as hyperbolic because Glocks do contain metal, and x-ray machines don't even distinguish between metal and plastic. The legacy of the Glock controversy is a law that mandates that all US guns must contain at least 3.7 ounces of steel. However, the law is set to expire in December 2013. If Congress doesn't renew it, Wilson and company wouldn't have to worry about the legislation. "I haven't felt any real heat yet, but I think it's very possible the project might happen outside of America or the files might be hosted outside of America," said Wilson who is cognizant of the statute. "The point of manufacture might also have to be outside of the United States." Of course, even if a plastic gun is illegal, it would be incredibly easy to print if a schematic were available. Under US law there's nothing illegal about creating or sharing a schematic for a weapon unless that weapon is copyrighted or patented. Publications like the Anarchists Cookbook and nuclear bomb schematics are available online. When asked about the possibility of a Wiki Weapon hypothetically being used by a child or a mentally unstable individual, Wilson, a fierce libertarian, defended the project. "People say you're going to allow people to hurt people, well that's one of the sad realities of liberty. People abuse freedom," said Wilson. "But that's no excuse to not have these rights or to feel good about someone taking them away from you." Another less hypothetical legal issue concerns the receiver or frame of the gun. In the United States manufactured guns are regulated by serial numbers, which are only printed on the receiver. All other parts of a gun – the barrel, the magazine, the handle, the trigger, etc – don't have to be registered and can be bought by anyone. Last year an American gunsmith named Michael Guslick took advantage of this loophole to upload and print out a receiver (technically known as a lower receiver) for an AR-15 or M16. He then attached the lower receiver to other gun components, thereby completely circumventing regulations. According to Guslick, after assembling the gun he managed to successfully fire off 200 rounds. In some US jurisdictions, Guslick's experiment would probably have been considered illegal, but what's perhaps most interesting is the implication that today it's already possible, even for someone who has had a gun license revoked, to build their own unregistered firearm at home with printed plastic parts. But Kopel expects 3D gun printing to remain a hobbyist pursuit, at least in the United States. "If this thing does work I think it would be great for the people in Syria to have a 3D printer so they could start making their own guns and start resisting the mass murderer Assad," said Kopel. "The guy who is robbing a 7-Eleven isn't going to buy a 3D printer." According to Peter Swire, an internet law professor at Ohio State University, for the moment 3D printing is just another tool for hobbyists, who have a long history in the US. "What's important here is the ability to turn software into a gun anywhere in the world," said Swire. "I think the big question is how many 3D printers are we going to have? The more 3D printers the more gun factories there are." It's impossible to know exactly how many Americans own guns because there's no gun census, but it's well-known that the US is the most armed nation on earth with about a third of the globe's guns. Kopel questions whether people will go to the trouble of printing guns out when they are so easily available. It's also important to note that building an all-plastic gun is difficult and dangerous. To be successful, the Wiki Weapon will need to be able to absorb the impact of exploding gunpowder and expanding gas, which Guslick doubts could be contained by the type of plastic used in non-industrial 3D printers like the RepRap and Makerbot. For Wilson and his team, however, the challenge isn't necessarily to create a practical firearm. Realistically, he said, a plastic gun would probably only work once and have to be disposed of after use. Even if it were to succeed and the team were able to create a plastic gun, he acknowledged that it's highly unlikely that a Wiki Weapon would replace existing commercial models anytime soon. But that isn't why the group is pursuing the project. Like many Americans Wilson's family had guns when he was growing up in Arkansas, but he isn't as he puts it, "a guns guy". He only bought his first gun a year ago and most of his childhood was spent "with my nose in a book". Wilson said his interest in making firearms is rooted not in a passion for guns, but in libertarian ideals. "In the future no one is going to be able to decide who has a gun but you," Wilson said. "This is a project that intends to help subvert older hierarchies and these older modes of thinking." By virtue of his legal training, Wilson is the de facto in-house lawyer for the Wiki Weapon project, and he freely admits that he's not entirely sure if the weapon he's creating is legal. But for him, that's part of the project's novelty. "This project could very well change the way we think about gun control and consumption," Defense Distributed states in the "manifesto" published on its website. "How do governments behave if they must one day operate on the assumption that any and every citizen has near instant access to a firearm through the internet? Let's find out." It's telling that after a summer of senseless shootings, gun control remains notably absent from the public conversation, and in an election year no less. But if the Wiki Weapon project does print a useable gun, it seems inevitable that the nation will need to evaluate the potential of this new technology and iron out how to regulate it. So maybe Defense Distributed and Cody Wilson will get an answer to their manifesto's query after all. If they're successful, surely we will all find out.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Radical cleric attempts to block extradition to US after European court threw out appeal Abu Hamza al-Masri has launched a last-minute appeal to the high court to block his imminent extradition to the US to stand trial on terrorism charges. A second terror suspect, Khaled al-Fawwaz, who also faces being sent to the US, has started a legal challenge to his extradition as well. Fawwaz has been detained in Britain since 1998 when he was accused of being involved in the bombing of American embassies in three east African capitals. The two terror suspects are among a group of five cases that the European court of human rights finally cleared for extradition to the US after an eight-year legal battle. The decision by five European judges on Monday to reject their final appeals meant that all legal avenues under the extradition laws were finally exhausted. The home secretary is expected to put them on a plane within the next two to three weeks. They all claimed that they faced inhumane and degrading treatment if they were convicted in America and sentenced to serve time in a "super-max" high security prison. The grounds for their legal challenge was not immediately clear, nor has a date been set yet for its hearing. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The European court of human rights ruled there was no bar to the extradition of these men. We will continue working to ensure they are handed over to the US authorities as soon as possible." Two of the other terror suspects, Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan, who are accused of running a pro-jihadi website, are both facing a possible private prosecution in Britain that could take precedence over any US trial. The director of public prosecutions is expected to decide shortly whether that should halt their immediate extradition.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Molotov cocktails and teargas as the autumn of unrest gets under way in Greece today, with tens of thousands of protesters in Athens
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former News International chief and No 10 spin doctor, plus 12 others, face charges linked to phone-hacking investigation Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson have been told at the Old Bailey that they are not due face a full trial until a year from now, in a hearing that saw the former News of the World editors appear in the dock of the central criminal court. The woman who was most recently chief executive of News International and the man who acted as David Cameron's director of communications at No 10 were given a proposed trial date of 9 September 2013 by Mr Justice Fulford who is presiding over two batches of charges against them and 12 others. The two former editors, and the remaining defendants, spoke only to confirm their names at the beginning of the hearing in a crowded dock in court number one. All 14 were bailed at the end of the hearing. Brooks sat impassively on her own at the back of the dock during an hour-long hearing that gave directions for the management of the two cases involving the 14 defendants. A composed Coulson sat in the front row flanked by three of his co-defendants, all former colleagues at the News of the World. Former former assistant editor (news) Ian Edmondson sat on his right and while ex-assistant news editor James Weatherup and previous chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck were on his left. Court number one was packed with lawyers, mostly representing the defendants, with three rows of 18 wigged barristers present. Andrew Edis QC led for crown; next week he will do the same in the trial of Chris Huhne MP and his former wife Vicky Price who are accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. John Kelsey-Fry QC, who previously successfully defended Harry Redknapp, was acting for Brooks. Clare Montgomery QC, who is acting for the Swedish government in its battle to extradite Julian Assange, was representing Coulson. Brooks was dressed in a black and cream outfit while Coulson wore a grey suit and blue tie. Coulson, Brooks and six others have been charged with conspiring to hack phones. Brooks is also charged with three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Six others face one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, including her husband Charlie, her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter and her ex-chauffeur Paul Edwards. All have been accused of agreeing to conceal evidence from detectives investigating phone hacking in July last year. The phone-hacking related charges following an investigation made by officers working as part of the Metropolitan police's Operating Weeting. Apart from Coulson and Brooks, the others facing phone-hacking-related charges are Edmondson, Weatherup, Thurlbeck, former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, ex-news editor Greg Miskiw and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire. Kuttner faces three charges, while Miskiw faces 10 charges. Edmondson faces 12 charges, Thurlbeck eight and Weatherup eight. Mulcaire is charged with allegedly hacking the voicemails of four people: Milly Dowler, Andrew Gilchrist, Delia Smith and the Rt Hon Charles Clarke. Carter sat behind Coulson in the second row along with Miskiw, while the third row was occupied by Brooks's husband Charlie, a racehorse trainer, and Mark Hanna, the head of security at News International. Hanna, former security guard Daryl Jorsling and Lee Sandell, who worked for a company used by News International for security, also face the same charges of trying to conceal evidence from detectives in July 2012 at the height of the phone-hacking scandal. There was initial confusion as all defendants present were invited to come into the dock in no particular order. It transpired there was insufficient room, leaving Edwards and Jorsling to step outside the dock and sit in officials' benches to the left. After an hour of legal discussion, Fulford ordered a further hearing for 12 and 13 December before a possible full trial in September next year. • 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
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Foreign ministers hold 'tense' talks on sidelines of UN general assembly after row over East China Sea islets escalates China and Japan have held a "tense" hour-long meeting over a group of contested islands, the Japanese foreign minister said, but showed no sign of shifting their stances. The long-running territorial dispute has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with violent anti-Japanese protests in China over the uninhabited islets, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Koichiro Gemba urged Beijing to exercise restraint when he met his counterpart, Yang Jieshi, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Tuesday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. Xinhua, China's state news agency, said Yang reiterated that the East China Sea islands had been the country's "sacred territory since ancient times". The Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, told a news conference in Tokyo that talks were needed through various channels, adding: "There is no magic bullet in foreign diplomacy." The countries' deputy foreign ministers had also held talks in Beijing on Monday. China's foreign ministry spokesman said they discussed issues "frankly and deeply". Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, north Asia director for the International Crisis Group, welcomed the discussions as a positive step. "It's a good sign that they're talking, but it's difficult to see how either one is going to be able to substantially walk back their positions," she said. "One hopes they will be able to exercise the leadership and vision necessary, but there are domestic challenges in both countries which make it very difficult for the leaderships to be seen as weak on this issue. The status quo was broken by Japan's purchase of the islands and China's announcement of the baseline." China is preparing for the handover of power to a new generation of leaders, while in Japan the unpopular ruling party will soon face an election. Japan's purchase of the islands came after the nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, said the city would buy them. The central government feared that would spark greater conflict. The islands are surrounded by fisheries and potentially valuable energy resources, but the dispute is also fuelled by long-running historical tensions over Japan's brutal occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as Japanese anxieties over China's growing might. Analysts say neither side wants the matter to escalate – particularly given the risk of further damage to crucial economic ties. But there are concerns that an unintended collision or a misjudgment in a standoff between vessels from the two countries in the waters around the islands might spark a more serious clash. Reuters reported that Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki are already cutting back on production in China after the mass protests closed dealerships and dimmed sales prospects. Xinhua said over 52,000 seat reservations have been cancelled on flights between the two countries between September and November, citing All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines. On Monday, the Japanese coastguard used water cannon to disperse dozens of fishing boats from Taiwan – which also claims the islands – from disputed waters. A spokesman for Beijing's state council Taiwan affairs office said that Chinese vessels would be ready to offer help to both Taiwanese and mainland vessels fishing around the islands, Xinhua reported on Wednesday. China is involved in several territorial disputes. Xinhua announced that officials plan a 10-fold increase in the maximum punishment for failures to map it in full. Current regulations stipulate a fine of up to 10,000 yuan for those who fail to include the country's entire territory, but the new law would increase the maximum penalty to 100,000 yuan.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Foreign ministers hold 'tense' talks on the sidelines of UN general assembly after row over East China Sea islets escalates China and Japan have held a "tense" hour-long meeting over a group of contested islands, the Japanese foreign minister said, but showed no sign of shifting their stances. The long-running territorial dispute has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with violent anti-Japanese protests in China over the uninhabited islets, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Koichiro Gemba urged Beijing to exercise restraint when he met his counterpart Yang Jieshi on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Tuesday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency. Xinhua, China's state news agency, said Yang reiterated that the East China Sea islands had been the country's "sacred territory since ancient times". The Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, told a news conference in Tokyo that talks were needed through various channels, adding: "There is no magic bullet in foreign diplomacy." The countries' deputy foreign ministers had also held talks in Beijing on Monday. China's foreign ministry spokesman said they discussed issues "frankly and deeply". Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, north Asia director for the International Crisis Group, said the discussions were a positive step. "It's a good sign that they're talking, but it's difficult to see how either one is going to be able to substantially walk back their positions," she said. "One hopes they will be able to exercise the leadership and vision necessary, but there are domestic challenges in both countries which make it very difficult for the leaderships to be seen as weak on this issue. The status quo was broken by Japan's purchase of the islands and China's announcement of the baseline." China is preparing for the handover of power to a new generation of leaders, while in Japan the unpopular ruling party will soon face an election. Japan's purchase of the islands came after the nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, said the city would buy them. The central government feared that would spark greater conflict. The islands are surrounded by fisheries and potentially valuable energy resources, but the dispute is also fuelled by long running historical tensions over Japan's brutal occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as Japanese anxieties over China's growing might. Analysts say neither side wants the matter to escalate – particularly given the risk of further damage to crucial economic ties. But there are concerns that an unintended collision or a misjudgment in a standoff between vessels from the two countries in the waters around the islands might spark a clash. Reuters reported that Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki are already cutting back on production in China after the mass protests closed dealerships and dimmed sales prospects. Xinhua said that over 52,000 seat reservations have been cancelled on flights between the two countries between September and November, citing All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines. On Monday, the Japanese coastguard used water cannons to disperse dozens of fishing boats from Taiwan – which also claims the islands – from disputed waters. A spokesman for Beijing's State Council Taiwan affairs office said that Chinese vessels would be ready to offer help to both Taiwanese and mainland vessels fishing around the islands, Xinhua reported on Wednesday. China is involved in several territorial disputes. Xinhua announced that officials plan a 10-fold increase in the maximum punishment for failures to map it in full. Current regulations stipulate a fine of up to 10,000 yuan for those who fail to include the country's entire territory, but the new law would increase the maximum penalty to 100,000 yuan.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mona Eltahawy arrested after painting over American Freedom Defense Initiative poster that equates Muslims with savages Mona Eltahawy, the prominent Egyptian-American writer and activist, has been arrested in New York after spraying paint over a controversial poster on the subway that has been condemned for equating Muslims with "savages". The posters were put up in the city by the anti-Muslim American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by Pam Geller. They were approved by a US court, which ruled that they were "political" statements and protected by the first amendment, which guarantees free speech. The poster states: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man." Between two Stars of David, it adds: "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." Eltahawy was arrested after a supporter of Geller's initiative attempted to prevent her defacing the sign with a purple aerosol. The posters are now displayed in 10 New York stations – including Grand Central and Times Square – after a court ruled that the local transport authority could not refuse the ads. In a video posted online of the incident by the New York Post, Mona Eltahawy can be seen attempting to paint over the poster before she is tackled by a woman with a camera, who is identified as Pamela Hall. "Mona, do you think you have the right to do this?" Eltahawy is asked. "I do actually," Eltahawy replies, adding: "I think this is freedom of expression, just as [the ad] is freedom of expression." As the scuffle continues two police officers appear to then arrest Eltahawy, who says: "This is what happens in America when you non-violently protest." Eltahawy, who has written for this paper, was later charged with "criminal mischief" and "graffiti". During the Arab spring, Eltahawy was arrested in Cairo and suffered an assault by riot police which left her with two broken arms. The Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) had originally ruled it would not permit the posters because they were demeaning, but was compelled to take the $6,000 (£3,700) ad after Geller's group went to court. Last month US district court judge Paul Engelmayer ruled that it is protected speech under the first amendment. "Our hands are tied," New York subway spokesman Aaron Donovan said. "Under our existing ad standards as modified by the injunction, the MTA is required to run the ad." The posters have attracted widespread condemnation including from Jewish figures. Among those who have spoken out against them is Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, of Rabbis for Human Rights — North America, who wrote for CNN online: "As a rabbi, I find the ads deeply misguided and disturbing … The coded message makes clear who the savages are: those who support jihad, which in Geller's mind includes all Muslims. She has called Islam 'an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the Earth'. "As a Jew, I know the extreme to which baseless hatred can lead. And the Jewish community has been in the past a target of hatred in the United States. Geller's message ignores the positive contributions that our Muslim friends, neighbours and colleagues make to our country every single day. "It is also unfortunate that Geller chooses to frame her message of hatred as one of support for Israel." As head of a group called Stop Islamization of America, Geller, a rightwing blogger, helped spur a long campaign two years ago to remove a planned Islamic community centre near the World Trade Centre site, which she called the "Ground Zero Mosque". Geller's group has also placed posters in other stations north of New York City that read: "It's not Islamophobia, it's Islamorealism."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mona Eltahawy arrested after painting over American Freedom Defense Initiative poster that equates Muslims with savages
• Open thread: has Mona Eltahawy proved a point? Mona Eltahawy, the prominent Egyptian-American writer and activist, has been arrested in New York after spraying paint over a controversial poster on the subway that has been condemned for equating Muslims with "savages". The posters were put up in the city by the anti-Muslim American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by Pam Geller. They were approved by a US court, which ruled that they were "political" statements and protected by the first amendment, which guarantees free speech. The poster states: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man." Between two Stars of David, it adds: "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." Eltahawy was arrested after a supporter of Geller's initiative attempted to prevent her defacing the sign with a purple aerosol. The posters are now displayed in 10 New York stations – including Grand Central and Times Square – after a court ruled that the local transport authority could not refuse the ads. In a video posted online of the incident by the New York Post, Mona Eltahawy can be seen attempting to paint over the poster before she is tackled by a woman with a camera, who is identified as Pamela Hall. "Mona, do you think you have the right to do this?" Eltahawy is asked. "I do actually," Eltahawy replies, adding: "I think this is freedom of expression, just as [the ad] is freedom of expression." As the scuffle continues two police officers appear to then arrest Eltahawy, who says: "This is what happens in America when you non-violently protest." Eltahawy, who has written for this paper, was later charged with "criminal mischief" and "graffiti". During the Arab spring, Eltahawy was arrested in Cairo and suffered an assault by riot police which left her with two broken arms. The Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) had originally ruled it would not permit the posters because they were demeaning, but was compelled to take the $6,000 (£3,700) ad after Geller's group went to court. Last month US district court judge Paul Engelmayer ruled that it is protected speech under the first amendment. "Our hands are tied," New York subway spokesman Aaron Donovan said. "Under our existing ad standards as modified by the injunction, the MTA is required to run the ad." The posters have attracted widespread condemnation including from Jewish figures. Among those who have spoken out against them is Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, of Rabbis for Human Rights — North America, who wrote for CNN online: "As a rabbi, I find the ads deeply misguided and disturbing … The coded message makes clear who the savages are: those who support jihad, which in Geller's mind includes all Muslims. She has called Islam 'an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the Earth'. "As a Jew, I know the extreme to which baseless hatred can lead. And the Jewish community has been in the past a target of hatred in the United States. Geller's message ignores the positive contributions that our Muslim friends, neighbours and colleagues make to our country every single day. "It is also unfortunate that Geller chooses to frame her message of hatred as one of support for Israel." As head of a group called Stop Islamization of America, Geller, a rightwing blogger, helped spur a long campaign two years ago to remove a planned Islamic community centre near the World Trade Centre site, which she called the "Ground Zero Mosque". Geller's group has also placed posters in other stations north of New York City that read: "It's not Islamophobia, it's Islamorealism."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rebel groups claim responsibility for attack in heart of Damascus, a day after emir of Qatar calls for Arab intervention Two large explosions have heavily damaged one of Syria's main military buildings, engulfing several floors in flames and sending smoke billowing over central Damascus. The explosions, shortly after 7am local time (4am GMT) on Wednesday, have been followed by sustained bursts of gunfire in the surrounding area. Rebel groups immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which they said had killed dozens. Syria's ministry of information said there were no casualties from the blasts, which had caused "material damage" only. Iranian Press TV said one of its correspondents, 33-year-old Maya Nasser, a Syrian national, died in an exchange of fire in the area following the blasts. Footage showed the blaze consuming the low-rise building near Umayyad Square in the heart of the capital. Since early in the summer, rebel groups have tried to erode pillars of Syria's formidable police state by targeting key personnel and visible symbols of its power. The attack appears to fit a pattern first set in mid-July, when rebels in Damascus planted a bomb in a national security meeting not far from the scene of Wednesday's blast. That attack killed the security tsar, Assef Shawkat, who had played a lead role in the crackdown on the country's popular uprising. Syria's defence minister and another key security figure were also killed. Rebel groups launched a co-ordinated assault on Syria's two leading cities, Damascus and Aleppo, the day after the 18 July blast and both cities have since been consumed by violence. However, opposition forces have been unable to hold gains they made in the capital while trying to fight as a standing army and have instead resorted to insurgency tactics. Homemade bombs are increasingly being used by rebels as potent weapons, particularly against military targets in and around Damascus, where daily death tolls have for the past month been at highs not seen since the start of the uprising more than 18 months ago. Civil war is now raging in most parts of Syria, with regional leaders and the international community warning that an already grave situation is continuing to deteriorate. On Tuesday, the emir of Qatar, which is backing some sections of the rebel Free Syrian Army, for the first time called for unilateral Arab intervention in Syria in a bid to stop the fighting, which has increasingly pitted regional heavyweights directly against each other. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, whose armed forces have supplied some weapons to rebel forces from Turkey, said: "I think that it is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties and do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria." Speaking at the United Nations general assembly in New York, the emir said a precedent for such an intervention had been set more than three decades ago. "We had a similar precedent when Arab forces intervened in Lebanon in the mid-70s … to stop internal fighting there in a step that proved to be effective and useful." The UN security council has been unable to advance a western-backed push for unspecified action against Syria, with Russia and China using veto votes to oppose three resolutions.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Catlin Seaview Survey will allow internet users to dip underwater and share discoveries of scientists studying the health of the reef
• Underwater panoramas of the Great Barrier Reef - in pictures Millions of people will be able to take a virtual dive on the Great Barrier Reef via Google Maps on Wednesday as part of a pioneering underwater scientific expedition. The Catlin Seaview Survey will allow internet users to share the discoveries of scientists who are using new technology to study the composition and health of the Great Barrier Reef. Up to 50,000 high-definition panoramic images of the reef will be taken by the world's first tablet-operated underwater camera and geolocated. When the rapid-fire images are linked together, users will be able to choose a location along the reef, dip underwater and go for a viewer-controlled virtual dive using the street view feature of Google Maps. Dives already completed at three islands on the Great Barrier Reef, as well as sites in Hawaii and the Philippines, will be available today, with more images virtual dive sites added as the scientists map 20 separate reefs along the 2,300km system to a depth of 100m. The imagery will be available to more than 1 billion monthly users of Google Maps around the world, as well as through a dedicated YouTube channel, Google+ and Panoramio, a geolocation photo-sharing website. The survey was launched with a live night dive via a Google+ Hangout at the Blue Ocean film festival in Monterey, California. The three-month survey of the Australian reef system is the first in a series of Catlin Seaview surveys to explore and record the world's coral reefs. Next year, the expedition will move on to Hawaii, the Philippines and Bermuda. The survey aims to make the underwater experience accessible to the public in a way that has never before been possible, and help bridge the gap between scientific awareness and public knowledge. It is sponsored by the UK-based insurance company Catlin, and backed with technology from Google and support from NGOs, research institutes and the University of Queensland (UQ). Reading on mobile? Click here for the video
"From a scientific point of view, this survey is about getting a baseline record of the world's coral reefs and how they are being affected by climate change," said the project's chief scientist, Prof Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, from the Global Change Institute at UQ. "But it's also about engaging the public with this issue. Most of us haven't been lucky enough to dive on a reef but by using these tools, people will know what we mean by the beauty and diversity of our coral reefs." Around 50% of the world's coral reefs have been lost in the past 30 years to pollution, overfishing and climate change, which is increasing sea temperatures and elevating levels of ocean acidity. Coral reefs support the lives of millions of people worldwide and a quarter of the world's marine species, and are an important indicator of the health of the seas. Shallow reef surveys will involve scientists using state-of-the-art digital technology to capture images of the reef that can be linked to create a virtual dive experience. Automated technologies for rapidly assessing the amount of amount of coral cover and other life forms will provide a "baseline" for understanding change. The cameras for the shallow reef survey, the SVII, have been specially designed to take 360-degree, geolocated panoramic images every 4-6 seconds while travelling at 4kph. The deep reef survey will use diving robots and HD cameras to explore and reveal habitats that are rarely visited by humans. In ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, more than 90% has not been explored because it is more than 40m – too deep for scuba divers. Scientists will use the deep survey to assess the potential for the deep reef to host "refugee" communities of species under stress because of bleaching and changes in the shallow reef due to climate change. They also hope to discover new species – a pilot study on Heron Island revealed a new species of pygmy seahorse and four new species of coral. "This is a real opportunity to understand the story of climate change and natural ecosytems, Hoegh-Guldberg said. "At the end of the three-year survey we will have an important snapshot and understanding of the state of coral reefs across the planet." All of the data gathered will be made public in a database called the Global Reef Record, a "game-changing scientific tool", according to Hoegh-Guldberg. "We will be able to monitor change in marine environments now and in the future. Marine scientists researching researching any aspect of the reef will be able to study these environments from any of the surveys we conduct – shallow reef or deep reef." "We want to make these special underwater locations as accessible to people as the roads and landmarks they explore in Google Maps each day," said Jenifer Austin Foulkes, Google's oceans manager. The survey was unveiled at the World Ocean Summit in Singapore in February.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be a lame duck at home, but signs are that he will exploit his last chance to address the UN general assembly Based on past form, the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is due to address the UN general assembly on Wednesday, will unleash a tirade against global governance sprinkled with theological lessons, insist on his country's nuclear rights, denounce sanctions and make incendiary statements on Israel. No matter how familiar his themes might sound, he can be confident that he still has the capacity to grab international headlines and stage an event that will cause both outrage and possibly some amusement in western circles. In his final year in office, the 56-year-old president has increasingly become a lame duck. And Wednesday's speech will probably be his last chance to exploit a high-profile international platform. Under Iranian law, Ahmadinejad cannot run for a third term and is due to stand down in June 2013. He appears to have surpassed himself with preparations, taking more than 100 people with him to the US, a move that has infuriated his critics back home and even caused uproar among the country's parliamentarians. Iranian MP Mansour Haghighatpour has criticised the president for his large entourage, saying that many have accompanied him to New York for "a picnic". Ahmadinejad's opponents in Iran are closely watching him in New York, wary of any impact his words might have on the future of their country, which is suffering from financial stringency owing to international isolation over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. Conservatives suspect Ahmadinejad might use his UN appearance to bolster his political status in Iran by portraying a president still much in control. After suffering a series of setbacks in a power struggle, Ahmadinejad and his team have lost a great deal of influence over Iranian politics. The opposition is worried the president's UN speech might exacerbate the country's political and financial situation. Those watching outside have their eyes on any hint of a change in policy over Tehran's nuclear activities or its unwavering support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad's regime, subjects that are likely to be mentioned in his speech. On the nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad may choose to highlight the recent assassinations of a handful of Iranian scientists, attempting to portray Iran as a victim of a western-led campaign against his country's advances in science and technology. Last year, Ahmadinejad caused uproar and provoked a diplomatic walkout by referring to 9/11 as a "mysterious" incident that he said was used by the US as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. At the time, he also reprimanded the US for killing Osama bin Laden without putting him on trial and then burying his body at sea. "By using their imperialistic media network, which is under the influence of colonialism, they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions," he said then. Ahmadinejad's earlier remarks in New York this week, which can hint at the range of subjects he might touch on in his speech, include issues such as the country's nuclear negotiations, the threat of an Israeli military strike, Syria and an Islamophobic film that has triggered protests across the Muslim world. On the threat of war from Israel, Ahmadinejad said his country did not take them seriously. "We have all the defensive means at our disposal and we are ready to defend ourselves," he said. Despite a plea this week by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who warned the Iranian president recently to avoid "incendiary rhetoric", Ahmadinejad has again used his New York visit to make strongly worded statements about Israel, saying the country had no roots in the Middle East and would be "eliminated". A White House spokesman reacted by describing his comments as "characteristically disgusting, offensive and outrageous". Ahmadinejad gave an interview with AP on Tuesday in which he spoke of a world where a "new order" would inevitably replace the era of what he called US bullying. Earlier in his trip, in an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, he was questioned on his views on homosexuality. Ahmadinejad said: "I'm sorry. Let me ask you this. Do you believe that anyone is giving birth through homosexuality? Homosexuality ceases procreation. Who has said that if you like or believe in doing something ugly, and others do not accept your behaviour, that they're denying your freedom?" In another interview, when asked about an Iranian institute raising the bounty on Salman Rushdie, Ahmadinejad responded: "Salman Rushdie, where is he now? … There is no news of him. Is he in the United States? If he is in the US, you shouldn't broadcast that, for his own safety." It is perhaps unsurprising then that also accompanying Ahmadinejad's visit to New York have been near-constant demonstrations in front of his hotel and at the UN headquarters.
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