|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as the refugee crisis mounts the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross lobbies Bashar al-Assad for humanitarian access to areas worst hit by the violence
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three-day convention begins in North Carolina as president faces tougher re-election amid concern over struggling economy Democrats are assembling in Charlotte, North Carolina, to re-nominate Barack Obama for the presidency, to sell him as the wise and humane alternative to Republican challenger Mitt Romney, a pitch that will be repeated endlessly over the next two months to an American electorate that is more politically divided than at any time in at least a quarter of a century. As they watch the political stagecraft, there may be only one thing all Americans can agree on: deep concern over the struggling economy that has made only a halting recovery from the great recession and near meltdown of the US financial sector just before the nation's first African-American president took office three and a half years ago. Through the course of the Democratic national convention this week, Obama and his party will be fighting Romney's argument that the president has failed and will only lead the country deeper into debt and economic despair. That was the Republican theme at their national convention last week in Tampa, Florida. First lady Michelle Obama's speech on Tuesday night will be an early highlight of a three-day convention schedule that has drawn thousands of delegates to North Carolina, a state that Obama narrowly carried in 2008. Although he is no longer the fresh-faced newcomer who leveraged a short Senate career into an audacious run for the nation's highest office, he still can excite partisans, and Democrats were counting on massive numbers to pack a stadium for his acceptance speech on Thursday. Obama set the tone for the Democratic gathering in Charlotte, declaring on Monday that Romney's governing prescriptions were something out of the past century. "Despite all the challenges that we face in this new century, we saw three straight days of an agenda out of the last century. It was a rerun. You might as well have watched it on black-and-white TV," Obama told an audience of car workers in Toledo, Ohio. In a USA Today interview, Obama accused Republicans of building their campaign around a "fictional Barack Obama" by wholly misrepresenting his positions and words. He singled out Romney's claim, widely debunked, that the Obama administration stripped a work requirement out of federal welfare laws. Later on Monday, Obama made a eve-of-convention visit to the flooded Louisiana coast to console victims of hurricane Isaac. He vowed government officials would find out "what can we do to make sure it doesn't happen again". At times like these, "nobody's a Democrat or a Republican, we're all just Americans looking out for one another", said the president, flanked by local and state officials from both parties, after inspecting some of the damage inflicted by the storm and consoling some of its victims. Romney paid a similarly nonpartisan visit last Friday to the region but made no reference at the time to federal aid. Obama has been and will be arguing that Romney brings nothing more to his quest for the White House than plans and policies that are a reprise of those employed by former Republican president George W Bush, on whose watch the recession began and the financial collapse occurred. Most Americans still hold Bush responsible for the start of the economic difficulties afflicting the US, but they are split on which candidate is best equipped to return the country to growth. Romney contends the president is a nice guy who has failed to make things better. The Republican candidate drew a line under that message in a statement on Monday, the US Labor Day holiday that celebrates workers and marks the unofficial end of the summer holiday season. Romney said the holiday was "a chance to celebrate the strong American work ethic", but added: "For far too many Americans, today is another day of worrying when their next paycheck will come." His convention behind him, Romney relaxed at his lakeside home in New Hampshire with his family. He has no campaign events scheduled during the Democratic convention, but plans to spend several days preparing for his three debates next month with Obama. Democrats will formally renominate Obama and the vice-president, Joe Biden, on Wednesday. That is also when the convention hears from Bill Clinton, whose 1990s presidency is being trumpeted by Democrats as the last great period of economic growth and balanced budgets. Democrats chose North Carolina for their convention to demonstrate their determination to contest the southern state in the presidential race. Obama carried the state by 14,000 votes in 2008, but faces a tough challenge this time given statewide unemployment of 9.6%, higher than the national rate of 8.3%.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Credit ratings agency warns it might downgrade the EU if it decides to cut the ratings on the four biggest backers: Germany, France, UK and Netherlands Moody's Investors Service has changed its outlook on the Aaa rating of the European Union to negative, warning it might downgrade the bloc if it decides to cut the ratings on the EU's four biggest budget backers: Germany, France, UK and Netherlands. The move will add to pressure on the European Central Bank to provide details of a new debt-buying scheme to help deeply indebted eurozone states at its policy meeting on Thursday. Back in July, Moody's changed its outlook for Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to negative as fallout from Europe's debt crisis cast a shadow over its top-rated countries. The outlooks on France and the UK are also negative. "The negative outlook on the EU's long-term ratings reflects the negative outlook on the Aaa ratings of the member states with large contributions to the EU budget: Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands, which together account for around 45% of the EU's budget revenue," the ratings agency said. Moody's said the EU's rating would be particularly sensitive to any changes in the ratings of these four Aaa member states, implying that if it downgraded these four it might also cut the EU's rating. Likewise, Moody's said the outlook for the EU could go back to stable if the outlooks on the four key Aaa countries also returned to stable.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ratings agency has lowered the outlook on the European Union's AAA credit rating to negative, warning that Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands could stop fulfilling their EU obligations if the crisis worsens
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Obama administration nears agreement with Egypt's new government as Washington seeks to help Cairo shore up ailing economy The Obama administration is close to a deal with Egypt's new government for $1bn in debt relief, according to a senior US official, as Washington seeks to help Cairo shore up its ailing economy in the aftermath of its pro-democracy uprising. US diplomats and negotiators for Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi – who took office in June after the country's first free elections – were working to finalise an agreement, the official said on Monday. Progress on the aid package, which had languished during Egypt's 18 months of political turmoil, appears to reflect a cautious easing of US suspicions about Morsi and a desire to show economic goodwill to help keep the longstanding US-Egyptian partnership from deteriorating further. The US was a close ally of Egypt under ousted autocratic president Hosni Mubarak and gives $1.3bn (£820m) a year in military aid to Egypt plus other assistance. Obama ultimately called for Mubarak to step down as he faced mass protests in early 2011 but the American president was criticised for taking too long to assert US influence. Washington, long wary of Islamists, shifted its policy last year to open formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood, the group behind Morsi's win. Morsi formally resigned from the group after his victory. Analysts say that one way the US could influence the direction of policy in Egypt, a nation at the heart of Washington's regional policy since a peace treaty was signed with Israel in 1979, would be through economic support as Cairo tries to stave off a balance of payments and budget crisis. Obama first pledged economic help for Cairo last year. Obstacles remained to completing the debt relief deal – which is reported to involve a mix of debt payment waivers and complicated debt swaps – and it was not immediately clear when an agreement might be announced. But even as the negotiations proceeded in Cairo, Washington has also signalled its backing for a $4.8bn ($3bn) loan that Egypt is seeking from the International Monetary Fund and which it hopes to secure by the end of the year to bolster its stricken economy. The IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, visited Cairo last month to discuss the matter. Egypt's military-appointed interim government had been negotiating a $3.2bn (£2bn) package before it handed power to Morsi on 30 June. Morsi's government then increased the request. Lagarde said the IMF would look at fiscal, monetary and structural issues, promising that it would be a partner in "an Egyptian journey" of economic reform.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | David Coombs is demanding that at least seven years be cut from any sentence the US soldier might be given The civilian lawyer of Bradley Manning, the US soldier suspected of transferring hundreds of thousands of state secrets to WikiLeaks, is demanding that at least seven years be lopped off any sentence he might be given on grounds that he was improperly treated while in military custody. The legal pleading by David Coombs, Manning's chief lawyer, was disclosed in a new motion to the military court that is hearing the soldier's court martial that he posted on his blog on Monday . The motion discloses in heavily redacted form some of the information the defence has gleaned in recent weeks about the way the soldier was treated while he was held for almost 10 months in solitary confinement at the military brig in Quantico marine base in Virginia in 2010/11. Coombs argues that a stash of about 700 emails that have been disclosed to the defence reveal that military commanders in the brig completely ignored the professional advice of psychiatrists and other medical experts who had examined Manning and found him at no risk to himself and others. Instead, the commanders pressed ahead with harsh conditions that some critics, including the UN, define as torture. On the back of the new information, Coombs has refined his demand to the military court in a reflection perhaps of his growing confidence in the evidence that he has amassed. He has repeated his call that in the light of Manning's alleged mistreatment at Quantico all 22 charges against him should be dropped, but he now adds that at very least the soldier should have 10 days lopped off any sentence for each of the 265 days he was held in harsh conditions at Quantico. That amounts to just over seven years. Manning was placed on a prevention of injury order, or POI, in virtual solitary confinement when he was held at Quantico from July 2010. In his new posting, Coombs reveals that military commanders placed the inmate on this rigid regime – that included stripping him of his clothes at night - after they read a New York Times article about him that made them worry he was a suicide risk. Coombs argues in the motion that Manning's military captors were more concerned about the possible media firestorm that might ensue should the soldier attempt to kill himself than they were about treating him properly. In one email disclosed to the defence, a military chief, whose name has been redacted, expressed anxiety about "the political impact, media interest, legal ramifications, and senior leadership reactions" that would follow any mishap.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Row breaks out over Obama strategist Stephanie Cutter's claims that Americans are better off than four years ago
Richard Adams: Democrats and the 'better off' question: time to say it loud and proud A row over the extent of economic recovery broke out on the eve of the Democratic national convention after a senior member of Barack Obama's campaign team claimed that Americans were better off than four years ago "by any measurement". The Republicans immediately pounced on the remarks by Stephanie Cutter, issuing a long list of economic indicators they said showed people felt – and were – worse off. Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, is technically correct that the economy is in better shape than four years ago, but she is at odds with the president and other senior advisers who have been much more cautious in their claims about the recovery, given widespread unhappiness over the slow pace of job growth. The economy is set to be the dominant issue of the three-day Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, as Obama seeks to open up a poll lead over Mitt Romney. Romney, who was formally nominated as the Republican candidate last week in Tampa, received no bounce in the polls, with a Gallup poll showing his presidential nomination speech had been the worst received since it began measuring them in 1986. Meanwhile, Public Policy Polling recorded more enthusiasm in Florida and North Carolina for other Republican speakers such as former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice than for Romney. In his keynote address on Thursday night, Obama, will try to convince voters that the recovery, though sluggish, is well under way, and that, if re-elected, he has a plan to boost the economy over the next four years. The slow rate of recovery could cost him the November election, however. No president since the Great Depression has won a second term with unemployment above 8%, and the morning after Obama's speech the latest jobless figures are due to be published, with economists predicting no dramatic drop from the present 8.3%. Cutter, the deputy campaign manager, speaking on NBC, contrasted the state of the economy today with that of 2008 towards the end of president George Bush's tenure. "Let me just walk you through what life was like four years ago right now. In the six months before the president [Obama] was elected, we lost 3.5 million jobs, wages had been going down for a decade, [the] auto industry [was] on the brink of failure. Our financial system – this was just about the time we saw banks go under." She added: "By any measurement, the country has moved forward over the last four years." Her comment came less than 24 hours after fellow senior Obama advisers David Axelrod and David Plouffe adopted a more cautious approach on the Sunday talk shows, saying it was going to take a lot more time to get the US economy back on its feet. Cutter has a reputation for being more direct and more blunt that Axelrod and others in the campaign team. She shot to prominence earlier this year when she suggested that Romney was "either a felon or a liar" in relation to his tax affairs. Romney's campaign team, in a press statement, published a list of measurements it said showed there was little reason for Americans to feel better off: more than 23 million out of work, average income down, savings lost, a rise in poverty and an increase in those dependent on food stamps, and higher fuel prices. RNC chairman Reince Priebus was quick to dismiss Cutter's claims, telling reporters in Charlotte: "The president is going to be on defence here, desperately trying to paper over the dismal record and make struggling Americans forget about their problems. "Today, the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama's presidency is gone." Priebus also claimed Mitt Romney had taken a lead in the polls, and said: "We're already ahead. If the election were held today, we'd be winning today." On Monday, Obama delivered a Labor Day address to members of the United Auto Workers union in Toledo, Ohio, that sounded like a dress rehearsal for Thursday's convention speech. Highlighting his role in rescuing the car industry through a bailout that Romney had opposed, he said he had "stood with Americans workers" and the unions. His aim, he said, was to make life better for the working and middle classes, who had organised and mobilised down the years to improve their lot. He reiterated his jibe that the Republican convention had been like watching something from the past, a black-and-white newsreel. "It was just a retread of the same old policies that have been sticking it to the middle-class for years," Obama said. "Now, on Thursday night, I'm going to offer you what I believe is a better path forward, a path that's going to grow this economy and create more good jobs, and strengthen the middle class," he added. At a meeting of delegates in Charlotte, the Democratic leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, characterised the Republicans as the party supporting the wealthy at the expense of everyone else while the Democrats wanted to build up the working-class, one of the core campaign themes of the convention. "On the ballot is nothing less than the character of our country," Pelosi said. With Obama and Romney tied in the national polls at around 46%, the Democrats are privately hoping the publicity generated by the convention will provide a bounce that will lift him above the crucial 50% mark. At a press conference, Democratic officials said the difference between their convention and the Republican event was clear in the diversity of the delegates. In contrast with the large percentage of white, elderly Republican convention-goers, the Democratic one was more representative of America, they said – a mixture of white, black, Latino, Asian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim Americans, as well as an even split between men and women. Obama is taking a gamble in holding his speech in a 73,000-seater sports stadium, a potential test of his popularity. While he easily filled a similar stadium at the 2008 convention in Denver, Republicans have cast doubt on his ability to fill the arena in Charlotte. Steve Kerrigan, who is in overall charge of the convention organisation, insisted it would be full and, in spite of a patchy weather forecast, would go ahead "come rain or shine", though he added there is a contingency plan. The Democratic mayor of Charlotte, Anthony Foxx, insisted there was still enthusiasm for the president, and there had been queues half-a-mile long when tickets for the event were released. Obama opted to hold the convention in North Carolina in hopes of holding on to the state. He was the first Democrat to take the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Since the convention decision, his poll ratings in the state dropped and the state was moved into the category of Republican gain. But the polls have narrowed again. Foxx said: "North Carolina was tight in 2008. I do not think it will be an easy state to win but it is a state the president can win," he said. He added: "This race is going to go all the way down to the wire." In spite of the mayor's optimism, the Obama campaign appears to have written North Carolina off, at least for now. It has spent little money campaigning in the state and a new television ad to be aired in swing states – Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida – does not include North Carolina.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Row breaks out over Obama strategist Stephanie Cutter's claims that Americans are better off than four years ago A row over the extent of economic recovery broke out on the eve of the Democratic national convention after a senior member of Barack Obama's campaign team claimed that Americans were by any measure better off than four years ago. The Republicans immediately pounced on the remarks by Stephanie Cutter, issuing a long list of economic indicators they said showed people felt – and were – worse off. Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, is technically correct that the economy is in better shape than four years ago, but she is at odds with the president and other senior advisers who have been much more cautious in their claims about the recovery, given widespread unhappiness over the slow pace of job growth. The economy is set to be the dominant issue of the three-day Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, as Obama seeks to open up a poll lead over Mitt Romney. Romney, who was formally nominated as the Republican candidate last week in Tampa, received no bounce in the polls, with a Gallup poll showing his presidential nomination speech had been the worst received since it began measuring them. Obama, in his speech on Thursday evening, will try to convince voters that recovery, though sluggish, is well under way, and that, if re-elected, he has a plan to boost the economy over the next four years. The slow rate of recovery could cost him the November election, however. No president since the Great Depression has won a second term with unemployment above 8%, and the morning after Obama's speech the latest jobless figures are due to be published, with economists predicting no dramatic drop from the present 8.3%. Cutter, the deputy campaign manager, speaking on NBC, contrasted the state of the economy today with that of 2008 towards the end of president George Bush's tenure. "Let me just walk you through what life was like four years ago right now. In the six months before the president [Obama] was elected, we lost 3.5 million jobs, wages had been going down for a decade, [the] auto industry [was] on the brink of failure. Our financial system – this was just about the time we saw banks go under." She added: "By any measurement, the country has moved forward from where we were, from what we inherited four years ago." Her comment came less than 24 hours after fellow senior Obama advisers David Axelrod and David Plouffe adopted a more cautious approach on the Sunday talk shows, saying it was going to take a lot more time to get the US economy back on its feet. Cutter has a reputation for being more direct and more blunt that Axelrod and others in the campaign team. She shot to prominence earlier this year when she suggested that Romney was "either a felon or a liar" in relation to his tax affairs. Romney's campaign team, in a press statement, published a list of measurements it said showed there was little reason for Americans to feel better off: the more than 23 million out of work, average income down, savings lost, a rise in poverty and an increase in those dependent on food stamps, and higher petrol prices. RNC chairman Reince Priebus was quick to dismiss Cutter's claims, telling reporters in Charlotte: "The president is going to be on defence here, desperately trying to paper over the dismal record and make struggling Americans forget about their problems. "Today, the thrill and pixie dust of Barack Obama's presidency is gone." Priebus also claimed Mitt Romney has taken a lead in the polls, and said: "We're already ahead. If the election were held today, we'd be winning today." Democratic party officials said Obama will make the economy the main theme of his convention speech, addressing what he had done during his first term and what he proposed to do in the second. Obama, on a campaign tour of swing states before his arrival in Charlotte, highlighted during a stop in Ohio – a key election state – his role in rescuing the car industry through a bailout that Romney had opposed. The Democratic leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, speaking a meeting of conference delegates, characterised the Republicans as the party supporting the wealthy at the expense of everyone else while the Democrats wanted to build up the working-class, one of the core campaign themes of the convention. "On the ballot is nothing less than the character of our country," Pelosi said. With Obama and Romney tied in the polls at around 46%, the Democrats are privately hoping the publicity generated by the convention will provide a bounce that will lift him above the crucial 50 per cent mark. Romney received no bounce from last week's Republican convention, according to the polls. A Gallup poll published on Monday said his convention speech received the lowest ratings of any presidential nomination speech since the company began measuring them in 1996. Public Policy Polling, after surveys in Florida and North Carolina, recorded more enthusiasm for other Republican speakers such as former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice than for Romney. PPP found in North Carolina 34% of voters said the convention made them more likely to support the Republicans, 33% said it made them less likely to do so and 33% said it made no difference. Democratic officials, at a pre-convention press conference, said the difference between the Democratic and Republican conventions was clear in the extent of the diversity of the delegates. In contrast with the large percentage of white, elderly Republican convention-goers, the Democratic one was more representative of America, they said – a mixture of white, black, Latino, Asian, Christian, Jewish and Muslim Americans, as well as an even split between men and women. Obama is taking a gamble in holding his speech in a 73,000-seater sports stadium, a potential test of his popularity. While he easily filled a similar stadium at the 2008 convention in Denver, Republicans have cast doubt on his ability to fill the arena in Charlotte. Steve Kerrigan, who is in overall charge of the convention organisation, insisted it would be full and, in spite of a patchy weather forecast, would go ahead "come rain or shine", though he added there is a contingency plan. The Democratic mayor of Charlotte, Anthony Foxx, insisted there was still enthusiasm for the president, and there had been queues half-a-mile long when tickets for the event were released. Obama opted to hold the convention in North Carolina in hopes of holding on to the state. He was the first Democrat to take the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Since the convention decision, his poll ratings in the state dropped and the state was moved into the category of Republican gain. But the polls have narrowed again. Foxx said: "North Carolina was tight in 2008. I do not think it will be an easy state to win but it is a state the president can win," he said. He added: "This race is going to go all the way down to the wire." In spite of the mayor's optimism, the Obama campaign appears to have written North Carolina off, at least for now. It has spent little money campaigning in the state and a new television ad to be aired in swing states – Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida – does not include North Carolina.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Brazilian sprinter says he won his T43/44 men's 200m final through hard work rather than blade technology The Brazilian 20-year-old double amputee who sprinted from nowhere to shock the world's most famous Paralympian has said he felt "let down" by claims by Oscar Pistorius that he had won his gold medal unfairly. Alan Oliveira revealed that he switched to taller prosthetic legs that remained within the legal limit just three weeks before overtaking Pistorius in the final 20m of their 200m T43/44 final, but put his gold medal down to hard work and dedication rather than blade technology. As Pistorius apologised for the timing of claims that rivals gained unfair advantage by using blades that made them unnaturally tall, it emerged the South African had first raised concerns with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in January 2011. The IPC, which confirmed the prosthetics of all eight finalists were within the legal limits before the final, said it would meet Pistorius and his camp after the Games but defended its rules. "I was let down by how much he wanted to take away from me the merit for winning gold," said Oliveira. "All the speculation about my growth, he used that to try and take away from me the merit of winning. "In 2008, Pistorius was the only guy who could run under 22 seconds at 200m. So I said I would run as fast as that in London. I practised, I trained." The South African "Blade Runner", who also competed in the Olympics after a groundbreaking legal battle to be accepted in non-disabled competition, has concerns about the formula employed by the IPC to calculate the maximum possible height of the prosthetic blades used by his competitors. Under IPC rules he would be allowed to run at a height of 193cm but has consistently competed on blades that make him 184cm, partly because they were the ones sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for use in non-disabled competition. But by airing his criticism on the London track after being beaten in the 200m for the first time in nine years, Pistorius has opened himself up to criticism for being a sore loser and contradicting himself after arguing at length that he should be judged on athletic ability rather than technology. Pistorius, who will face Oliveira again in the 100m and 400m, was said to be contrite after realising his outburst had overshadowed not only his young rival but also the British wheelchair racer David Weir's dramatic 5,000m victory. But the South African also refused to back down. The IPC argues that its rules, based on a formula that determines the likely height of the competitor and adds a variance of 3.5% to take into account the fact athletes run on their toes rather than their heels, are fair and longstanding. "He was hotheaded," said a remarkably composed Oliveira, who was surrounded by a scrum of Brazilian media at an impromptu press conference at the gates to the athletes' village. "I was upset with the comments and disappointed. But he apologised afterwards through the press and I felt better. He remains an idol to me." "Nobody who has even kicked a ball in the street likes losing. I don't like losing, Pistorius doesn't like losing. But we have to be prepared for everything in life. I found his reaction strange," he said, noting that when the South African lost his 100m title at the world championships in Christchurch last year he did not make a similar public complaint. However, it is understood that the South African did in fact complain privately. He then aired concerns about one particular athlete (not Oliveira) six weeks before the Games in a phone call to IPC communications director Craig Spence and his advisers also called the organisation two days before the Games. Oliveira, who lost his legs at the age of two months to septicemia after contracting an intestinal infection, said he was inspired to start running when, as an eight-year-old, he saw the Brazilian sprinter Robson Caetano da Silva on television. He was so keen to compete that he initially began running on wooden legs totally unsuited to sprinting and only started competing on carbon fibre blades shortly before his first Paralympic Games in Beijing four years ago. He moved from his Amazonian hometown of Belem, where his family and friends gathered around the television to watch his victory, to Sao Paulo a year ago to train with the elite Brazilian squad. His coaches said it was that intensive training, more than his new blades, that resulted in his improving times. And they reiterated that he had done nothing wrong within the IPC rules. The runner said that he measured 177cm in his non-racing prosthetics, but changed to 181cm Ossur blades three weeks before the Paralympics. Under the International Paralympic Committee's rules he is allowed to run on blades that take his height up to a maximum of 184.5cm. "The coaches and I decided to try a higher blade. I tried the new height for the first time last year and it was difficult to get used to them. I decided to try them again earlier this year and it went a little bit better. Three weeks ago, we decided to really go for it," he explained. "The prosthetics don't run alone. Of course they are good for an improvement but there is not a significant time difference." Oliveira's fastest time on his old blades was 22.45 seconds at the Brazilian National Championships last year – a full second slower than his winning time in London. But Brazil's team leader, Ciro Winckler, said his improvement was also the result of better coaching and facilities in Sao Paulo, together with his physical maturity. One of Pistorius's complaints is that the rules as they stand allow athletes to chop and change their height at will, as long as they remain within the legal limits determined by an IPC formula. Along with questions over classification, the march of technology is a key issue for the IPC to grapple with as the Paralympics becomes ever more high profile. Winckler likened the momentarily stunned silence in the Olympic Stadium when Oliveira crossed the line to the match known as the Maracanazo when Uruguay shocked Brazil in their own stadium at the 1950 World Cup. He believed Pistorius, faced with a wave of young challengers, may have backed himself into a corner. "[Blake] Leeper and Alan were teenagers. Now they are mature. Perhaps it's a problem for Oscar. It was not a good moment for Oscar." Having done so much to promote the Paralympic movement, Pistorius now faces being overtaken by those he helped inspire. "People used to name me the Brazilian Pistorius. Thank God I'm not the Brazilian Pistorius any more. I'm Alan," said Oliveira.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jay Carney says report in Yedioth Ahronoth paper, which said the US had been in talks with Tehran, is 'completely incorrect' The White House on Monday denied an Israeli newspaper report that accused Washington of secretly negotiating with Tehran to keep the United States out of a future Israel-Iran war. "It's incorrect. Completely incorrect," White House spokesman Jay Carney told Reuters while accompanying President Barack Obama on a campaign trip in Ohio. "The report is false, and we don't talk about hypotheticals." Israel's most widely read newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said Washington had approached Tehran through two unidentified European countries to convey the message that the United States would not be dragged into hostilities if Israel attacked Iran over its nuclear program. The paper said the United States told Iran it expected Tehran, in return, to refrain from retaliating against US interests, including its military in the Gulf. The report did not disclose any source for its information. The report followed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call on world powers on Sunday to set a "clear red line" for Tehran's atomic program that would convince Iran they were determined to prevent it from obtaining nuclear arms. Obama, seeking re-election in November, has insisted Washington is strongly committed to the security of close ally Israel and to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he has urged Israel to hold off any strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini railed against conservatives in his church in an interview published the day after his death Italy's business capital of Milan ground almost to a halt on Monday as the people of the city – believers and non-believers alike – bid farewell to a beloved pastor, and perhaps too to the hope of a more liberal form of Catholicism that he embodied. In a startlingly explicit interview published on Saturday, the day after his death, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini aimed a last and posthumous barb at the conservatives in his church, declaring that Roman Catholicism was "two hundred years behind [the times]". He added: "Our rites and our customs are pompous." But the 85-year-old prelate could scarcely have been ushered to the grave with greater pomp than attended his funeral service in Milan's many-spired Gothic Duomo. Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti; the city's mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, and endless ranks of cardinals, mitred archbishops and bishops took part in the Catholic church's farewell to a man who had often been tipped to succeed the late John Paul II. The tipping, though, was mostly done by progressive commentators, and – as the Polish pope named one conservative cardinal after another to the conclave that would choose his successor – Martini's chances dwindled almost to nothing. The issue was put beyond doubt when the former archbishop of Milan contracted Parkinson's disease: he entered the 2005 conclave with the aid of a cane, and his fellow-cardinals opted instead for Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope Benedict XVI. Martini's illness and the manner of his death also contributed to lively controversy after it became known that he had refused a feeding tube. Supporters of euthanasia claimed he had taken a way out forbidden by his own church – an interpretation fiercely contested by Martini's fellow-cardinals. Elio Sgreccia, a former president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said: "I and others, if we found ourselves in the same situation, should do as he did." In a clear criticism of the present pontiff, Martini said in his deathbed interview: "The church must admit its mistakes and take a radical path of change, starting with the pope and the bishops." Martini admired Benedict's intellect and acknowledged he had been influenced by the German's writings. But unlike the pope, Martini remained loyal to the spirit as well as the letter of the second Vatican council, the three-year church "summit" in the 1960s which appeared to have reconciled Roman Catholicism with the modern world. Over the years, he expressed approval for the ordination of women deacons, the use in some cases of condoms to prevent the spread of Aids and even the legalisation of abortion. His tolerant, broad-minded approach won him devotees across an exceptionally wide arc of political and religious thinking. Among those who packed into the Duomo to pay their last respects were the radical and gay former communist governor of Puglia, Nichi Vendola, and the leader of Italy's conservative Christian Democrats, Pier Ferdinando Casini. Close by were to be found representatives of Islam, Judaism and Orthodox, Protestant and Coptic Christianity. Despite rain, thousands of people watched the service on giant screens set up outside the cathedral. During the 22 years he was Milan's archbishop, Martini forged an exceptional bond with the city and its inhabitants. Pisapia declared Monday an official day of morning and by the time the Duomo closed for the preparation of the funeral service, it was estimated that more than 150,000 people had filed past the late cardinal's coffin. As a reporter for the city's biggest-selling newspaper, Corriere della Sera, remarked, not all of them believed in God "but they certainly believed in [Carlo Maria Martini]".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | More than 26,000 people at Zata'ari – two-thirds of them children – who have escaped civil war are facing up to a harsh new life Nasim Abu Zaid's youngest son was born into terror, his first 17 months distinguished by the sound of shelling and shooting. Three months from now, the young Syrian mother will give birth again, this time in circumstances that are less life-threatening but grimly characterised by destitution, misery and choking swirls of sand in a relentless wind. Home for Abu Zaid, 29, her husband and their four young children – and thousands of other refugees from the violence in Syria – is now a harsh desert tent city in northern Jordan. Days are dominated by a wearying and unwinnable battle to keep the sand at bay and the fear of losing a child among the near-identical rows of flapping tents and thousands of displaced youngsters. But at least the Abu Zaids have escaped the horrors of Dael, north of Deraa. They left the town around six weeks ago, part of a stream of people fleeing across the border to Jordan. In the past week or two, that stream has become a river of desperate humanity: mainly women and children, moving under the cover of darkness, clutching only their fear, each other's hands and the odd plastic bag of possessions. Zata'ari refugee camp, opened by the Jordanian government at the end of July to house 500 people, has swollen to a population of more than 26,000. Two-thirds of them are children, of whom around 5,000 are under the age of four. Five hundred are "unaccompanied minors" – youngsters who made the perilous journey without their parents, and who are now dealing with the pain of separation along with new privations and the traumas they left behind. Official expectations are that Jordan's refugee population is set to grow by up to 10,000 a week. The Jordanian government says there are a further 140,000 Syrian refugees crammed into towns and villages close to the border. Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq have also seen huge influxes of refugees, with thousands more still trying to leave Syria. At Zata'ari, conditions are wretched despite sterling efforts by humanitarian organisations. Sand and dust whipped up by the wind sweeping across the nine-square-kilometre site are causing respiratory problems. Newly erected tents are swiftly coated in a layer of sand, turning their colour from white to brown within a day or two. Sand is in children's hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, under fingernails; eyes are rimmed red; voices hoarse. Only 40% of the camp has electricity. There is one latrine per 50 refugees. For now, the desert sun beats down on the exposed ground for 12 hours a day, but within weeks night temperatures will plummet, and winter will bring driving rain and freezing winds. The Jordanian army maintains a heavy presence both inside and outside the camp. Refugees are not allowed to leave without special permits. Less than two weeks ago, a protest by camp inmates over conditions and frustration at the tight security was quelled by teargas fired by soldiers. Bulldozers, earth movers, water tankers, delivery and garbage trucks rumble continuously through the camp's entrance, causing a serious hazard to hundreds of people milling around aimlessly. The United Nations agency for refugees, UNHCR, acknowledges the camp's problems but insists the priority is to get infrastructure in place for the existing population and the refugees expected in the coming days and weeks. The high proportion of children in the camp presents particular challenges. "Many children coming across [the border] are traumatised and some are injured," says Pip Leighton of the UN children's agency, Unicef. "There is huge psychological stress. Many of them have seen things that no adult should see, let alone a child." Agencies such as Unicef and Save the Children are offering specialist counselling and therapeutic activities. "These kids are telling stories that are pretty frightening," says Hedinn Halldorsson of Save the Children. "Some have been in hiding for months. Many are waking in the night, crying. Some children are panicking when they hear the planes [from a nearby Jordanian military base] overhead." In many cases, fathers have stayed behind in Syria in the hope of protecting property and caring for livestock. "Separation is traumatic," says Halldorsson. Humanitarian agencies have set up designated play areas for children, and are working on establishing schools within the camp. "But some days we do nothing but help parents search for lost children," says Rae McGrath of Save the Children. Abu Zaid says that, whatever the problems of the camp, it was better than what the family had left behind. "I was very afraid – the shelling was all around us. All the time the children were terrified and not sleeping," she says. "This is not how we are used to living. We're adjusting. But the children have started playing again. At home, they were locked inside the house." Miriam, 11, who has been at Zata'ari for two weeks after fleeing from Sawara with her mother and five siblings, says she has no idea how long the family will stay. Her father stayed behind to take care of the family's cows. "I'm worried about him," she says. Abed, 12, from Deraa, was smuggled through the mountains at night with his mother, three brothers and four sisters. "I was scared," he says, but adds: "Here we feel safe." Most of the refugees cross the border east of the official – but now closed – crossing at the town of Ramtha. The nightly numbers hit a peak of 3,300 last week; a subsequent drop is attributed to the period of a full moon. Most of the women and children are smuggled under the protection of rebels; some men bring their families and then return to Syria. The refugees are brought in buses to the camp, usually arriving while it is still dark. After registration and a meal, families wait to be allocated a tent. "We're all just about keeping ahead of the problem," says Leighton. "But if there was a massive influx, we would have significant challenges."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | More than 26,000 people at Zataari – two-thirds of them children – who have escaped civil war are facing up to a harsh new life Nasim Abu Zaid's youngest son was born into terror, his first 17 months distinguished by the sound of shelling and shooting. Three months from now, the young Syrian mother will give birth again, this time in circumstances that are less life-threatening but characterised by destitution, misery and choking swirls of sand in a relentless wind. Home for Abu Zaid, 29, her husband and their four young children – and thousands of other refugees from the violence in Syria – is now a desert tent city in northern Jordan. Days are dominated by a wearying and unwinnable battle to keep the sand at bay and the fear of losing a child among the near-identical rows of flapping tents and thousands of displaced youngsters. But at least the Abu Zaids have escaped the horrors of Dael, north of Deraa. They left the town around six weeks ago, part of a stream of people fleeing across the border to Jordan. In the past week or two, that stream has become a river of desperate humanity: mainly women and children, moving under the cover of darkness, clutching only their fear, each other's hands and the odd plastic bag of possessions. Zataari refugee camp, opened by the Jordanian government at the end of July to house 500 people, has swollen to a population of more than 26,000. Two-thirds of them are children, of whom around 5,000 are under the age of four. Five hundred are "unaccompanied minors" – youngsters who made the perilous journey without their parents, and who are now dealing with the pain of separation along with new privations and the traumas they left behind. Official expectations are that Jordan's refugee population will grow by up to 10,000 a week. The Jordanian government says there are a further 140,000 Syrian refugees crammed into towns and villages close to the border. Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq have also seen huge influxes of refugees, with thousands more still trying to leave Syria. At Zataari, conditions are wretched despite sterling efforts by humanitarian organisations. Sand and dust whipped up by the wind sweeping across the nine-square-kilometre site cause respiratory problems. Newly erected tents are swiftly coated in a layer of sand, turning their colour from white to brown within a day or two. Sand is in children's hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, under fingernails; eyes are rimmed red; voices hoarse. Only 40% of the camp has electricity. There is one latrine per 50 refugees. For now, the desert sun beats down on the exposed ground for 12 hours a day, but within weeks night temperatures will plummet and winter will bring driving rain and freezing winds. The Jordanian army maintains a heavy presence inside and outside the camp. Refugees are not allowed to leave without special permits. Less than two weeks ago, a protest by camp inmates over conditions and frustration at the tight security was quelled by teargas fired by soldiers. Bulldozers, earth movers, water tankers, delivery and garbage trucks rumble continuously through the camp's entrance, a serious hazard to hundreds of people milling around aimlessly. The United Nations agency for refugees, UNHCR, acknowledges the camp's problems but insists the priority is to get infrastructure in place for the existing population and the refugees expected in the coming days and weeks. The high proportion of children in the camp presents particular challenges. "Many children coming across [the border] are traumatised and some are injured," says Pip Leighton of the UN children's agency, Unicef. "There is huge psychological stress. Many of them have seen things that no adult should see, let alone a child." Agencies such as Unicef and Save the Children are offering specialist counselling and therapeutic activities. "These kids are telling stories that are pretty frightening," says Hedinn Halldorsson of Save the Children. "Some have been in hiding for months. Many are waking in the night, crying. Some children are panicking when they hear the planes [from a nearby Jordanian military base] overhead." In many cases, fathers have stayed behind in Syria in the hope of protecting property and caring for livestock. "Separation is traumatic," says Halldorsson. Humanitarian agencies have set up designated play areas, and are working on establishing schools within the camp. "But some days we do nothing but help parents search for lost children," says Rae McGrath of Save the Children. Abu Zaid says that, whatever the problems of the camp, it is better than what the family left behind. "I was very afraid – the shelling was all around us. All the time the children were terrified and not sleeping," she says. "This is not how we are used to living. We're adjusting. But the children have started playing again. At home, they were locked inside the house." Miriam, 11, who has been at Zataari for two weeks after fleeing from Sawara with her mother and five siblings, says she has no idea how long the family will stay. Her father stayed behind to take care of the family's cows. "I'm worried about him," she says. Abed, 12, from Deraa, was smuggled through the mountains at night with his mother, three brothers and four sisters. "I was scared," he says, but adds: "Here we feel safe." Most of the refugees cross the border east of the official – but now closed – crossing at the town of Ramtha. The nightly numbers hit a peak of 3,300 last week; a subsequent drop is attributed to the period of a full moon. Most of the women and children are smuggled under the protection of rebels; some men bring their families and then return to Syria. The refugees are brought in buses to the camp, usually arriving while it is still dark. After registration and a meal, families wait to be allocated a tent. "We're all just about keeping ahead of the problem," says Leighton. "But if there was a massive influx, we would have significant challenges."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands remain in shelters and even more without power as the president set to tour damage in hard-hit areas of Louisiana President Barack Obama will meet with local officials in Louisiana on Monday to assess the "ongoing response and recovery efforts" related to damage caused by hurricane Isaac. The trip, part of a four day cross-country tour leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, comes as swathes of Louisiana continue to battle floodwater and power outages. As of late Sunday, it was estimated that some 200,000 people were still without electricity. Meanwhile, five days after the hurricane struck land, thousands of residents remained in evacuee shelters or were hunkering down with friends and relatives, waiting for the all clear to go home At least seven people are thought to have died in the US as a result of the hurricane: five in Louisiana and two in Mississippi. Meanwhile, thousands were displaced. As of Sunday evening the number of people registered at Red Cross and community shelters was put at 2,800 people, down from an earlier estimate of 4,000. Many of those caught up in the latest evacuation remain fearful of what awaits them at home. "This is the second time we've lost our home. We lost it in Katrina," said Angela Serpas, from severely flooded Braithwaite in Plaquemines Parish. Serpas and her daughter are currently staying with in-laws while waiting for the green light to go back home. In other parts of the state affected by Isaac, life is beginning to return to normal. Offshore oil rig workers continued to return to platforms and drilling rigs over the weekend. And although large residential pockets remain without power, lines have been restored to hundreds of thousands of homes. In New Orleans, the annual Southern Decadence Festival – a gay pride celebration – went ahead over the weekend as planned. Meanwhile in Baton Rouge, thousands of gamblers gathered for the opening of Louisiana's newest riverboat casino – delayed by three days by the hurricane But other parts of the flood-hit state remained under water. Much of Plaquemines Parish, a vulnerable finger of land that juts into the Gulf of Mexico, continued to struggled to disperse as much as five feet of floodwater. "I've never seen water come up this quick this fast," Parish president Billy Nungesser said. Nonetheless, local business owners and residents will be allowed to return temporarily with police escorts on Monday. In Saint John the Baptist parish, authorities are still eyeing the threat from high river levels. Over the weekend evacuation buses and around 150 National Guard soldiers were sent to the parish in case stranded residents needed assistance. President Obama will deliver remarks from Saint John the Baptist Parish later Monday after seeing first hand the post-hurricane clean-up operation. His challenger for the White House, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, visited the state Friday. In 2005, president George W Bush was fiercely criticised for his slow response to hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster that killed some 1,800 people. In the immediate aftermath of the destruction, he opted to observe the damage from Air Force One, rather than setting foot on the ground. With an election just around the corner, neither Romney nor Obama were willing to make the same mistake.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Brazilian runner who sensationally beat favourite Oscar Pistorius in 200m final legally increased height by 4cm just before Games The Brazilian Paralympian who dramatically beat Oscar Pistorius in Monday's 200m T43/44 final started using his taller prosthetic running blades just three weeks before the London Games, it has emerged. Alan Oliveira, who shocked the South African reigning champion by beating him for the first time in nine years, moved from his hometown of Belem to Sao Paulo a year ago to train with the elite Brazilian squad. The runner said he measured 177cm in his non-racing prosthetics, but changed to new blades that increased his height to 181cm three weeks before the Paralympics. Under International Paralaympic Committee (IPC) rules he is allowed to run on blades that give him a height of up to 184.5cm. "The coaches and I decided to try a higher blade. I tried the new height for the first time last year and it was difficult to get used to them. I decided to try them again earlier this year and it went a little bit better. Three weeks ago, we decided to really go for it," he said. "The prosthesis don't run alone. Of course they are good for an improvement but there is not a significant time difference." Oliveira's previous fastest time was 22.45s at last year's Brazilian national championships. But Brazil's team leader, Ciro Winckler, said his improvement was also the result of better coaching and facilities in Sao Paulo, together with the fact he had matured physically. One of Pistorius's complaints was that the current rules allow athletes to chop and change their height at will, as long as they remain within the legal limits determined by an IPC formula. Pistorius races at a height of 184cm because he continues to use blades that are sanctioned for non-disabled competition, despite the fact that he could wear prosthetics that extended his height to 193cm under the IPC rules. The IPC earlier revealed that Pistorius expressed concerns over the blade length of another athlete weeks before he was beaten by Oliveira in Monday night's final. The IPC communications director, Craig Spence, said Pistorius had phoned him when he was having dinner with his parents to express concerns over one particular athlete, who was not named. Spence said the claims were investigated but that the athlete was found to be within the rules. He said the point was raised again two weeks ago by Pistorius's representatives and the IPC suspected it might come up during the Games. Immediately after the final, Pistorius said Oliveira and Blake Leeper, the American bronze medallist, were racing on blades that were "unfair" because they added four inches to their height. He claimed they were recording "ridiculous" times. He later apologised for the timing of his comments but not the content and the IPC agreed to meet him to discuss his concerns. "He shared his views. He was very emotional. We agreed we would take his comments away and raise his concerns in a less hostile environment. The cauldron of the Olympic Stadium was not the place to go into the rules and regulations," said Spence. The IPC has confirmed that the blades of all eight athletes were within the legal length, according to a formula that estimates the height of the athlete and adds 3.5% to allow for the fact that they run on their toes rather than their heels. "We measured all eight athletes in the call room prior to the race. All eight were legitimate to race. The measurement is based to proportionality of the body. Clearly, we don't want athletes running on stilts. There are rules in place regarding the prosthesis size," said Spence. The IPC said it would look into whether there should be a change in the rules so that athletes had to race on the same height of blades consistently. "We will listen to Oscar's questions on whether variation in that height is something we need to look upon. At the moment, the rules go with the maximum allowed height. When these formulas were developed they were discussed with athletes and coaches and feedback collected," said Spence. He denied Pistorius was a special case in light of his high profile and said the IPC had a good relationship with all of its athletes. The IPC's medical and scientific director, Peter van de Vliet, conceded that harmonising rules across disabled and non-disabled sport was difficult. The South African waged a legal battle with the IAAF to be able to compete alongside able-bodied athletes after proving the blades gave him no additional advantage. "Ultimately, we have two governing bodies involved and it becomes quite a challenge to harmonise rules in this regard. We do have our own technical rules that are independent of other governing bodies," said Van de Vliet. Spence said it was good for Paralympic sport to see rivals emerging to challenge the supremacy of Pistorius, who had not lost a 200m race in nine years. He said it would be unfortunate if the row overshadowed Oliveira's victory. "Alan has not just come out of nowhere and won Paralympic gold. He won bronze in the 100m at the world championships and was very competitive in the 200m. He is a good and strong athlete. He has not come out of nowhere and surprised us," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Labor Day weekend cut short for thousands of visitors, as 300 firefighters and four water-dropping helicopters tackle blaze A wildfire that broke out in the Angeles national forest has cut short the Labor Day holiday weekend for thousands of visitors to the park. The fire broke out near a campground Sunday afternoon and quickly grew to 3,600 acres, or about five and a half square miles. It sent a huge cloud of smoke that could be seen from the coast to the desert inland. Campgrounds that typically attract up to 12,000 visitors on the holiday weekend, as well as rehabilitation centers and the private community of Camp Williams Resort above the city of Glendora, were evacuated, forest spokeswoman L'Tanga Watson said. The forest is heavily used by southern California residents because it is close to populated areas. Fire officials said that while the campgrounds were not in the line of the fire, they had to be emptied so that the only road in and out of the San Gabriel Canyon could be open just for fire trucks and emergency vehicles. The fire was burning thick brush that was not touched by a destructive fire in 2009, Watson said. She said the flames, fueled by a combination of dry heat and the heavy brush, were marching uphill toward the wilderness. About 300 firefighters were aided by four water-dropping helicopters and nine air tankers. Fire officials also activated the use of a DC-10 capable of dropping thousands of gallons of retardant. Firefighters were counting on cooler weather overnight to help them gain control of the blaze, Watson said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. The 2009 fire, which killed two firefighters, destroyed 89 homes and blackened 250 square miles of forest, was the largest in Los Angeles County history. In northern California, a fire that's been burning since August 18 in a rugged area of Mendocino County has destroyed seven homes and nine outbuildings, fire officials said Sunday. That fire has scorched nearly 64 square miles.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fears of violent unrest spreading in the mining industry grow after a police shooting left four workers in hospital Fears over violent unrest spreading in South Africa's mining industry grew on Monday after a police shooting at a gold mine left four workers in hospital, including one critically injured. The incident came as the first group of miners were released from custody following the Lonmin platinum mine massacre in which police gunned down 34 of their colleagues. Rubber bullets and tear gas were used against a group of around 60 mineworkers at the Gold One mine at Modder East near Johannesburg. Police claimed they were trying to disperse a group of about 200 sacked mineworkers who were attacking reinstated colleagues. Gold One said an illegal blockade began at around 6.30am, preventing around half its employees from returning to work. "The group did not present any memorandum of demands," a spokesman said. "The group blocked all access in and out of the mine and threw stones at vehicles that were attempting to gain access to the operations. "The South African Police Service (SAPS) addressed the group extensively, informing them that the gathering was illegal and requesting them to disperse. The group, however, refused to disperse. At approximately 11.30am the SAPS had to use teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the group. Access to the Modder East Operations has since been re-established." Captain Pinky Tsinyane, a police spokeswoman, said four people had been taken to hospital, one of whom was critically injured. As South Africa still comes to terms with what has been described as the lowest point since the end of racial apartheid, anxiety over contagion in the mining sector has been compounded by a wildcat strike by 12,500 miners at Gold Fields' Kloof Driefontein Complex gold mine. Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, told South Africa's Business Day newspaper "The issues at Marikana are overflowing. It's quite clear that this wave of new developments on the platinum mines is coming down on us at the gold mines." Opposition accused the government is failing to tackle the wider crisis. Sej Motau, shadow labour minister for the Democratic Alliance, said: "Labour unrest has been spreading across the mining sector following the tragedy at Lonmin's Marikana mine." Protests have been reported at Royal Bafokeng's Rasimone platinum mine, Anglo American Platinum's Thembelani mine, Eastern Platinum's Crocodile River mine and Gold Fields' Kloof Driefontein Complex gold mine, Motau added. "By focusing all her efforts on establishing a peace accord at Lonmin's Marikana mine, the minister [Mildred Oliphant] is simply reacting to the most immediate symptoms of an underlying dysfunctional labour regime." As the government, unions and British-owned Lonmin resumed talks on the "peace accord", the first group of 42 miners were released after the dropping of fiercely controversial murder charges against them. The jubilant men, released on warning with no need for bail, sang apartheid-era struggle songs and said they were eager to get home to their families. The workers were among 270 arrested for public violence last month after the police opened fire on a group of protesters, killing 34 of them and wounding 78. Debate over what happened on the day of the massacre continues to rage. Greg Marinovich, a Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist, has published an investigation suggesting that 14 workers died some 300m away from the main site of the bloodshed. Some appeared to have been shot at close range, he argues. "It is becoming clear to this reporter that heavily armed police hunted down and killed the miners in cold blood," he wrote on the Daily Maverick "A minority were killed in the filmed event where police claim they acted in self-defence. The rest was murder on a massive scale." In another report published on Monday, Marinovich claimed that individuals close to various arms of the official investigation have approached the Daily Maverick, verifying the main thrust of his argument. Police are also facing allegations that arrested miners were tortured in custody. On Monday officials announced that a preliminary report from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate had been handed to police minister Nathi Mthethwa. "Government is concerned about allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees arrested in connection with the Marikana incident," said Collins Chabane, minister in the presidency. "The investigation is ongoing and the minister will receive a final report with recommendations as soon as it is finalised. The minister has accordingly assured the public that should the investigation point out to any violation of the detainees by any police officer; the full might of the law will take its course." Chabane, who chairs the inter-ministerial committee dealing with the aftermath of the Marikana massacre, also sought to reassure foreign investors that South Africa is not in disarray. "The tragic incident at Marikana is not a reflection of the business environment in South Africa," he said. "Government remains in control of the situation and law and order continues to prevail." A group of civil society organisations – including Amnesty International, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Section 27 and the Marikana Solidarity Campaign – described the Marikana massacre as "a defining moment in our history and cannot be allowed to pass without establishing the full truth, ensuring justice and providing redress for the victims and their families." It added: "We are outraged by the emerging evidence of targeted killings at Marikana. The Marikana massacre and the subsequent callous responses of both Lonmin and several representatives of the state violate the very spirit of our constitution."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police say four miners have been injured and four people arrested for public violence Police and politicians say four miners have been shot and injured, apparently by security guards using rubber bullets, at the Modder East goldmine. Monday's shooting comes after the firebrand politician Julius Malema visited the Aurora goldmine last week and told fired mineworkers he was going to make South African mines ungovernable. The police spokeswoman Pinky Tsinyane said four miners had been shot and police had arrested four people for public violence. Two weeks ago, police killed 34 striking miners at a platinum mine. Scores of miners arrested at the scene of that mass shooting north-west of Johannesburg await release on Monday.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | William Hague says Wikileaks founder could only be sent to US if both Britain and Sweden believe human rights would not be breached Britain has assured Ecuador that Julian Assange has a double guarantee that he cannot face extradition from Sweden to the US if he were to face the death penalty or his human rights were to be breached. In a written statement to MPs, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said it was a "matter of regret" that the government of Ecuador had decided to offer asylum to Assange after Britain offered a series of assurances to Quito. Britain is seeking to extradite Assange to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual misconduct. The WikiLeaks founder, who sought protection in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in June, has been granted asylum by Quito on the grounds that he could face extradition from Sweden to the US where, it is feared, he could face the death penalty for his role in publishing hundreds of thousands of leaked US government documents. Hague told MPs the double guarantee meant Assange could only be extradited to the US from Sweden if both Britain and Sweden believed he would not face the death penalty and his human rights would not be breached. The foreign secretary said: "Both the United Kingdom and Sweden are signatories to the European convention on human rights and the British government has complete confidence in the independence and fairness of the Swedish judicial system. As we have discussed with the government of Ecuador, the United Kingdom and Sweden robustly implement and adhere to the highest standards of human rights protection. "The suggestion that Mr Assange's human rights would be put at risk by the possibility of onward extradition from Sweden to a third country is also without foundation. Not only would Sweden – as a signatory to the European convention on human rights – be required to refuse extradition in circumstances which would breach his human rights, but the authorities in Sweden would also be legally obliged to seek the United Kingdom's consent before any extradition to a non-EU member state could proceed. "Our consent may only be given in accordance with the international conventions by which the UK is bound, including the European convention on human rights, and also our domestic law. In practice, this means that the United Kingdom could only consent to Mr Assange's onward extradition from Sweden to a third country if satisfied that extradition would be compatible with his human rights, and that there was no prospect of a death sentence being imposed or carried out." The foreign secretary expressed disappointment that Ecuador decided to grant asylum to Assange after officials had explained the guarantees to Quito in detail. "It is a matter of regret that instead of continuing our discussions, the foreign minister of Ecuador announced on 16 August that Ecuador had decided to grant diplomatic asylum to Mr Assange … We wish to continue our dialogue with the government of Ecuador. We believe that our two countries should be able to find a diplomatic solution. We have invited the government of Ecuador to resume, as early as possible, the discussions we have held on this matter to date." In his statement, Hague did not repeat his warning to Ecuador last month that Britain could invoke the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987 to arrest Assange inside the embassy. Hague simply told MPs: "Throughout our exchanges, we have noted that the rights of diplomatic missions conferred by the 1961 Vienna convention on diplomatic relations come with responsibilities. Article 41 of the Vienna convention sets out the obligations of diplomatic missions to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving state – in this case the United Kingdom. These include the duty not to impede the due legal process of that state."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former News of the World editor ordered to appear at crown court on 26 September and not to contact co-defendants The former News International chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, has appeared in court in relation to charges of allegedly conspiring to hack into the voicemail of murdered teenager Milly Dowler and up to six others. In a four minute hearing, Brooks spoke only to confirm her name, address and date of birth at Westminster magistrates court on Monday morning. She was ordered by chief magistrate Howard Riddle Brooks to appear at Southwark crown court on 26 September in relation to the charges. The former editor of the Sun and News of the World is already due in court on that day for a hearing in relation to separate charges that she allegedly conspired to pervert the course of justice. Brooks, 44, appeared alone in the dock to hear bail conditions banning her from contacting six co-defendants, and to give police seven days notice of any foreign travel. She faces one general charge, which prosecutors claim could affect more than 600 victims, and two other specific charges linked to murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and former union boss Andrew Gilchrist. Brooks was told that under her bail conditions, she must not make contact with co-defendants, Greg Miskiw, Neville Thurlbeck, Ian Edmondson, James Weatherup, Andy Coulson and Stuart Kuttner. In addition, she was told she must not contact two others who have been arrested by officers investigating phone hacking and are currently on bail – former NoW deputy editor Neil Wallis and former reporter Dan Evans. She was also told she must not contact another woman who was not named in open court but is currently on bail. The first phone hacking-related charge is that she conspired between 3 October, 2000 and 9 August, 2006 with others to unlawfully intercept the voicemails of "well-known people and those associated with them". The second charge is that between 9 April 2002 and 21 April 2002 she conspired with Coulson, Kuttner, Glenn Mulcaire, Miskiw and Thurlbeck "and persons unknown to intercept communications in the course of their transmission without lawful authority, namely the voicemail messages of Amanda Dowler, also known as Milly Dowler". The third charge is that between 3 December, 2002 and 22 January 2003, Brooks, Mulcaire and Miskiw "conspired together and with persons unknown" to intercept the voicemails of Gilchrist, then the Fire brigade unions leader. Brooks was also told she must give seven days' notice to the police of any foreign travel. • 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.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Two bystanders die in Peshawar but no one inside diplomatic vehicle was killed in huge rush-hour blast A suicide car bomb targeted a US diplomatic vehicle in the volatile city of Peshawar on Monday morning, killing two bystanders and wounding 19, including the passengers. Remarkably no one inside the car was killed by the huge rush-hour blast, which left a crater in the road and toppled nearby walls. Television footage showed a burned-out four-wheel-drive vehicle at the scene, thought to be the vehicle that was attacked. Immediately after the blast, the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province claimed four people had been killed, including two Americans. But the US state department denied that, saying "two US personnel" and two Pakistani members of staff were injured in the attack, which local police say involved more than 100kg of explosives. One eyewitness said he saw a severely wounded foreigner being loaded into a vehicle. "No US consulate personnel were killed, but we are seeking further information about other victims of this heinous act," the statement said. Over the years the US consulate and its staff in the city, which is close to both the Afghan border and the semi-autonomous tribal areas that are home to a range of militant groups, have been repeatedly attacked. Last year, a car bomber attempted to target staff from the consulate, which includes diplomats and officials from the United States Agency for International Development, as they drove to work in a convoy of two armoured cars. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a nearby motorcyclist died. In 2010, militants launched a multi-pronged attack of gunfire, car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades on the heavily fortified consulate itself, killing guards and a Pakistani civilian. In 2008, gunmen launched an unsuccessful attack on the car of the chief US diplomat in the city as her vehicle was leaving her residence. Also on Monday, trucks carrying supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan were attacked in the south-west of the country.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mohamed Abu Nada wanted to draw attention to his family's poverty in Gaza, said his father A Gaza man has died after setting himself alight, apparently in protest over his family's dire living conditions. Mohamed Abu Nada died on Sunday from injuries sustained a few days earlier when he poured petrol over his body at the morgue of Gaza City's Shifa hospital and set himself alight. His father told reporters in Gaza that his son wanted to draw attention to the family's poverty. "I asked my son to go and look for a job, because I don't have a job and we don't have any source for living," said Abu Mohamed Abu Nada. The unemployment rate in Gaza is 29%, and rises to 58% among young people aged between 20 and 24, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Eight out of 10 households are dependent on some kind of aid, and 39% of the 1.6 million-strong population live below the poverty line. Overcrowding, lengthy and frequent power cuts, unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and inadequate medical care are features of daily life in Gaza for much of the population. A UN report released last month forecast a rise in the population to 2.1 million by 2020. "The substantial population growth will thus add some 500,000 people to a living area which is restricted and already heavily urbanised," said the report, Gaza in 2020 – A Liveable Place? "The challenges which confront the people of Gaza now will only intensify over the coming years." Israel enforced a tight blockade of Gaza for four years after Hamas took control of the area in June 2006, banning most imports, exports and the movement of people. Although it eased the blockade in 2010, there are still heavy restrictions on importing construction materials, exporting almost all goods and the issuing of permits to leave Gaza via Israel. Suicide, which is forbidden under Islam, is rare in Gaza despite operations by suicide bombers during the second intifada.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | iPhone maker adds phones to a case running parallel to patent infringement case Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note smartphones, and its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, could be banned in the US after Apple asked a federal court there to ban them as part of an ongoing lawsuit it is bringing against the South Korean company. The iPhone maker has added the phones to a case which is running in parallel to its just-concluded patent infringement case, where a jury awarded Apple $1.05bn in damages after deciding a number of Samsung phones and tablets had infringed various software patents as well as mimicking the iPhone's appearance. Meanwhile in Japan, Apple lost a claim against Samsung, where it alleged similar infringements, providing a welcome relief for Samsung, which has had few outright wins in the dozens of cases being fought in courts around the world between the two. In February, Apple alleged in a US case in northern California that at least 17 Samsung products infringe its patents. In a court filing made in San Jose federal court on Friday, Apple added four more products to the list of allegedly infringing products that have been released since the beginning of August 2011. A ban on the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note would be a publicity hit for Samsung, for which the phones are high-profile emblems of its ambitions. Samsung is said to be the world's largest maker of both smartphones and mobile phones, and the Note and S3 phones have been big sellers and revenue-earners. Following the Tokyo court decision, Samsung said in a statement it "confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property". A representative for Apple in Japan declined to comment. A spokesman for NTT Docomo Inc declined to comment, while a KDDI Corp spokeswoman said she did not see any major impact from the decision. Both Japanese mobile carriers sell the popular Samsung Galaxy series.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow how the day unfolded after international envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi sought to play down expectation about his new role and more than 30 people killed in air strikes north of Aleppo
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as international envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi seeks to play down expectation about his new role and Unicef says 1,600 were killed in Syria last week
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US secretary of state to call on smaller nations to present united front over territorial rows with China during Jakarta visit Hillary Clinton is calling on south-east Asian states to present a united front to the Chinese in dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The US secretary of state will be in Indonesia's capital on Monday to offer support for a regionally endorsed code of conduct for all claimants to disputed islands. Jakarta is the headquarters of the Association of South East Asian Nations, and Clinton will press the group to insist that China agree to a formal mechanism to reduce short-term risks of conflict and ultimately come to final settlements over sovereignty. She wants "to strengthen ASEAN unity going forward", a senior US official told reporters. Indonesia played a leading role in putting the six-point plan together after Asean was unable to reach consensus on the matter in July. The official said the US was "encouraged" by the plan but wants it acted upon – particularly implementation and enforcement of the code of conduct, which has languished since a preliminary framework was first agreed in 2002. The US hopes for progress before Barack Obama attends a planned summit of east Asian leaders in November. The US position has riled China, which has become increasingly assertive in pressing its territorial claims with its smaller neighbours and wants the disputes to be resolved individually with each country. The US says it takes no position on the conflicting claims but wants to see them resolved between China and Asean, which has a collective clout that its 10 members do not have individually. Clinton will travel to China on Tuesday to continue talks on the South China Sea and other issues, including the crisis in Syria and ways to deal with Iran and North Korea's nuclear programmes. Clinton will be in Indonesia on the second stop of an 11-day, six-nation tour that will take her to East Timor, Brunei and Russia's far east after her stop in China. In Indonesia, the official said, Clinton would also raise human rights concerns, including a recent rise in mob violence against religious minorities. The US has championed Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, as a model for a moderate Islamic democracy. Human Rights Watch on Sunday called for Clinton to press the government "to take concrete steps to address rising religious intolerance". It also asked her to address Indonesian authorities' use of blasphemy and criminal defamation laws that it says are being used to persecute minorities and political activists. "Indonesia needs to recognise that oppressive laws and policies against religious minorities fuel violence and discrimination," the human rights group said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | New UN and Arab League mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, says not enough is being done to end the violence through diplomacy Diplomatic attempts to end the Syrian conflict are "nearly impossible" and not enough is being done to end the fighting, the new United Nations and Arab League mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, has said. "I know how difficult it is – how nearly impossible. I can't say impossible – nearly impossible," Brahimi told the BBC. The Algerian diplomat said he was "scared of the weight of responsibility" on his shoulders and was aware that not enough was being done to end the violence through diplomacy. "People are already saying: 'People are dying and what are you doing?' And we are not doing much. That in itself is a terrible weight," he said. Brahimi replaced Kofi Annan as the joint special representative on Syria at the end of August. Annan stepped down after blaming "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the UN security council for hampering efforts to find a breakthrough in the conflict. Around 20,000 people have been killed during the 17-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Brahimi said he felt like he was "standing in front of a brick wall", looking for cracks that may yield a solution. "I'm coming into this job with my eyes open, and [with] no illusions," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Self-proclaimed messiah notorious for mass weddings and creation of Unification Church dies aged 92 He married thousands of people in mass weddings, made millions from his church's business interests and was accused of brainwashing his members and breaking up families. But the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church – whose followers became known as "Moonies" – managed to shed the mantle of suspicion and ridicule to become a friend of political and religious leaders before his death in South Korea on Sunday, aged 92. Moon saw himself as a messiah and created a church that became a worldwide movement and claims to have around 3 million members, including 100,000 in the United States. Ahn Ho-yeul, a Unification Church spokesman, told the Associated Press that Moon died at a church-owned hospital near his home in Gapyeong, north-east of Seoul, with his wife and children at his bedside, two weeks after being hospitalised with pneumonia. The church was seen as a cult in the 1970s and 80s, and was regularly accused of conning new recruits, holding them against their will, splitting families and forcing initiates to give over their life savings. The church responded to accusations by saying many other new religious movements faced similar attacks in their early stages. Allegations of brainwashing which were common in the 1980s have rarely been heard since. Moon was born in what would become North Korea in 1920 to a family that followed Confucian beliefs, but when he was 10 years old the family converted to Christianity and joined the Presbyterian church. Moon said he was 16 when Jesus Christ called upon him to complete His work. He said he resisted twice before finally accepting the task. He was jailed for five years by the North Korean government in 1948, but escaped in 1950 when his guards fled as United Nations troops advanced. He was an active anti-Communist throughout the cold war. Moon founded the church in 1954 amid the ruins of South Korea and promoted a mixture of Christianity and his own conservative, family-oriented teachings. He preached new interpretations of lessons from the Bible, and fused elements of Christianity and Confucianism – outlining his principles in his book, Explanation of the Divine Principle, published in 1957. In later years, the church built a business empire that included the Washington Times newspaper, the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, Bridgeport University in Connecticut, as well as a hotel and a car plant in North Korea. It acquired a ski resort, a professional soccer team and other businesses in South Korea, and a seafood firm that supplies sushi to Japanese restaurants across the United States. In 1982, the church sponsored the American film Inchon, about the Korean war. Moon began rebuilding his relationship with North Korea in 1991, when he met the country's founder, Kim Il Sung, in the eastern industrial city of Hamhung. In his autobiography, Moon said he asked Kim to give up his nuclear ambitions, and Kim responded that his atomic programme was for peaceful purposes and he had no intention to use it to "kill my own people". "The two of us were able to communicate well about our shared hobbies of hunting and fishing. At one point, we each felt we had so much to say to the other that we just started talking like old friends meeting after a long separation," Moon wrote. He added that he heard Kim tell his son: "After I die, if there are things to discuss pertaining to north-south relations, you must always seek the advice of President Moon." When Kim died in 1994, Moon sent a condolence delegation to North Korea, drawing criticism from conservatives at home. Kim's son and successor, Kim Jong Il, sent roses, prized wild ginseng, Rolex watches and other gifts to Moon on his birthday each year. Kim Jong Il died late last year and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Moon sent a delegation to pay respects during the mourning period for Kim Jong Il. The church leader also developed good relationships with conservative American leaders, including Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George Bush Senior. However, he was found guilty of tax evasion in the United States, where he lived for 30 years, and served 13 months of an 18 month sentence. As he grew older, Moon quietly handed over day-to-day control of his multibillion-dollar religious and business empire, companies ranging from hospitals and universities to a ballet troupe. His youngest son, the Rev Hyung-jin Moon, was named the church's top religious director in April 2008. Other sons and daughters were put in charge of the church's business and charitable activities in South Korea and abroad. After ending his first marriage, Moon wedded a South Korean, Hak Ja Han Moon, in 1960. She often was at Moon's side for the mass weddings. Their youngest son told the Associated Press in a February 2010 interview that Moon's offspring do not see themselves as his successors. "Our role is not inheriting that messianic role," he said. "Our role is more of the apostles, where we share … where we become the bridge between understanding what kind of lives [our] two parents have lived." Moon is survived by his second wife and 10 children. Marriage linesThe Reverend Sun Myung Moon's mass weddings were a central aspect of the Unification Church. He conducted his first in Seoul in the early 1960s, and the "blessing ceremonies" grew in scale over the years. A 1982 wedding at New York's Madison Square Garden, the first outside South Korea, drew thousands of participants. "International and intercultural marriages are the quickest way to bring about an ideal world of peace," Moon said in a 2009 autobiography. "People should marry across national and cultural boundaries with people from countries they consider to be their enemies so that the world of peace can come that much more quickly." In 2009, Moon married 45,000 people in simultaneous ceremonies worldwide in his first large-scale mass wedding in years, the church said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | South African athlete says race was unfair, and accuses Brazilian winner Oliveira of running on blades that were too long "Don't focus on the disability," Oscar Pistorius told the world before these Games. "Focus on the ability." How right he was. There was no room for sentimental thoughts or emotional notions after the T44 200m final. It was not a procession or a coronation, but a race, raw and fast. And Pistorius came second. He was beaten to the line by Brazil's Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira, who won in 21.45sec. Pistorius was .07sec behind him. He reacted furiously, telling the TV cameras in his post-race interview that "we aren't racing a fair race". Pistorius was convinced that the running blades Oliveira was using were too long, and called for the International Paralympic Committee to investigate. This from a man who has had to fight long and hard to overturn doubts about whether or not he himself has an unfair advantage when he is competing against non-disabled runners. The twist in the story is that it is the very fact Pistorius wants to run in the Olympics and other able-bodied competitions that cost him here. To do crossover like that, he can only run on blades that have been cleared for use by the IAAF, the sport's governing body. Longer blades, of the kind Oliveira used, are only legal in Paralympic events. If Pistorius switched, he would not be able to run in non-disabled competitions. Besides which, he would undermine his own argument that his success is about the body above the knee, rather than the technology below it. In a sense, he is a victim of his own ambition. It was a sour reaction, cutting through the saccharine notes of so much of the Paralympic coverage. But Pistorius has always insisted that he wants to be known as an athlete, rejecting the labels other people have put upon him, whether they were that he was disabled, differently abled, a cheat, an inspiration, or a role model. And this was an athlete's response to defeat, if a particularly ungracious one. Pistorius has never lost a 200m race before, and he could not quite believe that it had happened. Modest as he may sometimes seem – on the startline he responded to the adoring applause of the 80,000 with a polite little bow – he has, like any champion, a sizeable ego and a temper to match. Once he had had time to cool down, Pistorius was a more gracious, admitting that Oliveira had "played by the rules" and that his blades were within the stipulated limits. But his anger was still there, bubbling away beneath the surface. "He's never run a 21 second race before. That's fact," he said of Oliveira. "He was running high 23s less than a year ago so you just need to look at the facts behind it. I brought it up with the IPC but nothing's been done about it. I believe in the fairness in sport and I believe in running on the right length." Pistorius' point is that Oliveira's blades were too long, increasing his speed in the final few metres. "I've never seen a guy come back from eight metres on the 100 metre mark and overtake me on the finish line." He had been well ahead after the bend, and looked to be coasting to victory, until Oliveira produced a final, astonishing, turn of speed. Still, Pistorius' own time was a lot slower than the world record of 21.30sec he had set in the semi-finals. If he had been able to repeat that, he would have won with ease. But he made a schoolboy mistake, tensing up and slowing down as Oliveira came alongside him. Pistorius seemed as surprised as everyone else in the stadium that suddenly he was in a race for the line. "There's not even another Paralympic amputee to run a 21 second race," he insisted, "let alone a 21.4sec." Like Pistorius, Oliveira had both legs amputated soon after he was born. "I am below the maximum length of blades I could have been," he pointed out. "I don't know who he is picking a fight with. It is not about two blades, it is about training." He was eloquent in his rebuttal. "All I want to do is thank everybody that helped me get here and celebrate, I am not worried about this polemic that has been raised, this polemic is just about Oscar Pistorius, not about myself. For me he is a really great idol and to hear that from a great idol is difficult." For four months, between December 2007 and March 2008, the running blades Pistorius uses were illegal in able-bodied competition. The controversy catapulted him on to the front pages but Pistorius turns surly when the topic comes up now. The blades he uses now are the same ones he was on then and it is ironic that he responded to defeat by attacking his rival, just as others once attacked him. The two men will race again in both the T44 100m and the T44 400m. Pistorius, the poster boy of the Paralympics, could be hard pushed to win either event. The signature star may have lost a little of his lustre, but the Games have gained a rivalry that will shape how they are remembered in years to come.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • South African athlete says defeat to Brazilian was unfair
• Accuses winner Oliveira of running on blades too long
• Sport Network: data does not bear out Pistorius complaint
• In pictures: look back at Oliveira's victory over Pistorius "Don't focus on the disability," Oscar Pistorius told the world before these Games. "Focus on the ability." How right he was. There was no room for sentimental thoughts or emotional notions after the T44 200m final. It was not a procession or a coronation, but a race, raw and fast. And Pistorius came second. He was beaten to the line by Brazil's Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira, who won in 21.45sec. Pistorius was .07sec behind him. He reacted furiously, telling the TV cameras in his post-race interview that "we aren't racing a fair race". Pistorius was convinced that the running blades Oliveira was using were too long, and called for the International Paralympic Committee to investigate. This from a man who has had to fight long and hard to overturn doubts about whether or not he himself has an unfair advantage when he is competing against non-disabled runners. The twist in the story is that it is the very fact Pistorius wants to run in the Olympics and other able-bodied competitions that cost him here. To do crossover like that, he can only run on blades that have been cleared for use by the IAAF, the sport's governing body. Longer blades, of the kind Oliveira used, are only legal in Paralympic events. If Pistorius switched, he would not be able to run in non-disabled competitions. Besides which, he would undermine his own argument that his success is about the body above the knee, rather than the technology below it. In a sense, he is a victim of his own ambition. It was a sour reaction, cutting through the saccharine notes of so much of the Paralympic coverage. But Pistorius has always insisted that he wants to be known as an athlete, rejecting the labels other people have put upon him, whether they were that he was disabled, differently abled, a cheat, an inspiration, or a role model. And this was an athlete's response to defeat, if a particularly ungracious one. Pistorius has never lost a 200m race before, and he could not quite believe that it had happened. Modest as he may sometimes seem – on the startline he responded to the adoring applause of the 80,000 with a polite little bow – he has, like any champion, a sizeable ego and a temper to match. Once he had had time to cool down, Pistorius was a more gracious, admitting that Oliveira had "played by the rules" and that his blades were within the stipulated limits. But his anger was still there, bubbling away beneath the surface. "He's never run a 21 second race before. That's fact," he said of Oliveira. "He was running high 23s less than a year ago so you just need to look at the facts behind it. I brought it up with the IPC but nothing's been done about it. I believe in the fairness in sport and I believe in running on the right length." Pistorius' point is that Oliveira's blades were too long, increasing his speed in the final few metres. "I've never seen a guy come back from eight metres on the 100 metre mark and overtake me on the finish line." He had been well ahead after the bend, and looked to be coasting to victory, until Oliveira produced a final, astonishing, turn of speed. Still, Pistorius' own time was a lot slower than the world record of 21.30sec he had set in the semi-finals. If he had been able to repeat that, he would have won with ease. But he made a schoolboy mistake, tensing up and slowing down as Oliveira came alongside him. Pistorius seemed as surprised as everyone else in the stadium that suddenly he was in a race for the line. "There's not even another Paralympic amputee to run a 21 second race," he insisted, "let alone a 21.4sec." Like Pistorius, Oliveira had both legs amputated soon after he was born. "I am below the maximum length of blades I could have been," he pointed out. "I don't know who he is picking a fight with. It is not about two blades, it is about training." He was eloquent in his rebuttal. "All I want to do is thank everybody that helped me get here and celebrate, I am not worried about this polemic that has been raised, this polemic is just about Oscar Pistorius, not about myself. For me he is a really great idol and to hear that from a great idol is difficult." For four months, between December 2007 and March 2008, the running blades Pistorius uses were illegal in able-bodied competition. The controversy catapulted him on to the front pages but Pistorius turns surly when the topic comes up now. The blades he uses now are the same ones he was on then and it is ironic that he responded to defeat by attacking his rival, just as others once attacked him. The two men will race again in both the T44 100m and the T44 400m. Pistorius, the poster boy of the Paralympics, could be hard pushed to win either event. The signature star may have lost a little of his lustre, but the Games have gained a rivalry that will shape how they are remembered in years to come.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Slowdown in China manufacturing PMI ahead of UK and eurozone surveys this week
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Slowdown in China manufacturing PMI ahead of UK and eurozone surveys this week
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Two people die and 19 injured including foreigners as US government vehicle attacked in north-western city of Peshawar A car filled with explosives rammed into a US government vehicle in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing two people and wounding 19 others, according to police. The identities of those who died in the attack were unclear, said local police officer Pervez Khan, but he added that some of the wounded were foreigners. A US passport was found in the wreckage, said another police officer, Javed Khan. The US embassy in Islamabad said it was investigating the report. Peshawar is located near Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the country. The city has been hit by scores of bombings in recent years, but attacks against US targets are relatively rare. The vehicle was attacked after it left the US consulate in Peshawar and was travelling through an area of the city that hosts various international organisations, including the United Nations, said Pervez Khan, who was part of the police escort providing security for the vehicle. Local TV footage showed an SUV at the site that had been completely destroyed. All that was left was a carcass of blackened, twisted metal. A police explosives expert, Abdul Haq, said 110 kg (240lb) of explosives were used in the incident. Irfan Khan, a local resident, said he was at a nearby shop when the blast occurred. "I quickly looked back in panic to see smoke and dust erupt from the scene," he said. "I ran toward the scene along with others and saw two vehicles destroyed and the larger vehicle on fire." One dead person was on the ground near the SUV, and a foreigner was injured, said Irfan Khan. "We put the injured man and the dead body in a private vehicle. There were more injured in the surrounding area too." Another eyewitness, Wajid Ali, said he helped put another seriously injured foreigner into the vehicle. Another vehicle arrived and took away the injured foreigners, said Javed Khan. Some of the policemen escorting the US vehicle were also wounded in the attack, and their vehicle was damaged, he added.
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