|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Spacecraft launched in 1977 to explore Jupiter and Saturn on the verge of entering new frontier in the Milky Way Thirty-five years after leaving Earth, Voyager 1 is reaching for the stars. Sooner or later, the workhorse spacecraft will bid adieu to the solar system and enter a new realm of space – the first time a manmade object will have escaped to the other side. Perhaps no one on Earth will relish the moment more than 76-year-old Ed Stone, who has toiled on the project from the start. "We're anxious to get outside and find what's out there," he said. When Nasa's Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 first rocketed out of Earth's grip in 1977, no one knew how long they would live. Now, they are the longest-operating spacecraft in history and the most distant, at billions of miles from Earth but in different directions. Wednesday marks the 35th anniversary of Voyager 1's launch to Jupiter and Saturn. It is now flitting around the fringes of the solar system, which is enveloped in a giant plasma bubble. This hot and turbulent area is created by a stream of charged particles from the sun. Outside the bubble is a new frontier in the Milky Way – the space between stars. Once it plows through, scientists expect a calmer environment by comparison. When that would happen is anyone's guess. Voyager 1 is in uncharted celestial territory. One thing is clear: the boundary that separates the solar system and interstellar space is near, but it could take days, months or years to cross that milestone. Voyager 1 is currently more than 11 billion miles from the sun. Twin Voyager 2, which celebrated its launch anniversary two weeks ago, trails behind at 9 billion miles from the sun. They're still ticking despite being relics of the early space age. Each only has 68 kilobytes of computer memory. To put that in perspective, the smallest iPod – an 8-gigabyte iPod Nano – is 100,000 times more powerful. Each also has an eight-track tape recorder. Today's spacecraft use digital memory. The Voyagers' original goal was to tour Jupiter and Saturn, and they sent back postcards of Jupiter's big red spot and Saturn's glittery rings. They also beamed home a torrent of discoveries: erupting volcanoes on the Jupiter moon Io; hints of an ocean below the icy surface of Europa, another Jupiter moon; signs of methane rain on the Saturn moon Titan. Voyager 2 then journeyed to Uranus and Neptune. It remains the only spacecraft to fly by these two outer planets. Voyager 1 used Saturn as a gravitational slingshot to catapult itself toward the edge of the solar system. "Time after time, Voyager revealed unexpected – kind of counterintuitive – results, which means we have a lot to learn," said Stone, Voyager's chief scientist and a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology. These days, a handful of engineers diligently listen for the Voyagers from a satellite campus not far from the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which built the spacecraft. The control room, with its cubicles and carpeting, could be mistaken for an insurance office if not for a blue sign overhead that reads "Mission Controller" and a warning on a computer: "Voyager mission critical hardware. Please do not touch!" There are no full-time scientists left on the mission, but 20 part-timers analyse the data streamed back. Since the spacecraft are so far out, it takes 17 hours for a radio signal from Voyager 1 to travel to Earth. For Voyager 2, it takes about 13 hours. Cameras aboard the Voyagers were turned off long ago. The nuclear-powered spacecraft, about the size of a small car, still have five instruments to study magnetic fields, cosmic rays and charged particles from the sun known as solar wind. They also carry gold-plated discs containing multilingual greetings, music and pictures – in the off chance that intelligent species come across them. Since 2004, Voyager 1 has been exploring a region in the bubble at the solar system's edge where the solar wind dramatically slows and heats up. Over the last several months, scientists have seen changes that suggest Voyager 1 is on the verge of crossing over. When it does, it will be the first spacecraft to explore between the stars. Space observatories such as the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have long peered past the solar system, but they tend to focus on far-away galaxies. As ambitious as the Voyager mission is, it was scaled down from a plan to send a quartet of spacecraft to Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in what was billed as the "grand tour" of the solar system. But the plan was nixed, and scientists settled for the Voyager mission. American University space policy expert Howard McCurdy said it turned out to be a boon. They "took the funds and built spacecraft robust enough to visit all four gas giants and keep communicating" beyond the solar system, McCurdy said. The double missions so far have cost $983m (£620m) in 1977 dollars, which translates to $3.7bn now. The spacecraft have enough fuel to last until around 2020. By that time, scientists hope Voyager will already be floating between the stars.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US secretary of state meets Chinese president but talks with his successor cancelled as visit fails to narrow gaps over divisions Talks between US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, and Chinese leaders have failed to come to agreement over how to end the crisis in Syria and resolve Beijing's territorial disputes with its neighbours in the South China Sea. Clinton, who met President Hu Jintao, the foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, and other top officials – but not leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping – wants China to stop backing the regime of Syria's President Bashar Assad, and has been pushing for it to be more flexible in lowering tensions over the potentially oil-rich South China Seas. But comments from Clinton and Yang on Wednesday showed the countries remain deeply divided on those issues, although both maintained they are committed to working together despite their differences. The US and other countries are upset that China and Russia have repeatedly used their veto powers in the UN security council to block actions that could have led to sanctions against Assad's regime. China says Syria's civil war needs to be resolved through negotiations and not outside pressure. "I think history will judge that China's position on the Syria question is a promotion of the appropriate handling of the situation," Yang told a news conference with Clinton. "For what we have in mind is the interests of the people of Syria and the region and the interests of peace, stability and development in the region and throughout the world." The comment was a direct rebuke to Clinton, who has said previously that vetoes by China and Russia of UN security council sanctions on the Assad regime have put them "on the wrong side of history". She responded bluntly to Yang by saying the violence was boiling over into other countries such as Jordan and Turkey and that the security council had to act. "It is no secret that we have been disappointed by Russia and China's actions blocking tougher UN security council resolutions and we hope to continue to unite behind a real path forward to end the violence in Syria," she said. Clinton had been scheduled to meet China's vice-president, Xi Jinping, who is expected to take over as leader later this year, but that was cancelled by the Chinese for "unexpected scheduling reasons", State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. A meeting between Xi and the visiting prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, also was cancelled without explanation. Yang would say only there should not be "unnecessary speculation" about changes to Clinton's schedule. Before meeting Hu, the secretary of state said the US-China relationship was strong even though there were disagreements over issues including Syria, the South China Sea and human rights. "We are able to explore areas of agreement and disagreement in a very open manner, which I think demonstrates the maturity of the relationship and the chance to take it further in the future," Clinton said. She had arrived in China from Indonesia, where she urged south-east Asian nations to present a unified front in dealing with Beijing in attempts to ease rising tensions in the South China Sea. China and a host of south-east Asian countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei, have overlapping claims to several small but potentially energy-rich areas of sea, reefs and islands. The US wants China and the other claimants to adopt a binding code of conduct for the region, along with a process to resolve maritime disputes without coercion, intimidation or the use of force. Clinton wants the Chinese to drop their insistence on settling conflicting claims with individual nations and instead embrace a multilateral mechanism that will give the smaller members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) greater clout in negotiations. She said she wanted all sides to make meaningful progress before a November summit of east Asian leaders that President Barack Obama plans to attend in Cambodia. "We believe … that it is timely now to proceed with that work and help to lower the tensions and create the code of conduct in the next period, hopefully in preparation for the east Asia ummit," she said. Yang, however, repeated China's statements that it is ready to discuss the sea disputes only through bilateral talks in which many believe that China would have an unfair upper hand. And, he was lukewarm over the idea of reaching an agreement before November, saying China and some of its friends in Asean wanted to work only toward the "eventual adoption of a code of conduct". "China has sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and the adjacent waters. There is plenty of historical and jurisprudence evidence of that," he said. Yang also rejected that there was any threat to international maritime commerce from the rising tensions over the disputes. Washington has cited the disputes as a reason why peaceful settlements of the claims are a US national security interest. "The freedom and safety of navigation in the South China Sea is assured," he said. "There is no issue currently in this area nor will there ever be issues in that area in the future." Clinton and her comments on the South China Sea have been strongly criticised in the official Chinese media over the last two days. Hu gave what may have been another sign of Beijing's unhappiness with Clinton at the beginning of their talks by praising her only for implementing a student exchange initiative and for "actively" pushing for the construction of the US pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo two years ago. Clinton said she also urged China to use "its unique influence" to help bring change to its impoverished and isolated neighbour North Korea, where Kim Jong-un became leader when his father died late last year. "There is an opportunity for the new leadership of North Korea to improve the lives of the people of North Korea," Clinton said. Clinton is in China at the mid-point of an 11-day, six-nation tour of the Asia Pacific region that started in the Cook Islands. After she leaves China, she will visit East Timor and Brunei before heading to Russia's far east to represent the US at the annual meeting of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vladivostok.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BP shares biggest fallers on FTSE 100 as justice department gives examples of 'gross negligence and wilful misconduct' Shares in BP were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 on Wednesday morning, dropping 3% to 423p, as the US justice department ramped up its rhetoric against the oil company for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In new court papers, the justice department gave examples of what it calls "gross negligence and wilful misconduct" over the spill, the largest in US history. The court filing is the sharpest position yet taken by the US government as it seeks to hold the British group largely responsible. Gross negligence is a central issue to the case, set to go to trial in New Orleans in January 2013. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21bn (£13.2bn). The US government and BP are engaged in talks to settle civil and potential criminal liability, though neither side will comment on the status of negotiations. "The behaviour, words, and actions of these BP executives would not be tolerated in a middling size company manufacturing dry goods for sale in a suburban mall," government lawyers wrote in the filing on 31 August in federal court in New Orleans. The filing comes more than two years after the disaster that struck on 20 April 2010 when a surge of methane gas known to rig hands as a "kick" sparked an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig as it was drilling the mile-deep Macondo 252 well off Louisiana's coast. The rig sank two days later. The well spewed 4.9m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 straight days, unleashing a torrent of oil that fouled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states and eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in severity. Specifically, errors made by BP and Swiss-based Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon platform, in deciphering a key pressure test of the Macondo well are a clear indication of gross negligence, the justice department said. "That such a simple, yet fundamental and safety-critical test could have been so stunningly, blindingly botched in so many ways, by so many people, demonstrates gross negligence," the government said in its 39-page filing. BP rejects the charge. "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January," the company said in a statement. A Transocean spokesman had no immediate comment. On 13 August, BP urged US district judge Carl Barbier to approve an estimated $7.8bn settlement reached with 125,000 individuals and businesses, asserting its actions "did not constitute gross negligence or wilful misconduct". The government said Barbier should avoid making any finding about BP's potential gross negligence when he rules on the settlement. Barbier will hold a fairness hearing on that settlement on 8 November. Barbier should also disregard claims made by BP that minimise the environmental and economic impacts of the spill, the government said, citing environmental damage like severe ill health of dolphins in Louisiana's Barataria Bay, which saw some of the heaviest oiling from the spill.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Group said it found over 12m Apple IDs on agent's computer, but FBI says it has no knowledge of any data breach The FBI has denied claims by a hacking group that says it obtained details of more than 12m Apple IDs from the laptop of a federal agent. The group, called AntiSec, said it found 12.36m IDs on the laptop and was making some details public in order to draw attention the the FBI's activities. In a statement, the group predicted the FBI would deny the breach. "Seems quite clear nobody pays attention if you just come and say 'Hey, FBI is using your device details and info and who the fuck knows what the hell are they experimenting with that,' well sorry, but nobody will care. FBI will, as usual, deny or ignore this uncomfortable thingie and everybody will forget the whole thing at amazing speed." The group said it believed the FBI was using the IDs to track people. The FBI released a statement late on Monday, which said: "The FBI is aware of published reports alleging that an FBI laptop was compromised and private data regarding Apple UDIDs was exposed. At this time there is no evidence indicating that an FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI either sought or obtained this data." Apple did not return calls for comment. According to the group the UDIDs (unique device IDs) were stored in a file named NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv. NCFTA stands for National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance and is an alliance between businesses, academics and law enforcements aimed at cracking down on cybercrime. Marco Arment, creator of the Instapaper app, said in a blogpost that the information could have come from an app and not necessarily from Apple. "All of this information could have been collected from an app transmitting data to a server. For instance, this is exactly the information that an ad network would want to collect. And in order to get stats from 12 million devices, it would probably need to be from a set of popular, free apps … where you'd probably see ads," he wrote.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Group said it found over 12m Apple IDs on agent's computer, but FBI says it has no knowledge of any data breach The FBI has denied claims by a hacking group that says it obtained details of more than 12m Apple IDs from the laptop of a federal agent. The group, called AntiSec, said it found 12.36m IDs on the laptop and was making some details public in order to draw attention the the FBI's activities. In a statement, the group predicted the FBI would deny the breach. "Seems quite clear nobody pays attention if you just come and say 'Hey, FBI is using your device details and info and who the fuck knows what the hell are they experimenting with that,' well sorry, but nobody will care. FBI will, as usual, deny or ignore this uncomfortable thingie and everybody will forget the whole thing at amazing speed." The group said it believed the FBI was using the IDs to track people. The FBI released a statement late on Monday, which said: "The FBI is aware of published reports alleging that an FBI laptop was compromised and private data regarding Apple UDIDs was exposed. At this time there is no evidence indicating that an FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI either sought or obtained this data." Apple did not return calls for comment. According to the group the UDIDs (unique device IDs) were stored in a file named NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv. NCFTA stands for National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance and is an alliance between businesses, academics and law enforcements aimed at cracking down on cybercrime. Marco Arment, creator of the Instapaper app, said in a blogpost that the information could have come from an app and not necessarily from Apple. "All of this information could have been collected from an app transmitting data to a server. For instance, this is exactly the information that an ad network would want to collect. And in order to get stats from 12 million devices, it would probably need to be from a set of popular, free apps … where you'd probably see ads," he wrote.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | First lady tells Democratic national convention her husband is the only candidate who will deliver opportunity for all Michelle Obama electrified Democrats on the opening night of the party's national convention with a powerful and unashamedly personal speech in which she invoked the future of her own children as she made the personal and political case for her husband's re-election. In an address that brought the 23,000-seat arena to its feet as delegates chanted "four more years", the first lady sought to persuade wavering voters that Barack Obama retained the same qualities that attracted them to him in 2008. She deftly drew sharp contrasts with his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, avoiding attacking him directly but making clear her belief that he was deeply out of touch with ordinary people. She described how both she and Obama had risen from modest beginnings, and said he was driven by a desire to see others get the same chance. "He believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you," she said. "You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed." Even before Mrs Obama took the stage, the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, appeared to have more energy and enthusiasm than the Republican event in Tampa, Florida, last week. Buoyed by a series of strong speeches from the evening's earlier speakers, there was a boisterous, party atmosphere that contrasted with the relatively subdued mood in Tampa. The Democrats highlighted the contrast with the Republicans on issues of equality and diversity as speaker after speaker made the case for Obama in stronger terms than the party has managed during his first four years. They lambasted Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, over healthcare, abortion, equal pay, same sex marriage and offshore bank accounts. At one point Stacy Lihn, whose toddler daughter Zoe has congenital heart disease, told the crowd how Obama's healthcare legislation had secured life-saving treatment for her child. "Obamacare provides my family security and relief," said Linh as she attacked Romney for pledging to repeal the reforms. Michelle Obama used her primetime speech to pull together many of these themes. The thrust was personal, talking about her early life with Obama, her reluctance to spoil that by him running for the White House and, in the end, her relief that he had not been changed by the experience but made stronger. "Being president does not change who you are: it reveals who you are," she said. She acknowledged that it had been tough for him at the White House, with many struggles that had tested him. But he had done what was right, influenced by the disparity that he seen growing up, particularly the treatment of his mother, repeatedly passed over for promotion because she was a woman. That was why the first piece of legislation he passed was equal pay for women. He also ignored people who said he should leave health reform to another president, doing it because he thought it was right. "No one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness," she declared. At times the speech was sentimental, particularly when she said she loved her husband more now than four years ago, and her declaration that the most important thing in her life was being "mom-in-chief". In a theme that will be heard over and over again through over the next few days, she returned repeatedly to the issue of opportunity. "Barack knows what it means when a family struggles, he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids," she said. "Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love." In the battle of the spouses this will go down as a win for the Obamas, with the first lady's delivery crisper and her speech better written than Ann Romney's last week. One delegate, Jim Hussey, a retired electrician form Delaware, said: "I thought it hit all the right parts. It was a little sentimental but I understand why: she loves her husband and family." Overall he thought the point she was putting across was one of fairness and equal opportunity. As a first lady rather than an elected politician she carefully avoided making any overt attacks on Obama's Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. But plenty of other speakers did. The other main speaker of the evening was Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, a rising star of the party who filled the same keynote speaking slot that catapulted Barack Obama to prominence at the 2004 convention. He set out the ideological differences between the Democrats and Republicans over the role of the federal government and the part it plays in the economy. While the Republicans favour lower taxes and slashing regulation to ignite the economy, the Democrats argue in favour of higher taxes on the wealthy to help lift up the working class. "We all understand that freedom isn't free," Castro said. "What Romney and [Paul] Ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it." In one of the most memorable lines of the night, Castro said: "In the end the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labour." The carefully orchestrated opening day combined a defence of Obama's record with vague hints of what he might do if he wins a second term. But there was also a lot of the negative campaigning that has worked well for the Obama team so far, bashing Romney One of the biggest crowd-pleasers was the former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, who, in a punchy speech, accusing the Republican of lacking economic patriotism. "Barack Obama is betting on the American worker. Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation," Strickland said. The Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former White House chief of staff, said there was a lot at stake in November's election. "Each crisis was so deep and so dangerous; any one of them would have defined another presidency," Emanuel said. "We faced a once-in-a-generation moment in American history. Fortunately for all of us, we have a once-in-a-generation president." One of the standout speeches of the night was Lily Ledbetter, champion of equal pay for women, who took Goodyear to court after discovering she was being paid less than her male counterparts. She said a few cents might not matter much to Mitt Romney with his tax havens but it did to her. The first bill Obama signed into law in 2009 was one inspired by Ledbetter. "It is about women. About equality. About justice," she told delegates.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gunman bursts in, shooting two people and starting fire, as leader of separatist Parti Quebecois addresses supporters One person has been shot dead in Quebec and another wounded after a gunman entered the venue where Pauline Marois, the separatist Parti Quebecois leader who had just become the Canadian province's premier-elect, was giving her victory speech. Voters in the French-speaking province on Tuesday ousted the governing Liberals and installed the Parti Quebecois as a minority government – in the process making Marois the first female premier of Quebec. Around midnight, two bodyguards abruptly interrupted Marois's victory speech, bundling her into the backstage area after a deafening boom rang out. According to Montreal police, one person was fatally shot and another was in critical condition after a man in his 50s entered the back door of Montreal's Metropolis concert hall, and shot them before setting fire to the premises. As he was detained, the man, wearing a balaclava and a bathrobe, allegedly repeated twice in French with an English accent: "The Anglophones are waking up," an apparent reference to the "maple spring" of student protests against the government that contributed to the snap election being called. Marois came back on stage to give a final thank-you to her supporters before urging them to calmly evacuate the concert hall. Before the dramatic interruption, Marois reaffirmed her party's commitment to Quebec breaking away from Canada. "As a nation we want to take decisions that concern us on our own," she said. "The future of Quebec is to become a sovereign country." She highlighting the French language as essential to the future of the province, then addressed anglophone people of Quebec in English, promising to protect them and to forge a shared future together, as well as with first nations. "Cynicism lost and hope won. For the first time the government of Quebec will be led by a woman." She promised to govern responsibly in the public interest, putting Quebec's divisions aside in favour of common loyalty to the province. The PQ is likely to form a minority government after winning fewer seats than required to take power outright, and the result leaves questions over whether it will be able to hold a referendum on leaving the Canadian federation. The snap election was called after a student strike over raising tuition fees and the Liberal government's crackdown on student protesters caused unrest across the province. Former student strike leader Leo Bureau-Blouin, 20, was elected in his district of Laval, making him the youngest elected to the national assembly. Jean Charest, the leader of the federalist Liberal party, which has governed Quebec for the past nine years, was unseated in his own district of Sherbrook, while his party came in second behind the Parti Quebecois. Support for the party leader has waned due to his handling of the student strike, allegations of corruption in the construction industry and passage of Bill 78 – a widely condemned anti-protest law that brought hundreds of thousands of Quebecois on to the streets during the spring. Marois has promised a tuition freeze until a summit on higher education financing is held, has pledged to repeal Bill 78, and would like to pass a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty. Quebec separating from Canada is a bitterly contentious issue between in the French-speaking province and the election of the PQ only to minority government may indicate Quebec people are not ready to face a third referendum, the previous two having been defeated. Marois proposes to expand Quebec's language Law 101 preventing francophones and immigrants from attending English junior colleges and has proposed a law that would prevent non-French speakers from running for office. More controversially, she proposed a secularism charter banning public service employees from wearing overt religious symbols, like the Jewish yarmulke and the Muslim hijab. Shadak Islam, a digital technician who moved to Quebec from Bangladesh with his wife eight years ago, said it was the PQ's policy on religion that made him vote Liberal. "The headscarf is not a symbol, it's a duty to my religion," he said. Fear of a referendum could explain why anglophones and immigrants in the province opted for Charest's Liberal party or voted for the upstart Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), the nine-month-old party of former PQ cabinet minister, Francois Legault, who came in third with 19 seats. Legault proposes strengthening the laws that protect the French language, supports a more moderate student tuition rise while promising a decade-long moratorium on any sovereignty referendum. In fourth place, the two co-leaders of progressive left party Quebec Solidaire, Amir Khadir and Francoise David, were elected in two Montreal districts. The two leaders of the pro-sovereignty party have been in the streets supporting the student strike from the beginning, propose to abolish higher education tuition fees and have a green, pro-feminist, pro-minority platform. Francoise David, who gained a high profile for having won the campaign debates, said her party would support Marois's PQ on a case-by-case basis, but their two seats won't swing the balance of power to form a pro-sovereignty majority government. Charest, the ousted Liberal premier, told supporters he accepted responsibility for the defeat. In a riposte to separatism he declared: "The future of Quebec is in Canada."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gunman bursts in, shooting two people and starting fire, as leader of separatist Parti Quebecois addresses supporters One person has been shot dead in Quebec and another wounded after a gunman entered the venue where Pauline Marois, the separatist Parti Quebecois leader who had just become the Canadian province's premier-elect, was giving her victory speech. Voters in the French-speaking province on Tuesday ousted the governing Liberals and installed the Parti Quebecois as a minority government – in the process making Marois the first female premier of Quebec. Around midnight, two bodyguards abruptly interrupted Marois's victory speech, bundling her into the backstage area after a deafening boom rang out. According to Montreal police, one person was fatally shot and another was in critical condition after a man in his 50s entered the back door of Montreal's Metropolis concert hall, and shot them before setting fire to the premises. As he was detained, the man, wearing a balaclava and a bathrobe, allegedly repeated twice in French with an English accent: "The Anglophones are waking up," an apparent reference to the "maple spring" of student protests against the government that contributed to the snap election being called. Marois came back on stage to give a final thank-you to her supporters before urging them to calmly evacuate the concert hall. Before the dramatic interruption, Marois reaffirmed her party's commitment to Quebec breaking away from Canada. "As a nation we want to take decisions that concern us on our own," she said. "The future of Quebec is to become a sovereign country." She highlighting the French language as essential to the future of the province, then addressed anglophone people of Quebec in English, promising to protect them and to forge a shared future together, as well as with first nations. "Cynicism lost and hope won. For the first time the government of Quebec will be led by a woman." She promised to govern responsibly in the public interest, putting Quebec's divisions aside in favour of common loyalty to the province. The PQ is likely to form a minority government after winning fewer seats than required to take power outright, and the result leaves questions over whether it will be able to hold a referendum on leaving the Canadian federation. The snap election was called after a student strike over raising tuition fees and the Liberal government's crackdown on student protesters caused unrest across the province. Former student strike leader Leo Bureau-Blouin, 20, was elected in his district of Laval, making him the youngest elected to the national assembly. Jean Charest, the leader of the federalist Liberal party, which has governed Quebec for the past nine years, was unseated in his own district of Sherbrook, while his party came in second behind the Parti Quebecois. Support for the party leader has waned due to his handling of the student strike, allegations of corruption in the construction industry and passage of Bill 78 – a widely condemned anti-protest law that brought hundreds of thousands of Quebecois on to the streets during the spring. Marois has promised a tuition freeze until a summit on higher education financing is held, has pledged to repeal Bill 78, and would like to pass a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty. Quebec separating from Canada is a bitterly contentious issue between in the French-speaking province and the election of the PQ only to minority government may indicate Quebec people are not ready to face a third referendum, the previous two having been defeated. Marois proposes to expand Quebec's language Law 101 preventing francophones and immigrants from attending English junior colleges and has proposed a law that would prevent non-French speakers from running for office. More controversially, she proposed a secularism charter banning public service employees from wearing overt religious symbols, like the Jewish yarmulke and the Muslim hijab. Shadak Islam, a digital technician who moved to Quebec from Bangladesh with his wife eight years ago, said it was the PQ's policy on religion that made him vote Liberal. "The headscarf is not a symbol, it's a duty to my religion," he said. Fear of a referendum could explain why anglophones and immigrants in the province opted for Charest's Liberal party or voted for the upstart Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), the nine-month-old party of former PQ cabinet minister, Francois Legault, who came in third with 19 seats. Legault proposes strengthening the laws that protect the French language, supports a more moderate student tuition rise while promising a decade-long moratorium on any sovereignty referendum. In fourth place, the two co-leaders of progressive left party Quebec Solidaire, Amir Khadir and Francoise David, were elected in two Montreal districts. The two leaders of the pro-sovereignty party have been in the streets supporting the student strike from the beginning, propose to abolish higher education tuition fees and have a green, pro-feminist, pro-minority platform. Francoise David, who gained a high profile for having won the campaign debates, said her party would support Marois's PQ on a case-by-case basis, but their two seats won't swing the balance of power to form a pro-sovereignty majority government. Charest, the ousted Liberal premier, told supporters he accepted responsibility for the defeat. In a riposte to separatism he declared: "The future of Quebec is in Canada."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | First lady tells Democratic national convention her husband is the only candidate who will deliver opportunity for all Michelle Obama electrified Democrats on the opening night of the party's national convention with a powerful and unashamedly personal speech in which she invoked the future of her own children as she made the personal and political case for her husband's re-election. In an address that brought the 23,000-seat arena to its feet as delegates chanted "four more years", the first lady sought to persuade wavering voters that Barack Obama retained the same qualities that attracted them to him in 2008. She deftly drew sharp contrasts with his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, avoiding attacking him directly but making clear her belief that he was deeply out of touch with ordinary people. She described how both she and Obama had risen from modest beginnings, and said he was driven by a desire to see others get the same chance. "He believes that when you've worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you," she said. "You reach back and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed." Even before Mrs Obama took the stage, the convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, appeared to have more energy and enthusiasm than the Republican event in Tampa, Florida, last week. Buoyed by a series of strong speeches from the evening's earlier speakers, there was a boisterous, party atmosphere that contrasted with the relatively subdued mood in Tampa. The Democrats highlighted the contrast with the Republicans on issues of equality and diversity as speaker after speaker made the case for Obama in stronger terms than the party has managed during his first four years. They lambasted Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, over healthcare, abortion, equal pay, same sex marriage and offshore bank accounts. At one point Stacy Lihn, whose toddler daughter Zoe has congenital heart disease, told the crowd how Obama's healthcare legislation had secured life-saving treatment for her child. "Obamacare provides my family security and relief," said Linh as she attacked Romney for pledging to repeal the reforms. Michelle Obama used her primetime speech to pull together many of these themes. The thrust was personal, talking about her early life with Obama, her reluctance to spoil that by him running for the White House and, in the end, her relief that he had not been changed by the experience but made stronger. "Being president does not change who you are: it reveals who you are," she said. She acknowledged that it had been tough for him at the White House, with many struggles that had tested him. But he had done what was right, influenced by the disparity that he seen growing up, particularly the treatment of his mother, repeatedly passed over for promotion because she was a woman. That was why the first piece of legislation he passed was equal pay for women. He also ignored people who said he should leave health reform to another president, doing it because he thought it was right. "No one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or illness," she declared. At times the speech was sentimental, particularly when she said she loved her husband more now than four years ago, and her declaration that the most important thing in her life was being "mom-in-chief". In a theme that will be heard over and over again through over the next few days, she returned repeatedly to the issue of opportunity. "Barack knows what it means when a family struggles, he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids," she said. "Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it, and he wants everyone in this country to have that same opportunity, no matter who we are, or where we're from, or what we look like, or who we love." In the battle of the spouses this will go down as a win for the Obamas, with the first lady's delivery crisper and her speech better written than Ann Romney's last week. One delegate, Jim Hussey, a retired electrician form Delaware, said: "I thought it hit all the right parts. It was a little sentimental but I understand why: she loves her husband and family." Overall he thought the point she was putting across was one of fairness and equal opportunity. As a first lady rather than an elected politician she carefully avoided making any overt attacks on Obama's Republican opponent, Mitt Romney. But plenty of other speakers did. The other main speaker of the evening was Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, a rising star of the party who filled the same keynote speaking slot that catapulted Barack Obama to prominence at the 2004 convention. He set out the ideological differences between the Democrats and Republicans over the role of the federal government and the part it plays in the economy. While the Republicans favour lower taxes and slashing regulation to ignite the economy, the Democrats argue in favour of higher taxes on the wealthy to help lift up the working class. "We all understand that freedom isn't free," Castro said. "What Romney and [Paul] Ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it." In one of the most memorable lines of the night, Castro said: "In the end the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labour." The carefully orchestrated opening day combined a defence of Obama's record with vague hints of what he might do if he wins a second term. But there was also a lot of the negative campaigning that has worked well for the Obama team so far, bashing Romney One of the biggest crowd-pleasers was the former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, who, in a punchy speech, accusing the Republican of lacking economic patriotism. "Barack Obama is betting on the American worker. Mitt Romney is betting on a Bermuda shell corporation," Strickland said. The Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former White House chief of staff, said there was a lot at stake in November's election. "Each crisis was so deep and so dangerous; any one of them would have defined another presidency," Emanuel said. "We faced a once-in-a-generation moment in American history. Fortunately for all of us, we have a once-in-a-generation president." One of the standout speeches of the night was Lily Ledbetter, champion of equal pay for women, who took Goodyear to court after discovering she was being paid less than her male counterparts. She said a few cents might not matter much to Mitt Romney with his tax havens but it did to her. The first bill Obama signed into law in 2009 was one inspired by Ledbetter. "It is about women. About equality. About justice," she told delegates.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pauline Marois becomes province's first female premier as voters throw out Liberal government in wake of student protests Canadians in the French-speaking province of Quebec have voted for a change of government, electing the separatist Parti Quebecois and making its leader, Pauline Marois, the province's first female premier. The PQ is likely to form a minority government after winning fewer seats than required to take power outright, and the result leaves questions over whether it will be able to hold a referendum on leaving the Canadian federation. The snap election was called after a student strike over raising tuition fees and the Liberal government's crackdown on student protesters caused unrest across the province. Former student strike leader Leo Bureau-Blouin, 20, was elected in his district of Laval, making him the youngest elected to the national assembly. Jean Charest, the leader of the federalist Liberal party, which has governed Quebec for the past nine years, was unseated in his own district of Sherbrook, while his party came in second behind the Parti Quebecois. Support for the party leader has waned due to his handling of the student strike, allegations of corruption in the construction industry and passage of Bill 78 – a widely condemned anti-protest law that brought hundreds of thousands of Quebecois into the streets during the spring. Marois has promised a tuition freeze until a summit on higher education financing is held, has pledged to repeal Bill 78, and would like to pass a third referendum on Quebec sovereignty. Quebec separating from Canada is a bitterly contentious issue between in the French-speaking province and the election of the PQ only to minority government may indicate Quebec people are not ready to face a third referendum, the previous two having been defeated. Marois proposes to expand Quebec's language Law 101 preventing Francophones and immigrants from attending English junior colleges and has proposed a law that would prevent non-French speakers from running for office. More controversially she proposed a secularism charter banning public service employees from wearing overt religious symbols, like the Jewish yarmulke and the Muslim hijab. Shadak Islam, a digital technician who moved to Quebec from Bangladesh with his wife eight years ago, said it was the PQ's policy on religion that made him vote Liberal. "The headscarf is not a symbol, it's a duty to my religion," he said. Fear of a referendum could explain why anglophones and immigrants in the province opted for Charest's Liberal party or voted for the upstart Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), the nine-month-old party of former PQ cabinet minister, Francois Legault, who came in third with 19 seats. Legault proposes strengthening the laws that protect the French language, supports a more moderate student tuition hike while promising a decade-long moratorium on any sovereignty referendum. In fourth place the two co-leaders of progressive left party Quebec Solidaire, Amir Khadir and Francoise David, were elected in two Montreal districts. The two leaders of the pro-sovereignty party have been in the streets supporting the student strike from the beginning, propose to abolish higher education tuition fees and have a green, pro-feminist, pro-minority platform. Francoise David, who gained a high profile for having won the campaign debates, says her party would support Marois's PQ on a case-by-case basis, but their two seats won't swing the balance of power to form a pro-sovereignty majority government.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Group said it found over 12m Apple IDs on agent's computer, but FBI says it has no knowledge of any data breach The FBI has denied claims by a hacking group that says it obtained details of more than 12m Apple IDs from the laptop of a federal agent. The group, called AntiSec, said it found 12.36m IDs on the laptop and was making some details public in order to draw attention the the FBI's activities. In a statement, the group predicted the FBI would deny the breach. "Seems quite clear nobody pays attention if you just come and say 'Hey, FBI is using your device details and info and who the fuck knows what the hell are they experimenting with that,' well sorry, but nobody will care. FBI will, as usual, deny or ignore this uncomfortable thingie and everybody will forget the whole thing at amazing speed." The group said it believed the FBI was using the IDs to track people. The FBI released a statement late on Monday, which said: "The FBI is aware of published reports alleging that an FBI laptop was compromised and private data regarding Apple UDIDs was exposed. At this time there is no evidence indicating that an FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI either sought or obtained this data." Apple did not return calls for comment. According to the group the UDIDs (unique device IDs) were stored in a file named NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv. NCFTA stands for National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance and is an alliance between businesses, academics and law enforcements aimed at cracking down on cybercrime. Marco Arment, creator of the Instapaper app, said in a blogpost that the information could have come from an app and not necessarily from Apple. "All of this information could have been collected from an app transmitting data to a server. For instance, this is exactly the information that an ad network would want to collect. And in order to get stats from 12 million devices, it would probably need to be from a set of popular, free apps … where you'd probably see ads," he wrote.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Unauthorised memoir on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden said to be a threat to military families after Pentagon review The much-anticipated insider account of the Navy Seal raid that killed Osama bin Laden hit bookstores in the US on Tuesday, having already knocked this year's publishing leviathan Fifty Shades of Grey off its bestseller perch. Sales of the unauthorised memoir, No Easy Day, went ahead despite a Pentagon threat of legal action against its author for alleged violation of non-disclosure agreements. Before the Pentagon's warning last week, publisher Dutton brought the release date forward from 11 September, saying it was important to let the book speak for itself. On Tuesday the Pentagon said that after reviewing the book, it believed that it contains classified information. Rear Admiral Sean Pybus, who heads the Naval Special Warfare Command, said it could also provide enemies of the US with insight into their operations. He told his force in a letter quoted by the Associated Press that "hawking details about a Seal mission" and selling other details of Seal training and operations puts the force and their families at risk. "For an elite force that should be humble and disciplined for life, we are certainly not appearing to be so," Pybus wrote in a letter to the 8,000 troops under his command. "We owe our chain of command much better than this." At the Pentagon, press secretary George Little said an official review of the book determined that it reveals what he called "sensitive and classified" information, but he would not give details about which passages in the book were considered to be a violation of the non-disclosure agreements signed by Mark Bissonette, the real name of the Navy Seal who wrote the account under the pseudonym Mark Owen. Fox News identified Bissonette, 36, as the author of the memoir after Penguin announced the book last month and his identity was confirmed by military sources. In a letter addressed to "Mark Owen", Charles Johnson, the defence department general counsel, alleged the writer violated secrecy agreements and broke federal law. "In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the nondisclosure agreements you signed. Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements," Johnson wrote. Bissonnette's lawyer, Robert Luskin, disputed this, saying he believes the decorated former Seal has "earned the right to tell his story." Luskin's letter in response said the author "sought legal advice about his responsibilities before agreeing to publish his book and scrupulously reviewed the work to ensure that it did not disclose any material that would breach his agreements or put his former comrades at risk". The controversy does not appear to have hurt sales of the memoir. Presales of the book at Amazon overtook the record-breaking erotic trilogy Fifty Shades of Grey, while an initial print run of 200,000 has been increased to 575,000 copies, according to Publishers Weekly. The book reveals details of the raid that differ form the official version of events and raises questions as to whether Bin Laden could have been taken alive . According to the author, Bin Laden was shot not at point-blank range in a bedroom but from a distance in a hallway as he peered around his bedroom door. He was unarmed and it was later discovered that weapons around the bed were not loaded, which Bissonette cites as being a mark of dishonour. "There is no honor in sending people to die for something you won't even fight for yourself," he writes in the book. Bissonnette said he was behind the "point man," or lead commando, as the Seals followed Bin Laden into the room. They discovered him on the floor at the foot of his bed with "blood and brains spilled out of the side of his skull", and two women wailing over "still twitching and convulsing" body. The official version of events is that the lead commando missed and the Seals confronted Bin Laden in his bedroom in the May 2011 raid, killing him with one shot to the chest and another in the left eye. Military officials have said that the Seals made split-second decisions, fearing that he could have been wearing a suicide vest, but critics have argued that despite being labelled a "kill or capture" mission, there was virtually no chance he would be brought back alive.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Michelle Obama is the keynote speaker as the first day of the Democratic national convention in Charlotte gets under way
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Group calling itself al-Rashedon said hacking came as 'response to your position against the people and government of Syria' The websites of the Arabic news network, Al Jazeera, were hacked on Tuesday, apparently by a group sympathetic to the Syrian regime. Al-Jazeera's English and Arabic websites were affected by the hack, made by a group calling itself al-Rashedon, or "the guided ones". "This is a response to your position against the people and government of Syria, especially your support of the armed terrorist groups and spreading false fabricated news," the group said in a statement blanketing aljazeera.net. "Your website has been hacked, and this is our response to you." Al-Jazeera had not commented by the time of publication, but prominent bloggers and journalists were speculating about the motives for the attack on social media. "I have not heard of this group before," wrote Ahmed Al Oman, a Saudi journalist and blogger, in an email to the Guardian. "Previous attacks of similar nature have been claimed by the Syrian electronic army." Since the start of the Arab spring, al-Jazeera has made a name for itself as one of the leading news organizations covering the region's instability. Unlike some some other state-controlled media, al-Jazeera has been known for aggressive coverage of dictators and oppressive regimes. "I think the hackers were just trying to make a statement and get their voices heard," said Aaron Zellin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a thinktank based in Washington DC. "It will get them attention, if just for a few days." Zellin added that there had been rumors on Twitter that the hackers might be a cyber arm of the Shabiha militia loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, but that such a connection is difficult to prove. A number of staff resigned from al-Jazeera earlier this year, accusing it of being biased against the Syrian regime but in favor of Bahrain, a Gulf state neighbor of Qatar, where the network is based. "Over the past year al-Jazeera has become more sectarian and more biased in what they cover and what they don't cover," said Zellin. "They don't cover issues that don't fit the Qatari foreign policy narrative." Al-Jazeera is funded by the Qatari government; critics say it follows its sponsor's foreign policy objectives, although the broadcaster says it is independent of government control.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Government in Athens under pressure to introduce a six-day working week as part of the terms for a second bailout Greece's eurozone creditors are demanding that the government in Athens introduce a six-day working week as part of the stiff terms for the country's second bailout. The demand is contained in a leaked letter from the "troika" of the country's lenders, the European commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund. In the letter, the officials policing Greece's compliance with the austerity package imposed in return for the bailout insist on radical labour market reforms, from minimum wages to overtime limits to flexible working hours, that are likely to worsen the standoff between the government and organised labour in Greece. After a long delay caused by months of political paralysis in Greece, the troika inspectors return to Athens this week to scrutinise Greek observance of its bailout terms. They are expected to deliver a verdict next month that will determine whether Greece is ultimately allowed to remain in the single currency. The letter, sent last week to the Greek finance and labour ministries, orders the government to extend the working week into the weekend. "Measure: increase flexibility of work schedules: increase the number of maximum workdays to six days per week for all sectors. "Increase flexibility of work schedules; set the minimum daily rest to 11 hours; delink the working hours of employees from the opening hours of the establishment; eliminate restrictions on minimum/maximum time between morning and afternoon shifts; allow the consecutive two-week leave to be taken anytime during the year in seasonal sectors." The instructions focus on labour market reforms, calling for the national labour inspectorate to be radically reformed and put under European supervision. The letter reveals the detail of eurozone intrusion into a national system and culture of work widely seen outside Greece as dysfunctional. There should be a permanent "single-rate statutory minimum wage", seen as an incentive for getting people back to work in a country where unemployment has soared to around 30%. "Unemployment is too high, and policies are needed to prevent it from becoming structural," the letter says. The letter also calls for non-wage labour costs to be lowered, employers' welfare contributions to be cut, and deregulation of the labour market. There is growing conviction in Berlin and Brussels that the government of Antonis Samaras in Athens has fallen well behind in the economic and fiscal reform programmes imposed in return for two bailouts in the past two years. The Greek government is struggling to come up with persuasive policies to enact spending cuts of a further €11.6 bn, which were to have been implemented in June, to secure the next bailout tranche of more than €30bn due next month. Samaras is pleading for more time – four years rather than two – to fulfil debt reduction targets and spending cuts. Extending the deadlines would effectively require more eurozone help and a third bailout. There is little appetite for more rescue funds across the eurozone, meaning that Greece may ultimately be sacrificed. Although statements on Greece in Berlin, Paris and Brussels have been more upbeat over the past fortnight, there is strong speculation in Berlin and Brussels that Greece may have to exit the euro, but not until after the US elections in November.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | First lady to defend husband's record in attempt to win back disaffected liberals anxious over Obama's re-election chances First lady Michelle Obama will have the starring role on the opening day of the Democratic convention, tasked with winning back disaffected voters and defending some of the president's more unpopular decisions such as healthcare reform. Campaign aides told reporters before the first lady's primetime keynote address in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday night that she was in the best position to offer a personal insight into the president's almost four years in office, a period that has seen the euphoria that greeted his election give away to disillusionment. Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, said that unlike Ann Romney at the Republican convention last week, Michelle Obama did not need to introduce herself or her husband to the American people. "Everybody knows the first lady, everybody knows the president. But what the first lady can do better than anybody else is give a lens into the values that drive the president." Michelle Obama, who is consistently more popular than her husband in opinion polls, is aiming to cement the support of women, Latinos and the gay community – the president has a significant lead among all three – and re-energise liberals disappointed that the president has not done enough. In her speech, she will spell out some of Obama's personal motivations behind key decisions. The prevailing mood among delegates in Charlotte is anxiety over Obama's re-election prospects as economic recover remains sluggish – a stark contrast to the optimism and confidence of the 2008 convention. The economy will dominate the event, which kicked off amid a row over whether voters were better off now than four years ago. A poll for the Hill magazine on Monday found that 52% of voters surveyed felt worse off now than when Obama took office, and that 54% that he did not deserve re-election based solely on his job performance. Obama will attempt to overturn those concerns on Thursday night at a rally in a 73,000-seater football stadium where he will deliver his speech accepting the Democratic nomination. It will focus almost entirely on the economy, and will lay out a "road map for what the next four years should look like", White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told a Politico panel session on Tuesday morning. Michelle, who initially advised her husband against going into politics and who was reluctantly co-opted into campaigning in 2008, has been much more active in this campaign, particularly with fundraising. She has given 24 speeches since March in 10 states. Speaking at an ABC News and Yahoo News event in Charlotte, Cutter indicated that the first lady would be talking about some of the personal experiences in the president's life that has led him to make some of the difficult and "unpopular" choices he has made in his first term. She gave the example of his health reform, dubbed "Obamacare" by his opponents. The health reform was motivated in part, Cutter suggested, by the fact that Barack Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, struggled to find health insurance as she was dying from cancer. "Very politically unpopular, a tough thing to get done, we've been trying for 70 years to get it done. But his mother had a healthcare story in her final days, and it was that memory that drove him to get healthcare done." Cutter also pointed to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill signed into law by the president that increased the power of women suffering from discrimination to seek legal redress. She said that the president's grandmother had been passed over for promotion at the local bank where she worked by male workers doing the same job she did. "These choices come from a place of personal experience, and Michelle can speak very personally about that motivation and values and all of the things that drive him to do the things he does. She is a first-person testament to what the president has done over the last four years to show some pretty strong leadership in trying times," Cutter said. Ledbetter is among those invited to speak to the convention. Obama and vice-president Joe Biden are to be formally nominated as the party's White House candidates on Wednesday. In his speech on Thursday, Obama will set out his plans for a second term, including completion of healthcare and education reforms. A theme that appears to be developing from the Obama campaign is that should voters give him the chance of a second term, he would use it to create "an economy built to last". Ben LaBolt, Obama's campaign press secretary, said the focus of the convention would be "on the pillars of an economy built to last: energy, manufacturing, education, restoring economic security for the middle class with investments in these areas instead of cutting back." The party would hear, he said, "where we are going to go from here. That's what we didn't hear [from the Republicans] in Tampa last week. But other campaign staff hinted that there would be little new in the way of policy detail in Obama's speech. Aides suggested that the president would also show an element of humility over his record. Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, an old ally of the Obamas from Chicago and now one of the most powerful people in the administration, admitted the president had made a mistake in his first year in office by failing to get out around the country to sell his reforms. Speaking at a convention event organised by Bloomberg, she said the president "did not appreciate how important it was to tell that story". Wednesday's keynote speech by Bill Clinton, who was critical of Obama during the 2008, is the only convention speech not yet vetted by the Obama campaign team. Jen Psaki, a campaign spokeswoman travelling with the president, claimed to be relaxed about the lack of an advance copy: "We have absolute confidence about what he's going to say."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Despite huge amounts of foreign aid, the levels of deprivation are similar to that found in famine zones, says UN-backed report Around a third of young children in southern Afghanistan are acutely malnourished, with a level of deprivation similar to that found in famine zones, a government survey has found, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid that has been poured into the region. Around a million Afghans under five are acutely malnourished, according to the UN-backed survey. By far the worst affected area is the southern region – centred around Kandahar and Helmand – that was the Taliban's birthplace and has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the decade-long war. "What's shocking is that this is really very high by global standards," said Michael Keating, deputy head of the UN mission in Afghanistan. "This is the kind of malnutrition you associate with Africa and some of the most deprived parts of the world, not with an area that has received so much international attention and assistance." The Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) found 29.5% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition there. A level of more than 30% among young children is considered one sign of a famine. The data does not mean there is a famine in the south. Under UN guidelines, child malnutrition is just one of several criteria used to decide if an area is suffering a famine; others include death rates and families' access to food. Southern Afghanistan has adequate food supplies, experts say, but a serious problem with nutrition. Some families are too poor to buy supplies while others have little education about how to nourish their children; common illnesses like diarrhoea also sap children's strength. A major problem is attitudes to breast feeding, according to UN nutrition specialist Elham Monsef. Women are often told breast milk is not good enough or find it hard to nurse, so infants are given everything from tea and water, which have no nutritional value, to formula milk that is over-diluted or made with dirty water. Basic health measures now common in most developing countries, such as enriching flour and putting iodine in salt to ensure healthy brain development, are not universal in Afghanistan. On a paediatric ward at Mirwais hospital in Kandahar city children admitted for therapeutic feeding were visibly wasted, with saggy skin, protruding bones and no energy; at least one had the disease kwashiorkor, caused by lack of protein. On a recent visit the hospital was packed with desperate mothers such as Fatima, who had travelled from the violent Helmand district of Sangin to seek help for her 18-month-old son, Saddam. At 4.4kg, he weighed the same as some newborns in the UK, and lay listlessly on a greying bedsheet he shared with another patient, his older sister and three women. Poverty has left Fatima helpless in the face of her son's suffering. "I cannot produce mother's milk, but we are not able to buy food or powdered milk," she said. "My youngest child died from this." Aid workers admit that although Afghanistan is well known to have chronic malnutrition problems, evidence of an extreme nutrition crisis caught them by surprise. "The numbers are just too serious to ignore," said Aidan O'Leary, head of the UN office that co-ordinates the humanitarian response to crises in Afghanistan. "It's very clear that the nutrition response as a whole has to be ramped up." He added: "This is not a one-off survey, this is a global survey conducted in conjunction with the central statistics office." The last such survey was conducted in 2004 and although there has been a rapid escalation of the conflict since then, there has also been a huge increase in aid spending. USAID has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into southern Afghanistan, while the UK earmarked tens of millions more for development work in Helmand. The UN and aid groups are now racing to gather more details on the scale of the problem, and worst-hit locations. In a sign of how severe the problem is, experts warn that the crowded wards tackling malnutrition in provincial centres help only a tiny portion of families affected. "Our focus is on the acute cases, but we need to do more community outreach to prevent it," said Vidhya Ganesh, deputy head of Unicef in Afghanistan. "The major challenge for us is that therapeutic feeding (in hopsital) presents only the tip of the problem." Maraz Gul was in the Mirwais hospital with her five-month-old baby Assadullah, who has the loose skin of an old man and wailed listlessly but non-stop as his mother talked. "I was feeding him breast milk but I couldn't provide enough, and could not afford the formula," she said. They had endured a jolting four-hour journey from their village of Rorabad, along roads sometimes seeded with Taliban bombs, but still Maraz Gul considers herself relatively lucky compared with neighbours whose children are also wasting away. "People in the village with this problem do not come to the hospital, they are poor women and they can't afford to pay for the vehicle," she said. "We sold a sheep to cover the cost."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands of refugees pouring into neighbouring countries with over 100,000 seeking asylum in August The UN refugee agency has reported a dramatic increase in the number of people fleeing the violence in Syria after more than 100,000 people sought asylum in neighbouring countries during August. This brings the total number of Syrian refugees registered or awaiting registration to more than 235,300. The UNHCR's chief spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, said the exit of 103,416 Syrians last month was "a significant escalation in refugee movement and people seeking asylum, and probably points to a very precarious and violent situation inside the country". As a result, UN agencies are likely to face pressure to revise their $193m (£122m) estimate of the cost of helping the refugees this year. That figure – in June – was based on expectations that there would be 185,000 refugees from Syria by the end of 2012. Among neighbouring countries, Iraq has seen a significant increase in the number of Syrian Kurds arriving in the past week, with an estimated 500 Syrians crossing each day, compared with 500 a week in the first three weeks of August, the UNHCR says. In Jordan, where there are already more than 77,000 refugees, Syrians continue to arrive at a rate of about 1,000 a day. The Jordanian government and relief agencies are making preparations for as many as 150,000 people. There are more than 80,000 refugees in Turkey where the UNHCR says the Turkish government is making plans to handle at least 150,000 refugees if the conflict keeps worsening. In Lebanon, there are more than 59,000 displaced Syrians who are registered or are awaiting registration. This week the UNHCR is opening a mobile registration centre in Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley in response to the increasing number of displaced Syrians who are arriving in the area. On Tuesday, Peter Maurer, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, met the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus. According to the ICRC, Assad gave a positive reaction to plans to expand humanitarian operations in Syria. Maurer stressed the need for improved access to healthcare, and to speed up imports of medical supplies, food and equipment. However, Syria's state-run news agency, Sana, suggested Assad had showed some scepticism about the international organisation's neutrality. It said Assad "welcomes Red Cross humanitarian operations in Syria as long as it works independently and neutrally". Sana also claimed that Maurer had "expressed his appreciation for the co-operation shown by the Syrian government, praising the bridges of trust that have been built between the parties". In other developments on Tuesday, Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called on Syria's disparate Syrian opposition groups to unite in preparation for the collapse of the Assad regime. Westerwelle said a common platform was urgently needed, and that the people of Syria must see "there is a credible alternative to the regime". He called on the opposition "to create as fast as possible the conditions for … a transition government." Meanwhile, Abdel Basset Sayda, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, called for a post-Assad economic recovery plan. "In the aftermath of the destruction … we are convinced Syria needs a Marshall-style plan to ensure it stands again on solid financial and economic ground," Sayda said in Berlin. "Without real comprehensive development we will open up the opportunity for the growth of all kinds of extremism in the region," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Invite shows the number 12 casting a shadow of the number five with launch believed to reveal radical changes to smartphone Apple is expected to launch a larger, thinner "iPhone 5" on 12 September – just as Nokia and Motorola are preparing their own offerings to tempt Christmas shoppers. The notoriously secretive company triggered speculation about the new handset when it invited journalists to an event in San Francisco – with an invite that consists of the number 12 casting a shadow of the number five. The anticipated gadget would follow on from last year's iPhone 4S. But whereas that release saw small cosmetic changes, this year's is expected to be radical – and the first big step by the manufacturer since the death of Steve Jobs. Photographs of components reckoned to have come from Apple's many suppliers in China over the past five months point to a device with a larger 4.2 inch screen and thinner body, and a new nine-pin connector at its base replacing the 30-pin one on existing iPhones and iPads. iPhone currently have a 3.5 inch screen as measured diagonally, but even the expected larger size of the iPhone 5 will be smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S3, which measures 4.8 inches. But the company is expected to try other measures to compete with its Korean rival. Apple will also be aiming to increase its share of the crucial US Christmas smartphone market, when millions of people are expected to buy their first device, by seeking sales bans on rival Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note smartphones, as well as eight other phones from Samsung's 100-plus range. The iPhone 5 is also expected to offer 4G high-speed wireless broadband connectivity on US carriers, in common with a growing number of rival Android phones sold in the US. Ofcom documents also suggest that Orange, which is setting up a 4G service in the UK the day before the launch, intends to offer iPhone compatibility. Some analysts reckon the next iteration of the iPhone, first launched in 2007, could sell up to 160m worldwide in its first two quarters, based on the amount of investment Apple has put into production lines in the past year. That compares with about 80m for the iPhone 4S, according to estimates by Horace Dediu, founder of the Asymco consultancy. Dediu's forecast is based on testimony given by Phil Schiller, head of marketing for Apple, who testified in the company's court battle with Samsung last month that "each new generation [of iPhone] sold approximately equal to all previous generations combined". The smartphone market is still seeing rapid growth of more than 45% annually, even as sales of feature phones have dipped, but only Apple and the broader Android mobile platform from Google are seeing growth in market share. Smartphones running Android made up more than 65% of the world market in the second quarter. However, Apple has a strong share in the US, the richest smartphone market, while Android sales made up 80% of those in China, the fastest-growing market, during the second quarter. Sales of iPhones dipped in the second quarter of this year as consumers began to look forward to the expected revision of the device. The iPhone 4S – which introduced the "Siri" voice recognition system – was one of the last Apple devices whose development was overseen by Steve Jobs, who passed away the day after its launch. Apple is also expected to launch a 7.85 inch ipad Mini – a cut price tablet – but that is not expected until October. Meanwhile, Nokia and Google's Motorola subsidiary are both preparing to show off new phone models in New York on Wednesday, as they try to capture public attention. For Nokia, the Finnish company which once dominated the mobile space but has made losses over the past two quarters, the reaction of US consumers and carriers to its new range of phones will be a crucial test in its effort to revive its fortunes. Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop is expected to show off a range of devices running Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 software that include wireless charging and NFC technology for mobile payments. Motorola, meanwhile, is widely forecast to showcase new smartphones running on processors made by Intel, rather than using the British-built ARM architecture that powers the vast majority of mobile phones worldwide. The move was presaged at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, although Motorola said at the time that it expected the phones in the summer. Intel has been trying to break into the smartphone sector for years, but has been thwarted because its chip designs have been comparatively power-hungry.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Captain Davis Love III lauds basketball legend's influence
• Love selects Johnson, Furyk, Snedeker and Stricker The United States captain, Davis Love III, has enlisted the help of the basketball legend Michael Jordan as he attempts to win back the Ryder Cup. Love confirmed his four captain's picks for the meeting with Europe at Medinah, but the level of access he will give the five-times winner of the NBA's most valuable player award was more notable than those wildcard selections. Little surprise was attached to the naming of Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker and Steve Stricker to complete the American party. Jordan will be at close quarters with Love and his team. The 49-year-old has previously been an assistant captain for Fred Couples – himself part of Love's backroom team – at the Presidents Cup. "I've talked to him. Michael's going to be hanging around with Fred probably a lot and be an influence," Love said. "I told Michael this a couple weeks ago. One of the neatest things I ever saw in the Ryder Cup was Michael riding in the golf cart with Tom Kite. He came out to watch Freddie and I play and I thought that was one of the coolest things. "So I want my team, like Fred and I did, to get to see Michael. Rather than him sneaking around in the gallery, I want him to be seen and I want him to be in our team room, be hanging around and be a great influence." Love made it plain that Furyk and Stricker were always in the frame for picks on grounds of experience. Stricker is also an obvious playing partner for Tiger Woods; the pair have proved profitable in both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. "I wouldn't want to play Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods, for sure," added Love. Johnson's big hitting should be a clear benefit at Medinah and Snedeker is renowned as one of the finest putters in the professional game. Yet Furyk has not won since 2010, has a patchy Ryder Cup record and has displayed a recent tendency – namely at the US Open – to buckle when looking to close out victory. Johnson, too, while regarded as unflappable has the 2011 Open Championship as evidence of being capable of throwing away a promising situation. Of those who missed out, Hunter Mahan has cause to feel the most aggrieved. Mahan famously duffed a chip shot during the denouement to a crucial singles match against Graeme McDowell two years ago and was reduced to tears thereafter. Not only would Mahan have that score to settle, he has won twice during 2012 including, pertinently, at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Mahan finished just one place outside an automatic Ryder Cup berth. Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney – the latter has been in fine end-of-season form – were also overlooked. "I've been on the receiving end a couple times of 'I didn't pick you, I'm sorry' phone calls. And they are tough," said the United Stated captain. "It's probably the least thankful part of the job, but it's part of the job." Love was bullish about America's chances of winning back the trophy at the end of this month, despite the rising stock of the opposition. There will be four Ryder Cup rookies representing the United States, in contrast to just one wearing European colours. Rory McIlroy continued his profitable end to 2012 by adding the Deutschebank Championship to his USPGA championship success; perhaps purposely, Love failed to discuss the Northern Irishman specifically when asked about him. "The European Team is obviously great," Love said. "They are playing well. I know they are going to be tough. But I can tell you this; I love my team. I'm excited about my team, and I can't wait to see how it matches up."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Inquest into death of Lance Corporal Christopher Roney is told pilots were acting on information passed to them by British army US Apache helicopter pilots who mistakenly fired on a UK base in Afghanistan killing a 23-year-old soldier were acting on information passed on to them by the British Army, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Lance Corporal Christopher Roney, of 3rd Battalion The Rifles, died from head injuries while serving at Patrol Base Almas, in Sangin, Helmand, in December 2009. As night fell, the base was rocked by a huge Taliban bomb and the platoon based there was fighting off an attack when two US gunships were called in to help. But they fired on the base – despite the flagpole, machine gun, barbed wire and men in uniform – thinking it was an enemy position. Statements from four unnamed pilots and co-pilots were read out at the inquest at Sunderland Civic Centre. Coroner Derek Winter heard how the crews of the Apaches, which had the call-signs Luger 67 and Luger 61, were flying in the area when they saw the huge explosion from the Taliban bomb, followed by a tracer fire. British commanders asked for the Apaches to assist, and a series of grid references were passed on. Luger 67 and 61 were directed to a compound and were told to look for three men on a roof – who were believed to be insurgents but were actually British soldiers fighting off the Taliban, the inquest heard. The crews were authorised to use 30mm chain gun fire, and Luger 67 passed over the compound twice as Luger 61 covered. It was seven minutes after the first pass that the horrific mistake was realised. The Apaches were called off and waited in the area while other helicopters were summoned to evacuate casualties. The coroner heard how 200 rounds were fired from the Apache, leaving seven men badly injured. Roney could not survive his injuries and died the next day. Earlier, the inquest heard how the attack was called off when the dreadful error was realised. Warrant Officer John Pepper said he was in the operations room some distance away from Almas, where he was handling information coming in from members of the battlegroup. He watched one strafing run on a video link, then Captain Christopher Dadd became aware of the horrific reality of the situation. Pepper told the inquest: "Capt Dadd shouted: 'Stop, stop, stop.' "That was when everyone realised in the ops room they were attacking Patrol Base Almas. "He had his head in his hands." At Patrol Base Almas, Captain Palmer Winstanley, who led the platoon, wept when he contacted the ops room to tell them to call off the Apaches, the inquest heard. Lance Corporal Johnny Cassell told the hearing: "It seemed like he was in tears, saying: 'Stop the Apaches, stop the Apaches.'" Once the Apaches were called off – leaving 11 men injured on the ground – an air strike was called in on the enemy position and a 500lb bomb brought a halt to the Taliban attack. Major Timothy Harris told the inquest how commanders saw the Taliban attack – which followed a serious raid on Almas two nights before – as a chance to hit back, though he did not think there was a "gung-ho" attitude The hearing was adjourned and continues on Wednesday.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Griselda Blanco, thought to have ordered scores of murders in Miami's drug wars, is killed outside butcher's shop She lived as the "godmother of cocaine", ruthlessly ordering scores of bloody murders and violent revenge attacks as she plotted the course of Miami's infamous drug wars. So it seemed only fitting that the manner of Griselda Blanco's death on Monday reflected the brutality for which she became notorious – gunned down in the street by a killer on a motorcycle as she left a butcher's shop in her hometown of Medellín, Colombia. Blanco, 69, was credited with inventing the motorcycle ride-by killing during her years controlling southern Florida's fledgling cocaine trade in the late 70s and early 80s, an era in which she pocketed billions of dollars before being convicted of three murders, including that of a two-year-old boy. Detectives suspected her of dozens more. "It's some kind of poetic justice that she met an end that she delivered to so many others," said Professor Bruce Bagley, head of the University of Miami's department of international studies and author of the book Drug Trafficking in the Americas. "Here is a woman who made a lot of enemies on her rise and was responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of people. "She might have retired to Colombia and wasn't anything like the kind of player she was in her early days, but she had lingering enemies almost everywhere you look. What goes around comes around." Blanco, who was deported from the US in 2004 after serving almost two decades in jail in New York and Florida for racketeering and murder, became one of Miami's original drugs gangsters as tidal waves of smuggled cocaine swept aside marijuana as the dealers' most profitable commodity. She set up a distribution network across the US that netted her tens of millions of dollars a month, making shipments of more than 1,500kg, and maintained her dominance by building an empire staffed with violent enforcers, who were well rewarded for following her orders to execute rivals at the drop of a hat to and make sure they left, no witnesses. She was also personally involved in developing creative methods to get cocaine into the US, even setting up a lingerie shop in Colombia that produced underwear for export with secret compartments. Her story, which was featured in the 2008 documentary Cocaine Cowboys: Hustlin' with the Godmother, showed that her love of the underworld did not only extend to her drugs activities. A son with her third husband, Dario Sepulveda, was christened Michael Corleone Blanco after the central figure in the Godfather trilogy of mafia movies. Two of her three other sons by her first husband were murdered after entering the family business. Blanco became a widow three times, and remained under suspicion for the deaths of all three husbands. In one notorious episode in 1975, remarkable even among Colombia's hardened drugs criminals for its violence, she confronted her husband and business partner Alberto Bravo in a Bogotá nightclub car park over millions of dollars missing from the profits of the cartel they built together. Blanco, then 32, pulled out a pistol, Bravo responded by producing an Uzi submachine gun and after a blazing gun battle he and six bodyguards lay dead. Blanco, who suffered only a minor gunshot wound to the stomach, recovered and soon afterwards moved to Miami, where her body count – and reputation for ruthlessness – continued to climb. During her Florida reign of terror she was suspected of responsibility in at least 40 murders, possibly as many as 200, yet was convicted of only three – two drug dealers who crossed her and a two-year-old boy, Johnny Castro, the son of a former Blanco enforcer, who was shot twice in the head by hitmen as he travelled in his father's car. Blanco's former lieutenant, Jorge Ayala, told police: "At first she was real mad because we missed the father, but when she heard we had gotten the son by accident, she said she was glad, that they were even." She escaped the death penalty on a technicality when Ayala was discredited as a witness after being caught having phone sex with secretaries in the prosecutors' office. Bagley said Blanco, who was shot twice in the head, was likely to become the subject of books or a Hollywood movie. "She was a pioneer in the sense that she helped to forge and carve out the drugs trade in south Florida and used bloody tactics to do so," he said. "The danger is she will be remembered not for her cold-heartedness and brutality but for being a woman entrepreneur in an emerging field dominated by men."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A 4,000-acre wildfire in Angeles national forest scorched over 65 miles and forced the evacuation of nearby campsites It could be a week before firefighters can contain a 3,600-acre blaze in the Angeles national forest because of high temperatures and rugged terrain in thick brush that hasn't burned in a couple of decades. The cause of the fire that started Sunday afternoon in the San Gabriel Mountains, spoiling holiday hiking and camping plans for thousands, has not been determined. A burned car was found in the area, but it isn't clear if it started the fire or was just destroyed by the flames, officials said. No structures have burned and, although four injuries have been reported, no one has been hospitalized. Campgrounds that typically attract up to 12,000 visitors on the holiday weekend, as well as rehabilitation centers and a private mobile home community of Camp Williams Resort, were evacuated Sunday. About 30 of the 75 residents of the mobile home park chose to remain with their homes. Daniel Burress, 68, known to park residents as "Grandpa," said he has never evacuated, even when wildfires were far closer. "I'm a Vietnam vet," Burress told the Los Angeles Times. "So this doesn't scare me at all." Officials said campgrounds, while not in the line of the fire, had to be emptied so the only road in and out of the San Gabriel canyon could be open just for fire trucks and emergency vehicles. The area burned is about 5 1/2 square miles. An update was expected later in the morning after a briefing and flyover. In Northern California, firefighters spent Monday focusing on the rugged and remote northern edge of a weeks-old fire in Mendocino County. That blaze has scorched more than 65 square miles. At least two other fires were contained Monday shortly after they started: a 150-acre brush fire in hills between Concord and Pittsburg on Northern California and a 100-acre blaze in Fountain Springs near Porterville in Southern California.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Auto industry recovers after government bailouts – decried by Mitt Romney as 'crony capitalism' – as Americans shop for cars America's big automakers enjoyed bumper sales in August as US consumers snapped up new cars and gave a boost to President Barack Obama's bailout of the industry. GM sold 240,520 new vehicles last month, its highest figure for the year and 10% higher than in August last year. Chrysler's sales rose 14% compared to August 2011 to 148,472, its best August sales figure since 2007. Both companies were bailed out by the Obama administration and forced into bankruptcy. That bailout has become a central plank of Obama's re-election campaign and has been attacked by his Republican Mitt Romney as "crony capitalism". Ford, the only major US car firm not to enter bankruptcy, reported a sales increase of 13% to 197,249 vehicles as drivers bought smaller cars. The sales figures come as Obama is expected to champion his auto bailout at this week's Democratic convention. GM's results contained another fillip for the president: a new sales record for its controversial Chevy Volt. The plug-in hybrid electric car has proven a politically charged vehicle with the government accused of meddling in GM's affairs in order to get the car built, charges senior GM officials have denied. The car been attacked on a number of occasions by Mitt Romney who has called it "an idea whose time has not come". In February Obama said he intended to buy a Volt when he leaves office. GM sold 2,831 Volts last month, its best sales ever. The sales came as overall sales at Chevrolet jumped 25%. Michelle Krebs, auto-industry analyst at Edmunds.com said pent-up demand for cars and easier access to credit were driving sales up and were likely to continue to do so. "The average car on the road is now over 10 years old, that's a record number," she said. "We are on track to sell 14.4m cars this year; there's an awful lot of pent up demand." She said the figures were "good news for Detroit and good news for Obama. Clearly GM and Chrysler wouldn't have been around if it hadn't been for the bailout".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Archbishop emeritus speaks out against greed, failing schools and 'nightmare' of Marikana mine massacre It was a cry, raw and anguished, that pierced the convivial party atmosphere and laid bare the sense of anomie gnawing away at South Africa. The archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu had an emotional outburst on Monday night as he castigated politicians for greed, failing schools and the "nightmare" of the Marikana mine massacre. His impromptu speech shocked guests at a book launch in Cape Town, according to local media reports, which said a "chatty audience" including senior government officials was immediately silenced. Reports vary on his exact opening words, but a spokesman for Tutu indicated that he shouted: "What the heck are you doing?" Beeld newspaper then quoted a highly emotional Tutu as saying: "I am 80 years old. Can't you allow us elders to go to our graves with a smile, knowing that this is a good country? Because truly – it is a good country." Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate described as the moral conscience of South Africa, has not been afraid to criticise the governing African National Congress (ANC), for example over the refusal to grant the Dalai Lama an entrance visa. On Monday he was at the District Six museum for the launch of the struggle veteran Michael Lapsley's book Redeeming the Past, along with guests including Marius Fransman, the deputy foreign minister, and other high-ranking figures. Lapsley was an ANC chaplain who lost an eye and both hands to a parcel bomb sent by the apartheid regime. Later, speaking from the podium, Tutu expressed frustration at the betrayal of such sacrifices after the dawn of multiracial democracy in 1994. "Is this the kind of freedom people were tortured and people were maimed for?" he was quoted as saying. "I ask myself, why were we in the struggle? The highest price was paid for freedom, but are we treating it as something precious? "How can we have children 18 years later who go to school under trees and whose education is being crushed without textbooks and no one is held accountable? Have we so quickly forgotten the price of freedom? "People are going to sleep hungry in this freedom for which people were tortured and harmed … It is difficult to believe people are getting such money and benefits, and are driving such flashy cars while the masses suffer in cramped shacks." He criticised those who enrich themselves where ministerial rules allow them. "It's legal, but is it moral?" he reportedly asked. "Please, please, please, come to your senses." Tutu said the shooting at Marikana reminded him of events under apartheid. "In 2012? In a democracy? In a new South Africa? Have we forgotten so soon? Marikana felt like a nightmare, but that is what our democracy is in 2012." The Marikana tragedy, in which police gunned down 34 striking mineworkers, has been described as probably the lowest point in South Africa's short post-apartheid history and prompted much soul-searching in the economically divided nation. Earlier this week, Tutu caused controversy when he accused Tony Blair and George Bush of lying over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and called for them to answer charges of war crimes.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | San Antonio mayor is stepping into the national spotlight in Charlotte as Democrats seek to appeal to Latino voters When a little-known state senator in Illinois came to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July 2004, proclaiming "the audacity of hope", it propelled one Barack Obama into the national consciousness and four short years later into the White House. Tuesday night will be the chance of a little-known mayor from Texas, prompting questions of whether lightning can strike twice. Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, takes the stage in Charlotte this evening as one of the youngest politicians to be granted the honour of keynote speaker – at 37 he is five years younger than Obama was in 2004. More significantly, he will be the first Latino to address the Democratic convention in this way, breaking one more glass ceiling for this rapidly rising demographic force in American politics. Amid the inevitable speculation about whether Tuesday night will be the start of a journey that will put Castro in the White House in 2016 or 2020, the mayor himself, who is known for his poise and composure, is having none of it. He points out soberly that he is not the first Hispanic to deliver a keynote address at a party convention – Katherine Ortega did so at the 1984 Republican National Convention – and swats aside talk of him following in Obama's footsteps. "I'll be in San Antonio for the next several years, if the voters will have me, and if I do a good job I'll look around and see what else there is available for me," he told the Guardian as he took a break from preparing to deliver the speech of his life. Despite such protestations, Castro and his speech are being talked up heavily by the Democratic hierarchy. Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, told a meeting of the party's Hispanic caucus that he had seen a couple of drafts of the address and predicted that "10 years from now you are going to say I was there when he gave that speech". Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the DNC, called Castro "one of the key rising stars in our party and he is going to electrify the arena". Castro was understandably reticent to reveal the content of his speech, but would say this: "I am going to centre it around the theme of opportunity: how America created the theme of opportunity and how President Obama has helped to recreated it for the 21st century." The mayor talks passionately about 2012 as a crucial moment for the US, especially for American Latinos. "There has never been a starker difference between the Democratic and Republican parties over how they represent Latinos. The problem of the Republican position is not one of tone, it is their policies," he said. He cites several ways in which he thinks Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican challenger, has staked out a position inimical to Hispanics. He points to Romney's pledge to repeal Obamacare on his first day in office and how that would be a blow to the 9 million currently uninsured Hispanic Americans who will have access to affordable health cover under the reforms. He points too to Obama's doubling of the Pell grants that fund student loans and have brought an extra 150,000 Hispanic students in reach of college education – and Romney's promise to slash federal funding for the US education department. And he talks about the 8 million Hispanic children who have benefited from changes in tax credits which he contrasts with Romney's tax policy that he said would favour the rich. "Given all that it's no surprise that President Obama is winning the Latino vote by 70 to 30%," Castro said. "The policies the Republicans have embraced are contrary to the interests of many families including Hispanics." Castro's ability to articulate the contrast between Obama and Romney in terms of the impact of their policies on Hispanics is of obvious appeal to his party's elite. The Latino population in the US has grown over the past 30 years from 6% to 16%, making them the largest minority in the country. Though just one in 10 eligible voters are Hispanic their presence is concentrated in vital battleground states such as Florida, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada. As Castro matures as a politician, the power of his ethnic group will grow with him – every month some 50,000 American Latinos turn 18 and gain the right to vote. No wonder then that the Democratic Party is focusing its attentions on the Latino vote this year. Castro aside, there are more than 800 Hispanic at the Charlotte convention - the largest number in US history. The Hispanic politician in Castro was inherited from his mother, Rosie Castro, an outspoken fighter for Latino rights in Texas. She passed on a fierce belief in the value of education to her twin boys – Julian and his brother, Joaquin Castro, born one minute after him. The two are identical, to the extent that they have to signal the difference between them when appearing together at public functions by wearing different coloured ties. Julian also has the advantage of a wedding ring – he is married to a teacher called Erica with a three-year-old daughter – while Joaquin is single. The brothers have stuck closely together through the years, propelled by their mother's insistence on self-betterment. They went together to Stanford and then both went on to Harvard law school (another echo of the Obama life story). From there they both entered Texan politics, Julian rising to be San Antonio mayor and Joaquin entering the Texas legislature from where he is currently bidding to become the representative of the 20th district seat in the US Congress. Though Julian Castro, like his brother, is grounded in the Hispanic community, to define him exclusively as a Latino politician would be to make a big mistake. For a start, he doesn't even speak fluent Spanish – he was brought up speaking English at home, studied Latin and Japanese in school, and in the past few years has quietly been taking Spanish lessons. His world view is focused around policies and public service, not ideology, and though his Spanish is ropey he is fluent in the language of business. As mayor of San Antonio, the seventh most populous city in the US, he has seen it prosper to become the only major American city with a triple A rating from all three ratings agencies. His ambition as mayor, he said earlier this year, was to "orchestrate the greatest turnaround in achievement that any big city has seen within a decade, boosting the number of children showing up ready to learn, graduating from high school and finishing college". When all children in Texas enjoyed the opportunities he had done, then the Lone Star state would be a guiding star for all of America. Such emphasis on opportunity and success, rather than narrow ethnic politics, led the New York Times to dub him a "post-Hispanic Hispanic politician". To which Castro tells the Guardian: "I generally don't like labels. I have benefitted from those who came before me who went through a civil rights struggle to give us the opportunities they never had." But he adds that he sees himself as one of a new strain of minority politicians – he name checks the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker – who have "a can-do attitude and are comfortable with the business community, but are also at home in the neighbourhoods that we grew up in. "I don't think I'm unique – I'm part of a new generation of public servant whose goal is to represent everyone. I'm very proud of my heritage, but all of us are Americans first."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At least 25 people dead and 30 wounded in attack at Shagai village in Durbaba, eastern Nangarhar province, say officials
A suicide bomber killed at least 25 civilians and wounded another 30 at a funeral for a village elder in a remote part of eastern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said. Ahmad Zia Abdul Zai, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the attack took place on Tuesday in the village of Shagai in the Durbaba district of eastern Nangarhar province. Initial reports said at least 10 civilians had been killed. Zai and police later said more than a dozen people died of their injuries. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but there has been fighting against Taliban and other insurgents in the mountainous region across the border from some of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Latifullah, the police chief's secretary, who goes by one name, said the target was apparently Durbaba district chief, Hamisha Gul, who was attending the funeral for the village chief and ranking elder. Gul survived the attack, said deputy police chief for Nangarhar province, Jamil Shamal, but his son was killed when he tried to stop the bomber by grabbing him. The Taliban often target government officials at public functions, including funerals and weddings. Civilians are often the victims of suicide attacks. On 14 August dozens of people were killed in suicide attacks in northern and southern Afghanistan. A recent UN report said 1,145 civilians had been killed and 1,954 others injured during the first half of the year, 80% of them by militants.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Look beyond the headlines, and you might think Americans are falling out of love with Hollywood. But there are reasons to cheer Do you want the good news first or the bad news? The good news is that the summer of 2012 broke all the box office records that make studio executives feel their sap is on the rise. The Hunger Games gave them the "strongest opening weekend total for a spring release", while Joss Whedon's The Avengers smashed Harry Potter's record to become the biggest box office opening of all time." Seth McFarlane's Ted enjoyed "the best opening ever — $54m — by an R-rated original comedy", while The Dark Knight Rises, undented by the Aurora murders, provided not only "third- highest domestic bow ever, and the best opening for a 2D film" but "the biggest opening day of the year in France, where it grossed $2.7 million including previews." Vive la difference! Our studio executive can head out of his Malibu condo in the morning with a smile to match the gleam on his Porsche. If any of these records sound to you a little like Most Notes Played by a Left-Handed Tuba-Player While Unicycling Down Fifth Avenue, then you are not alone. Keeping track of "the numbers" is one of Hollywood's darker arts. The number of films advertising themselves as "the No 1 film in America" this year equals exactly 33, almost exactly the number of weeks there have been in the year — a No 1 for everyone! — while the definition of "opening weekend" has crept back to include Thursday, and even Wednesday night midnight screenings, thus swelling the weekend tally further. Some studios go to even more necromantic lengths, as Paramount did in 1994 when it discovered an extra $34,000 in some "missing theatres" to edge out The Lion King as box office champ, only for those missing theatres to turn up on "Melrose and Glower," the address of the Paramount studio lot. Most importantly, none of those broken records take any account of inflation. The news media's fuss over them is roughly equivalent to someone saying: "Wow! The price of milk just went up! What a time to be a dairy farmer! Those guys must be raking it in!" Well, yes, but the price of farmland has gone up, too. And hay. And cow insemination. Hollywood prefers to ignore inflation the same way stars like to ignore the effects of aging, because it presents them with a list of all-time box office hits as fresh as newly-mown grass. Here's how it looks: 1. Avatar (Fox) $760,507,625
2. Titanic (Paramount) $658,672,302
3. Marvel's The Avengers (Disney) $617,814,000
4. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) $533,345,358
5. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (Fox) $474,544,677
6. Star Wars (Fox) $460,998,007
7. Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) $441,226,247
8. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Universal) $435,110,554
9. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Disney) $423,315,812
10.The Lion King (Disney) $422,783,777 Adjust those figures for inflation, however, and it's a very different picture. 1. Gone with the Wind (MGM) $1,620,397,900
2. Star Wars (Fox) $1,428,519,200
3. The Sound of Music (Fox) $1,142,171,300
4. ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Universal) $1,137,671,800
5. Titanic (Paramount) $1,087,949,000
6. The Ten Commandments (Paramount) $1,050,620,000
7. Jaws (Universal) $1,027,192,100
8. Doctor Zhivago (MGM) $995,566,400
9. The Exorcist (Warner Bros) $887,005,300
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Disney) $874,180,000 Where is The Avengers? Way down at No 27, having just edged out Thunderball, but unable to quite close the distance on Grease. Here, then, is the bad news: for all these broken records, most of the gains of the past decade have come from higher ticket prices — in particular those jacked up by 3D — not more people seeing movies. Last year, a report by Goldman Sachs analysts Drew Borst and Fred Krom estimated that 1.28bn people headed to the multiplex in 2011 — a 25-year-low almost matching that of 1995, when Hollywood wowed us with such box-office kryptonite as Waterworld, Batman Forever and Showgirls. The reasons are the same ones that have been draining cinema audiences since the 1950s: improved home entertainment, better gadgetry and an ever-shrinking theatrical-release window. On average, movie theaters only use about 15% of their total capacity these days, while younger audiences have plummeted 40% since 2002, prompting some to comment that "the golden age of the silver screen may be coming to a close." Maybe. The film industry has been "dying" for as long as it has drawn breath. On the plus side, big-screen provider Imax has doubled their screen numbers since 2009 and expect to do the same again by 2015 — so expect the summer blockbusters to bust up even more of the block. And what is quaintly known as the "specialty box office" — films that do not feature men with superpowers wearing spandex, aka "what used to be called the American film industry" — has been going great guns this year. If you want to talk about box office records, how about these: over Memorial Day weekend, Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom grossed $669,486 in just four theatres — the highest ever for a non-animated film. And in June, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, a magic-realist first-time feature set in the Louisiana Bayou with no stars took in a "ferocious" $42,309 in four theaters, according to Deadline Hollywood, whose tracking of specialty box-office is one of the more reliable guides to the awards season, now almost upon us. So in the months to come expect some love for Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild; also The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — "The Avengers for grown ups" — which passed the $100m back in May. Although for sheer profitability no-one can touch the year's biggest success story, a film made for just $7m which took $39m in its first three days, en route to a tally of $113.5m, making it the most profitable movie of the year so far. Step forward, Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh's film based on Channing Tatum's time as a male stripper. Traditional thinking suggests the Academy won't go near a film featuring Matthew McConaughey gyrating his leather-clad hips over the laps of screaming Floridians like a Mr Whippee dispenser. "The laauw says you can look but you cannot tuurch," he says in his inimitable Texan drawl. But then he adds: "I see a lotta laaauw-breakers out there."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 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.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as the refugee crisis mounts the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross lobbied Bashar al-Assad for humanitarian access to areas worst hit by the violence
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as the refugee crisis mounts the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross lobbied Bashar al-Assad for humanitarian access to areas worst hit by the violence
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