|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Malala Yousafzai will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically, says military spokesman The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by Taliban gunmen for pushing for girls to be educated has been sent to the UK for medical treatment, a military spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman said in a statement that 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, whose shooting has drawn widespread condemnation from within Pakistan and abroad, will require prolonged care to recover fully physically and psychologically. The spokesman said an air ambulance transporting Malala, provided by the United Arab Emirates, had departed from Islamabad and was heading for Britain. "The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," said the spokesman in a statement. Malala has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Pakistani Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education. Pakistanis have held protests and candlelight vigils but government officials have refrained from publicly criticising the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism. Opponents of Pakistan's government and military say the shooting is another reminder of the state's failure to tackle militancy.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Supersonic skydiver breaks three world records during his descent from balloon 24 miles above the Earth's surface Standing at the edge of space above the deserts of New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner paused slightly. It was a small step away from the capsule, but a 24-mile drop back down to earth. "Our guardian angel will take care of you," said mission control, and the man known as Fearless Felix jumped. Ten heart-stopping minutes later the Austrian landed back on Earth, after reaching speeds of up to 725mph, and breaking three world records, including becoming the world's first supersonic skydiver by breaking the sound barrier at Mach 1.24. "We love you Felix," cheered the control room as his mother, Ava Baumgartner, wept. Baumgartner, who claimed the records for the highest altitude manned balloon flight and the highest altitude skydive, raised his arms in a victory salute to thank his team. He was wearing a specially designed survival suit that kept his body intact against the hugely varying pressures that marked his drop back to earth. Without it, his blood would have boiled and his lungs might have exploded. Baumgartner later told a press conference: "When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you don't think about breaking records." He admitted all he could think about was getting back alive, but added: "Sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you are."
His other two records were for the highest altitude manned balloon flight and the highest altitude skydive. After two aborted attempts last week, the mission was given the go-ahead on Sunday morning with the co-operation of the weather. Baumgartner was carried up into crystal clear skies by a gigantic balloon, that measured 30 million square cubic feet and whose skin was one-tenth the thickness of a sandwich bag. At the bottom of the balloon was a capsule, in which Baumgartner sat in his suit. As he reached the desired height, Baumgartner went through a checklist of 40 items with his mentor Joe Kittinger, the previous holder of the highest altitude manned balloon flight. There was some concern that a heater for his visor was not working, causing his visor to fog. "This is very serious, Joe," he told Kitttinger. "Sometimes it's getting foggy when I exhale. ... I do not feel heat." But they decided to go ahead, watched by a record 8 million people as the jump was streamed live on YouTube. The two-and-a-half hour journey upwards, during which the curvature of the earth became visible and the skies gradually turned black, was matched with a rather more rapid descent. Three cameras attached to Baumgartner's suit recorded his freefall of just over four minutes – which failed to break the existing freefall record for duration – and then the parachute opening. The success of the mission, and of the suit, raises the prospect that astronauts might be able to survive a high altitude disaster of the type that struck the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 by actually bailing out of their craft. Baumgartner's top medical man in the stunt was Dr Jonathan Clark, whose wife Laurel Clark died in the Columbia accident. Clark is now dedicated to improving astronauts' chances of survival in a high-altitude disaster. Baumgartner has made a name for himself with acts of daring. The former paratrooper has parachuted off buildings and mountains and once into a 600 foot deep cave. He had already done two practise freefalls in preparation for this attempt – one from 71,000 feet in March this year and a second from 97,000 feet in July. But no feat can possibly have matched his jump above the town of Roswell, a suitably chosen place famed for its connections to UFO sightings. He was chasing five different records: the first human to ever break the sound barrier in free-fall; the highest free-fall altitude jump, the highest manned balloon flight and longest free-fall and his jump platform is believed to be the largest manned balloon in history. The stunt, which was seven years in the planning and sponsored by Red Bull drinks, beat two of Kittinger's records: the retired US air force colonel previously held the high altitude and speed records for parachuting. Kittinger jumped from a balloon 19 miles above the planet in 1960. Suitably, the only voice in Baumgartner's radio earpiece guiding his ascent was that of Kittinger, now 84. Asked after the jump what he wanted to do next, Baumgartner said: "I want to inspire a generation. I'd like to be sitting in the same spot in the next four years as Joe Kittinger. There is a young guy asking me for advice because he wants to break my record." He said the most exciting moment for him had been when he was standing outside the capsule "on top of the world". To laughter, he added: "The most beautiful moment was when I was standing on the landing area and Mike Todd [the life support engineer who dressed Baumgartner in his suit] showed up and he had a smile on his face like a little kid." Baumgartner said that he had come to feel like Todd's son, adding: "He was so happy that I was alive." Earlier, Todd had told the press conference: "The world needs a hero right now, and they got one in Felix Baumgartner." To further laughter at the press conference, Kittinger said: "I would like to give a special one fingered salute to all the folk who said that he [Baumgartner] was going to come apart when he went supersonic." This will be the last jump, Baumgartner said. He has promised to settle down and enjoy his post-jump years with his girlfriend, Nicole Oetl, flying helicopters on rescue missions in the US and Austria.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Malala Yousafzai will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically, military spokesman said The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by Taliban gunmen for pushing for girls to be educated has been sent to the United Kingdom for medical treatment, a military spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman said in a statement that 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, whose shooting has drawn condemnation abroad and at home, will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically. The spokesman said an air ambulance transporting Malala, provided by the United Arab Emirates, had departed from Islamabad and was heading for the United Kingdom. "The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," said the spokesman in a statement. Malala has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Pakistani Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education. Pakistanis have held some protests and candlelight vigils but government officials have refrained from publicly criticising the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism. Opponents of Pakistan's government and military say the shooting is another reminder of the state's failure to tackle militancy.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Malala Yousafzai will require prolonged care to fully recover physically and psychologically, says military spokesman The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by Taliban gunmen for pushing for girls to be educated has been sent to the UK for medical treatment, a military spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman said in a statement that 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, whose shooting has drawn widespread condemnation from within Pakistan and abroad, will require prolonged care to recover fully physically and psychologically. The spokesman said an air ambulance transporting Malala, provided by the United Arab Emirates, had departed from Islamabad and was heading for Britain. "The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK centre which has the capability to provide integrated care to children who have sustained severe injury," said the spokesman in a statement. Malala has become a potent symbol of resistance against the Pakistani Taliban's efforts to deprive girls of an education. Pakistanis have held protests and candlelight vigils but government officials have refrained from publicly criticising the Taliban by name over the attack, in what critics say is a lack of resolve against extremism. Opponents of Pakistan's government and military say the shooting is another reminder of the state's failure to tackle militancy.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Supersonic skydiver breaks three world records during his descent from balloon 24 miles above the Earth's surface Standing at the edge of space above the deserts of New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner paused slightly. It was a small step away from the capsule, but a 24-mile drop back down to earth. "Our guardian angel will take care of you," said mission control, and the man known as Fearless Felix jumped. Ten heart-stopping minutes later the Austrian landed back on Earth, after reaching speeds of up to 725mph, and breaking three world records, including becoming the world's first supersonic skydiver by breaking the sound barrier at Mach 1.24. "We love you Felix," cheered the control room as his mother, Ava Baumgartner, wept. Baumgartner, who claimed the records for the highest altitude manned balloon flight and the highest altitude skydive, raised his arms in a victory salute to thank his team. He was wearing a specially designed survival suit that kept his body intact against the hugely varying pressures that marked his drop back to earth. Without it, his blood would have boiled and his lungs might have exploded. Baumgartner later told a press conference: "When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you don't think about breaking records." He admitted all he could think about was getting back alive, but added: "Sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you are."
His other two records were for the highest altitude manned balloon flight and the highest altitude skydive. After two aborted attempts last week, the mission was given the go-ahead on Sunday morning with the co-operation of the weather. Baumgartner was carried up into crystal clear skies by a gigantic balloon, that measured 30 million square cubic feet and whose skin was one-tenth the thickness of a sandwich bag. At the bottom of the balloon was a capsule, in which Baumgartner sat in his suit. As he reached the desired height, Baumgartner went through a checklist of 40 items with his mentor Joe Kittinger, the previous holder of the highest altitude manned balloon flight. There was some concern that a heater for his visor was not working, causing his visor to fog. "This is very serious, Joe," he told Kitttinger. "Sometimes it's getting foggy when I exhale. ... I do not feel heat." But they decided to go ahead, watched by a record 8 million people as the jump was streamed live on YouTube. The two-and-a-half hour journey upwards, during which the curvature of the earth became visible and the skies gradually turned black, was matched with a rather more rapid descent. Three cameras attached to Baumgartner's suit recorded his freefall of just over four minutes – which failed to break the existing freefall record for duration – and then the parachute opening. The success of the mission, and of the suit, raises the prospect that astronauts might be able to survive a high altitude disaster of the type that struck the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 by actually bailing out of their craft. Baumgartner's top medical man in the stunt was Dr Jonathan Clark, whose wife Laurel Clark died in the Columbia accident. Clark is now dedicated to improving astronauts' chances of survival in a high-altitude disaster. Baumgartner has made a name for himself with acts of daring. The former paratrooper has parachuted off buildings and mountains and once into a 600 foot deep cave. He had already done two practise freefalls in preparation for this attempt – one from 71,000 feet in March this year and a second from 97,000 feet in July. But no feat can possibly have matched his jump above the town of Roswell, a suitably chosen place famed for its connections to UFO sightings. He was chasing five different records: the first human to ever break the sound barrier in free-fall; the highest free-fall altitude jump, the highest manned balloon flight and longest free-fall and his jump platform is believed to be the largest manned balloon in history. The stunt, which was seven years in the planning and sponsored by Red Bull drinks, beat two of Kittinger's records: the retired US air force colonel previously held the high altitude and speed records for parachuting. Kittinger jumped from a balloon 19 miles above the planet in 1960. Suitably, the only voice in Baumgartner's radio earpiece guiding his ascent was that of Kittinger, now 84. Asked after the jump what he wanted to do next, Baumgartner said: "I want to inspire a generation. I'd like to be sitting in the same spot in the next four years as Joe Kittinger. There is young guy asking me for advice because he wants to break my record." He said the most exciting moment for him had been when he was standing outside the capsule "on top of the world". To laughter, he added: "The most beautiful moment was when I was standing on the landing area and Mike Todd [the life support engineer who dressed Baumgartner in his suit] showed up and he had a smile on his face like a little kid." Baumgartner said that he had come to feel like Todd's son, adding: "He was so happy that I was alive." Earlier, Todd, had told the press conference: "The world needs a hero right now, and they got one in Felix Baumgartner." But this will be the last jump, Baumgartner said. He has promised to settle down and enjoy his post-jump years with his girlfriend, Nicole Oetl, flying helicopters on rescue missions in the US and Austria.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fifteen people have died as a result of the rare form of meningitis as patients move to sue Massachusetts compounder The number of cases of a deadly fungal meningitis thought caused by contaminated steroid shots prepared by a pharmacy compounder in Massachusetts has risen above the 200 mark, health officials confirmed Sunday. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the 205 patients are known to have contacted the illness, up eight on the previous day. At least 15 people have died as a result of the rare form of meningitis, with 14 states now drawn in to the growing national health scare. The outbreak has been traced to batches of methylprednisolone acetate – a steroid used commonly to ease back pain – that were prepared by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) and shipped to 76 clinics in 23 states between July to September. Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) visiting the Massachusetts pharmacy compounder found a fungal contaminate in a sealed vial. They also found a "foreign material" in another, opened container. It has since emerged that the pharmacy compounder has a checkered history and has been cited in the past for health and safety violations. Questions have also been asked over the regulation of the company by state authorities. Despite NECC's documented failings, clinics from across the US were able to order close to 18,000 doses of the steroid, prompting a large scale search for all those injected after the contamination came to light. On Thursday a woman from Minnesota became the first patient to sue NECC. The class action alleges that the NECC sale of "defective and dangerously contaminated" steroid shots, that caused "bodily harm, emotional distress and other personal injuries".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Florida judge rules John Ferguson can be put to death despite US supreme court ruling barring execution of the mentally ill A Florida judge has ruled that a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who believes he is the "Prince of God" and is convinced that he will be resurrected to sit for eternity at God's right hand is sane and can put to death next week. David Glant, a judge with Florida's eighth circuit, has found that John Ferguson, 64, can be given lethal injections next Thursday despite a US supreme court injunction that prohibits executions of the insane. In his concluding remarks, the judge agrees with the prisoner's defence lawyers that Ferguson is a paranoid schizophrenic who genuinely believes he is "Prince of God". The judge accepts that the prisoner has a "long history of mental illness" and finds there is no evidence to support the prosecution contention, made over several years, that Ferguson was pretending to be mentally ill in order to avoid execution. Yet he goes on to conclude that "there is no evidence that his mental illness interferes, in any way, with his 'rational understanding' of the fact of his pending execution and the reason for it". Astoundingly, the judge goes on to say that the prisoner's "grandiose delusion" of himself as being akin to Jesus at the point of his resurrection is in fact "relatively normal Christian belief". He writes: "There is no evidence that Ferguson's belief as to his role in the world and what may happen to him in the afterlife is so significantly different from beliefs other Christians may hold so as to consider it a sign of insanity." Ferguson's legal team has appealed the ruling to the Florida supreme court and an initial hearing is likely to be held on Monday. Pending a final appeal to the US supreme court, the highest judicial panel in the land, the prisoner he will face execution by 4pm on Thursday. "This is a guy with long-standing mental health issues that stretch over four decades, with 30 different doctors having diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic, including Florida state and court-appointed doctors. And yet he is sane enough to be executed?" said Ben Lewis, one of Ferguson's defence lawyers. Ferguson was sentenced to death in 1978 for multiple murders. In July 1977, together with two other men, he was involved in the shooting of six men after breaking into a house in Carol City; the following year on his own he murdered two teenagers in Hialeah. Despite the undoubtedly harrowingly gruesome nature of his crimes, legally that should have no bearing on the current calculation as to whether he is mentally competent to be put to death. In 1986, in a case that coincidentally also arose in Florida, the supreme court ordered that under the eighth amendment of the US constitution, that bans cruel and unusual punishment, the death penalty could not be meted out to the insane. The judgment said: "Whether the aim is to protect the condemned from fear and pain without comfort of understanding, or to protect the dignity of society itself from the barbarity of exacting mindless vengeance, the restriction finds enforcement in the eighth amendment." The earliest citing of Ferguson's mental health problems goes all the way back to 1965 when he was reported as having had visual hallucinations. He was frequently confined to hospital for psychosis and schizophrenia through the 1970s. In 1975 a doctor wrote that he had "a long-standing, severe illness which will most likely require long-term inpatient hospitalisation. This man is dangerous and cannot be released under any circumstances." He was released, and two years later committed the first of his murders. Over the years Ferguson has regularly experienced hallucinations. He hears his dead father talking to him, believes that people are listening to him and at one point reported that cockroaches had entered his brain through his ears. Before this week's court hearing into Ferguson's state of mind, he was examined by a panel of three state-appointed psychiatrists. They interviewed him for just 90 minutes and on the basis of that found with "reasonable medical certainty that Mr Ferguson has no genuine current mental illness and understands the nature and effect of the death penalty and why it was imposed on him". In his report, Glant conceded that state-appointed doctors "did not complete a thorough and exhaustive interview of Ferguson at Florida state prison". But then, the judge added, "That was not their mandate".
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Austrian skydiver jumped from 24 miles above New Mexico, falling at speeds up to 725mph in bid to break sound barrier In 10 heart-stopping minutes on Sunday Felix Baumgartner leapt from space, falling to earth in a record breaking parachute jump 24 miles above New Mexico. Baumgartner, a man for whom the term adrenaline junkie hardly does justice, landed on the run in Roswell, New Mexico, after plunging from a capsule that had pulled him 127,000ft above the planet, a new world record. He fell to earth at speeds reaching 725mph. Cheers broke out as Baumgartner, 43, jumped from a tiny shelf outside the 11-by-8-foot (3.3-by-2.4 metre) fiberglass and acrylic capsule that was carried to 128,000 feet by an enormous balloon. "We love you Felix!" screamed the crowd as he plunged through the stratosphere. "My visor is fogging up," he gasped over the radio and he fell through the air moments before his parachute opened to the applause of the crowd on the ground, including his teary-eyed mother, father and girlfriend, watching on monitors miles below. He landed about 10 minutes later, having broken the world record for the highest altitude jump by a skydiver, sponsors said. As he prepared to jump from the pressurized capsule, Baumgartner went through a checklist of 40 items with project adviser Joe Kittinger, holder of a 19-mile high altitude parachute jump record that Baumgartner hopes to smash. He checked through an equipment list from his seat and expressed concern that his astronaut-like helmet was not heating properly. "This is very serious, Joe," said Baumgartner as the capsule, designed to remain at 55 degrees Fahrenheit ascended in skies where temperatures were expected to plunge below -91.8 F (-67.8 C), according to the project's website.
"Sometimes it's getting foggy when I exhale. ... I do not feel heat." Baumgartner's ascent into the stratosphere took about 2 1/2 hours. The 30m-cubic-foot (850,000-cubic-metre) plastic balloon, is about one-tenth the thickness of a Ziploc bag, or roughly as thin as a dry cleaner bag.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Venezuelan secret service agents tracked Henrique Capriles and family, leaked documents allegedly show Hugo Chávez's government has been accused of spying on his defeated presidential rival in the runup to the Venezuelan elections, with leaked documents allegedly showing that secret service agents tracked the movements of Henrique Capriles and his family. Argentinian journalist Jorge Lanata, who said he was interrogated by secret service agents at Caracas airport last week as he left Venezuela, was due to release the files on television on Sunday night. The documents have not been authenticated but are said to come from secret service files. One report, dated 3 October, is titled Arrival of relatives of MUD presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, and tracks the arrival of the candidate's aunt, Andrea Radonski, and nine others at La Chinita airport. Another, marked Secret, states that "with regard to the monitoring under way of the main personalities from the national political arena passing through the International Airport Simón Bolívar de Maiquetía, it is observed that presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, has not made any trips since 6 August 2012, when he arrived from Maracaibo on board airship 215T". Others documents report on the infiltration of student groups and he movement of foreign journalists covering last Sunday's polls. Lanata said secret service agents questioned him for two hours in the basement of Caracas airport, and deleted data from his team's computers, cellphones and cameras before allowing them to leave the country. "They wanted to know where we had got the documents from," said Lanata, who was to reveal their contents on his news programme Periodismo Para Todos (Journalism for All). Last week, Lanata released documents apparently showing how he and his team were being tracked by the secret service during their stay in Venezuela. "They kept on asking me for my email password because they wanted to see what other documents I had," said Nicolás Wiñazki, a journalist on Lanata's team. "They thought they had found it when they found my scribbled password for the WiFi at my hotel." Wiñazki refused to give the agents his password and after nearly two hours in the basement of Maiquetía international airport, he and the rest of Lanata's team were returned their passports, as well as their now emptied cellphones, cameras and computers, and allowed to board their plane to Buenos Aires. Lanata says he is convinced the documents are genuine because of the interrogation. "The SEBIN (secret service) agents kept asking how we got hold of the documents that we had already aired, so those were definitely authentic. These ones about Capriles came from the same source." Lanata, a critic of the Chávez government and his ally, Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, expects a strong reaction to his broadcast. "They could charge me with violating Venezuelan secrecy laws. I suppose they could bar me from ever returning to Venezuela or ask for my extradition from Argentina, that would be a great story too."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Austrian skydiver is to make another attempt at jumping from 23 miles above Earth after earlier efforts were called off because of bad weather
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In the age of the Super Pacs, wealthy gaming tycoons are free to invest millions in Mitt Romney. But a dedicated group is mobilising on the ground to try and counter the money machine When Karl Marx predicted class struggle between capital and labour he probably did not envisage Cheryl Lawrence, a casino pastry chef and single mother, cruising into battle down the Las Vegas Freeway reciting a quote from the Disney film Finding Nemo: "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." Nor, it is fair to assume, did the German philosopher envisage a group of casino-owner billionaires using their fortunes and clout to flood airwaves with political advertisements to tilt an election their way. Yet here in Nevada, 129 years after Marx's death, capital and labour are locked in a test of strength which could help determine the presidential election. On one side the Culinary Union, representing Lawrence and 55,000 other casino cooks, bell hops and chambermaids, is investing its formidable organisational power in a get-out-the-vote drive for President Barack Obama. On the other side the gaming moguls Sheldon Adelson, Steve Wynn and Donald Trump, with a combined worth greater than $25bn, are investing their reputations and chequebooks to promote Mitt Romney. At stake are the state's six electoral college votes, a small but potentially decisive prize in a tight presidential race. Opinion polls suggest a virtual tie in Nevada, Obama with 47%, Romney with 46%, meaning just a few votes could determine the result. "I don't think it's a fair fight but you have to do everything you can to level the field," said Lawrence, 36, who usually bakes cakes at Wynn's MGM casino but has taken leave to register and mobilise voters across the city. "If you have unlimited funding you're going to have the upper hand. But if you're out on the street, the sun beating down, sweating, hot, tired, you just have to keep going until you ring the last bell." Lawrence has stuck the "keep swimming" mantra, a line from the Finding Nemo character Dory, on her dashboard for inspiration. There is nothing new in unions backing a Democrat and big business backing a Republican but the 2010 supreme court ruling allowing Super Pacs – privately run political action committees bankrolled by hundreds of millions of dollars – has pitted Nevada's casino owners and their workers in an unprecedented duel. "Before moguls would give money to their lobbyists and keep their mouths shut. But now they're so desperate to get Obama out of the White House they're on the nightly news blasting and seething against the president," said John L Smith, a commentator who writes columns and books about casino owners. Both sides cast the election in existential, even apocalyptic terms. "This is not just about us," Geoconda Arguello-Kline, the Culinary Union president, told dozens of red T-shirted, cheering canvassers in a "war room" filled with maps, phones and campaign materials. "It's about protecting the workers of this country. Romney wants to completely destroy unions." The moguls, for their part, warn of socialist plague. In a television interview last week Wynn accused Obama of waging "class warfare" and wreaking economic "destruction". Adelson has given conservative groups an estimated $70m in this election and said he will do "whatever it takes" to oust Obama. Trump, unabashed by Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate, has repeatedly depicted the president as a possibly foreign-born left-wing extremist. Some critics say a yearning for tax breaks and lighter regulation potentially worth billions in extra profits drives the intervention, but the tycoons say their goal is market-friendly policies to revive the economy and help ordinary Americans. Sig Rogich, a Las Vegas-based Republican consultant who advised Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr, and works with Adelson, defended the mogul's right to wade into the election. "This is a country built on the principle of freedom of speech. When George Soros funded the other side no one complained." Adelson, who owns Las Vegas Sands, deserved credit for not hiding his contributions, said Rogich. "He could easily have done so. You have to admire the truthfulness of standing up and telling the world that's he's responsible for the message." Whatever the casino owners' motives, their strategy in Nevada is clear: fire up the Republican base in rural areas and Washoe county, which includes Reno, and reduce Obama's lead among Latinos in Clark county, which includes Las Vegas. Adelson-funded Super Pacs hammer Obama and the Democrats' Senate candidate, Shelley Berkley, with ads saturating Nevada airwaves in English and Spanish. Bilingual leaflets – some voters have reported nine per day – jam letterboxes. Newly formed conservative groups such as Nevada Hispanics canvass voters at home, at supermarkets and at community events – mimicking a venerable Democratic and union strategy. "We have very different ideologies but our campaigns have become more similar," said Yvanna Cancela, political director of the Culinary Union. "Republicans used to stick to television and mail drops but they've learned being out in the field works. This means we need to be even more organised and to knock on every door." Which is why dozens of shop stewards and activists like Lawrence have taken unpaid leave – with employers' permission - to campaign full time until election day even though their union pay tends to be less than regular salaries and overtime. "We don't do this for the money, trust me," said Lawrence. "We do it because it's important." An African American originally from New York, she wished to set an example for her seven-year-old son. "Statistically African American males don't make it. But when my son puts on a tie for school, he says he's going to be President Obama some day." With the race so tight she felt an obligation to register and mobilise as many union members as possible, knocking on doors every day from 11am to 7pm, sometimes later. "Oh oh," she said earlier this week, approaching a yard with a huge dog. "It's a horse." At one house Norma Gonzalez, 25, a casino worker-turned housewife, said she was planning to vote for Romney because Obama spent too much time "gallivanting" with celebrities like Jay-Z. A young boy tugged at her sleeve. Lawrence did not miss a beat. "Well, as a mother, just like you, I'd like to talk a little bit about Romney's policies on women's health and education." "OK," said Gonzalez. Five minutes later Gonzalez said she was no longer sure about Romney. Lawrence left her with several leaflets, including one with a picture of Sheldon Adelson and a bilingual exhortation: "El dinero de los Super Pacs solo puede comprar una eleccion si no votas. Tienes que votar." Super Pac money can only buy an election if you don't vote. You have to vote.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | David Axelrod claims the president's Republican challenger is using the embassy attack to score political points in the election A senior adviser to Barack Obama has accused the president's Republican challenger Mitt Romney of attempting to "exploit" an attack on the US consulate in Libya for political gain. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, David Axelrod, a key member of the president's inner circle, said there was "no doubt" that Romney was "working hard to exploit the issue". It comes amid growing pressure on the White House to disclose if any senior administration figures were informed of a request for increased diplomatic security at its Benghazi compound prior to the attack in which four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed. Exactly who in the White House was aware of the request has become an issue in the election campaign in recent days, after vice-president Joe Biden suggested during a debate Thursday that neither he nor Obama had been informed. "We weren't told they wanted more security; we did not know they wanted more security." Republicans have accused the vice-president of misleading Americans over the remarks. Romney campaign adviser Ed Gillespie told Fox News Sunday that Biden had directly contradicted evidence given to a congressional oversight and government reform committee last week. A diplomatic cable presented to the political body shows that Stevens asked the state department for an additional 11 security personnel just weeks before the attack. Axelrod suggested that when Biden spoke of "we" in his comments denying knowledge of the ambassadors request prior to the assault, he was referring only to himself and Obama. Speaking on the same show, Gillespie accused the president and vice-president of trying to pin the blame to the state department. He said: "Clearly … what we have been seeing is an effort by President Obama and vice-president Biden to say 'No, it's really Secretary Clinton. It was the state department you ought to be looking at and talking to and criticising here or questioning here, as opposed to us in the White House.'"
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow how the day unfolded as Syria and Turkey's civilian flight bans increased border tension and international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Iran for talks
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The 12-mile stop-and-go trip through urban streets has been plagued by issues as massive crowds start to dwindle In thousands of Earth orbits, the space shuttle Endeavour traveled 123m miles. But the last few miles of its final journey are proving hard to get through. Endeavour's 12-mile crawl across Los Angeles to the California Science Museum hit repeated delays Saturday, leaving expectant crowds along city streets and at the destination slowly dwindling. Officials estimated the shuttle, originally expected to finish the trip early Saturday evening, would not arrive until mid-morning Sunday, at the earliest. At times on Saturday it seemed the only thing moving was the shuttle's fast-changing ETA. The day started off promising, with Endeavour 90 minutes ahead of schedule. But accumulated hurdles and hiccups caused it to run hours behind at day's end. The problems included longer than expected maintenance of the rig carrying the shuttle and physical obstacles within the shuttle's wingspan including light posts, building edges, and most of all trees. In a scene that repeated itself many times, a small tree on the narrowest section of the move brought the procession to a stop, forcing crews to find creative ways to dip a wing under or raise it over the tree without having to cut it down. Some 400 trees had been removed to avoid such situations, but officials said most of the trees that gave them trouble could not be cut down because they were old or treasured for other reasons, including some planted in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The crowd had its problems too. Despite temperatures in the mid-70s, several dozen people were treated for heat-related injuries after a long day in the sun, according to fire officials. But it was a happy, peaceful crowd, with firefighters having only to respond to a sheared hydrant and a small rubbish fire, and no reports of any arrests. And despite the late problems the mood for most of the day was festive. At every turn of Endeavour's stop-and-go commute through urban streets, a constellation of spectators trailed along as the space shuttle ploddingly nosed past stores, schools, churches and front yards as it inched through working-class streets of southern Los Angeles. Along the 12-mile course, thousands marveled at the engineering. Some rooted for Endeavour when it appeared it might clip a light post. "This is great for the city as a whole. It makes us proud," said Dean Martinez, a project director for a nonprofit who began waiting before dawn to get a glimpse of Endeavour. Unlike other high-profile events like the Academy Awards or the Rose Parade, the procession was centered in some of the area's most economically downtrodden and troubled places. The shuttle passed several gritty areas and shuttered businesses, and rolled down many streets that were aflame two decades earlier during the 1992 riots brought on by the Rodney King beating. "Having a shuttle come through this area of high poverty, it can only be a good thing" for the community," said Damian Pipkins, a volunteer at Eso Won Books. Endeavour hit the pavement before dawn Friday, trundling out of the Los Angeles airport on a remote-controlled 160-wheel carrier past diamond-shaped "Shuttle Xing" signs. When it reached a freeway overpass that night, it was towed by a truck. The shuttle made a late-morning pit stop Saturday at the Forum – former home of the Los Angeles Lakers – where it was greeted in the arena's parking lot by a throng of cheering spectators. It was late to its second public celebration that included a dance performance choreographed by Debbie Allen. As it wound through south Los Angeles, residents welcomed its presence. Before the move, some lamented over the loss of shade as trees were chopped down. Others thought it was a decent trade. "If you have to go through a little bit of pain to have something nice for the community, then it's worth it," said Pamela Tucker, who lives a block away from Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles. Endeavour may have circled the globe nearly 4,700 times, but its roots are grounded in California. Its main engines were fabricated in the San Fernando Valley. The heat tiles were invented in Silicon Valley. Its "fly-by-wire" technology was developed in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. It's no longer shiny and sleek, like when it first rolled off the assembly line in the Mojave Desert in 1991 to replace the lost Challenger. As it cruised block-by-block, it's hard to miss what 123m miles in space and two dozen re-entries can do to the exterior. Shuffling Endeavour through city streets was a laborious undertaking – nearly a year in the making. It could not be taken apart without damaging the delicate tiles. Airlifting it was out of the question. So was driving on freeways since it was too massive to fit through underpasses. There were consequences. Several hundred Inglewood residents suffered hours-long outages when power lines were temporarily snipped. Some businesses lost customers because of street and sidewalk closures. Such a move is not cheap. The cross-town transport was estimated at $10m, to be paid for by the science center and private donations.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pakistani politician's comments at hospital that treated shooting victim Malala Yousafzai outrage Afghanistan's government Afghanistan's government has lashed out at Imran Khan after the former Pakistan cricket star, now a politician, said the Taliban were fighting a "holy war" in the country that was justified by Islamic law. Speaking after visiting a hospital in Peshawar where Malala Yousafzai – the 14-year-old activist shot in the head by the Taliban for supporting girls' education – was treated last week, Khan told reporters that insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a "jihad". Citing a verse from the Qur'an, he said: "It is very clear that whoever is fighting for their freedom is fighting a jihad … "The people who are fighting in Afghanistan against the foreign occupation are fighting a jihad," he added, according to a video of remarks to journalists. Afghan politicians have reacted with disbelief, with one parliamentarian suggesting Khan should be arrested. The Ulema Council, a grouping of senior clerics, declared his comments "unislamic". A Kabul foreign ministry spokesman said Khan was "either profoundly and dangerously ignorant about the reality in Afghanistan, or he has ill will against the Afghan people. "Our children are killed on daily basis, civilians killed and our schools, hospitals and infrastructure attacked on a daily basis. To call any of that jihad is profoundly wrong and misguided." Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has written to all of Pakistan's political leaders, including Khan, saying: "We must ask why we have been unable to counter the terrorism that is attacking our people, and the promise of a better future for our children." Khan has also courted criticism by saying he will not publicly name the Taliban while criticising the men who attempted to kill Malala, because he feared it would put his party's supporters at risk. The row with Kabul highlights the awkward political situation Khan has found himself in recent days. He has long blamed the rise of the Taliban in the country on the US, saying its military operations in Afghanistan and the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt are responsible for the upsurge in militancy. But his populist position has been challenged by the almost unprecedented public anger against the Pakistani Taliban triggered by the attempt to kill Malala as she sat in a van with her classmates in Swat last Tuesday. While many observers fear the mood of national outrage will ultimately change little, the country's media continues to cover the saga intensively while the country's powerful military chief called on the nation to "unite and stand up to fight" against extremism. The foreign minister has even suggested the attack might be a turning point for a country that has long struggled to muster support for a decisive push against militants. On Sunday, tens of thousands of people attended a rally in Karachi in support of Malala, organised by the Muttahida Qaumi movement, the dominant political party in the southern city. Malala is unconscious and in intensive care in a military hospital in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. A military spokesman said her condition was improving and that no decision had been made as to whether she should be sent overseas, despite an offer from the United Arab Emirates to supply an air ambulance. Local media continued to focus on her condition despite government warnings that the Pakistani Taliban, apparently angered by criticism of the attack on Malala, had ordered attacks on journalists.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pakistani politician's comments at hospital that treated shooting victim Malala Yousafzai outrage Afghanistan's government Hamid Karzai's government has lashed out at Imran Khan after the former Pakistani cricket star, now a politician, said the Taliban were fighting a "holy war" in Afghanistan, that was justified by Islamic law. Speaking after visiting a hospital in Peshawar where Malala Yousafzai – the 14-year-old activist shot in the head by the Taliban for supporting girls' education – was treated last week, Khan told reporters insurgents in Afghanistan were fighting a "jihad". Citing a verse from the Qur'an he said: "It is very clear that whoever is fighting for their freedom is fighting a jihad … The people who are fighting in Afghanistan against the foreign occupation are fighting a jihad," he said, according to a video of remarks to journalists. Politicians in Afghanistan have reacted with disbelief, with one parliamentarian even suggesting Khan should be arrested. The Ulema Council, a grouping of senior clerics, declared Khan's comments "unIslamic". A Kabul foreign ministry spokesman said Khan was "either profoundly and dangerously ignorant about the reality in Afghanistan or he has ill will against the Afghan people". "Our children are killed on daily basis, civilians killed and our schools hospitals and infrastructure attacked on a daily basis," he said. "To call any of that jihad is profoundly wrong and misguided." Karzai has written to all of Pakistan's political leaders, including Khan, saying "we must ask why we have been unable to counter the terrorism that is attacking our religious, our people, and the promise of a better future for our children". Khan has also courted criticism by saying he will not publicly name the Taliban while criticising the men who attempted to kill Yousafzai because he feared it would put his party supporters at risk. The row with Kabul highlights the awkward political situation Khan has found himself in recent days. He has long blamed the rise of the Taliban in the country on the US, saying their military operations in Afghanistan and the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt is responsible for the upsurge in militancy. But his populist position has been challenged by the almost unprecedented public anger against the Pakistani Taliban triggered by the attempt to kill Yousafzai as she sat in a van with her classmates in Swat, last Tuesday. While many observers fear the mood of national outrage will ultimately change little, the country's media continues to cover the saga intensively while the country's powerful military chief called on the nation to unite and stand up to fight against extremism. The foreign minister has even suggested the attack might be a turning point for a country that has long struggled to muster support for a decisive push against militants. On Sunday, thousands of people attended a rally in Karachi organised by the Muttahida Qaumi movement, the dominant political party in the southern city. Yousafzai is unconscious and in intensive care in a military hospital in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. A military spokesman said her condition was improving and that no decision had been made as to whether she should be sent overseas, despite an offer from the United Arab Emirates to supply an air ambulance. The local media continued to focus on her condition despite government warnings that the Pakistani Taliban, apparently angered by criticism of the attack on Yousafzai, has ordered attacks on journalists.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Syria ratchets up the tension with Turkey by banning civilian flight over its airspace and the international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is reported to be proposing deploying a 3,000-strong peace keeping force to Syria
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The seventh annual New York Comic Con is under way in Manhattan with more than 115,000 fans, exhibitors and stars attending the cult convention
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Uruguayan rugby team, who were forced to eat human flesh to stay alive after plane went down, play match postponed in 1972 The surviving members of a Uruguayan rugby team have played a match postponed four decades ago when their plane crashed in the Andes, stranding them for 72 days and forcing them to eat human flesh to stay alive. The Old Christians squared off on Saturday in Santiago against the Old Grangonian, the former Chilean rugby team they were supposed to play back in 1972 when their flight went down. Their story became the basis of a best-selling book and Hollywood film. "At about this time we were falling in the Andes. Today, we're here to win a game," crash survivor Pedro Algorta, 61, said as he prepared to walk on to the playing field surrounded by the cordillera – the jagged mountains that trapped the group. During the anniversary ceremony military jets flew over the field, dropping parachutists draped in Chilean and Uruguayan flags. In a corner, survivors wept when officials unveiled a commemorative frame with pictures of those who died. "The conditions were more horrifying than you can ever imagine. To live at 4,000m without any food," said another survivor, Eduardo Strauch, 65. "The only reason why we're here alive today is because we had the goal of returning home … (Our loved ones) gave us life. They made the sacrifice for others." The Uruguayan air force plane that carried the team crashed in a mountain pass in October 1972 en route from Montevideo to Santiago. Of the 45 passengers aboard, 16 survived by feeding on dead family members and friends preserved in the snow. "I think the greatest sadness I felt in my life was when I had to eat a dead body," said Roberto Canessa, 59, who was a medical student at the time of the crash. "I would ask myself: is it worth doing this? And it was because it was in order to live and preserve life, which is exactly what I would have liked for myself if it had been my body that lay on the floor," he said Desperate after more than two months in the mountains, Canessa and Fernando Parrado left the crash site to seek help. After 10 days of trekking, they spotted Sergio Catalan, a livestock herder in the foothills of the Chilean Andes. The conditions were such that the pair could not reach him, but from afar they heard him say one word: "Tomorrow". "With that, our suffering ended," Canessa said. Catalan, who rode to the nearest town to alert rescuers, returned to meet the survivors on Saturday in a hat and poncho. He walked slowly with the aid of a cane and pointed at the sky when helicopters hovered over the field just as they did 40 years ago. Carlos Páez, 58, waved a small red shoe at a helicopter carrying Parrado, as he did when the Chilean air force rescued him and the others. Parrado gave a similar shoe to his friends at the crash site before he left for the cordillera and guided rescuers back. "I came back to life after having died," said Parrado, whose mother and sister died in the Andes. "It's something that very few people experience." He said the experience scarred him but gave him a new-found appreciation for life. "Since then I have enjoyed fully, carefully but without fear. I tried to enjoy my friend, my dog, my passions, a second at a time," said Parrado, who has since worked as a TV host, race car driver and motivational speaker. Another survivor Daniel Fernandez, 66, held the trophy that would have been the reward for the game to be played the day of the crash. The ordeal "taught me that we set our own limits", he said. "If I had been told: 'I'm going to leave you in a mountain 4,000m high, 20C below zero (-4F) in shirtsleeves,' I would have said: I last 10 minutes.' Instead, I lasted 72 days."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Reports of foiled coup attempt denied as Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flown to France after being shot in the stomach Mauritania's president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was being flown to France for medical treatment after a bizarre incident in which he was shot in the stomach, apparently by mistake, by his own troops. Authorities in the west African nation, regarded as a key ally in the battle against al-Qaida in the region, were insisting the shooting, which took place 25 miles (40km) outside the capital, was an accident. The president appeared on state television from his hospital bed to call for calm. "I want to calm all citizens," Abdel Aziz said. "I want to reassure everyone about my state of health after this incident committed by error." Sources say "jumpy" military guards at a checkpoint mistook Abdel Aziz, who was returning to the capital, Nouakchott, after a trip to the desert, for a security threat. "Security forces have been on high alert for the last six days, jumpy, and were concerned that something might happen. Obviously this incident is very unfortunate," a diplomatic source told the Guardian. "We believe the shooting was an accident," the source said. "The situation has now returned to normal – the international airports are open, and the virtual lockdown imposed after the incident has now been lifted." The Mauritanian press reported the president spent more than eight hours at the military hospital in Nouakchott, where he was operated on by two doctors, and is being flown to France by a Moroccan air ambulance. Reports say the military and presidential guard worked together to protect the president during the medical procedure, amid scenes of chaos on the streets. The information minister, Hadi ould el-Mahjoub, said the president's injuries were not life threatening. "He was lightly wounded. He was able to get down from the car and walk without difficulty on his arrival at the hospital." On Sunday morning, military checkpoints, which have been conducting routine searches and identity card checks around the capital for several weeks, were withdrawn. Despite apparent calm in the capital, with markets open and ministries functioning as usual, questions remained about the incident, following initial reports that the shooting was a foiled coup attempt. "There have been disgruntled middle-ranking soldiers who have been dealt with very swiftly by the regime," said a senior military source. "There are a lot of questions going around. The question security is asking is why didn't the soldiers manning the checkpoints know the presidential convoy was passing. The president is always very heavily protected, his security detail is excellent." Officials declined to comment on what happened to the soldiers at the checkpoint, or if anyone else in the convoy was hurt. The shooting comes amid months of turbulence for Mauritania, which neighbours northern Mali – where al-Qaida-linked groups control vast swaths of territory – and which has been the subject of explicit threats by extremist groups. Around 100,000 refugees from Mali have fled into Mauritania, which has a population of 3.5 million, placing additional strain on resources as the country struggles with a food crisis engulfing the Sahel region. The country is also facing internal upheaval, with growing dissatisfaction with Abdel Aziz, who seized power in a military coup in 2008 before winning presidential elections a year later. Nouakchott has been the scene of opposition marches in recent months, with some commentators describing calls for Abdel Aziz to resign signs of a Mauritanian Arab spring. "The official line is it was an accident but it's really not very clear at the moment what happened," a western diplomat said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Senegal, where sheep are given names and kept inside homes as companion animals, the most popular show on television is Khar Bii, or This Sheep. It's an American Idol-style nationwide search for Senegal's most perfect specimen
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | • Tim Herman calls for 26 witnesses to be tested
• 'I wouldn't challenge the results of a test with good equipment' Lance Armstrong's lawyer has revealed the cyclist may take a lie detector test in an attempt to prove he is innocent of doping allegations, but admitted few people would believe the results even if they show he is telling the truth. The Texan has been labelled a "serial cheat" and a bully who led "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen", by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), which has stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles and banned him for life. His lawyer Tim Herman said he would be keen for the 26 witnesses who testified against Armstrong to the Usada to take lie detector tests. He told Radio 5 Live: "A lie detector test properly administered, I'm a proponent of that frankly, just personally. I wouldn't challenge the results of a lie detector test with good equipment, properly administered by a qualified technician. That's a pretty simple answer." Asked if Armstrong would take a lie detector test himself, Herman said: "We might do that, you never know." He added later: "I don't know if we would or we wouldn't. We might." Asked what reason there could be for not submitting to a test, Herman added: "Because he's moved on. His name is never going to be clear with anyone beyond what it is today. People are fans, most of the people that I've talked to, this is their opinion, it is: 'We don't care whether he did or he didn't'." Usada last week released its "reasoned decision" behind the sanctions against Armstrong. It said the evidence against him was "beyond strong" and stretched to more than 1,000 pages. Herman said: "I don't think that this report altered anyone's view, most people had staked out their position a long time ago about Lance. There are fans and there are haters." Asked if he was saying all 26 witnesses, 11 of whom were former team-mates of Armstrong and who revealed their own doping past by testifying, were lying, Herman said: "No, I'm not, several of them are. "I can tell you that many witnesses had contradictory stories to tell and Lance had incidentally over 600 fellow riders, team members, trainers, that sort of thing, in his career racing in Europe. Of those, I think 11 came forward, but many others would and have refuted [sic] many of the allegations. "Why would [the witnesses] wait until now [to come forward]? Here's the answer. It's because for the most part they've been given sweetheart deals. They are supposed to be suspended for four years, they're not. They're suspended for six months commencing in September so they don't miss a single race." Despite repeatedly denying accusations of doping, in August Armstrong announced he would not fight the charges filed against him by Usada, saying in a statement he was "finished with this nonsense" and claiming he is innocent. Herman said: "The same allegations, same witnesses, same information, was provided to the United States Justice Department in Los Angeles during their investigation and after two years of unbelievable stress emotionally and financially the Justice Department elected not to go forward with these allegations. "Shortly after that here comes Usada with the same information and with the same witnesses. So faced with a predetermined result, faced with two to three years more litigation, stress and expenses, he [Armstrong] elected to move forward with the important part of his life which is the fight against cancer, and that's all he devotes himself to and has for some time." Herman ended the interview in bizarre fashion, saying: "Anyway, it's been very nice talking to you, well it hasn't really been all that nice. I'm just kidding, but I need to run now." Meanwhile, the president of cycling's world governing body, the UCI, has admitted his anger and shock at Usada's findings. Pat McQuaid was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying he is "angry and shocked. That's as much as I can say". The UCI said last week it would study all the Usada evidence before issuing a response.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | How a deadly standoff 50 years ago between the US and Soviet Union over Cuba took the world to the brink of nuclear war Far from being just a political storm in the Caribbean, the Cuban missile crisis came dangerously close to triggering a nuclear war between two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union – both nations having stockpiled enough missiles that a conflict between them would have destroyed much of the planet.
The deadly standoff came about mainly because Cuba, under Fidel Castro, had lurched towards communism in 1959. Desperate to beat back the 'cancer' of socialism from its doorstep, the US aided a military task force to overthrow Castro, which landed south of Havana at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. The rebels were easily put down by a well-armed Cuban army that had strong links with the Soviet Union. Knowing that the Soviets were eager to prop up fellow communist regimes, the US remained watchful of the Kremlin's relationship with Castro. In 1962, tensions grew as American spy planes provided evidence that Soviet missiles were being shipped to Cuba. Knowing that Soviet ballistic missiles on Cuban soil were capable of striking the US's eastern seaboard within a few minutes of being launched, President John F Kennedy warned US citizens they might once again have to pay "the price for freedom", as conflict, this time with the Soviet Union, could not be ruled out. Washington's hawkish stance did not receive the backing from her allies that Kennedy had hoped for, though support eventually came, notable from the British government. Kennedy pulled back from his initial plan to invade Cuba, deciding instead to deploy US navy ships, including aircraft carriers, to enforce a "quarantine", or blockade, on Cuba to prevent more "offensive weapons" being shipped in. Kennedy also called upon his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, to "halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace". In an unbearably tense showdown, a flotilla of Soviet ships, which were already on their way to Cuba, kept their cours despite stern warnings from the US. As the world held its breath, the Soviet ships edged ever closer to their destination only to receive instructions from Moscow to turn back, so averting a confrontation with the US. Days later, the deadly game of nuclear brinkmanship between the two nations ended, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a message that Soviet missiles would be taken back. In return, Kennedy committed the US never to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly promised to withdraw US nuclear-armed missiles located in Turkey. Cuba's Fidel Castro was left frustrated by the Soviets' retreat but realised he was effectively excluded from the negotiations. With a catastrophic war averted, a hotline between the US and Soviet Union was set up to prevent such a crisis happening again.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as Syria ratchets up the tension with Turkey by banning civilian flight over its airspace and the international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is reported to be proposing deploying a 3,000-strong peace keeping force to Syria
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Investigation under way as LA-class submarine USS Montpelier collides with cruiser USS San Jacinto on Saturday A nuclear submarine has collided with a cruiser during routine operations off the east coast of the US. The US Fleet Forces Command said the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Montpelier and the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto collided at about 3:30pm on Saturday. No one was injured, and the extent of any damage to the vessels was not clear on Saturday evening, said Lieutenant Commander Brian Badura. "We have had circumstances where navy vessels have collided at sea in the past, but they're fairly rare as to how often they do take place," Badura told the Associated Press. Navy officials said the collision was under investigation, but declined to give details on where the incident took place or what happens next. "If we do have an incident that does take place, there are folks that swing into action … to help us make a better, more conclusive explanation of exactly what happened," Badura said. The news release said overall damage to both ships was being evaluated and that the sub's propulsion plant was unaffected by the collision. Both ships are based at Norfolk, Virginia, and are operating on their own power. The Pentagon said late on Saturday it was investigating how the collision had taken place.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Investigation under way as LA-class submarine USS Montpelier collides with cruiser USS San Jacinto A nuclear submarine has collided with a cruiser during routine operations off the east coast of the US. The US Fleet Forces Command said the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Montpelier and the Aegis cruiser USS San Jacinto collided at about 3.30pm on Saturday. No one was injured, and the extent of any damage to the vessels was not clear on Saturday evening, said Lieutenant Commander Brian Badura. "We have had circumstances where navy vessels have collided at sea in the past, but they are fairly rare as to how often they do take place," Badura told the Associated Press. Navy officials said the collision was under investigation, but declined to give details on where the incident took place or what would happen next. "If we do have an incident that does take place, there are folks that swing into action … to help us make a better, more conclusive explanation of exactly what happened," Badura said. The news release said overall damage to both ships was being evaluated and that the sub's propulsion plant was unaffected by the collision. Both ships are based at Norfolk, Virginia, and are operating on their own power. The Pentagon said late on Saturday it was investigating how the collision had taken place.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Five Royal Marines charged with murder over the death of an insurgent in Afghanistan in 2011 Five Royal Marines have been charged with murder over the death of an insurgent in Afghanistan in 2011. Seven marines were arrested on 11 October by the Royal Military police. Two more were later arrested, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Four have been released without charge pending further inquiries, the Ministry of Defence said. The incident took place in Helmand province last year, but it is thought investigators only began an inquiry in recent weeks. An MoD spokesman said: "The Royal Military police has referred the cases of the remaining five Royal Marines to the independent Service Prosecuting Authority. "Following direction from the SPA these marines have now been charged with murder and they remain in custody pending court proceedings. "It would be inappropriate to comment further on this ongoing investigation," the spokesman added. The soldiers, believed to be members of 3 Commando Brigade, were arrested in connection with an incident described as "an engagement with an insurgent", with no civilians involved. During a six-month tour of duty in 2010, which lasted from April to October, seven servicemen from 3 Commando Brigade were killed in action, all from 42 Commando. The tour, Operation Herrick 14, was the unit's fourth and saw the force score notable successes in capturing explosives from the Taliban. The rules of engagement, largely derived from the Geneva conventions, dictate under what circumstances British troops are allowed to open fire, whether to prevent an attack by the enemy or in direct contact. The arrests are thought to be the first time UK servicemen have been held on suspicion of such charges during the conflict in Afghanistan. A Territorial Army soldier was investigated by military officials after shooting dead a suspected Taliban bomber in the Nahr-e-Saraj area of central Helmand in the summer of 2010. Senior officers believed the man may have been an innocent farmer. But after an 18-month inquiry no charges were brought against Fusilier Duane Knott, who said he had no regrets over his action.
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