|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In shadow of fatal shootings, nationalist leader says she'll stick to promise to reverse tuition fee rises and protect Anglophones The nationalist victor in the Quebec elections will prepare for government under the shadow of a police investigation into the murder of a man at the party that celebrated her win. More details were emerging about the background of Richard Henry Bain, the 62-year-old who was due to make his first court appearance in Montreal in connection with the gun attack on Tuesday night. Chaos broke out at the Metropolis concert hall minutes after Pauline Marois, the leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois, had begun her victory speech. One man died and another was critically injured – both were outside and were shot as the gunman tried to enter the hall. Marois was bundled off stage by her bodyguards. A vigil was held on Wednesday night outside the hall, in memory of the man who died. The tragedy has diverted attention away from the substance of the result, which put Marois at the head of what will almost certainly be a weak, minority administration. Marois come to power at the end of a divisive election campaign. But while the PQ fought on a platform based on sovereignty for Quebec and the primacy of the French language, the election also took place against the backdrop of ongoing student protests against tuition fee hikes. The election came after months of unrest, as striking students clashed with riot police on an almost daily basis. Marois said she intends to stick by her campaign promise to reverse the tuition fee rises and abolish Law 78, a hated piece of legislation that places restrictions on the right to protest. Speaking at a press conference in Montreal on Wednesday, she said: "My government will cancel fees rise by decree. Law 78 will therefore no longer be needed. I intend to propose its repeal and I am convinced that the opposition parties will agree. We will then have a summit on higher education." Though this is a huge victory for the student movement, it remains to be seen whether she will be able to form a coalition or convince the opposition to respect these promises. Her PQ party only beat the Liberals by a thin margin of 30,000 votes, with 54 candidates elected out of 125. She will form a cabinet and lead a minority government at the National Assembly in the next two weeks, but it will be one of the weakest provincial governments in Canada, dashing her party's hopes for an independence referendum for Quebec any time soon. Meanwhile, after a humiliating defeat in his own district, former Liberal party leader Jean Charest announced to Quebec's parliament that he was resigning from politics. "I will leave my job in the next few days. After 28 years of public life, it is time for me to take another step, turn the page," he said, his voice choking with emotion. Charest's resignation set social media alight with students and supporters of the Quebec "printemps erable" seeing it as the definitive sign that students had won the battle against the tuition fee hike, or at least that they would hold important political leverage after taking down two education ministers and the prime minister. Jérémie Bédard-Wien, the finance secretary of Classe, the militant student organisation at the forefront of the strike, told the Guardian that the student movement was celebrating three major victories: the cancellation of the tuition hikes, the repeal of Law 78 and the resignation of Charest. Bédard-Wien said the victory was the result of "a wave of popular mobilisation that happened through the spring". He expressed confidence that Marois would keep her promises because "the PQ fears further strikes". But he said the struggle against tuition hikes was not over. "In the next few months, students will have to face a proposed indexation of tuition fees to the cost of living, a measure which does not take into account the reality of students. This vision runs counter to ours and we can expect further mobilisation, further strikes and further direct action." As well as the repeal of measures linked to the tuition fee rises, Marois plans to prevent construction firms convicted of corruption from getting contracts, to expand affordable daycare services for old people, increase the royalties on natural resources, as well as expand the reach of Law 101, the language law that asserts the dominance of French in the province and which deeply disturbs the minority English-speaking community in Quebec. Marois insisted she would "protect" Anglophone residents in Quebec. At her press conference, Marois expressed sympathy for the family of the man who was killed at her victory rally. But she denied it was linked to the divisiveness of her campaign. "A man is dead for no reason. Madness has struck," she said. Visibly shaken by the fatal shooting that interrupted her victory speech the night before, Marois said: "Quebec is a non-violent society. A single act of madness cannot erase this fact." Marois called it an isolated incident that did not represent the Quebecois people or bear any relation to the tone and style of her campaign. She urged people not to jump to conclusions, and said: "This is a probably the case of someone with grave mental health issues." Police said Bain, 62, was from near Mont Tremblant, a small town in the Laurentian mountains about 80 miles north-west of Montreal. It was not clear whether he was an English or French speaker – an important detail after a bitter election campaign fought on cultural and language issues. There are reports that, when he was arrested, he declared: "The Anglophones are waking up." Marois said she did not fear for her own security after being taken backstage where she could see a fire and an injured man, but rather worried what would happen if the crowd in the concert hall brimming with enthusiasm suddenly panicked. "I asked my bodyguard to be back on stage because I was afraid for the crowd – we were so many in the meeting. I asked them to go outside slowly." The dead man was named as Denis Blanchette, 48, a lighting technician who was smoking in the alleyway outside the hall, waiting for the event to end so he could take down the rig. He was shot as the gunman opened fire outside. David Courage, 27, a musician, was shot and critically injured. Police dragged him inside the hall to treat him. Witnesses say after the two were shot, the gunman's weapon jammed and he was tackled by police. Local media in Montreal identified Bain as the owner of a fishing camp on the shores of Lake Wade in La Conception, near Mont Tremblant in the Laurentian mountains. The camp offers fishing, helicopter trips and truck rides.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At the Democratic national convention, the hugely popular former president gave an address aimed squarely at fixing Barack Obama's blind spot with middle America Say what you want about Bill Clinton – and people do – but he gives good convention. And so he should. The last time he didn't address a convention was 1984. He knows which delegates' buttons to press because he sewed so many of them on himself. Last night, in a long, always spirited and occasionally rambling performance, he reminded the country not just who the good guy is but where the bad times came from. "In Tampa the Republican argument against Obama's re-election was pretty simple, pretty snappy: 'We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.' I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a whole lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy." It was a full-throated, at times light-hearted, rousing endorsement of the man who beat his wife in a bitter primary four years ago. Bill Clinton sauntered on stage to his 1992 campaign song: "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But the convention hall – clinging to him like a cross-generational comfort blanket – were thinking about two decades ago, a reassuring reminder of what seems like a bygone era when jobs were many, you could get on a plane without first taking off your shoes and white southern Democrats weren't virtually extinct. His appearance in a primetime slot usually reserved for vice-presidents says more about Obama's vulnerabilities than it does about Clinton's strengths. And those weaknesses have been clear during this convention. While there is far more enthusiasm in Charlotte than there was among Republicans in Tampa last week, that exuberance among Democrats is far less focused. Republicans trained their sights on the economy, deceptively at times but relentlessly throughout. The Democratic rhetorical fire, however, is dispersed among many targets. Women's rights, union rights, equality of opportunity, healthcare reform, gay marriage, student debt – all get shout outs, all get cheers. There is a theme – fairness – but there isn't a coherent message beyond the threat that under Mitt Romney the country will be less fair. This is where Clinton comes in. For the problem is not that Barack Obama does not have a record. It's that the record he has does not include the single most important achievement he could hope for: improving the lot of the broad swathe of middle America. It's the one area where voters trust Romney more than him and by far the most important issue in the election. Clinton bears the imprimatur of economic success. Long after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and the defence of marriage act are forgotten, the memory of a strong economy and a budget surplus on his watch will remain. When the speech was over, Obama came on stage and hugged him as though he were a life raft.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At the Democratic national convention, the hugely popular former president gave an address aimed squarely at fixing Barack Obama's blind spot with middle America Say what you want about Bill Clinton – and people do – but he gives good convention. And so he should. The last time he didn't address a convention was 1984. He knows which delegates' buttons to press because he sewed so many of them on himself. Last night, in a long, always spirited and occasionally rambling performance, he reminded the country not just who the good guy is but where the bad times came from. "In Tampa the Republican argument against Obama's re-election was pretty simple, pretty snappy: 'We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.' I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a whole lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy." It was a full-throated, at times light-hearted, rousing endorsement of the man who beat his wife in a bitter primary four years ago. Bill Clinton sauntered on stage to his 1992 campaign song: "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But the convention hall – clinging to him like a cross-generational comfort blanket – were thinking about two decades ago, a reassuring reminder of what seems like a bygone era when jobs were many, you could get on a plane without first taking off your shoes and white southern Democrats weren't virtually extinct. His appearance in a primetime slot usually reserved for vice-presidents says more about Obama's vulnerabilities than it does about Clinton's strengths. And those weaknesses have been clear during this convention. While there is far more enthusiasm in Charlotte than there was among Republicans in Tampa last week, that exuberance among Democrats is far less focused. Republicans trained their sights on the economy, deceptively at times but relentlessly throughout. The Democratic rhetorical fire, however, is dispersed among many targets. Women's rights, union rights, equality of opportunity, healthcare reform, gay marriage, student debt – all get shout outs, all get cheers. There is a theme – fairness – but there isn't a coherent message beyond the threat that under Mitt Romney the country will be less fair. This is where Clinton comes in. For the problem is not that Barack Obama does not have a record. It's that the record he has does not include the single most important achievement he could hope for: improving the lot of the broad swathe of middle America. It's the one area where voters trust Romney more than him and by far the most important issue in the election. Clinton bears the imprimatur of economic success. Long after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and the defence of marriage act are forgotten, the memory of a strong economy and a budget surplus on his watch will remain. When the speech was over, Obama came on stage and hugged him as though he were a life raft.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Girl found eight hours after attack in which four people - all believed to be British - died A four-year old girl has been found alive after eight hours hiding in the back of a British-registered car in France containing three shooting victims. The girl, who has not been named, was found around midnight on Wednesday night under the bodies of the two women in the back of the car, a French prosecutor said. A second girl, believed to be six or seven, was found lying injured in the road near the BMW people-carrier. Police believe all of those in the vehicle to be part of a British family on holiday. Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud said the girl found in the car "couldn't tell the difference between the good and the bad people". She immediately smiled and began speaking in English when a gendarme took her in his arms. A fourth person, a male cyclist who police believe was "in the wrong place at the wrong time", was also found dead at the scene. Police have confirmed that the driver of the car, found slumped over the driving wheel, was a UK citizen, the BBC reported. One of the women sitting in the back was thought to be his wife, and the other is believed to be the children's grandmother. Maillaud said: "The owner of the vehicle was British and he was the person who identified himself to the campsite [where they were staying]. He is presumed to be a victim and was accompanied by two women and two little girls. We can assume it's a family although it is yet to be proved." He added: "We have been taking evidence, including DNA, which will be sent to the British authorities for confirmation." The family had been staying at a campsite in Saint-Jorioz with their two daughters. Police say there are still no clues as to the motive for the killings. The alarm was raised by a second cyclist – said to be British – who discovered a girl lying seriously injured in front of a BMW in a secluded car park near the village of Chevaline, close to Lake Annecy. He was in a state of shock afterwards but told police officers he had been overtaken on the path by the cyclist who he then discovered lying dead near the car. Maillaud said 15 cartridges were found around the car, suggesting all the gunshots had come from outside the car, and an automatic pistol appeared to have been used. Police said a man "dressed in cycling gear" was found in the proximity of the car and his bicycle was found nearby. The wounded girl found near the car was taken by helicopter to Grenoble hospital, where she was in a serious but stable condition. A source told French journalists that she had been hit by at least three bullets. No arrests have yet been made and no weapon has been found. Autopsies were planned for Thursday or Friday, Maillaud said. He said the discovery was like a scene from a film: "We don't know who could have done this. We have no idea." He added that the victims were found very shortly after the shootings. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently." The area around the car park was sealed off and 60 gendarmes were searching for evidence and combing the forest for possible perpetrators. The local Dauphiné Libéré newspaper said Chevaline residents had reported seeing a car leaving the village at high speed late on Thursday afternoon. With a population of little more than 200, Chevaline lies within the boundaries of one of France's largest national parks, the Parc Naturel Régional du Massif des Bauges. "A lot of people are coming here to spend holidays and use the lake because we have a beautiful landscape," Leila Lamnaouer, a French journalist, told Sky News . "A lot of English people live here because they love the place." French newspaper L'Essor Savoyard reported that locals had been left shocked by the attacks, saying that the region was usually quiet. Mayor Didier Berthollet told the newspaper that the forest road where the car was found is very popular with walkers.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Girl found eight hours after attack in which four people – all believed to be British – died A four-year old girl has been found alive after hiding for eight hours in the back of a British-registered car in France under the bodies of two shooting victims. The girl, who has not been named, was found around midnight on Wednesday night underneath two dead women in the back of the car, a French prosecutor said. A man was found dead in the driver's seat and a second girl, believed to be six or seven, was discovered lying injured on the road near the BMW people-carrier. Police believe all five people to be members of a British family on holiday. Local prosecutor Eric Maillaud said the girl found in the car "couldn't tell the difference between the good and the bad people". She immediately smiled and began speaking in English when a gendarme took her in his arms. A fourth adult, a male cyclist who police believe was "in the wrong place at the wrong time", was also found dead at the scene. Police have confirmed that the driver of the car, found slumped over the driving wheel, was a UK citizen, the BBC reported. One of the women sitting in the back was thought to be his wife, and the other is believed to be the children's grandmother. Maillaud said: "The owner of the vehicle was British and he was the person who identified himself to the campsite [where they were staying]. He is presumed to be a victim and was accompanied by two women and two little girls. We can assume it's a family although it is yet to be proved. "We have been taking evidence, including DNA, which will be sent to the British authorities for confirmation." Autopsies will be carried out on Thursday or Friday. The family had been staying at a campsite in Saint-Jorioz with their two daughters. Police say there are still no clues as to the motive for the killings and no arrests have yet been made. Maillaud said 15 cartridges were found around the car, suggesting all the gunshots had come from outside the car, and an automatic pistol appeared to have been used but no weapon has been found. He described the discovery as being like a scene from a film: "We don't know who could have done this. We have no idea." The alarm was raised shortly after the shootings by a second cyclist – reported to be British – who discovered the girl lying seriously injured in front of the BMW in a secluded car park near the village of Chevaline, close to Lake Annecy. He was in a state of shock afterwards but told police officers he had been overtaken on the path by the cyclist who he then discovered lying dead near the car. Police said a man "dressed in cycling gear" was found near the car and his bicycle was found close by. The wounded girl found near the car was taken by helicopter to Grenoble hospital, where she was in a serious but stable condition. A source told French journalists that she had been hit by at least three bullets. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of the reports of the shooting and we are looking into these urgently." The area around the car park was sealed off and 60 gendarmes were searching for evidence and combing the forest for possible perpetrators. The local Dauphiné Libéré newspaper said Chevaline residents had reported seeing a car leaving the village at high speed late on Thursday afternoon. With a population of little more than 200, Chevaline lies within the boundaries of one of France's largest national parks, the Parc Naturel Régional du Massif des Bauges. "A lot of people are coming here to spend holidays and use the lake because we have a beautiful landscape," Leila Lamnaouer, a French journalist, told Sky News. "A lot of English people live here because they love the place." The newspaper L'Essor Savoyard reported that residents had been left shocked by the attacks, saying that the region was usually quiet. The mayor, Didier Berthollet, told the newspaper that the forest road where the car was found was popular with walkers.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Big day in Europe's debt crisis as the European Central Bank's governing council gathers to discuss Mario Draghi's 'unlimited bond-buying' plan
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Series of auctions, private sales and online events will include items never before seen by the public The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York is selling its collection of the artist's works through Christie's auction house to raise money for its endowment. The foundation and the auction house announced the agreement on Wednesday. Christie's will hold a series of auctions, private sales and online events over the coming years. The chief executive of Christie's, Steven Murphy, said the sales would bring Warhol's work to people "who never before imagined" they could own any. The foundation said the money raised from the sales for its endowment would allow it to expand support of the visual arts, fulfilling Warhol's purpose in establishing it. The foundation said it would also make donations to museums. The collection includes items ranging from prints to photographs, some of which have not been seen by the public. An Andy Warhol silkscreen of the actor Marlon Brando, clad in leather astride a motorcycle from the movie The Wild One, is expected to sell for $20m (£12.6m) when it hits the auction block in November, Christie's said. Marlon, a 1966 silkscreen that is one of the late pop artist's most famous Hollywood portraits, will be part of the auction of postwar and contemporary art. It is being sold from the collection of businessman and Museum of Modern Art trustee Donald Bryant Jr. "Alongside his portraits of Elvis Presley, Warhol's image of Marlon Brando exudes a raw sexuality and intense power rarely found in his work," said Brett Gorvy, Christie's chairman for postwar and contemporary art. The image of Brando was taken from a publicity photo for the 1953 movie about motorcycle gangs. Marlon will be sold at Christie's New York headquarters on 14 November. The sale coincides with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibitioin of works by Warhol. Warhol's Green Car Crash – Green Burning Car I sold in 2007 for $71.7m. A four-panel self-portrait, Warhol's first, commanded $38.4m in May 2011, and his Double Marlon, another Brando-inspired work from 1966, sold for $32.5m in 2008. Four months ago a Warhol work featuring Elvis sold for $37m at Sotheby's.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At the Democratic national convention, former president throws his weight behind onetime foe in major boost to campaign Bill Clinton, formerly one of Barack Obama's most bitter critics inside the Democratic party, has thrown all his prestige and popularity unequivocally behind the president's bid to hold on to the White House. In an old-fashioned barnstorming speech to the Democratic national convention – much of it ad-libbed and considerably longer than the prepared text – Clinton boiled the differences between Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney to a simple, essential point. The choice in November, he said, would be between whether voters wanted to be part of a "we're all in this together society" or a "winner take all, you're on your own society". Obama, who flew into Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday afternoon, appeared on stage at the end and embraced Clinton. The delegates, who cheered and applauded throughout the speech, chanted: "We are fired up." The image of that valedictory moment will be pushed hard by the Obama campaign. Clinton reaches parts of the Democratic party and independents that the president struggles with: white male working-class voters in particular. He formally nominated Obama as the party's presidential nominee and that was confirmed later in a roll call of delegates. Clinton's 48-minute speech combined folksy ad-libs with a detail-packed, point-by-point rebuttal of Republican attacks on Obama's record. "We simply cannot afford to give the reins of government to someone who will double down on trickledown," Clinton said It was also a powerful positive argument for re-electing Obama to finish the job of securing recovery, a task Clinton said neither he nor any other president could have delivered in just four years. "President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did," said Clinton. "No president – not me or any of my predecessors – could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you'll renew the president's contract you will feel it. I believe that with all my heart." The speech offers the Obama team a clear blueprint for the next two months of campaigning – their messages over the last few months have been confused at times as they struggled to articulate a coherent case for re-election. In a week that has seen the Obama campaign grapple unconvincingly with the question "Are voters better off than four years ago?", Clinton had an unequivocal response. "Now, are we where we want to be today? No. Is the president satisfied? Of course not. But are we better off than we were when he took office? ... The answer is yes." Since 1961, Clinton said, Democrats had held power for 28 years, the Republicans 28, and the economy had created 66m private sector jobs in that period. "So what's the job score? Republicans, 24 million; Democrats, 42 [million]," he said. Clinton – much thinner a year after announcing he was becoming a vegan for health reasons – demonstrated again why he is the biggest draw in the Democratic party and the 23,000-seater arena was filled to capacity to hear him formally nominate Obama for re-election. It is a long way from 2008 when Clinton made many bitter remarks about Obama during the campaign by his wife, Hillary, for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Obama campaign officials branded the former president a racist. Even the most diehard member of Obama's inner circle, where there is still lingering animosity from four years ago, would find it hard to say that Clinton did not deliver on the night for his successor. "I want to nominate a man who ran for president to change the course of an already weak economy and then just six weeks before his election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression ... I want to nominate a man who's cool on the outside but who burns for America on the inside," Clinton said. He added, to loud cheers that won another standing ovation, if mainly for the first lady who spoke powerfully the the night before: "And by the way, after last night I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama." Clinton rebutted Republican attack after attack mounted against Obama over healthcare, debt, the car industry bailout and economic management. The president, he said, contrary to accusations by the Republicans, had sought to work with the other side in Congress but had been repeatedly rebuffed. His instinct was towards co-operation. "Obama appointed several members of his cabinet even though they supported Hillary. Heck, he even appointed Hillary," he said, his best joke of the night. The core of his speech dealt with the ideological divide between the parties."My fellow Americans, all of us in this grand hall and everybody watching at home, when we vote in this election we'll be deciding what kind of country we want to live in. If you want a winner take all, you're on your own society you should support the Republican ticket. But if you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibility, a we're all in this together society, you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden." Clinton's presidency coincided with a period of economic boom and part of his popularity stems for a nostalgia for that period. He was dismissive of Republican nominee Mitt Romney's claims, outlined last week at the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida, that he would deliver speedier economic recovery. "Now I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a lot better. Here it is. He inherited a deeply damaged economy. He put a floor under the crash. He began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses and lots of new wealth for innovators." Clinton's primetime appearance lifted party spirits after a day of setbacks. Obama's plan to make his nomination speech in an open-air 73,000-seater football stadium near the convention had to be abandoned because of fears of a thunderstorm. Worse was to come in the afternoon in a self-inflicted row among Democrats over the party's policy on the status of Jerusalem. On Tuesday it emerged that a statement declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel had been removed from the platform, sparking 24 hours of furious criticism from pro-Israel groups and Republicans. Yesterday Obama personally intervened in an attempt to close down the issue by reinserting the line into the platform, a move that brought booing from the convention floor. That the delegates are more deeply liberal than the party in general was demonstrated with the rapturous reception for Elizabeth Warren, the party's Senate candidate in Massachusetts. Warren has been one of the leading critics of Wall Street and hit the theme again on Wednesday night. "People feel like the system is rigged against them. And here's the painful part: they're right. The system is rigged. Look around. Oil companies guzzle down billions in subsidies. Billionaires pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. Wall Street CEOs – the same ones who wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs – still strut around Congress, no shame, demanding favours and acting like we should thank them. Anyone here have a problem with that? Well I do." She was given the warm-up spot for Clinton, a sign of the importance of her campaign in Massachusetts. A win in the traditionally Democratic state would help the party hold on to its majority in the Senate. Another stand-out speaker at the conference was Sandra Fluke, who had been described as a "slut" by the conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh when she spoke about contraception at a congressional hearing. "Our president, when he hears a young woman has been verbally attacked, thinks of his daughters – not his delegates or donors – and stands with all women," she said. "And strangers come together, reach out and lift her up. And then, instead of trying to silence her, you invite me here – and give me a microphone – to amplify our voice. That's the difference."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At the Democratic national convention, the hugely popular former president gave a thumping endorsement aimed at fixing Barack Obama's blind spot with middle America Say what you want about Bill Clinton – and people do – but he gives good convention. And so he should. The last time he didn't address a convention was 1984. He knows which delegates' buttons to press because he sewed so many of them on himself. Last night, in a long, always spirited and occasionally rambling performance, he reminded the country not just who the good guy is but where the bad times came from. "In Tampa the Republican argument against Obama's re-election was pretty simple, pretty snappy: 'We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.' I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a whole lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy." It was a full-throated, at times light-hearted, rousing endorsement of the man who beat his wife in a bitter primary four years ago. Bill Clinton sauntered on stage to his 1992 campaign song: "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But the convention hall – clinging to him like a cross-generational comfort blanket – were thinking about two decades ago, a reassuring reminder of what seems like a bygone era when jobs were many, you could get on a plane without first taking off your shoes and white southern Democrats weren't virtually extinct. His appearance in a primetime slot usually reserved for vice-presidents says more about Obama's vulnerabilities than it does about Clinton's strengths. And those weaknesses have been clear during this convention. While there is far more enthusiasm in Charlotte than there was among Republicans in Tampa last week, that exuberance among Democrats is far less focused. Republicans trained their sights on the economy, deceptively at times but relentlessly throughout. The Democratic rhetorical fire, however, is dispersed among many targets. Women's rights, union rights, equality of opportunity, healthcare reform, gay marriage, student debt – all get shout outs, all get cheers. There is a theme – fairness – but there isn't a coherent message beyond the threat that under Mitt Romney the country will be less fair. This is where Clinton comes in. For the problem is not that Barack Obama does not have a record. It's that the record he has does not include the single most important achievement he could hope for: improving the lot of the broad swathe of middle America. It's the one area where voters trust Romney more than him and by far the most important issue in the election. Clinton bears the imprimatur of economic success. Long after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the North Atlantic Free Trade Association, welfare reform, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and the defence of marriage act are forgotten, the memory of a strong economy and a budget surplus on his watch will remain.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | At the Democratic national convention, the hugely popular former president gave an address aimed squarely at fixing Barack Obama's blind spot with middle America Say what you want about Bill Clinton – and people do – but he gives good convention. And so he should. The last time he didn't address a convention was 1984. He knows which delegates' buttons to press because he sewed so many of them on himself. Last night, in a long, always spirited and occasionally rambling performance, he reminded the country not just who the good guy is but where the bad times came from. "In Tampa the Republican argument against Obama's re-election was pretty simple, pretty snappy: 'We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.' I like the argument for President Obama's re-election a whole lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy." It was a full-throated, at times light-hearted, rousing endorsement of the man who beat his wife in a bitter primary four years ago. Bill Clinton sauntered on stage to his 1992 campaign song: "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow." But the convention hall – clinging to him like a cross-generational comfort blanket – were thinking about two decades ago, a reassuring reminder of what seems like a bygone era when jobs were many, you could get on a plane without first taking off your shoes and white southern Democrats weren't virtually extinct. His appearance in a primetime slot usually reserved for vice-presidents says more about Obama's vulnerabilities than it does about Clinton's strengths. And those weaknesses have been clear during this convention. While there is far more enthusiasm in Charlotte than there was among Republicans in Tampa last week, that exuberance among Democrats is far less focused. Republicans trained their sights on the economy, deceptively at times but relentlessly throughout. The Democratic rhetorical fire, however, is dispersed among many targets. Women's rights, union rights, equality of opportunity, healthcare reform, gay marriage, student debt – all get shout outs, all get cheers. There is a theme – fairness – but there isn't a coherent message beyond the threat that under Mitt Romney the country will be less fair. This is where Clinton comes in. For the problem is not that Barack Obama does not have a record. It's that the record he has does not include the single most important achievement he could hope for: improving the lot of the broad swathe of middle America. It's the one area where voters trust Romney more than him and by far the most important issue in the election. Clinton bears the imprimatur of economic success. Long after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the North Atlantic Free Trade Association, welfare reform, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act and the defence of marriage act are forgotten, the memory of a strong economy and a budget surplus on his watch will remain. When the speech was over, Obama came on stage and hugged him as though he were a life raft.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The organisation alleges that opponents of Muammar Gaddafi were subjected to the torture at secret CIA prisons Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused the US government of covering up the extent of waterboarding at secret CIA prisons, alleging that Libyan opponents of Muammar Gaddafi were subjected to the torture before being handed over to the former dictator's security police. The New York-based human rights group has cast "serious doubt" on Washington's claim that only three people, all members of al-Qaida, were waterboarded in American custody, claiming in a new report to have fresh evidence that the CIA used the technique to simulate drowning on Libyans snatched from countries in Africa and Asia. The report, Delivered into Enemy Hands: US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi's Libya, also says that the CIA, Britain's MI6 and other western intelligence services were responsible for "delivering Gaddafi his enemies on a silver platter" by sending the captured men to Tripoli for further abuse after the American interrogations. The HRW report is based on documents seized at the Libyan intelligence headquarters after Gaddafi's fall, and interviews with 14 former detainees, mostly members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), which attempted for 20 years to overthrow the former regime in Tripoli. The group joined last year's revolution and some of those tortured by the US now hold leadership positions in the new Libyan administration. Last week the US attorney general, Eric Holder, said that no one would be prosecuted for CIA abuses during the Bush administration's "war on terror" despite the death of at least two detainees under torture. But HRW said the latest revelations merit new independent inquiries in the US and Britain. It said Washington's failure to hold to account Americans responsible for torture undermines US demands for accountability for crimes by others in Syria and Libya. Among those tortured was Khalid al-Sharif, who was held for two years in CIA-run detention centres in Afghanistan before being handed over to Gaddafi in 2005. He is now head of the Libyan National Guard. "I spent three months getting interrogated heavily during the first period [in US custody] and they gave me a different type of torture every day. Sometimes they used water, sometimes not," he told HRW. "Sometimes they put a hood over my head and they lay me down and they started to put water in my mouth … They poured the water over my mouth and nose so I had the feeling that I was drowning. I couldn't breathe … I tried to turn my head left and right as much as I could to take in some gulps of breath. I felt as if I was suffocating." Sharif told HRW a doctor was present who would tell the interrogators when to stop the abuse and when to continue. Detained alongside Sharif was Mohammed al-Shoroeiya. He told HRW he was waterboarded numerous times. "He said he felt like each time lasted about three minutes but said there was no way to really tell time," the HRW report states. "When told that the United States had admitted to doing this to a few people for between 20 and 40 seconds each time, he said he was sure his sessions were definitely longer than that. "He said there were doctors present. He knows they were doctors because his leg was broken while he was there and he was treated by these same people. The doctors would monitor him as the cold water was poured on him, and when his body temperature got too low, they would order warm water be added to the cold. Once his temperature was okay, they would begin adding cold water again." HRW said the testimony contradicts assertions in Washington about who was subject to the drowning technique, which the Bush administration claimed was not torture. "The allegations cast serious doubts on prior assertions from US government officials that only three people were waterboarded in US custody," said HRW. "They also reflect just how little the public still knows about what went on in the US secret detention programme." The report contains documents, some of which it said are being made public for the first time, found abandoned in the offices of former Libyan intelligence chief, Moussa Koussa, after Gaddafi was overthrown. "The documents include communications between Moussa Koussa's office and the CIA, and between Koussa's office and MI6," the report said. "They show a high level of cooperation between the United States, the United Kingdom and the government of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on the transfer of Gaddafi's opponents into Libyan custody. The documents are significant because they shed light on the still opaque CIA renditions programme, identify former detainees by name, and provide corroborating evidence in several specific cases, most notably confirming the involvement of the US, the UK, and other governments. "Ten of the 14 Libyans interviewed for this report were rendered back to Libya within about year of the date when Libya, the United States and the United Kingdom had formally mended their relations. The mending of relations was very publicly marked by a visit from the British prime minister at the time, Tony Blair, to Libya on 25 March, 2004. The collusion is ironic, given that years later these same governments would end up assisting Gaddafi's opponents in their efforts to overthrow the Libyan leader. Several of those opponents are now in leadership positions and are important political actors in Libya." HRW said the treatment of the Libyans sheds light on the Bush administration's failure to distinguish between Islamists responsible for the 9/11 attacks and "those who may simply have been engaged in armed opposition against their own repressive regimes". "This failure risked aligning the United States with brutal dictators and aided their efforts to dismiss all political opponents as terrorists," it said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Woman was abducted from home, fitted with device and sent into Bank of America branch to get cash, say police A Los Angeles bank manager was strapped to what appeared to be a bomb and sent into her branch to take out money for two thieves who escaped with the cash, authorities said. The two suspects confronted the manager at her home on Tuesday night and forced her to participate in the robbery, said the Los Angeles county sheriff's office. "The two men took her to her bank on Wednesday morning, telling her that she had to wear this explosive device," said spokesman Steve Whitmore. "They strapped on what appeared to be pipe bomb." Following the robbery a sheriff's arson and explosives team removed the device from the woman and rendered it safe, Whitmore said. Officials did not identify the bank manager. Whitmore said the woman entered the Bank of America branch in east Los Angeles at mid-morning and told her colleagues what was happening before she took the money and threw it out the front doors. The suspects were thought to have taken the money from outside the bank before fleeing in a car described as possibly a white Kia, Whitmore said. He did not say how much money the robbers may have taken. The bank manager, who was described as frantic and crying, was being questioned by detectives. Whitmore said authorities had no further information. He could not provide a description of the suspects. Explosives experts were trying to determine if the device strapped to the bank manager was in fact a bomb.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Roddick says he has 'loved every minute' as career ends
• Novak Djokovic to face Del Potro in quarter-finals Patrons in a packed Arthur Ashe stadium rose to acclaim the departure of Andy Roddick, from the tournament and the game, after a typically combative struggle, losing in three and a quarter hours to Juan Martín del Potro. The score, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4, accurately told the story of the roller-coaster exit, Roddick starting in a blaze when the notoriously slow-to-engage Argentinian was unfocused, followed by the inevitable decline on tired legs before one last burst at the end, something typical to remember him by. He cried on court, uncontrollably, and spoke eloquently and candidly about his 13 years in tennis. "I haven't always been easy on you guys," he said in scatter-gun reference to fans, journalists and opponents, the latter of whom have felt the more relevant point of his sword on court, "but I have loved every minute of it." When he faced the media a little while later, the respected octogenarian writer Bud Collins asked for colleagues to break protocol and give Roddick a round of applause. The response was instantaneous and loud. "Thanks, Bud," Roddick said.Asked what was his most rewarding experience, he said: "I was consistent and I don't feel like I left a lot on the table on a daily basis. When I look back, that's what I'm proud of." Del Potro, in halting English, was equally heartfelt: "It was really tough moment for me and for him, also. Last point of his life. The crowd was amazing for both players. I really enjoyed in that way, but it wasn't easy for me to play. I had to close the match with my serve." The result might have been predictable but it was nonetheless engrossing for that. Roddick, the last American to win a slam title, here in 2003, will be missed and there is a sense that, just turned 30, he is leaving too early. Injuries and indifferent form have plagued him for the past couple of years and when he started losing to players he previously would have beaten easily, doubt entered his tennis. And Roddick was never one to harbour self-doubt. Elsewhere the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, was glad of an easy afternoon's work when Stanislas Wawrinka retired for health reasons when trailing 6-4, 6-1, 3-1 after a little over an hour and a half. The Serb has cruised through this tournament almost unnoticed, having given up only 20 games in his four matches on the way to the quarter-finals, where he will meet Del Potro.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police notify authorities investigating murder of Liu Guanghua, whose remains were found scattered around the city last month Police in Canada have found a badly decomposed torso in a suitcase in Lake Ontario off Toronto and have notified authorities investigating the murder of a woman whose remains were found scattered around the city last month. Toronto police detective Les Dunkley said two boaters spotted the suitcase and brought it to shore, where police opened it. Dunkley said police could not say who the victim is or what gender the body is until they get autopsy results. An autopsy had not yet been scheduled. In last month's case, Liu Guanghua's head, foot and hands were discovered in a river west of Toronto. A few days later, her two calves, a thigh and an arm were found in a creek in eastern Toronto. Her torso was not found. Her estranged boyfriend was charged with murder last month. Dunkley said he was not able to say why police in Canada have found so many dismembered remains this summer. Last week, a woman's torso was found at the base of Niagara Falls. Police have ruled out any connection between that case and Liu's. The cases have received extra attention because of the accusations against porn actor Luka Magnotta that he dismembered a Chinese student in Montreal and mailed his body parts to political parties and a school earlier this year. Police have said the more recent cases have no connection with that one.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ruling clears way for law as federal judge allows provision that requires officers to question suspected illegal immigrants A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Arizona authorities can enforce the most contentious section of the state's immigration law, which critics have dubbed the "show me your papers" provision. The ruling by US district judge Susan Bolton clears the way for police to carry out the 2010 law's requirement that officers, while enforcing other laws, question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally. The requirement has been at the center of a two-year legal battle that culminated in a US supreme court decision in June upholding the requirement. Opponents then asked Bolton to block the requirement, arguing that it would lead to systematic racial profiling and unreasonably long detentions of Latinos if it's enforced. Lawyers for Arizona governor Jan Brewer urged the judge to let the requirement go into effect, saying the law's opponents were merely speculating in their racial profiling claims, that police have received training to avoid discriminatory practices and that officers must have "reasonable suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally to trigger the requirement. Less controversial sections of the law have been in effect since late July 2010, but rarely been used. Arizona's law was passed in 2010 amid voter frustration with the state's role as the busiest illegal entry point into the country. Five states Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah have adopted variations on Arizona's law. Brewer's office says the law is expected to go into effect shortly.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police in Tamil Nadu state say the cause of the fire, which left 60 others injured, has yet to be discovered A massive blaze raged for hours at a fireworks factory in southern India, killing at least 40 workers and injuring 60 others on Wednesday, police said. Some reports put the death toll at more than 50. Flames billowing out of the factory could be seen one mile away before firefighters extinguished the fire more than five hours after it began. Photographs taken afterwards showed the factory had burned to rubble, with fireworks littering the ground. The fire spread to 40 of the 60 rooms at the Om Siva Shakti fireworks factory, one of the biggest in Sivakasi, in Tamil Nadu state, a police officer said. The Press Trust of India news agency said about 300 people were working in the factory and 52 died. The CNN-IBN television news channel said rescue workers had completed a search of the devastated building for trapped workers. Large amounts of firecrackers and raw materials were stored in the factory with major Hindu festivals weeks away. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, the officer said. Sivakasi is about 310 miles south-west of Chennai, the state capital. The region has many factories making fireworks, which are used in religious festivals and weddings across India. They also are exported to other Asian countries.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The secret demographics unit's controversial surveillance practices turned up no leads or cases in more than six years New Jersey's attorney general has assured a group of Muslim leaders that a New York police department unit that conducted surveillance of Muslims is no longer operating in the state. A spokesman for attorney general Jeffrey Chiesa confirmed that Chiesa told a private meeting of New Jersey law enforcement officials and Muslim leaders Wednesday that the NYPD's demographics unit had ceased operating in New Jersey. The NYPD's covert surveillance program faced scrutiny after an investigation by the Associated Press beginning in August of last year detailed the extent of the operations. Following September 11, with the help of the CIA, the NYPD's counterterrorism surveillance efforts included spying on Muslim neighborhoods, infiltrating Muslim-owned businesses and cataloging mosques in the north-east. The demographics unit gathered information on people based on their language and ethnicity, though there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the individuals. Muslim college students at more than a dozen colleges in the north-east US were a particular focus of the program which would monitor Muslim students' websites on a daily basis and monitored Muslim student associations. New Jersey governor Chris Christie criticized the police department's operations in the state as did Newark mayor Cory Booker who said in February that he didn't know about the program that mapped and photographed 16 mosques in Newark and profiled several restaurants. The NYPD has defended its surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey as legal, and Chiesa has said New York police did not violate New Jersey laws. NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, who has defended the program, said Wednesday he wasn't aware of the New Jersey meeting. In late August, the police department acknowledged that the secret demographics unit did not generate a lead or case in the six years the program has been in place.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: Andy Murray beats Marin Cilic 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-0 to claim place in US Open semi-final
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rolling report: Live coverage of US Open 2012 men's singles quarter-final, Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Elizabeth Warren and Bill Clinton are highlights on the second day of the Democratic national convention in Charlotte
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Elizabeth Warren and Bill Clinton are highlights on the second day of the Democratic national convention in Charlotte
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Officials in Mauritania return Senussi to Libya six months after he slipped into their country on false passport Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi, the man thought to have orchestrated the Lockerbie bombing, was extradited to Libya from Mauritania on Wednesday amid an international legal tussle over where he should face trial. Officials in Mauritania returned Senussi to Libya six months after he slipped into their country on a false passport. Senussi arrived back in Tripoli at lunchtime. He emerged from an ambulance helicopter, seemingly relaxed and with a nervous smile, before Libyan security officials whisked him away to prison. Senussi, Gaddafi's former director of military intelligence, is one of the world's most wanted men. Libya, France and the international criminal court (ICC) are all seeking his extradition. France wants to question him in connection with the bombing of a UTA passenger plane in 1989. The ICC has indicted him for crimes against humanity during Libya's civil war last year. Britain also has a strong interest in Senussi and is likely to try to interview him in connection with the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Senussi headed Libya's external security organisation at the time and is said to have recruited Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of bombing the Pan Am 103 flight, which killed 270 people. Megrahi died at his home in Libya in May. The US also wants to arrest Senussi in connection with Lockerbie. Speaking from her home in New Jersey, Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora, 20, was one of 35 Syracuse University students killed in the bombing, said it would be "excellent" if Scottish investigators succeeded in meeting him. "I would thoroughly urge them to do so," she said. "It's vital to interview Senussi. I would hope they will be interviewing others. I think it's extremely important that we know. There may be other people [in Libya] who can be indicted and if that is the case, we need to do that." As Gaddafi's trusted confidante and brother-in-law, Senussi is now in a unique position to shed light on the secrets of the Gaddafi era. In an interview with the Guardian in May, Libya's prime minister Abdurrahim el-Keib called Senussi the ousted regime's "black box". He also said Senussi knew the identity of the killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher, shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984. "I guarantee he was almost directly or indirectly involved in most if not all of the crimes [of the former regime]," Keib said. He added: "That doesn't mean others weren't involved. But he definitely knows who they were." On Wednesday John Murray, a former police constable who was on duty with Fletcher outside the embassy, and who remembers her dying in his arms, said the UK should seek permission to interview Senussi. The case has remained open since her murder. "Senussi was one of the key players. He's got all the answers. If they [the government] were taking the Yvonne investigation seriously they would be on the plane to Libya already," he said. Foreign Office officials said the UK had already formally asked the Libyan government to facilitate any investigation into Lockerbie and the Fletcher killing. But it remains unclear what access to Senussi – if any – British detectives will be given. His extradition comes at a moment of political uncertainty for Libya, as it struggles to put in place a new transitional government following July's historic post-Gaddafi elections, the first democratic vote in the country for more than 40 years. A new prime minister may emerge next week, amid horsetrading between centrists and Islamists in the new parliament. Libyan officials hailed Senussi's arrest on Wednesday as a crucial step towards the creation of a state based on institutions and justice. But the case will deepen Libya's legal standoff with the international community. The ICC said Senussi should be handed over for trial in the Hague. It indicted him last year, along with Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam, for crimes committed against civilians. Saif was arrested by Libyan forces in November. Tripoli now says Saif will appear in court this month, likely before the ICC judges issue a decision on whether they consider Libya has a legal system robust enough to guarantee a fair trial. The issue of the death penalty – certain to be demanded by Libyan prosecutors – will prove highly contentious. Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who prosecuted the late Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague, said Libya could be heading for another political showdown with the ICC if it refuses to hand Senussi over. The ICC has already crossed swords with Libya after one of its defence lawyers, Melinda Taylor, was detained earlier this year while visiting Saif in the western mountain town of Zintan. "Libya will have to make an application to claim admissibility. It depends whether the ICC desires to have this case," Nice said. Senussi is now in custody in Tripoli's Hadbat al-Khadra prison, guarded by the ministry of justice and police. The prison houses other prominent figures from the former regime, including Gaddafi's prime minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and external intelligence chief Abuzeid Dorda. Libya's deputy prosecutor general, Taha Baara, said Senussi would undergo routine medical tests before undergoing interrogation. Libya's provisional government wants to try him in connection with numerous human rights abuses, including the massacre of 1,200 prisoners at the Abu Salim jail in 1996, which he is said to have personally supervised. During the 2011 Libyan civil war, he was blamed for orchestrating killings in the city of Benghazi and recruiting foreign mercenaries. Senussi was married to Gaddafi's sister-in-law. Leaked US diplomatic cables describe him as a trusted "senior regime figure" "who had played a role as minder of the more troublesome Gaddafi offspring". They add: "Sanussi … is usually in physical proximity to the tent in which Gaddafi holds meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries and, according to members of Gaddafi's protocol office, personally oversees Gaddafi's close protection detail."Senussi reportedly fled Tripoli as it fell to the rebels in August 2011, going first to Sirte and then heading southwards, home to his Megarha tribe before going to ground in Ghat. In October, when Gaddafi was killed, he crossed into Niger with a Tuareg escort. In November, according to reports, he was first in Mali then Mauritania and finally Morocco. Senussi arrived in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott from Casablanca on a scheduled Royal Air Maroc flight on 16 March. Mauritania said he was identified in a routine passport check but Arab sources claim French intelligence was involved in the operation. The Moroccan magazine Telquel reported that he had been under surveillance for some time by Moroccan security services. Additional reporting by Chris Stephen
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US publishing company blames 'legacy obligations' for keeping costs high amid declining print circulation and revenue Local news firm Journal Register Company, championed by some of the biggest names in new media as it made the shift to digital, has filed for bankruptcy for the second time in three years. The firm, which serves 992 communities across the US and owns titles including the New Haven Register and Michigan's Oakland Press, blamed falling revenue and said the move would allow it to cut "legacy obligations" including pensions and leases. Raising speculation that the plan was designed as a manoeuvre to shed its debt swiftly, the JRC said it planned to sell itself to a firm linked to its current venture capital investor, Alden Global Capital. The development left the company's thousands of JRC employees, who have endured a speedy transition from legacy print businesses, with questions about their pensions. A Q&A issued by the company said staff could be reassured about their jobs and salaries but made no mention of pensions. In a letter to staff titled Another Tough Step, John Paton, chief executive of parent company Digital First Media, said digital revenues were growing fast but were not enough to keep up with declining print revenues. He said the money made from print made up more than half of the of the company's revenues. "From 2009 through 2011, digital revenue grew 235% and digital audience more than doubled at Journal Register Company. So far this year, digital revenue is up 32.5%. Expenses by year's end will be down more than 9.7% compared to 2009," he wrote. However , more than the overall newspaper industry's decline of 17% over the same time period, as measured by the Newspaper Association of America. Both print circulation and circulation revenue also declined over the same time period, said Paton. Paton has championed a "digital first, print last" philosophy at the Journal Register. Its board included new media luminaries including Emily Bell, director of the Tow center for digital journalism at Columbia University; Jeff Jarvis, media critic and director of the Tow-Knight center for entrepreneurial journalism at Cuny; and Jay Rosen, professor of journalism at New York University. Last year the company launched "project thunderdrome" – an attempt at "engaging audience and creating content across all platforms and geographies". Jim Brady, former executive editor of The Washington Post's website and founder and general manager of TBD, a short-lived Washington-based local news site, was hired to oversee the project. Paton said the company could no longer afford "legacy obligations incurred in the past". "Many of those obligations, such as leases, were entered into in the past when revenues, at their peak, were nearly twice as big as they are today and are no longer sustainable. Revenues in 2005 were about two times bigger than projected 2012 revenues. Defined benefit pension underfunding liabilities have grown 52% since 2009," he wrote. "And while I get this news may make some of you nervous, don't let it. Concentrate on the job at hand and we will work through this. This really is the right decision for Journal Register Company," Paton wrote.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Aid group is accused of being used as cover for US spies while they were hunting for Osama bin Laden Pakistan has given foreigners working for Save the Children a week to leave the country after becoming convinced that the aid organisation was used as cover by US spies hunting Osama bin Laden. The aid group had been under suspicion from authorities ever since a doctor accused of assisting the CIA in its search for the al-Qaida leader claimed that Save the Children had introduced him to US intelligence officers. But now Pakistani officials claim they have "concrete proof" backing up the story of Shakil Afridi, the doctor from the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan who confessed to the ISI, the country's military spy agency, after being arrested last year. Although Save the Children and the US government have always denied any relationship between the CIA and the aid organisation, Pakistani officials say they are fully justified in expelling the few foreign staff still working in the country. According to a foreign diplomat the six foreigners will have to leave by next Wednesday. A Pakistani intelligence official said evidence had been found showing "spies" at the NGO had "engaged" Afridi, who is currently serving a 33 year jail term. "Pakistan carried out a thorough investigation involving all our leading agencies," he said. "It was one of the longest investigations in our history. It is a very serious matter and the foreign staff were asked to leave only after concrete proof was uncovered." Afridi is accused of setting up a bogus hepatitis B vaccination campaign in the Abbottabad area to try to pinpoint Bin Laden's exact location. Pakistani officials say blood samples, which it had been hoped would be collected from people living in the house where the terrorist leader was thought to be hiding, were to be tested by the CIA for genetic matches to Bin Laden. Although Afridi never succeeded in persuading the occupants of the crowded building to give blood, his collaboration with a foreign intelligence service is regarded as an act of treason by Pakistan's security establishment. Foreigners working in the country, including diplomats and aid workers, have been under intense suspicion ever since. Embassies and aid groups have complained of harassment, tight restrictions on the movement of their staff and acute difficulty obtaining visas. The expulsions come despite lobbying by western diplomats on behalf of a respected organisation which has been working in impoverished areas of the country for decades, including during the devastating 2010 floods when it assisted more than 3 million people. Save the Children said on Wednesday it had "never knowingly employed anyone who works for the CIA, or any other security service". "Dr Afridi was never employed by Save the Children, nor was he ever paid for any kind of work. We have never run a vaccination programme in Abbottabad," it said in a statement. "Save the Children is a global organisation and has a zero-tolerance policy for people involved in work that is not humanitarian and does not benefit children and their families. We reiterate our offer to the Pakistani authorities to examine our country office financial records and interview any of our staff concerned with our operation there." Save the Children recently restructured itself, merging previously autonomous branches run from the US, the UK and Sweden. The new organisation has been in protracted negotiations with the government about its future, with Pakistan so far refusing to sign an agreement formalising Save the Children's operations in the country. The organisation said that only six of its 2,000 staff in Pakistan are foreign nationals and that it would "continue our daily work helping millions of children across Pakistan". The CIA imposes some restrictions on itself over what cover its agents can use in the field. It is not known whether limits are placed on the use of foreign NGOs. Members of the foreign aid community fear the claim that a leading NGO became entangled – even unwittingly – in the activities of the CIA could endanger staff and affect operations around the world. Critics say the widely publicised story has already affected efforts to encourage parents to vaccinate their children against polio, the devastating leg withering disease that Pakistan is struggling to eradicate. Many Pakistanis were already deeply suspicious of outside doctors coming to their areas even before Afridi, who used to run anti-polio campaigns, became publicly associated with the CIA. Calls and text messages to officials at the interior ministry went unanswered on Wednesday.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Attack, which comes at the end of a bitterly divisive election campaign fought on cultural and language issues, stuns Canada Police in Quebec were on Wednesday investigating the motives behind a gun attack on the victory party of Quebec's first female prime minister, which left one man dead and another critically wounded hours after voters in the Canadian province elected a minority separatist government. Canadian politicians condemned the attack, which stunned the province and came at the end of a bitterly divisive election campaign. Pauline Marois, leader of the Parti Quebecois, was minutes in to her victory speech at a party in Montreal on Tuesday night when the gunman opened fire, killing a 45-year-old-man. Two bodyguards bundled Marois off stage when gunfire rattled out. The man, who was wearing a blue bathrobe and a balaclava, was tackled to the ground by police outside the concert hall after he had started a small fire. As he was being arrested, the man allegedly shouted out, repeating twice in French: "The anglophones are waking up." Montreal police identified the gunman as Richard Henry Bain, 62, from Mont Tremblant, a small town in the Laurentian mountains about 80 miles north-west of Montreal. It was not clear whether the suspect was an English or a French speaker – an important detail after a bitter election campaign fought on cultural and language issues. Marois came back on stage to give a final thank-you to her jubilant supporters before urging them to calmly evacuate the concert hall.
Lieutenant Guy Lapointe of the Quebec provincial police told AP that the suspect was taken to a hospital during the interrogation on Wednesday, but that his life was not in danger. "We can't establish at this point what the motive or intent was. Was he targeting Madame Marois? I'll tell you a lot of things were said by this individual after they arrested him, in French and English," Lapointe said. Before the dramatic interruption to her speech, Marois reaffirmed her party's commitment an independent Quebec. Speaking in French, she said: "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 highlighted the French language as essential to the future of the province, then addressed the anglophone people of Quebec in English, promising to protect them and to forge a shared future together. The PQ is likely to form a minority government after winning fewer seats than required to take power outright, and on a slightly reduced share of the popular vote, just 32%. Preliminary results showed the PQ won 56 of the 125 seats in the provincial legislature, ending nine years of rule by the Liberals. The result leaves questions over whether the PQ will be able to hold its promised referendum on splitting from Canada. It will need the support of another party to form an administration, which is likely to be one of the weakest in the country. The issue of Quebec's sovereignty is contentious in the French-speaking province and the election of the PQ only to minority government may indicate Quebecoise are not ready to face a third referendum. Two previous votes, in 1980 and 1995, were defeated. But Marois may try to press ahead with other proposals, such as expanding Quebec's language Law 101, which prevents francophones and immigrants from attending English-speaking junior colleges. Marois has proposed legislation that would prevent non-French speakers from running for office, and has suggested a secularism charter banning public service employees from wearing overtly religious symbols, like the Jewish yarmulke and the Muslim hijab. 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 for the PQ, 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. 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." Marois issued a statement Wednesday expressing her sadness at the death of the man shot and saying that her thoughts were with the victim's family. "Following this tragedy all Quebecois are mourning today after such a gratuitous act of violence," she said. "Never will a society such as ours let violence dictate its collective choices. It is with democracy that we must express ourselves, like people of Quebec were able to do yesterday." The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, said he was "angered and saddened" by the shooting. "It is a tragic day where an exercise of democracy is met with an act of violence," Harper said. "This atrocious act will not be tolerated and such violence has no place in Canada. Canadians can rest assured that the perpetrator of last night's events will face the full force of the law," said Harper."
The Montreal French-language TV station TVA reported that a man by alerted police about possibility of an attack but claimed not to have been taken seriously. Stephen Guy Sévigny said he was invited to the victory speech on Facebook by a man whose page was covered with photos of guns and slanderous comments about Marois. He immediately told police "but they did not take me seriously" said Sévigny. Sévigny said he was too afraid to attend the victory speech, certain there would be an attack. "I spent the night crying and vomiting," he told TVA. Police said there was no evidence yet to show that the threats were linked to the attack.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tensions run high as thousands of strikers gather in streets of South African town where police killed 34 More than 3,000 striking South African miners marched through the streets of Marikana on Wednesday, threatening to kill colleagues who continued working and to burn down a Lonnmin mine shaft. It was the biggest protest since last month's police massacre which claimed 34 lives, the bloodiest incident involving security forces since the end of racial apartheid in 1994. Tensions ran high as the workers, waving sticks, knobkerries and tree branches and easily outnumbering police, marched on the Karee mine and vowed to bring Lonmin to its knees. The striking miners gave working colleagues a deadline of 1pm to leave Karee mine or face deadly retribution. "After one we don't want to see anybody in the shaft," said one striker who refused to give his name. "Those who come to work tomorrow we will kill them." Another man shouted: "There will be more blood if we do not get 12,500 rand." Following an intervention by two Methodist ministers, a delegation of seven workers were led past armoured police cars and a water cannon truck to the Karee mine. The group – all black – conversed through a barbed wire gate with mine managers and security guards – all but one of them white. After the brief meeting, one of the workers, Samkele Mpapani, 36, said: "We told the management to please close the shaft by 1pm. I don't want more guys to die. This shaft has not been listening to the employees." Jan Thirion, a senior manager at the shaft, claimed the men had threatened to kill everyone there. "The delegation from the strikers told me that if I didn't get all the workers out of the shaft by 1pm they would burn down the shaft," he said. "We want to talk peace; they want to talk war. "I pleaded with them to come back to work. Let us sign the peace accord that's being worked on now because it's not to anybody's advantage to do what they're doing." The strike was setting a dangerous precedent, Thirion added. "It's like putting a gun at someone's head, saying, 'Pay us first, then we'll come back to work.' From here on, if you say that, you might as well close all South Africa's mines." A line of police armoured personnel carriers stood between the green-roofed Karee mine complex and the throng of singing, dancing strikers and their supporters. Riot police armed with teargas and assault rifles kept watch while police helicopters hovered overhead. One man at the front of the column waved a placard that said: "We want 12,500 or nothing else," a reference to the group's demand for a hike in base pay to 12,500 rand (£935) a month, more than double their current basic salary. Some waved a photograph of a young man they named as Noki Mgcineni, who was killed in the police massacre. Xolani Mzuzu, a striking miner, said: "We consider him a hero, like Chris Hani," – a reference to a murdered leader of the anti-apartheid struggle. The marchers retreated after a two-hour standoff and proceeded through the town of Marikana, watched by shopkeepers, schoolchildren and other curious onlookers. There was no violence. Demonstrators interviewed by the Guardian insisted the dispute was not about politics or union rivalry but simply pay. Noima Jack, 29, said: "Lonmin is undermining the workers. They say they are transparent and respect the workers but they do neither." The strike by rock drill operators and other miners is now in its fourth week and is threatening to cripple London-based Lonmin. Only 4.2% of its shift workers reported for duty on Wednesday. Lonmin has warned that the strike could cost 40,000 jobs if it continues. Both Marikana and Karee, about 80 miles north-west of Johannesburg, have been closed since thousands of rock drillers went on a wildcat strike and protest nearly four weeks ago that led to the 16 August police crackdown. Marikana accounts for the vast majority of the platinum output of Lonmin, which itself accounts for 12% of global supply of the precious metal used in jewellery and vehicle catalytic converters. The strike has raised fears that the labour unrest which has hit the platinum belt this year could spread to the gold sector. South Africa is home to 80% of known platinum reserves and is the world's fourth-largest gold producer. Talks between Lonmin management, unions and the government to ease tensions and get the striking miners back resumed in the nearby city of Rustenburg. About 50 miners charged with murder after the tragedy were freed on Monday. Around another 220 still in police custody are expected to be released on Thursday.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Officials report weathered oil in areas struck by the hurricane that also were badly damaged after the Deepwater Horizon spill Louisiana is investigating whether tar balls deposited on Gulf of Mexico beaches by Hurricane Isaac were relics of the 2010 BP oil disaster. Government agencies and environmental groups this week reported weathered oil in areas which took the brunt of last week's hurricane – and which were also heavily damaged by the 4.9m barrel gusher from BP's leaking oil well. "I'd say there is a smoking gun," Garrett Graves, the coastal adviser to Louisiana's governor Bobby Jindal, told news organisations. "It's an area that experienced heavy oiling during the spill." State officials shut down commercial fishing and all shrimping in a 13-mile stretch from Port Fourchon to Caminada Pass, after observing tar mats and high concentration of tar balls on beaches. The Gulf Restoration Network, which has been touring the aftermath of Isaac by air and boat this week, said crew had reported 109 dead pelican in the wake of the storm and oil in a number of locations on the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. "We saw a fair amount of oil sheen and fresh tar balls at Ship Island, one of the Mississippi barrier islands," said Aaron Viles, a spokesman for the coalition of environmental groups. "The storm really delivered a shock to the ecosystem, and we are seeing BP oil showing up again and we are seeing, unfortunately, real impacts to an ecosystem still struggling to recover." The Gulf network had repeatedly warned that powerful storms risked dredging up oil that had been purposely sunk to the ocean floor, by the use of chemical dispersants in the wake of the BP oil spill. "When a storm system comes through it re-exposes oil that has settled to the bottom or was buried under sediment, and that newly re-exposed oil is showing up in places that had a lot of oil during the BP spill," Viles said. The oil company said the high number of offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico made it impossible to tie the tar mats to the runaway BP well without comprehensive testing. The US coastguard is investigating about 90 reported cases of oil and chemical leaks following Isaac, including suspected leaks from offshore platforms and a vacated storage terminal at Myrtle Grove. Environmental groups have warned of damage to wetlands and a citrus grove from an oil spill from a Conoco Phillips refinery in Plaquemines Parish, which took a battering in Isaac. There was also a chemical release in Braithwaite, where two people were killed in flooding. The coastguard has sent oil samples to it lab in Connecticut for testing, officials said. BP said in its statement that it would be "premature" to draw any conclusions about the sources of the oil before tests came back. "It is important to fingerprint the residual oil to determine its origin. If any of it is connected to the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP stands ready to remove it," the oil company said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Wang Lijun accused of 'bending the law for selfish ends', bribe-taking – and abuse of power over alleged 'reconnaissance' A Chinese police chief will go on trial accused of bribery, defection and abuse of power, including allegedly covering up a murder by the wife of his boss, Bo Xilai, state media have announced. The charges against Wang Lijun are a further blow to Bo, the ousted party secretary of south-western Chongqing, whose wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted last month of killing the British businessman Neil Heywood. Indicting the politician's former ally not just for his flight to a US consulate but for offences related to his duties as deputy mayor and police chief raises obvious questions about Bo's own behaviour, analysts said. Bo, once tipped for promotion in this autumn's once-a-decade party congress, has not been seen since March when officials announced he was under investigation for unspecified disciplinary offences, and the statement on Wang did not mention him. Many experts on Chinese politics believe the party would rather use internal mechanisms to deal with Bo to avoid further embarrassment, but the odds of the politician being tried in court appear to have shortened given the nature of the charges laid against his subordinate. Wang, who spearheaded Bo's populist crackdown on organised crime, set off the storm that toppled Bo when he fled to the US consulate in Chengdu in February, telling diplomats there that he believed Gu had murdered Heywood. Gu received a suspended death sentence, which will be commuted to life imprisonment if she commits no further crimes in the next two years in jail. The state news agency Xinhua reported that prosecutors had charged Wang with "bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking", and had said the evidence was "concrete and abundant". "Although [he] had known beforehand that Bogu Kailai was under serious suspicion of murdering Neil Heywood, he consciously neglected his duty and bent the law for personal gain so that Bogu Kailai would not be held legally responsible. Wang was indicted for the crime of bending the law for personal gain," the prosecutors reportedly said. Xinhua said the prosecutors alleged that Wang had accepted "massive bribes" and had "illegally used technical reconnaissance measures, either without the approval of authorities or by forging approval documents". The latter charge is particularly intriguing given claims that Chongqing officials wiretapped the calls of senior leaders visiting the city, including a call made to the president. "This is very bad news for Bo Xilai," said Cheng Li, an expert on elite politics at the Brookings Institute. "Despite the fact that Gu's case has been closed they can still try other people in relation to that." Steve Tsang, of Nottingham University, said: "Clearly it is aimed at Bo. If all they wanted was to hush it up and not do much, they would make it a matter of defection and not raise these other issues. Wang couldn't have done all those things without his boss knowing – that's blatantly obvious." Wang will be tried by the Chengdu intermediate people's court, Xinhua reported. No date was given and it did not say when he was indicted. In theory, courts should reach a verdict on a case within a month of charges being laid. Experts said various exemptions meant trials could take longer, but predicted that authorities would want the case concluded before the party congress in Beijing, expected in mid-October. Tsang suggested that the charges against Wang, given their implications for Bo's case, were a sign that the president, Hu Jintao, was fighting back before the congress. At the weekend his close ally Ling Jihua moved posts, reportedly after a fatal crash involving his son. "We have seen in the last two weeks or so Hu Jintao's people being pushed on to the defensive. It would be surprising if they just took that," he said. News of Wang's indictment came a day after Chinese media reported that his former deputy Tang Jianhua had been arrested last month on bribery allegations. Tang was once hailed as a hero for his role in the "strike black" campaign against gangs and the officials who shielded them, which won national renown for Bo and Wang, although critics said abuses such as forced confessions were rife in the crackdown.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Nite Moves in Albany contests tax bill of $124,000 and claims to be a 'place of amusement featuring dramatic performances' A suburban strip club in upstate New York was to go to court on Wednesday to argue that exotic dances are "art" and should be exempt from state tax. In a 2005 audit, the state taxation agency determined that Nite Moves strip club in Albany – which claims to be the only club in New York's state capital to have fully nude private dancers – did not pay proper sales tax. The state department of taxation and finance billed Nite Moves more than $124,000. Nite Moves offers traditional table side dances and dances in private rooms that are performed completely in the nude. Auditors say that the club owes taxes on club admission and on the private dances, which guests must pay an additional charge for. The strip club contested the assessment, arguing that it is "a place of amusement featuring dramatic or musical arts performances." In the petitioner's brief (pdf), Nite Moves' lawyer W Andrew McCullough presented DVDs of YouTube clips dancers use for training and videos of performances from the club as evidence that the routines are choreographed and are therefore considered art. The brief also says some of the dancers have trained in ballet, jazz and gymnastics. To further attempt to prove that Nite Moves is comparable to a theater, the brief explains that the venue has dressing rooms, a master of ceremonies, ushers and waiting staff. Wednesday's oral arguments will also feature testimony from a cultural anthropologist who has visited the strip club and has studied exotic dancing. Unlike most strip clubs, Nite Moves does not sell alcoholic drinks, so the standards for tax-exempt status are different. According to AP, a judge in administrative court initially ruled in favor of Nite Moves and said: "The fact that the dancers remove all or part of their costume … simply does not render such dance routines as something less than choreographed performances." New York's tax appeals tribunal opposed this ruling and said the club did not provide sufficient proof of exemption. The tribunal's ruling was upheld in appellate court: "In our view, there can be no serious question that – at a bare minimum – petitioner failed to meet its burden of establishing that the private dances offered at its club were choreographed performances." New York's highest court – the court of appeals – agreed to hear the case last year. The court usually takes a month to reach a decision.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GOP attacks decision to move speech from football stadium as president arrives in Charlotte ahead of Bill Clinton address Barack Obama's acceptance address to the Democratic national convention on Thursday night, designed to kickstart his bid for a second term in the White House, has been moved indoors from a football stadium, ostensibly over fears that thunderstorms and heavy rain would drown out his oratory. The speech and rally — the highlight of this week's events in Charlotte — was meant to take place at the 73,000-seater Bank of America stadium, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Although there were storms and torrential rain on the first two days of the convention, Democratic officials had insisted the event would go ahead as planned, "rain or shine". But on Wednesday they announced that it would now be held at the nearby Time Warner Cable arena, which has a capacity of just 20,000, causing a logistical nightmare for Democratic organisers and handing Republican critics with a ready-made attack. Conservatives have been sniping all week that Obama would be unable to fill the 73,000 seats in the stadium – a claim that the Obama campaign has consistently denied. In a statement, Steve Kerrigan, chief executive of the DNC organising commitee, said: "The energy and enthusiasm for our convention in Charlotte has been overwhelming, and we share the disappointment of over 65,000 people who signed up for community credentials to be there with the president in person. "We encourage our community credential holders and Americans across the country to continue to come together with their friends and neighbors to watch and participate in history. The president will speak to these credential holders on a national conference call tomorrow afternoon, and we will work with the campaign to ensure that those unable to attend tomorrow's event will be invited to see the president between now and election day." Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican national committee, questioned the claim that the weather was behind the decision. "After promising to speak at Bank of America stadium rain or shine, Team Obama is moving inside. Troubles filling the seats?" he wrote on Twitter. Meteorologists were also sceptical, pointing out the chance of thunderstorms on Thursday evening was relatively low and not unusual for the region. Obama arrives in Charlotte on Wednesday before a keynote speech by Bill Clinton, a man with whom the president has had strained relations in the past but to whom Obama now looks for vital sustenance. Clinton will take the stage amid Democrats' hopes that some of his enduring popularity and the glow of economic prosperity over which he presided will rub off on his successor as Obama fights to stay in the Oval Office. He will make his seventh consecutive address to the DNC, sealing his standing as the pre-eminent Democratic politician of modern times. Clinton has been asked by Obama to place his name in nomination – the first former president to have the honour. Much will be riding on the occasion. Obama, weighed down by a flat-lining economy and a personal favourability rating that in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll is the lowest of any incumbent since the 1980s, needs a boost from some of Clinton's enviably high approval rating of 66%. Clinton's overall record of balanced budgets and relative economic well-being while in office – not to mention his comfortable 1996 re-election with a nine-point lead over Bob Dole – are seen as valuable weapons in Obama's bid to persuade the American electorate to give him a second chance. Michelle Obama paved the way for Clinton by making an impassioned case for that second chance on the opening night of the convention on Tuesday. In a speech that mentioned Mitt Romney not even once, yet still managed between the lines to portray the Republican challenger as privileged and heartless, the first lady delighted the Democratic crowd. She called herself the "mom-in-chief", and her husband a "man you can trust". "He reminds me that we are playing a long game here, and that change is hard, and change is slow and it never happens all at once." Speaking at at black caucus meeting on Wednesday, the first lady issued a strong warning about the potentially dangerous impact of cash-rich individuals and groups in dictating the election outcome. Obama told the raucous crowd of a few hundred that there was more at stake in this election than just the candidates. The bigger issue – one that could determine the shape of American democracy for decades to come – was the role of the Super Pacs, she said. She said: "We need to step back and ask ourselves: 'Do we want to give a few individuals a far bigger say in our democracy than anyone else?' Do we want our elections to be about who buys the most ads on TV? Do we want our kids and grandkids to walk away from the action feeling like ordinary hardworking voices can no longer be heard in this country, or are we going to show our kids that here in America we all have an equal voice in the voting booth, and we all have a say in this country's future?" Conservative Super Pacs have raised much bigger sums than their Democratic equivalents, and threaten to outspend Barack Obama two-to-one in support of Mitt Romney. Other headline speeches on Wednesday include Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law school professor who is locked in a tough battle to take the Massachusetts senate seat from Republican Scott Brown, and Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles who is chair of the convention. Bill Clinton's address adds another page to the on-going story of his own extraordinary political career, as well as the at times troubled relationship he has had with Obama. During the 2008 primary race between Obama and Hillary Clinton, Bill attacked Obama's bid for the White House as "the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen". The top billing Bill Clinton has been granted this year has also fueled speculation around his own wife. Hillary has indicated that she would not serve in a second Obama administration, prompting rumours that she has her eye on 2016.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Residents protest as city chops down trees to make way for giant shuttle as it rumbles through LA on way to Exposition Park It was billed as a triumphant parade for a big chunk of history, but the space shuttle Endeavour's procession through Los Angeles has come with a catch: the city must chop down 400 trees. Authorities have started felling some much-loved trees to let Nasa's pride and joy rumble from LAX through streets and boulevards to its final home at the California Science Center. Some residents have protested against the sacrifice of pines, myrtles and magnolias and other species lining the 12-mile route, saying it's a high price for a two-day parade dubbed "mission 26", following the shuttle's 25 missions orbiting Earth. "It's unacceptable to cut down oxygen-giving species just to let something pass by," Johnnie Raines, a board member of the west area neighbourhood council, told the Guardian. "I would love to see the shuttle housed here but I don't think we should lose trees that are 40, 60 years old." Authorities have promised to plant double the number of trees cut down, but Raines, 66, was not appeased. "They are going to be saplings and I don't have another 50 years to wait for them to become trees. It would be fantastic to have the shuttle housed here but the method of getting it here is wrong." The row has soured otherwise enthusiastic anticipation of the shuttle's arrival. Endeavour, built after the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, helped restore US confidence in manned space flight. It circled the earth more than 4,600 times and helped repair the Hubble telescope, among other missions. With the shuttle programme now discontinued, a Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft is due to carry Endeavour from Nasa's Kennedy space center in Florida to LAX at the end of this month. Once transferred to a special truck it is scheduled to wind through southern Los Angeles and Inglewood on October 12 and 13 to its final resting place. "This will be the first, last and only time a space shuttle will travel through urban, public city streets. It is truly a national treasure!" said the California Science Center's website. Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, said the "mother of all parades" would give it a huge welcome. "Los Angeles is a world-class city that deserves an out of this world attraction like the Endeavour," he said in a statement last month. "We welcome the shuttle with open arms." Dismantling and moving it in segments was ruled out because it would have damaged fragile tiles which act as heat sensor. It was too heavy to be helicoptered and lowered into place, leaving authorities to decide how best to navigate its through the city. Five storeys tall, it would not fit under highway overpasses, creating the dilemma of how to fit a 78ft wingspan through boulevards and residential streets. Trees in Inglewood, which will lose about 128 trees, are already being cut down. The Crenshaw area of Los Angeles, estimated to lose 265, is next, though Raines said he hoped a call for an environmental impact report may avert the felling. Inglewood officials welcomed the cutting as an opportunity to rid the city of inappropriate tree species, repair sidewalks and start anew with landscape funding from the the California Science Center. "The move of the shuttle allows the city to be a part of this national endeavor," Sabrina Barnes, Inglewood's director of parks, recreations and library services, told the LA Times. "And gives the chance to address problematic trees that have eroded the landscape."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Game of Thrones and Mad Men won't return until next year. Your consolation prize is US network TV's latest attempt at relevance. Here's what to DVR and what to miss Let's face it: summer is over. While you're packing away the barbecue and pool floaties, the croquet set and the lawn chairs there is one consolation: at least there will be something good on TV. Well, there is about to be a lot on TV. After Labor Day the five major US networks (if you count the CW) start rolling out the premieres of their new shows. It's happening even earlier than usual this year since NBC is jumping the gun hoping to capitalize on all those damn promos during the London Olympics earlier in August. (Remember when they thought it was a good idea to break into the Closing Ceremonies with an episode of Animal Practice. Yeah, not cute.) As a result, the CW is holding off their shows until early October and the other three are fighting it out mostly on the week that starts September 23. Here are some of the best and the worst for the new fall season, don't let yourself or your DVR get overwhelmed. HitsNashville (ABC, Wednesday, October 10, 10pm) If you like your dramas big and soapy with plenty of dishy diva antics, then this is going to be your jam. And there's plenty of music, of the country variety. This is like Glee for grown ups! We meet Rayna James (Connie Britton) a flailing country star and Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) the young Eve Harrington insistent on dethroning her. Some of the nonsense about Rayna's scheming rich father may go nowhere fast, but this is a fun and tawdry hour with some good tunes. Elementary (CBS, Thursday, September 27, 10pm) This is for all you Sherlock fans out there. Jonny Lee Miller takes on the role of a young, quirky crime solver who uses his keen power of observation and the always amazing Lucy Liu is the skeptical task master forced with keeping him on the straight and narrow. No one does a smart procedural like CBS (home of the still amazing The Good Wife) and this should run strong well into syndication. The New Normal and Partners (NBC, Tuesday, September 11, 9.30pm and CBS, Monday, September 24, 8.30pm) These shows sound very similar in that they both focus on gay relationships but they couldn't be more different and that is what makes both of them worth checking out. The New Normal is a quirky single-camera comedy (you know, the ones with no laugh tracks) about a gay couple having a surrogate baby. Partners is more traditional (laugh track, three cameras) about two best friends and business partners, one gay and one straight, and how they make their romantic lives work. Finally there is a gay sitcom for the young, hip crowd and one that's more mainstream. The biggest difference is that Normal creator Ryan Murphy has a hard time sustaining his brilliance (look at what he did to Glee) whereas Partners creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan can keep a comedy going for ages (Will & Grace is still in syndication, people). The Mindy Project (Fox, Tuesday, September 25, 9.30pm) OK, the pilot for this show (which is currently available for free on Hulu) isn't perfect, but at least it's not as bad as the horrible title. We meet Mindy, a somewhat messy OB/GYN in her 30s who is trying to find love despite some obvious character flaws. The set up seems really obvious and we can already tell who her supposed gruff love interest is going to be, but there are some solid jokes. That's the same thing I said about The New Girl last season, and that matured into one of the best comedies on TV, so I'm having some faith in creator and The Office vet Mindy Kaling to hit her stride and deliver a hit. Revolution (NBC, Monday, September 17, at 10pm) There are a few shows this year trying to be the elusive next Lost and this is the one that comes the closest. 15 years after the world mysteriously lost all power, America has scattered into low-fi villages and controlled by regional warlords. The one man who may know how to turn the power back on just got killed and his daughter and brother are on a quest to turn the lights back on. The pilot is a little jaunty (but there is a lot of exposition to put in place) but if this can smooth itself out and develop some great characters (Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito plays another stand out villain) then it might finally capture the sci-fi crown. Misses:Chicago Fire (NBC, Wednesday, October 10, at 10pm) There is nothing new, original, or exciting on this drama about the inner works of, you guessed it, a Chicago fire house. There are plenty of hot shirtless fire fighters though, but if that's really your bag, you're better off staring at one of those beefcake calendars. Last Resort (ABC, Thursday, September 27, at 8pm) This is the big next Lost failure. A nuclear sub disobeys orders to launch its missiles at Pakistan and instead takes over an inhabited island and declares itself a sovereign nation with nuclear capabilities. Yes, we don't understand it either. The one success of this show is it seems to be the only thing that will unite anti-government nuts and conspiracy theorists on both the far left and the far right.
Malibu Country (ABC, Friday, November 2, at 8.30pm) ABC doubles down on the country music programming, except this one is a total flop. We've already seen Reba McIntyre play a country singer named Reba on television, why do we need to see it again, especially with jokes as groan worthy as these? Watch, this thing will probably turn into the new, unstoppable Two and a Half Men. Guys with Kids (NBC, Tuesday, September 12, at 10pm) The continued insistence that men can't figure out how to raise children complete baffles me, as does this stale show produced by late night funnyman Jimmy Fallon. Anthony Anderson, Jesse Bradford, and Zach Cregger are all guys who can't change a diaper, which sucks because they have no ladies in their lives. It's like Three Men and Three Babies, but that doesn't mean it's three times as funny. The Mob Doctor (Fox, Monday, September 17, at 9pm) It seems like all TV shows are about doctors, lawyers, cops, or mobsters. That doesn't mean by combining two of those that you can make a better show. A sexy lady doctor (Jordana Spiro) gets involved with the mafia because her family owes them a debt. This sounds more like a Lifetime movie than a series, but here it is. The Mob Doctor. Behold it and despair. Brian Moylan writes about television for Hollywood.com
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Department of Justice comments underline the US government's determination to prove BP responsible for 'corporate recklessness' over the Deepwater Horizon disaster The Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a withering attack on BP underlining the US government's determination to prove the British oil group responsible for gross negligence and "corporate recklessness" over the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Shares in BP plunged 3% to 423.25p in early trading and there was renewed calls by financial analysts for the business to be broken up into smaller parts in a bid to extract more value from it. Legal specialists have indicated that a successful gross negligence charge would leave BP facing penalties under the local Clean Water Act of over $20bn (£12bn), on top of a $7.8bn proposed settlement with fishermen and others. The DoJ remarks, contained in a New Orleans federal court filing made last Friday but which have only just come to light, took investors aback because they indicate the department is determined to pin the harshest charges on the energy group. The government lawyers also condemned some arguments made by BP earlier in the case as "plainly misleading" in a DoJ filing made in reaction to a tentative settlement between the company and various private plaintiffs. "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. Yet they were condoned in a corporation engaged in an activity (deep water drilling) that no less a witness than Tony Hayward (former BP chief executive) himself described as comparable to exploring outer space," said the DoJ. There had been earlier speculation that BP was in out-of-court talks with the DoJ about a wider settlement of criminal and civil charges but the latest department filing suggest no such deal is likely before new court proceedings start early next year. BP publicly shrugged off the latest setback, arguing that the government's claims "simply illustrate that disputes about the underlying facts remain. BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January." Privately the company is believed to be shaken by some of the aggressive language used by the department which comes in the middle of a volatile presidential election campaign. In the past City analysts have suggested that BP can only raise the value of its sagging share price by being broken up into two companies, only one of which might face legal claims. This was repeated by Stuart Joyner, energy analyst at Investec Securities in London who said in a research note to clients: "We re-iterate that the best outcome for long suffering BP shareholders, and indeed the only credible route to unlock our increased SoTP (sum-of-the-parts) value of 732 pence, is a demerger of remaining assets starting with the US," said Joyner. "BP died when it failed to cap the Macondo spill in the first few days. The CEO did a good job of saving BP from forced liquidation, but we do not believe he can revert to its pre-Macondo strategy," he added. The increased anxiety over its position in the US, where it still has an enormous business, comes at a time when it is also struggling to find agreement with its Russian partners inside TNK-BP to dispose of its 50% shareholding there. That money might be needed to help pay any final bill for the Deepwater Horizon "blowout" in which 11 oil workers lost their lives and miles of beach front were damaged by the accompanying oil spill.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US and China remain at impasse over Syria and tension persists over long-running territorial wrangle in South China Sea Personal and stinging attacks in the state media heralded the US secretary of state's arrival in Beijing. "Many people in China dislike Hillary Clinton," said an editorial in the state-run Global Times. "She has brought new and extremely profound mutual distrust between the mainstream societies of the two countries." Such stringent remarks were extremely unusual on the eve of a visit by a US secretary of state, noted Shi Yinhong, an expert on the bilateral relationship. While Clinton's press conference with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi was more civil, it suggested no sign of movement on key issues. The two countries remain at an impasse over Syria and tension persists over the complicated and long-running territorial wrangle in the South China Sea, involving China and numerous other regional powers. Both sides – but particularly the US – were likely to have sought discussion on the intensifying Sino-Japanese row over the Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, added Shi, who is director of the Centre for American Studies at Renmin University. He added: "In the past, when the relationship has not been good, they have tried to improve the atmosphere. But even the appearance has not been remarkably improved, let alone the substance." Yan Xuetong, director of the Institute of International Studies at Tsinghua University, said the relationship appeared to be at its lowest point since Obama came to power. Yan said China wanted the US "to take a more constructive policy to reduce these conflicts [over the Diaoyutai and South China Sea] rather than allow them to escalate". Many in China fear Washington is seeking to contain its rival as it grows more powerful, particularly since its decision to refocus foreign policy. "The US has tried to pivot to Asia. That's a new strategy and has created some suspicions on the Chinese side," said Jin Canrong, professor of international relations at Renmin University. "Fortunately, the mainstream on the Chinese side are rather reasonable ... The result is that although the atmosphere is not good, the structure remains the same: competition and cooperation coexisting." Some fear relations could deteriorate if China becomes a high-profile issue in the US presidential race. But Chinese observers are used to candidates talking tough about Beijing during elections before reverting to a more measured stance. "Despite the bluffing on the campaign trail, from the Chinese perspective we should assume whoever becomes president of the US will have enough composure to realise the stupidity of fooling around with China-US relations, which are the most important bilateral relationship in the world," said Victor Gao, director of the China Association of International Studies and a former translator for Deng Xiaoping. "It's not a zero-sum game, like with the US and the former Soviet Union."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mario Draghi expected to announce plan to buy unlimited quantities of government debt from troubled eurozone members The euro rose on the foreign exchanges on Wednesday after the Bloomberg financial news service reported that the European Central Bank was preparing to announce plans to buy unlimited quantities of government debt from troubled members of the single currency. Quoting central bank officials, the agency said the ECB was ready to take action to bring down the interest rates on borrowing paid by countries such as Italy and Spain. Full details of the blueprint are likely to be disclosed by Mario Draghi, the ECB president, on Thursday after a meeting of the central bank's governing council. According to the Bloomberg, the ECB plans to "sterilise" its bond-buying by removing money from elsewhere in the eurozone economy such as by selling bonds or restricting the money supply. This could ease fears that action to help the weaker members of the 17-nation bloc will lead to an explosion in the money supply. The ECB is likely to concentrate on buying short-term debt – bonds that mature within three years – in the hope that it will provide breathing space until longer-term measures are in place. Germany has been critical of Draghi's plan to "do whatever it takes" to prevent a breakup of the single currency, but Bloomberg said the ECB expected the proposals to be adopted despite the misgivings of Angela Merkel and the president of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann. Some analysts have been expecting Draghi to set a target level for bond yields of eurozone countries, but this is not thought to form part of the proposal. The euro rose by half a cent after the apparent leak of the Draghi plan, although some analysts remained cautious. "I think the market saw the word 'unlimited' and jumped before realising that the ECB would not expand its balance sheet as it would sterilise all its purchases and thus this was not the kind of aggressive monetary expansion that FX traders were looking for," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York. "Net takeaway is that if this is sterilised it will probably not be enough to keep the bond vigilantes at bay. Furthermore, the backing away from any specific yield targets is exactly the lack of clarity that the FX market will not like."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Extradition of Libyan dictator's former head of military intelligence could shed fresh light on 1988 Lockerbie bombing
Mauritania said on Wednesday that it had extradited Muammar Gaddafi's infamous former spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, back to Libya, in a move that could shed fresh light on the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Government sources in Mauritania said Senussi had been sent to Tripoli "on the basis of guarantees given by the Libyan authorities". Senussi has been in custody in Mauritania since March, after slipping illegally into the country. Officials in Tripoli could not immediately confirm Senussi's extradition, also reported by Mauritanian television. But foreign ministry spokesman Saad al-Shelmani said the country's new transitional post-Gaddafi government welcomed the news. He added: "We have been asking for this move for a very long time." Senussi, Gaddafi's former director of military intelligence and brutal enforcer, is one of the world's most wanted men. Libya, France and the international criminal court had all sought his extradition, with France seeking to question him in connection with the bombing of a French UTA passenger plane in 1989. The ICC has indicted him for crimes against humanity in Libya. Britain also has a strong interest in Senussi and is likely to seek to interview him in connection with the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, in which 270 died. At the time Senussi headed Libya's external security organisation. He is said to have recruited Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the bombing. Megrahi died at his home in Libya in May. The US is also seeking Senussi's arrest in connection with Lockerbie. In an interview with the Guardian, Libya's prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib, said that as well as his alleged role in the Lockerbie bombing, Senussi knew the identity of the killer of PC Yvonne Fletcher, shot dead outside the Libyan embassy in 1984. "He's the black box," Keib said, adding: "I guarantee he [Senussi] was almost directly or indirectly involved in most if not all of the crimes [of the former regime]. That doesn't mean others weren't involved. But he definitely knows who they were." Senussi was married to Gaddafi's sister-in-law, and was at the Libyan dictator's side for over three decades. Leaked US diplomatic cables describe him as a trusted "senior regime figure", "who had played a role as minder of the more troublesome Gaddafi offspring". They added: "Sanussi … is usually in physical proximity to the tent in which al-Qadhafi holds meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries and, according to members of al-Qadhafi's protocol office, personally oversees al-Qadhafis' close protection detail". Libya's provisional government wants to try him in connection with numerous human rights abuses, including the massacre of 1,200 prisoners at the Abu Salim jail in 1996. During the 2011 Libyan civil war, he was blamed for orchestrating killings in the city of Benghazi and recruiting foreign mercenaries. Senussi reportedly fled Tripoli as it fell to the rebels in August 2011, going first to Sirte and then heading southwards, home to his Megarha tribe before going to ground in Ghat. In October, when Gaddafi was killed, he crossed into Niger with a Tuareg escort. In November, according to reports, he was first in Mali then Mauritania and finally Morocco. Senussi arrived in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, from Casablanca on a scheduled Royal Air Maroc flight on 16 March. Mauritania said he was identified in a routine passport check but Arab sources claim French intelligence was involved in the operation. The Moroccan magazine Telquel reported he had been under surveillance for some time by Moroccan security services. Senussi remains a man of mystery and intrigue. But one thing is certain: Libyans want to see him in the dock.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 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 man-made 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 11bn miles from the sun. Twin Voyager 2, which celebrated its launch anniversary two weeks ago, trails behind at 9bn 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 – on 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 dropped, and scientists settled for the Voyager mission. Howard McCurdy, a space policy expert at the American University in Washington, 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, he 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.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three militants reported hurt as Americans launch fourth strike in two weeks in eastern province of Hadramout Five suspected Islamist militants were killed in a US drone attack on Wednesday in Yemen's eastern province of Hadramout, a Yemeni security official said. The strike targeted a house where the suspected militants were hiding in the Wadi al-Ain area, the official said. "Five militants were dead and three were injured and managed to escape." The US, which fears the spread of militants in Yemen, has stepped up its use of attacks by unmanned aircraft this year. This is the fourth strike in two weeks in Hadramout province. Al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula is based in Yemen and has mounted operations in neighbouring Saudi Arabia as well as attempting to launch attacks against the US. On Sunday, 10 civilians including a 10-year-old girl were killed by a Yemeni government air strike that apparently had missed its target. Tribal heads met government officials in the central city of Redaa, where the attack happened, officials said. "It's been agreed that compensation will be paid to the families of the victims," said a tribal source. Islamist militants gained ground in Yemen and took control of several towns in the south during an uprising that forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in February. The army, with backing from the US, forced them out of some areas this year but they have hit back with a series of suicide bombings targeting government institutions.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi to be returned to Libya after guarantees given by Libyan authorities Mauritania has extradited Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, to Libya, according to a Mauritanian government source. "He was extradited to Libya on the basis of guarantees given by Libyan authorities," the source said on Wednesday, without giving details of the guarantees. In Tripoli, the Libyan foreign ministry spokesman, Saad al-Shelmani, said he could not confirm that Senussi's extradition had taken place but welcomed the news. "We have been asking for this move for a very long time and it will be very welcome if it is true," he said. Senussi's arrest in Mauritania in March marked the start of a three-way tug-of-war among Libya, France and the international criminal court for his extradition. One of the most feared members of Gaddafi's fallen regime, he had faced trial in Mauritania for illegally entering the country.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Civil rights group condemns Israel's refusal to allow entry to group 'begging for their lives' Israeli soldiers are refusing to allow entry to a group of about 20 Eritrean refugees trapped for six days between Egyptian land and a high steel fence that Israel has erected along its southern border. Despite high temperatures and lack of shade, the soldiers have been instructed to provide only limited quantities of water. The Israeli interior minister, Eli Yishai, said Israel "must act with a heavy hand". The country had "a very clear policy and a border fence", he told Army Radio. "We cannot let them enter." The group, which includes two women and a child, are refusing to return to Egypt. Technically, they are on Israeli territory but the recently erected fence prevents them advancing. According to Israeli media reports, one of the women was visibly pregnant, but migrants told the soldiers watching the group she had miscarried. The refugees have not been offered food since arriving at the spot in the northern stretch of the Israel-Egypt border last Thursday. Temperatures in the desert area are expected to peak at about 33C on Wednesday. In a statement, the Israeli Defence Forces said: "The area under question has a long expanse of fence that was recently built in order to prevent unauthorised infiltration into Israeli territory. On the western side of the fence, on Egypt's side, is a group of foreigners whose entrance into Israel has been prevented thanks to this fence. For humanitarian reasons, [Israeli] forces have been providing the foreigners with water." The Association for Civil Rights in Israel condemned the refusal to allow the refugees entry. "Israel has the right to build a fence, but a fence does not relieve Israel from its obligations," said Oded Feller. "When people are standing at the fence and begging for their lives, we must make sure they are not in danger, and if they are, they must be let in." Yishai told Army Radio: "Every day there are people stuck there. If there were no fence, and if we weren't steadfast, there would be a million people here." He conceded that it was hard to see the pictures, but added: "I am the one who has to make the difficult decision, and if I have to choose between the good of the state, its civilians and its security, [and the good of the families] I will choose that there be a fence, that they won't enter and instead return to their country." Last month, another group of refugees were trapped in similar circumstances for several days before they were admitted to Israel for humanitarian reasons, and taken to a detention centre. Israel began building the fence along its 150-mile southern border last summer and it is due to be completed by the end of this year. According to the Population and Immigration Authority, the number of migrants entering Israel from Egypt fell to 200 in August, compared with 2,000 a year earlier. The presence of migrants from sub-Sahara Africa in Israel has become a volatile political and social issue over recent months. A number of buildings housing African migrants have been firebombed, and some politicians have stoked anti-migrant sentiment. One described migrants from Sudan as "a cancer in our body". The prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, said the "flood" of migrants "threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state". About 62,000 African migrants had entered Israel by May this year, according to the immigration authority. Israel's population is 7.8 million. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that hundreds of migrants trying to reach Israel were being held by traffickers in the Sinai; it said they were tortured, raped and sexually assaulted in an attempt to extort ransom payments from their families. The organisation had "received numerous reports in recent years of organised criminal groups detaining asylum seekers and migrants in Sinai for extortion before allowing them to complete the journey to Israel", it said. "The sums traffickers demanded from the migrants have increased from about $2,500 [£1,580] in 2009 to as much as $30,000 [£19,000]. The traffickers torture the migrants and beat them while they plead with relatives abroad by phone for money to meet their captors' demands. Victims include children as young as 14."
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