|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Landslide in south-western Yunnan province traps 19 people, 18 of them children, after last month's earthquakes A landslide has buried 18 children and one adult in a mountainous area of south-western China that was hit by earthquakes and flooding a month ago, state media have reported. Chinese officials said the Youfang primary school collapsed when the landslide struck the village of Zhenhe in Yiliang county, Yunnan province, at around 8am on Thursday morning. Eighteen students are thought to have been inside. An adult was also trapped when two houses in the village were toppled, according to the statement published on the county website. State news agency Xinhua said a family of three managed to escape. It added that other residents had been evacuated from the area. An official from the county told Associated Press on Thursday that rescuers had arrived at the village, a three-hour drive from the county seat. The students would not normally have been at school this week due to a national holiday. But Li Zhong, head of the county education bureau, told the China News Service they were making up for classes suspended after two earthquakes hit the area in early September. That disaster, which saw shockwaves of 5.7 and 5.6 magnitude, claimed 81 lives and injured 800 people in Yiliang and neighbouring areas. It was followed by torrential rain that triggered floods and mud and rockslides through the area — damaging roads and relocation sites for emergency services. The central government said at the time it had allocated 1bn yuan for disaster relief in the county and premier Wen Jiabao visited to inspect rescue work.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Statement issued after emergency session of Nato ambassadors in Brussels voices 'greatest concern' Nato ambassadors met in emergency session in Brussels on Wednesday to ponder their limited options over the escalating Syrian conflict after a cross-border incident with Syrian mortar fire left five dead in a Turkish village. The unusual session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels was demanded by Ankara, which has been pushing for a more muscular response from the western alliance to the atrocities in Syria. There is no appetite in Washington or among the Nato allies, however, for being dragged into the conflict. The Nato ambassadors issued a statement following the meeting, voicing their "greatest concern" and strong condemnation of the shelling, said to have killed a Turkish woman and her four children. The Nato meeting was held under the alliance treaty's article 4, asserting the integrity of the 28 members, rather than under article 5, which commits Nato to come to the defence of a member state under attack. In an interview with the Guardian on Monday, the Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance was committed to the defence of its key south-eastern pivot, Turkey. But he emphasised that there was scant prospect of Nato military intervention in Syria. "Syria is a very, very complex society," he said. "Foreign military interventions could have broader impacts." The statement issued after Nato's meeting in Brussels demanded an immediate halt to "aggressive acts" against Turkey. The shelling from Syria "constitutes a cause of greatest concern for, and is strongly condemned by, all allies", Nato ambassadors said in a statement, after they held a rare late-night meeting at Turkey's request to discuss the incident. "The alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally, and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law," the statement said. In Washington, the Pentagon strongly condemned Syria's deadly mortar strike into Turkey and said it was closely monitoring the situation. "This is yet another example of the depraved behaviour of the Syrian regime, and why it must go. We regret the loss of life in Turkey, a strong ally," Pentagon spokesman George Little said. The White House also issued a strong statement condemning the incident and called for the Assad regime to step aside. "All responsible nations must make clear that it is long past time for Assad to step aside, declare a ceasefire and begin the long-overdue political transition process," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republican candidate lifts conservative morale with a strong and forceful performance against a passive, lacklustre Obama Mitt Romney raised Republican hopes of an election comeback with a spirited and aggressive performance that forced Barack Obama repeatedly onto the defensive in the first presidential debate. Although Romney is still trailing badly in the polls, especially in the crucial swing states, his strong showing lifted conservative morale with more than four weeks left to turn the campaign around. The two sparred mainly over the economy, in particular tax, jobs and health care during a statistics and policy-laden 90-minute debate that was expected to draw an audience of more than 50 million. Romney was forceful from the start, accusing Obama of repeatedly portraying his policies as inaccurate, and he maintained that momentum throughout. Obama, looking tired and at times irritated, remained largely calm. In the spin room afterwards, Romney's campaign team hailed it as a victory. Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's campaign spokesman, could not contain his glee. "Governor Romney clearly won," he said. "If this was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it." He predicted it would be "a close race". David Plouffe, one of the architects of Obama's victory in 2008 and a senior member of his campaign this year, was subdued. "We are going to come out of this debate okay," he said, adding that the Romney team had needed a game-changer and this was not one. Another of Obama's campaign team, Stephanie Cutter, insisted Obama had won the debate on substance but, unusually for this tough spokeswoman who normally gives little ground, she admitted Romney had won for style and preparation. A CNN flash poll of registered voters had 67% saying Romney had won it, while just 25% gave it to Obama. One of Bill Clinton's best-known strategists, James Carville, told CNN he had been left with "one overwhelming impression ... It looked like Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn't want to be there....It gave you the impression that this whole thing was a lot of trouble." Romney needed a good night after being confronted with setback after setback over the last two months that have left him behind Obama in the polls. While Obama remains favourite to secure re-election on 6 November, Romney may at least have stopped his gradual campaign slump.
The first of the clashes came over the economy, with Obama asking how Romney was simultaneously going to cut the country's burgeoning defict while at the same time cutting $5 trillion in taxes for the wealthy, extending Bush era tax cuts and raising military spending, a total of $8 million. Romney just flat-out denied it. In the tone he maintained most of the night, he said: "I think first of all, let me - let me repeat - let me repeat what I said. I'm not in favour of a $5 trillion tax cut. That's not my plan...So you may keep referring to it as a $5 trillion tax cut, but that's not my plan." Obama, seemingly frustrated with Romney's elusiveness, retorted that it had been his plan for 18 months. "And now, five weeks before the election, he's saying that his big, bold idea is, 'Never mind." At times, Romney patronised the president, saying that he did not understand business or accountancy. "Mr President, you're entitled to your own airplane and your own house, but not your own facts," he said at one point. In another powerful attack which is at the core of the Romney message, he listed unkept promises and told Obama: "You've been president for four years." The president, by contrast, was hesitant in his responses. One of the biggest surprises was that he failed to deliver any of the attacks that have been successful on the campaign trail and which have been used to devastating effect in television ads in swing states. There was no mention of Romney's disparaging remarks about the 47% of the population being freeloaders, nor of his opponent's tenure at Bain Capital. The main image of the night will be of Romney, eyes alight, gesticulating from the podium with a rarely-seen passion while Obama, playing into his image as professorial, delivered most of his answers with his head down. Romney did not raise the killings of the US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans, an emotive issue. Although the debate was meant to be devoted to domestic policy, there has been speculation he might attempt to slip it in. On health care reform, Obama defended his controverial changes to expand coverage, saying it was almost identical to changes introduced by Romney while he was governor of Massachusetts. Romney denied they were identical and claimed Obama's plan increased cost and reiterated he would repeal the reform. "In my opinion, the government is not effective in bringing down the cost of almost anything. The right answer is not to have the federal government take over health care,'' Romney said. Both candidates hit the campaign trail again on Thursday, with Obama holding rallies in Colorado and Wisconsin and Romney in Virginia. It was not a disastrous night for Obama. That calm, measured approach is part of the reason many Democrats like him and it may appeal too to independents. Most debates have little impact on the eventual outcome but there have been exceptions, such as the 1960 one and that between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000. While this one will not go down as comparable game-changers, it will at least change the growing perception of Romney as a loser, even if only temporarily.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republican candidate lifts conservative morale with a strong and forceful performance against a passive, lacklustre Obama Mitt Romney raised Republican hopes of an election comeback with a spirited and aggressive performance that forced Barack Obama repeatedly onto the defensive in the first presidential debate. Although Romney is still trailing badly in the polls, especially in the crucial swing states, his strong showing lifted conservative morale with more than four weeks left to turn the campaign around. The two sparred mainly over the economy, in particular tax, jobs and health care during a statistics and policy-laden 90-minute debate that was expected to draw an audience of more than 50 million. Romney was forceful from the start, accusing Obama of repeatedly portraying his policies as inaccurate, and he maintained that momentum throughout. Obama, looking tired and at times irritated, remained largely calm. In the spin room afterwards, Romney's campaign team hailed it as a victory. Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's campaign spokesman, could not contain his glee. "Governor Romney clearly won," he said. "If this was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it. He predicted it would be "a close race". David Plouffe, one of the architects of Obama's victory in 2008 and a senior member of his campaign this year, was subdued. "We are going to come out of this debate okay," he said, adding that the Romney team had needed a game-changer and this was not one. Another of Obama's campaign team, Stephanie Cutter, insisted Obama had won the debate on substance but, unusually for this tough spokeswoman who normally gives little ground, she admitted Romney had won for style and preparation. A CNN flash poll of registered voters had 67% saying Romney had won it, while just 25% gave it to Obama. One of Bill Clinton's best-known strategists, James Carville, told CNN he had been left with "one overwhelming impression ... It looked like Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn't want to be there....It gave you the impression that this whole thing was a lot of trouble." Romney needed a good night after being confronted with setback after setback over the last two months that have left him behind Obama in the polls. While Obama remains favourite to secure re-election on 6 November, Romney may at least have stopped his gradual campaign slump.
The first of the clashes came over the economy, with Obama asking how Romney was simultaneously going to cut the country's burgeoning defict while at the same time cutting $5 trillion in taxes for the wealthy, extending Bush era tax cuts and raising military spending, a total of $8 million. Romney just flat-out denied it. In the tone he maintained most of the night, he said: "I think first of all, let me - let me repeat - let me repeat what I said. I'm not in favour of a $5 trillion tax cut. That's not my plan...So you may keep referring to it as a $5 trillion tax cut, but that's not my plan." Obama, seemingly frustrated with Romney's elusiveness, retorted that it had been his plan for 18 months. "And now, five weeks before the election, he's saying that his big, bold idea is, 'Never mind." At times, Romney patronised the president, saying that he did not understand business or accountancy. "Mr President, you're entitled to your own airplane and your own house, but not your own facts," he said at one point. In another powerful attack which is at the core of the Romney message, he listed unkept promises and told Obama: "You've been president for four years." The president, by contrast, was hesitant in his responses. One of the biggest surprises was that he failed to deliver any of the attacks that have been successful on the campaign trail and which have been used to devastating effect in television ads in swing states. There was no mention of Romney's disparaging remarks about the 47% of the population being freeloaders, nor of his opponent's tenure at Bain Capital. The main image of the night will be of Romney, eyes alight, gesticulating from the podium with a rarely-seen passion while Obama, playing into his image as professorial, delivered most of his answers with his head down. Romney did not raise the killings of the US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans, an emotive issue. Although the debate was meant to be devoted to domestic policy, there has been speculation he might attempt to slip it in. On health care reform, Obama defended his controverial changes to expand coverage, saying it was almost identical to changes introduced by Romney while he was governor of Massachusetts. Romney denied they were identical and claimed Obama's plan increased cost and reiterated he would repeal the reform. "In my opinion, the government is not effective in bringing down the cost of almost anything. The right answer is not to have the federal government take over health care,'' Romney said. Both candidates hit the campaign trail again on Thursday, with Obama holding rallies in Colorado and Wisconsin and Romney in Virginia. It was not a disastrous night for Obama. That calm, measured approach is part of the reason many Democrats like him and it may appeal too to independents. Most debates have little impact on the eventual outcome but there have been exceptions, such as the 1960 one and that between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000. While this one will not go down as comparable game-changers, it will at least change the growing perception of Romney as a loser, even if only temporarily.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republican candidate manages to stay competitive with aggressive performance against a tired President Obama In the end there were no zingers; no knockout blows; no major blunders. But there was a winner: Mitt Romney. After several reboots and roll-outs he finally, finally found his voice. He wasn't likeable, but he was believable. Gone were the gaffes, the stiff, wooden persona and the excessive caution. He came out fighting and he kept on swinging. Fluent, strident, confident – he made his case. Barack Obama on the other hand appeared nervous, distracted and unprepared. After four years in the Oval Office, he'd lost his voice. Gone was the charisma, the optimism and the eloquence. Defensive, halting and verbose – he looked tired and that made his presidency look tired. Both campaigns set low expectations, but only Obama met them. If you were watching without knowing who was the president, you wouldn't have guessed it was him. Poorly moderated and often wonkish, the debate frequently got swamped in the kind of detail that few could follow and with charges and counter-charges that few could immediately verify. Obama did have his moments, like when he pointed out that Romney provides few details of what he's going to do, or that he was the hostage to the extremes in his party he connected. But even when he won on substance he lost on style, his punch lines lost in waffle or his main points hidden behind statistics. Not once did he mention Bain Capital or Romney's 47% blunder, even when the questions gifted them to him. The very lines that have helped his campaign maintain a consistent if narrow lead were either fluffed or forgotten. Worse still, while he never landed a blow on his opponent, he did little to set out his own vision either. Instead of owning Obamacare, he ceded it to Romney, saying it was a Republican idea that Romney had tried first. Instead of championing the stimulus, he talked about all the things he cut. He never mentioned Bush by name once, even though most people blame him for the crisis. Romney, on the other hand, made his points forcefully, repeatedly and in an animated fashion. He never mentioned Bush by name either. He plugged away at the charge that four more years of Obama will mean four more years of pain and the accusation that everything that Obama has tried has failed. He painted Obama as a big government liberal seeking to impose regulations on businesses and have experts decide healthcare needs rather than doctors and patients. Whether those accusations were true or not took second place to whether they stuck or not. They did. Romney needed a game changer: a performance that could shift a race where he has been losing ground and rally a base that has been losing faith. To the extent that every game he has played up until this point he has lost, this was it. Finally his campaign has something to cheer about. But for all that, it is unlikely, though possible, that it will fundamentally change the dynamics of the race. Some have already cast their votes and most have made up their minds. He is a long way behind almost everywhere he needs to be. He won himself time and the chance for a hearing. Had he failed it would have been game over. For now he is still in the game.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live coverage as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney face off in the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Existing protocols not robust enough for emergencies that could materialise in cyberspace, says Foreign Office official Britain has begun tentative talks with China and Russia about setting up a hotline to help prevent cyber-emergencies from spiralling out of control. The discussions are at an early stage but they reflect anxiety from all sides that a calamity in cyberspace, whether deliberate or accidental, could have devastating consequences unless there is a quick and reliable way for senior officials to reach each other. The US has been talking to the Chinese about a similar arrangement and the ideas will be among several raised at an international conference on cybersecurity in Hungary on Thursday. The event will involve 600 diplomats from up to 50 countries and is a follow-up to a conference in London last year. One of the aims of the negotiations is to agree rules of behaviour in cyberspace at a time when states have become aware of the potential to attack, steal from and disrupt their enemies online. China and Russia have been arguing for a more restrictive, state-controlled future for the internet and for formal arms-control-type treaties to govern what countries can and cannot do. But they have been challenged by European countries and the US. The UK has said there is no need for treaties and that controls on the internet would restrict economic growth and freedom of speech. Some progress has been made in reconciling the two positions, diplomats say, but the gulf between them is still huge, and the negotiations are continuing at snail's pace. With the cyber arena evolving so quickly, and with the US and the UK saying cybertheft now represents a genuine threat to western economies and national security, the need for a hotline is pressing. "At the moment, we don't really have sufficient information-sharing arrangements with some countries such as Chinaand the Chinese computer emergency response team," said a senior Foreign Office official. "There isn't a form of crisis communication. If we can build that sort of partnership and relationship then the normative framework develops around that. If you ask for assistance, you get a response. That develops into an obligation to assist. One isn't naive about that, but I don't think the Chinese or the Russians enjoy uncertainty, not knowing who to turn to, who to talk to." The official said the existing protocols and procedures were not robust enough for the type of emergencies that could materialise in cyberspace. "In theory, there are lists of people who to call, but I think they need to be tested and relied upon." The foreign secretary, William Hague, and the cabinet secretary, Francis Maude, will be in Budapest for the two-day conference. They will announce that the UK is to establish a new £2m cyberhub at one of country's leading universities, which will provide guidance to the government and companies about where to invest money for initiatives in cyberspace abroad. The money will come from the £650m set aside for cybersecurity in the strategic defence and security review. The official said talks with China were slow going and that there had not been any fundamental shift in Beijing's position. "Through initiatives such as its draft code of conduct, [China] has promoted a vision of cyberspace which has got much more sovereignty and government involvement in it. They have got particular points that they want to get across to the international community."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Remark made when Akin was a congressman asserts doctors routinely perform abortions on women who are not pregnant Todd Akin, the Republican US Senate nominee from Missouri, stood by his latest comment over abortion on Wednesday, as physicians groups condemned them as "part of an old-fashioned narrative" that presumed women are gullible and abortion doctors unethical. Akin's claim that abortion doctors are "terrorists" who perform the procedure on women who aren't pregnant was made several years ago, on the floor of the House of Representatives. It resurfaced on Monday, two months after Akin caused a furore when he claimed that victims of "legitimate rape" could "shut down" potential pregnancies. On Wednesday, his campaign released a statement from a former director of Planned Parenthood, now a pro-life advocate, who attempted to back him up and said that they often "scared women" into having abortions, including women who were not pregnant and those who were miscarrying, in order to collect the fees. Dr Nancy Stanwood, the board chair-elect of Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health, and an obstetrician, said: "Congressman Todd Akin has already proved he is not an authority on women's health." She said his latest comments played into a false narrative "which had no place in the 21st century, that women who have abortions are gullible and doctors who perform them are schysters and quacks". Stanwood said that doctors who perform abortions, herself included, are wrongly stigmatised and under greater scrutiny than other medical professionals. Akin was "incredibly poorly informed and most Americans recognise that". "We're thoughtful and passionate, and we've worked really hard to get the medical training we need to take care of patients. That's our motivation, and that's the 21st century narrative that we want people to pay attention to." She said she didn't know what he could even have been referring to. "I'm not quite sure of the meaning. It's hard to put it into any medical context because it's not medical." A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman in Missouri told the Associated Press that Akin's assertion was "an absolutely ridiculous claim" and that the agency's clinics never perform abortions on women who aren't pregnant. In the video clip shown on C-Span and first published by Slate on Tuesday, Akin said that doctors who perform abortions are "terrorists" who work in places mired in a "culture of death." "Along with this culture of death go all kinds of lawbreaking" he said. "Not following sanitary procedure, giving abortions to women who aren't actually pregnant, cheating on taxes, all these kinds of things. The misuse of anesthetics so that people die or almost die. All of these things are common practice and all that information is available for America." When asked by the Guardian what Akin was referring to, Rick Tyler, his spokesman, said there were "a number of documented cases" where doctors have deceived women into thinking they were pregnant and then charge them for an abortion. He referred to a Chicago Tribune investigation in 1978 as evidence that doctors trick women into having abortions and then collect fees for a procedure they don't perform. Tyler said nobody hears about this happening anymore because the problem is no longer talked about. "From my perspective there's lots of things about abortion clinics that don't get reported at all. When an abortion goes badly, when doctors have to call 911. Why are the abortions mostly girls? What about the high number of black babies being aborted?"
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Statement issued after emergency session of Nato ambassadors in Brussels voices 'greatest concern' Nato ambassadors met in emergency session in Brussels on Wednesday to ponder their limited options over the escalating Syrian conflict after a cross-border incident with Syrian mortar fire left five dead in a Turkish village. The unusual session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels was demanded by Ankara, which has been pushing for a more muscular response from the western alliance to the atrocities in Syria. There is no appetite in Washington or among the Nato allies, however, for being dragged into the conflict. The Nato ambassadors issued a statement following the meeting, voicing their "greatest concern" and strong condemnation of the shelling, said to have killed a Turkish woman and her four children. The Nato meeting was held under the alliance treaty's article 4, asserting the integrity of the 28 members, rather than under article 5, which commits Nato to come to the defence of a member state under attack. In an interview with the Guardian on Monday, the Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance was committed to the defence of its key south-eastern pivot, Turkey. But he emphasised that there was scant prospect of Nato military intervention in Syria. "Syria is a very, very complex society," he said. "Foreign military interventions could have broader impacts." The statement issued after Nato's meeting in Brussels demanded an immediate halt to "aggressive acts" against Turkey. The shelling from Syria "constitutes a cause of greatest concern for, and is strongly condemned by, all allies", Nato ambassadors said in a statement, after they held a rare late-night meeting at Turkey's request to discuss the incident. "The alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally, and urges the Syrian regime to put an end to flagrant violations of international law," the statement said. In Washington, the Pentagon strongly condemned Syria's deadly mortar strike into Turkey and said it was closely monitoring the situation. "This is yet another example of the depraved behaviour of the Syrian regime, and why it must go. We regret the loss of life in Turkey, a strong ally," Pentagon spokesman George Little said. The White House also issued a strong statement condemning the incident and called for the Assad regime to step aside. "All responsible nations must make clear that it is long past time for Assad to step aside, declare a ceasefire and begin the long-overdue political transition process," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live coverage as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney face off in the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Alexander Fishenko, a naturalised US citizen, and 10 others accused of acting as a secret agent of the Russian government An American success story of an immigrant from Kazakhstan who made millions off his Texas export firm took a cold war-era turn on Wednesday when US authorities accused him of being a secret agent who's been stealing military technology for the Russian military. Alexander Fishenko was among 11 defendants named in a federal indictment filed in Brooklyn charging them with conspiring to purposely evade strict export controls for cutting-edge microelectronics. It also charges Fishenko with money laundering and operating inside the United States as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. Fishenko, a naturalized US citizen and owner of Houston-based Arc Electronics Inc, and seven others were awaiting arraignment in Houston following raids there by the FBI. The name of Fishenko's attorney was not immediately available. His wife, Viktoria, who was identified as a co-owner of her husband's business but not charged, declined to comment Wednesday. "I will speak when I know what's going on," she said. The indictment alleges that since October 2008, the 46-year-old Fishenko and his co-defendants "engaged in a surreptitious and systematic conspiracy" to obtain the highly regulated technology from US makers and export them to Russia. US authorities say the microelectronics could have a wide range of military uses, including radar and surveillance systems, weapons guidance systems and detonation triggers. They also say the charges come amid a modernization campaign by Russian military officials hungry for the restricted, American-made components. "The defendants tried to take advantage of America's free markets to steal American technologies for the Russian government," Loretta Lynch, US attorney in Brooklyn, said in a statement. Stephen L Morris, head of the FBI office in Houston, called the charges an example of how some countries have sought to bypass export safeguards "to improve their defense capabilities and to modernize weapons systems at the expense of US taxpayers". According to court papers, Fishenko was born in the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan and graduated from a technical institute in St Petersburg before coming to America in 1994. He holds US and Russian passports and has frequently traveled overseas to do business, making tens of millions of dollars on exports, authorities said. An analysis of Arc's accounting records showed a "striking similarity between fluctuations in Arc's gross revenues and the Russian Federation's defense spending over the last several years", the court papers say. Investigators also recovered a letter to Arc from a Russian domestic intelligence agency lab complaining that microchips supplied by the company were defective, the papers add. Phone calls and emails intercepted by US investigators also "constitute devastating evidence of Fishenko's illegal procurement for the Russian government", the court papers say. Prosecutors said the evidence revealed repeated attempts by Fishenko to cover his tracks. In one instance in March, he "directed an employee of a Russian procurement firm to 'make sure that our guys don't discuss extra information, such as this is for our military client'", the papers say. In an earlier conversation, Fishenko favorably referred to a business associate using "a Russian colloquialism for 'spy' or 'secret agent'", the papers add. About a dozen FBI agents in Houston executed a search warrant on Wednesday at Fishenko's firm, an unmarked business located in an industrial area in southwest Houston. They took at least 18 cardboard boxes of materials from inside the business to a large truck parked in an alley in the back of the business. Under sentencing guidelines, Fishenko faces more than 12 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It's debate day, and all eyes are on University of Denver, where Jim Lehrer will moderate the first presidential debate
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Escalation in border tensions comes amid day of grave violence inside Syria Turkey's military have struck targets inside Syria in response to a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory which killed five Turkish civilians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement. The mortar fired from the Syrian side into the region of Akçakale sparked an urgent round of meetings with military chiefs and led the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmed Davagotlu, to formally complain to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. "Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar," the statement from Erdogan said. "Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security." Nato said it was following developments and senior officials would meet urgently to discuss the issue. Turkey is a member state of the powerful body and earlier this year invoked a clause in the Nato treaty which called on it to respond to an earlier clash in which a Turkish jet was shot down from inside Syria. The escalating border tensions came amid a day of grave violence inside Syria, with central Aleppo ravaged by three large explosions that killed at least 41 people and the capital Damascus again the scene of fierce clashes between loyalists and rebels and security sweeps by regime forces. The Aleppo bombings were among the biggest seen in Syria in 18 months of uprising. Attackers, believed to have been dressed in military fatigues, are thought to have convinced regime soldiers stationed in Saadallah al-Jabiri Square to let them enter the secure zone. They are then thought to have detonated the bombs believed to have been packed into cars. Devastation was immense in the square. State television pictures also revealed significant damage to nearby residential buildings and offices. Both the Free Syria Army and a jihadist group, known as the Jabhat al-Nusra, claimed responsibility for the attack. Both said the blasts had targeted a military officer's club. Regime officials said the bombings were a suicide terrorist attack that had killed scores of civilians. Saadallah al-Jabiri Square is not far from Aleppo's ancient market, parts of which have been destroyed in recent days during intense clashes between regime troops and rebels. The battle for Aleppo is taking an increasingly heavy toll on the city's historical sites as battle lines, which are drawn largely through a north to south line, slowly shift. The regime's military remains in control of much of the west of the city, but its grip in parts has steadily been loosened throughout almost three months of relentless guerilla fighting. Rebels are now mounting hit and run attacks in most parts of Aleppo, which until recent weeks has been a city of two halves. The regime military maintains dominance of the country's skies and has access to much heavier weapons than the rebel military, yet it remains unable to assert itself across a vast tract of land from Aleppo to the Turkish border and east to the desert regions that spread towards Iraq. Aleppo has become a focal point of the now blazing civil war. Both sides acknowledge that the outcome of the war depends on the battle for the ancient city. Daily death tolls in Syria now constantly exceed 120 and more than 30,000 people, many of them civilians, are believed to have been killed since the uprising began.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Repeal is a victory for pro-marijuana activists and cancer patients, but federal authorities have ordered shops to close Los Angeles has repealed its ban on pot shops, granting a reprieve to the city's estimated 1,000 dispensaries but leaving their legal status in limbo. The city council voted 11 to 2 on Tuesday to rescind the ban, which it had approved in July, following lobbying by the increasingly well-organised cannabis sector. It was a victory for organisations and unions which represent pot shop owners and workers as well as activists who say they need they need medical marijuana to treat serious illnesses. Bill Rosendahl, 67, a council member with diabetes, neuropathy and cancer, made an impassioned plea for the dispensaries. "Where does anybody go, even a councilman go, to get his medical marijuana?," he asked in a hoarse voice, his body gaunt. Doctors, he said, told him he might not have "much time to live". However opponents, including police, council members and neighbourhood groups, said pot shops used the medical argument as cover to sell to recreational users, turning areas seedy and crime-ridden. The vote will need to be repeated next week because it was not unanimous. It was triggered after pot shop advocates collected more than 20,000 signatures to include the issue in a March referendum. The council opted to reverse the ban rather than face an expensive and possibly doomed referendum fight with a sector which has hired lawyers and lobbyists and formed groups such as Americans for Safe Access and the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance. The coalition has another powerful member in the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents workers at dozens of shops. The city's pot shops remain in legal limbo. Federal statutes forbid the sale of marijuana, but California – along with 16 other states and the District of Columbia – permit medical marijuana. The apparent contradiction has become most apparent in LA where pot shops have proliferated to the point even some advocates say there are too many and that rogue operators give the rest a bad name. Green-uniformed pot shop workers on the Venice boardwalk invite tourists into stores for consultations with doctors who diagnose ailments and write cannabis prescriptions. Last week federal authorities raided several pot shops in the city and ordered dozens of others to close within two weeks. One council member, Mitchell Englander, urged the city to use zoning laws to crack down on pot shops because they were not on a municipal list of approved land uses.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Syrian government blames opponents' fighters after three explosions rock main square and entrance to ancient city At least 34 people were killed and more than 120 injured when three suicide bombers detonated cars packed with explosives on Wednesday in a government-controlled area of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Buildings were razed and survivors were trapped under the rubble, state TV said. A fourth explosion hit the edge of the old city, a Unesco World Heritage site that has been heavily damaged during more than two months of fierce fighting between rebels and government forces. The government said the blasts were caused by opposition suicide bombers. The technique is common to al-Qaida-style jihadist groups, some of which are known to have entered Syria to fight against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government has always blamed the uprising on foreign terrorists, even though the revolt began as peaceful protests by ordinary citizens that turned violent after attacks by security forces. The Syrian opposition denies any links to terrorists or any use of suicide attacks. A Sunni extremist group called Jabhat al-Nusra, or Victory Front, has claimed responsibility for previous bombings. Rebels last week announced a push to capture Aleppo, where they have been fighting regime troops since July. But the bloodshed also is increasingly spreading outside Syria's borders. At least three people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed in a house in neighbouring Turkey on Wednesday by a shell fired from inside Syria, according to Abdulhakim Ayhan, mayor of the Turkish town of Akcakale. Turkey's state-owned Anadolu Agency reported that angry townspeople marched to the mayor's office in protest at the deaths. In Aleppo, footage broadcast on state-run Ikhbariya TV showed widespread damage around Saadallah al-Jabri Square, which also houses a famous hotel and a coffee shop that had been popular with regime forces. One building appeared to have been leveled to the ground. The facade of another was heavily damaged. The station showed video of several bodies, including one being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building. Rescue workers stood on piles of debris, frantically trying to pull out survivors. Syria's state-run SANA news agency said the bombings early Wednesday killed at least 34 people and wounded 122, blaming the attack on "terrorists." "It was like a series of earthquakes," a shaken resident told the Associated Press by telephone. "It was terrifying, terrifying." The resident said the officers' club and the hotel were almost completely destroyed. His account could not be immediately verified. The resident declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. Activists could not reach the area, which is controlled by security forces and sealed off with checkpoints. A Syrian government official said the number of deaths was likely to increase because many of the wounded were in critical condition. Regime troops killed two more would-be suicide bombers before they could detonate their explosives, he said on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations. Syrian state TV showed the bodies of three men wearing army uniforms at the site of the explosions. One of them appeared to be wearing an explosive belt with a timer tied to his wrist. Aleppo-based activist Mohammad Saeed said the explosions went off minutes apart at one of the city's main squares. He said the blasts appeared to have been caused by car bombs and were followed by clashes and heavy gunfire. "The area is heavily fortified by security and the presence of shabiha," he said, referring to pro-regime gunmen. "It makes you wonder how car bombs could reach there." Activists and Syrian state media said a fourth car bomb went off in the Bab Jnein area near the Old City where the Chamber of Commerce is located. It was not immediately clear how many casualties there were from that blast. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said at least 40 people were killed and around 90 wounded in the four blasts, most of them members of the regime forces. It said mortars also targeted the nearby political security department around the same time of the bombings. The Syrian security official, however, said most of Wednesday's casualties were civilians. "We condemn these crimes and this terrorist explosion and we also condemn the countries that conspire against Syria and stand behind the terrorists," the speaker of the Syrian parliament, Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham, told the assembly Wednesday. During the course of the 18-month-uprising against Assad, suicide and car bombings targeting security agencies and soldiers have become common in Syria, particularly in the capital, Damascus. But Aleppo had been spared from such bombings and from the mayhem that struck other Syrian cities, particularly in the first year of the revolt. Then, in February, two suicide car bombers hit security compounds in Aleppo's industrial centre, killing 28 people. The uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and gradually morphed into a bloody civil war. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, activists say, and has devastated entire neighborhoods in Syria's main cities, including Aleppo. The city, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, has been the site of fierce battles for more than two months between regime troops and rebels fighters that have brought relentless shelling and gun battles. Over the weekend, a fire sparked by fighting tore through the city's centuries-old covered market in the Old City, burning over 500 shops. At 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), it is the Middle East's longest souk and is part of Aleppo's old center that was added in 1986 to Unesco's list of World Heritage sites.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fund's chief economist Olivier Blanchard says global economy will take a decade to recover from the financial crisis The International Monetary Fund's chief economist has warned that the global economy will take a decade to recover from the financial crisis as the latest snapshot of the UK economy suggested that growth in the third quarter will be at best anaemic. Olivier Blanchard said he feared the eurozone crisis, debt problems in Japan and the US, and a slowdown in China meant that the world economy would not be in good shape until at least 2018. "It's not yet a lost decade," he said. "But it will surely take at least a decade from the beginning of the crisis for the world economy to get back to decent shape. Blanchard made his comments on a Hungarian website Portfolio.hu ahead of the IMF meeting next week in Tokyo. Germany is expected to defend its handling of Europe's debt problems at the meeting, but Blanchard said there was more that Europe's largest economy could do to support Spain and other struggling eurozone nations. In particular, he urged Berlin to accept a rise in inflation and wages that would make it less competitive with its trading partners. He said there was no risk of hyperinflation in Europe. Higher inflation in Germany, though, would be beneficial: a somewhat higher inflation rate in Germany should simply be seen as a necessary and desirable relative price adjustment, he said. Blanchard's comments came as figures from Markit showed that the UK's important services sector grew in August but slipped back by September as the Olympics factor waned. According to industry figures from Markit the services activity index dropped from 53.7 to 52.2 and employment fell, adding to gloomy surveys of the construction and manufacturing sectors earlier in the week. Markit, which compiles a monthly index based on figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, said it was now clear that the bounce back from the slump in the first half of the year was weaker than expected and could result in the UK economy growing by just 0.1% in the third quarter. Hopes that the Queen's diamond jubilee and the £9bn spent on the Olympics would lift sales over the longer term have largely been dashed as growth slows and the outlook, though robust with a growing order book, remains subdued. The Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which began a two-day meeting on Wednesday, is on Thursday expected to keep interest rates at 0.5% and maintain the stock of bonds in its quantitative easing programme at £375bn. Most economists believe it is possible the lacklustre figures will persuade the MPC to add a further £50bn at its November meeting when the first estimate of the third quarter figures is available.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Global economy will take a decade to recover from the financial crisis, says International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund's chief economist has warned that the global economy will take a decade to recover from the financial crisis as the latest snapshot of the UK economy suggested that growth in the third quarter will be at best anaemic. Olivier Blanchard said he feared the eurozone crisis, debt problems in Japan and the US, and a slowdown in China meant that the world economy would not be in good shape until at least 2018. "It's not yet a lost decade," he said. "But it will surely take at least a decade from the beginning of the crisis for the world economy to get back to decent shape. Blanchard made his comments on a Hungarian website Portfolio.hu ahead of the IMF meeting next week in Tokyo. Germany is expected to defend its handling of Europe's debt problems at the meeting, but Blanchard said there was more that Europe's largest economy could do to support Spain and other struggling eurozone nations. In particular, he urged Berlin to accept a rise in inflation and wages that would make it less competitive with its trading partners. He said there was no risk of hyperinflation in Europe. Higher inflation in Germany, though, would be beneficial: A somewhat higher inflation rate in Germany should simply be seen as a necessary and desirable, relative price adjustment, he said. Blanchard's comments came as figures from Markit showed that the UK's important services sector grew in August but slipped back by September as the Olympics factor waned. According to industry figures from Markit the services activity index dropped from 53.7 to 52.2 and employment fell, adding to gloomy surveys of the construction and manufacturing sectors earlier in the week. Markit, which compiles a monthly index based on figures from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, said it was now clear that the bounce back from the slump in the first half of the year was weaker than expected and could result in the UK economy growing by just 0.1% in the third quarter. Hopes that the Queen's diamond jubilee and the £9bn spent on the Olympics would lift sales over the longer term have largely been dashed as growth slows and the outlook, though robust with a growing order book, remains subdued. The Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which began a two-day meeting on Wednesday, is on Thursday expected to keep interest rates at 0.5% and maintain the stock of bonds in its quantitative easing programme at £375bn. Most economists believe it is possible the lacklustre figures will persuade the MPC to add another £50bn at its November meeting when the first estimate of the third quarter figures is available.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Portugal's finance minister Vitor Gaspar is expected to announce fresh cutbacks at a press conference today
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Vaughan Smith and others tell court they cannot influence WikiLeaks founder's decision to claim asylum Julian Assange's supporters have pleaded in court to keep £140,000 in bail money that is in jeopardy because of the WikiLeaks founder's decision to seek political asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. Vaughan Smith, the former British army captain who hosted Assange at his Norfolk home while he was on bail throughout 2011, told Westminster magistrates court that Assange's nine sureties were powerless over the man whose compliance with the legal process they had guaranteed back in 2010. He said Assange's decision to evade a European arrest warrant had become an "unprecedented" matter of diplomatic and inter-governmental concern which they could not reasonably influence. Smith spoke on behalf of sureties who include Philip Knightly, a veteran Australian investigative journalist who exposed the British traitor Kim Philby as a Russian spy, and Sir John Sulston, a Nobel-prize-winning biologist. Smith told the court that a group of them visited Assange on Monday and concluded "the sureties do not have the power to meaningfully intervene in this matter. This has become a matter between the Ecuadorian, British, Swedish, US and Australian governments." The supporters provided between £5,000 and £20,000 each to secure Assange's freedom when he was arrested in December 2010 in connection with allegations of rape and sexual assault relating to relationships with two women in Stockholm. Assange broke his bail conditions in June this year when he took refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in Knightsbridge after he lost a supreme court challenge to the validity of the European arrest warrant that demanded his return to Sweden for questioning. It is understood that a separate group of Assange supporters, thought to include the film-maker Ken Loach, the writer and campaigner Jemima Khan, the journalist John Pilger and the magazine publisher Felix Dennis have already forfeited bail cash worth £200,000 following a court order earlier this year. "We never envisaged when we became sureties that the matter would become a diplomatic argument and it is clear that this needs to be resolved at diplomatic level," said Smith in the short hearing in front of the chief magistrate Howard Riddle which was attended by four other sureties: Knightly, Prof Patricia David, a retired professor of education, Lady Caroline Evans, the wife of the former Labour minister Lord Evans, and Tracy Worcester, a model turned environmental activist. Smith told the court that the sureties could not ignore the perceived risk that if Assange is extradited to Sweden he could end up in a US prison "under unjust conditions". To publicly urge him to leave the embassy would "render us mercenary and contemptible individuals of great weakness of character", Smith said. He urged the court to take into account the "huge amount of effort over an unexpectedly long period" the sureties had put in to support the legal process. He drew attention to his own efforts and that of his family, who as well as standing £20,000 in bail money, hosted Assange for 13 months. He also highlighted the efforts of Sarah Saunders, a WikiLeaks activist and surety, who hosted Assange at her Kent home from where he had to report each day to a police station and adhere to a 10pm-to-8am curfew. "We request that sureties in this case be treated gracefully, in a manner that reflects the impossible position that we are in," he said. "In this unique, this quite exceptional case, complying with what this court seems to expect from us, to all publicly urge Mr Assange to abandon the sanctuary that he has found in the Ecuadorian embassy, would see us acting against a man whom we and others judge to have understandable fears about his ultimate treatment in the United States if he abandons his asylum." The chief magistrate said he would take several days to consider the submission and other evidence before making a ruling. In an earlier September hearing, he had given the nine sureties a month to persuade Assange to surrender himself to police if they wanted their money back, saying he was not persuaded that they were not "using every effort, publicly and privately, to persuade Mr Assange to surrender himself to UK authorities". In August, Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, granted Assange asylum and said the 41-year-old Australian could stay indefinitely in the London embassy. Sweden said in August that any suggestion that Assange could be extradited to America, where he is wanted for his role in leaking hundreds of thousands of classified US military and diplomatic papers, was "hypothetical speculation that shifts the focus away from what this case is actually about". Assange has claimed he could face the death penalty in the US. Karin Hoglund, deputy ambassador at the Swedish embassy in Washington DC, said the issue was "exclusively a question of surrender to Sweden under a European arrest warrant on Mr Assange, who is under criminal investigation in Sweden suspected of sexual offences against two Swedish women". She said: "Sweden is not allowed to extradite a person at risk of capital punishment … The extradition act also includes grounds for refusal of extradition, such as political or military offences and situations in which the person who is extradited is at risk of persecution."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Portugal's finance minister Vitor Gaspar is expected to announce fresh cutbacks at a press conference today
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Portugal's finance minister Vitor Gaspar has announced new tax rises and promised new spending cuts, prompting a new general strike to be called
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow the day's developments as bombs targeted government-controlled areas of Syria's largest city
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The action picks up in 1970, when Young visits the burgeoning music scene in San Francisco and encounters characters like the Jefferson Airplane's Paul Kantner. Following the Kent State shootings – when four college students were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young record Young's classic anthem Ohio.
On Thursday, read a longer extract from the book, plus an interview with Neil Young. From Waging Heavy Peace. Excerpted by arrangement with Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. © 2012 Neil Young (P) 2012 Penguin Audio.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Portugal's finance minister Vitor Gaspar is expected to announce fresh cutbacks at a press conference today
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police in Roseville, Michigan conclude latest investigation into disappearance in 1975 of union boss and friend of the mob Like many others that came before it, the latest search for former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has come up empty. Tests on soil samples gathered last week from a backyard in suburban Detroit showed no traces that Hoffa – or anyone else – was buried there, Roseville police announced Tuesday. "Our department just received the soil sample report from Michigan State University, after a battery of tests; the samples submitted for examination showed no signs of human decomposition," the police statement read. "As a result of these tests the Roseville police department will be concluding their investigation into the possible interment of a human body upon the property." Thus ended the latest in a long string of tips and rumors about one of America's great mysteries. Over the years, authorities have dug up a Michigan horse farm, looked under a swimming pool and pulled up floorboards in their quest for the former union leader. Hoffa last was seen July 30, 1975, outside a restaurant in Oakland County, more than 30 miles to the west. The day he disappeared, Hoffa was supposed to meet with a New Jersey Teamsters boss and a Detroit mafia captain. The latest search led police, reporters and curious onlookers to Patricia Szpunar's brick ranch-style home in Roseville. Police in the mostly working- and middle-class community north of Detroit recently received a tip from a man who claimed he saw someone buried there about 35 years ago and that the body possibly belonged to Hoffa. "The police have left and the yellow tape has come down," Szpunar told The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon. "I'm thrilled because it's over with. No more people staring at my house, driving by, walking by, pausing to stare. I can go on with my life." The soil samples were removed Friday after officials drilled through the floor of a shed on Szpunar's property. Roseville police chief James Berlin had said the ground would be excavated if decomposition were found in the samples. A tipster recently came forward and a radar test revealed a shift in the soil, both of which prompted Friday's drilling. Berlin said the house may have been owned in the 1970s by a gambler with ties to organized crime. Hoffa was an acquaintance of mobsters and adversary to federal officials. He spent time in prison for jury tampering. He was declared legally dead in 1982. Previous tips led police to excavate soil in 2006 at a horse farm north-west of Detroit, rip up floorboards at a Detroit home in 2004 and search beneath a backyard pool a few hours north of the city in 2003. Other theories were that his remains were ground up and tossed into a Florida swamp, entombed beneath Giants Stadium in New Jersey or obliterated in a mob-owned fat-rendering plant. Szpunar said she's just happy to have her shed back. "My son can put the motorcycle back in there," she said. Police had put a new, more secure lock on the shed. They gave Szpunar the key Tuesday.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It's debate day, and all eyes are on University of Denver, where Jim Lehrer will moderate the first presidential debate
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | French president's partner issues public mea culpa for 'clumsy' criticism of Ségolène Royal, mother of Hollande's children Valérie Trierweiler, the partner of the French president, François Hollande, has issued her first public apology for the controversial tweet that caused a scandal in June, just as a poll showed the majority of French people have a negative view of her. After three and a half months of no interviews and few public comments, Trierweiler appeared to be back on a media offensive to correct her poor image, with a carefully worded interview with the biggest-selling regional paper, Ouest France. She gave her first public mea culpa for the tweet that laid bare her animosity to Ségolène Royal, Hollande's ex-partner and the mother of his four children, and which forced the president's complex love life on to the front pages. In the tweet, which shocked the political class and embarrassed Hollande shortly after his election, she had expressed support for a dissident Socialist running for election against Royal. "It was a mistake, and I regret it," she told Ouest France. "I was clumsy because it was badly interpreted. I hadn't yet realised that I was no longer a simple citizen. It won't happen again." She added that she thought the media treatment of the tweet had been "disproportionate". A poll to be released by the magazine VSD on Thursday found 67% of French people had a bad view of Trierweiler, who despite recent appearances in New York and at Paris fashion week has struggled to escape references to the tweet, which sparked a series of books this autumn about her and Hollande's private life. Trierweiler also told Ouest France that "after a period of reflection" she had abandoned the idea of hosting a series of TV documentaries for the channel D8, where she used to front politics and culture shows. She said she had thought about making one or two documentaries a year about "big causes" such as "the education of young girls in the world" or "demographic problems". She described the dropped project as having a "humanitarian vocation" but added: "I understand that for some, being the president's partner and working for a TV station can prompt questions or confusion, so I decided not to do it." The interview highlights the continuing difficulty for Trierweiler, a former political journalist, of navigating her status as the French first lady, when the political role does not officially exist. After months of stressing her independence as a journalist and her desire to be the first presidential partner to maintain a salaried job, for Paris Match magazine, the Twitter scandal complicated the debate by showing her firmly backing a politician during a parliamentary election campaign. Media commentators questioned how she could stay a journalist while also having an office and staff at the Elysée presidential palace. However, she told Ouest France she would continue her literary columns for Paris Match, "which have nothing to with politics". She said she had to support her three teenage children, and could not do so without a salary. "France has the record for professionally active women: 85%. And I'm simply one of them," she said. She added that she would keep her Elysée office, but said that when writing articles she worked from the Paris flat she shared with Hollande, where the couple still live. Aurelie Filippetti, the Socialist culture minister, told French radio that as a feminist she deplored the difficulty Trierweiler was facing in continuing her profession while being the president's partner.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | State's strict new voting law – opposed by the justice department – is one of many introduced around US since 2008 election The battle over voting rights in the November presidential election now swings to South Carolina, following the decision by the Pennsylvania courts on Tuesday to delay implementation of a voter ID requirement in that state. All eyes are now on the legal tussle between the department of justice and South Carolina, where probably the last voter ID law will be decided before election day on 6 November. Last year South Carolina became one of at least 34 states to introduce strict laws that require voters to present photo identification at polling stations – one of a swathe of measures attacking voting rights that swept across the US this election cycle. South Carolina's law was blocked, however, by the Obama administration last June. The department of justice wielded its powers under section 5 of the 1965 voting rights act – a safeguard introduced after desegregation in the deep south to prevent designated areas from changing voting procedures without federal government approval in advance. The blocking power was designed consciously to counter the old Jim Crow laws of the south, where African Americans were routinely denied the right to vote on spurious technical grounds. The justice department's final decision over the South Carolina's voter ID law is now pending and could be announced as early as this week. It is also possible, though, that a final ruling will be postponed until after the presidential election. The assault on voting rights has been one of the epic themes of the 2012 election cycle, with states moving on an unprecedented scale to erect barriers to easy access to the polling booth. A tally by the Brennan Center for Justice in New York itemised at least 180 restrictive bills in 41 states
over the past two years, of which 15 laws were actually passed in 19 states. The laws included a range of different threats to voting, of which the imposition of a requirement for photo ID cards was just the most common. Other laws required proof of citizenship at the polling station; at least 16 states introduced bills that would make it harder to register to vote; and at least nine have tried to end early voting. But if 2012 has been the presidential election that saw a widespread attack on voting rights, it has also been a year that has seen a dramatic counter-offensive that has effectively neutralised most of the most egregious new laws. In no fewer than in 14 states have there been moves to repeal, postpone or judicially overturn the provisions. In addition to South Carolina, the justice department used section 5 to block voter ID laws in Texas and Florida, the governors of six states wielded their vetoes, and there have been court cases settled or pending in seven states. The intervention of judges around the country to hold back some of the harsher legislation has been notable aspect of the 2012 battle over voting rights. Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center said that a common feature of judges' rulings against the voter ID laws had been "a recognition that a lot of this stuff has been politically motivated. It was not about improving the voting system, but about gaming the system." Some of the judges made the thought that political skulduggery explicit in their
deliberations. A federal judge, Robert Hinkle, was scathing about a provision introduced by Florida that would penalise charities if they lodged new voter registrations with election officials more than 48 hours after they were completed. Striking down the provision, Hinkle said: "If the goal is to discourage voter-registration drives and thus also to make it harder for new voters to register, the 48-hour deadline may succeed. But if the goal is to further the state's legitimate interests without unduly burdening the rights of voters and voter registration organizations, 48 hours is a bad choice." When the Pennsylvania supreme court heard legal argument on the state's new voter ID law last month, one justice, Seamus McCaffery, wondered aloud why the legislature was in such a rush to implement the act in November. "Could there be politics, maybe?" he asked. Planning for beyond NovemberWhile it seems the bulk of the threat to voter rights has been neutralised in
this presidential election cycle by the combination of judicial, gubernatorial
and electoral push-backs, in the longer term the danger is by no means
over. As the NAACP is pointing out this week with the launch of a new
campaign called Silenced: Citizens Without a Vote, there are almost 6 million citizens in the US who have been stripped of their votes as a result of having been convicted of a felony. That is equivalent to one out of every 40 American adults. Four states – Florida, Virginia, Kentucky and Iowa – effectively permanently disenfranchise anyone with a felony conviction, even after they have fully served their sentence. Benjamin Jealous, NAACP's president, called the laws outrageous: "This is a country in which we believe voting is a right, in which all people should have a second chance," he told MSNBC. Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters which has an active voter registration programme in several states, said there was still the danger of considerable confusion among the electorate before November. "We are having to scramble to make up for months of lost time because of these laws," she said. Beyond November, the voting rights issue is likely to raise its head again as legislatures who have had their efforts foiled move to reintroduce the offending legislation. Some rulings, including Tuesday's court judgment in Pennsylvania, have only delayed rather than eradicated the new voter ID laws which are likely to come into effect next year in the absence of any further opposition. In addition, several places, including Texas and Arizona and parts of Alabama and North Carolina, are gearing themselves up to challenging section 5 itself. They argue that they should no longer be subjected to federal restrictions, though many voting rights experts remain suspicious of their motivations. "Unfortunately, I think we will continue to see these battles well after the election," Norden said. "The fight is definitely still on-going."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Portugal's finance minister Vitor Gaspar is expected to announce fresh cutbacks at a press conference today
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police use teargas and batons on demonstrators and Tehran bazaar closes as value of rial plunges Hundreds of demonstrators in the Iranian capital, Tehran, have clashed with riot police, who used batons and teargas to disperse the crowd, which had gathered in protest against the crisis raging over the country's national currency. The Grand Bazaar, the heartbeat of Tehran's economy, went on strike on Wednesday, with various businesses shutting down and owners gathering in scattered groups chanting anti-government slogans in reaction to the plummeting value of the rial, which has hit all-time lows this week. Witnesses in Tehran told the Guardian that angry protesters and foreign exchange dealers were demonstrating in areas close to the Bazaar in the south of the capital, where many exchange bureaux are located. "The Bazaaris shouted Allahu Akbar [God is great] as they closed down their shops in the morning," said a witness. "It's impossible to do business in the current situation." Security forces were sent to quell the protests. "They used teargas to disperse demonstrators in Ferdowsi Street and also blocked the streets close to the protests in order to prevent people joining them," said another witness. "Some shop windows in that area have been smashed." The government of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has failed to bring the rial under control. It has lost 57% of its value in the past three months and 75% in comparison to the end of last year. The dollar is now three times stronger than early last year. Ahmadinejad was bombarded with questions about the currency crisis on Tuesday as he spoke to reporters in a press conference but the embattled president rejected the suggestion that it was the result of his economic policies or government incompetence. Instead, he blamed the rial's slump on his enemies abroad and opponents at home, saying his government was the victim of a "psychological war". Ahmadinejad blamed western sanctions for the crisis. Iran, one of the world's largest oil producers, relies on crude sales for 80% of its export revenue and to bring in most of the foreign currency. The latest US and EU embargo on the imports of Iranian oil has affected the government's foreign currency reserves. On Tuesday, Iranian authorities announced they would send security services to calm the market but Wednesday's development appear to show that the move has backfired.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Code Pink activists gathered in Islamabad ready to join march led by Imran Khan into tribal region bordering Afghanistan Not content with a planned march into one of Pakistan's most dangerous regions, a group of middle-aged American women are considering mounting a hunger strike outside the US embassy in Islamabad as part a campaign against CIA drone attacks in the country. Thirty-five activists from Code Pink, a US anti-war group, have gathered in the Pakistani capital this week as they prepare for an unprecedented march and political rally in South Waziristan, one of the semi-autonomous tribal areas on the Afghan border, which is a hotbed of Taliban militancy. Despite intense publicity surrounding the event, doubts persist over whether it will be able to take place. Local authorities have expressed strong doubts about the safety of the march, even though the Pakistani military has long claimed its operations in the area have brought a semblance of security. Medea Benjamin, the veteran activist leading the Code Pink delegation, said: "Frankly, it's a win-win situation for us, whether we get into Waziristan or not. "We are going because we are challenging the Pakistani government to allow us to go to a place that has been off limits but needs to be seen. And if they try to stop us, it will be clear they do not want the world to see what is going on there." On Tuesday in Islamabad the women met retired generals, ambassadors and even a former head of the notorious military spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and discussed other tactics to publicise their cause. Those included mounting a hunger strike outside the US embassy in Islamabad. Benjamin said the group was still considering the idea. "It was something a couple of members of the group brought up, but we wanted to wait until we got here to see how appropriate that might be," she said. There was also a lengthy discussion about whether Pakistan, which publicly decries the drone campaign despite signs that it continues to give tacit approval, should attempt to shoot down US drones in its airspace. On Wednesday, the women met people from North Waziristan who said they were victims of the US drone campaign, having lost relatives to missile strikes by the remote-controlled planes. They will also hold meetings with Pakistani and US government officials. The group includes Mary Ann Wright, a former US diplomat and army colonel who condemned her country's covert drone campaign as Barack Obama's "personal execution device", in reference to the US president's weekly meeting at which he is reported to choose targets for missile strikes. The march, led by Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, is due to take place this weekend. Organisers hope to spend Saturday night in a town outside the tribal areas and then move on to Jandola, just inside the border of South Waziristan, where they will hold a rally. The Taliban have given mixed signals over their position on the march. In August, a spokesman said Khan would be targeted because he is a "liberal". But other reports have said the Taliban will now support the march. Supporters say Khan has been assured by General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of Pakistan's army, that if they go to South Waziristan they will remain safe. The ambitions of march organisers have already been significantly downgraded. The original hope had been to travel to North Waziristan, a far more dangerous area rife with militants drawn from across the world. The vast majority of drone strikes now take place there, and the Pakistani army has almost no influence over the tribal area, where they have long resisted US calls to mount military operations. Nonetheless, although Jandola is in a relatively safe part of South Waziristan, all of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have been off limits to foreigners since the tribal belt became a sanctuary for Taliban groups fighting against Nato troops in Afghanistan and Pakistani government forces. Few politicians have dared to campaign in the area. If successful, the march will cement Khan's position as a pre-eminent opponent of the US drone campaign. Code Pink, which originally formed to oppose the second Iraq war, claimed its anti-drone campaign was still in its infancy. Benjamin said: "When it comes to drones, we are at the very beginning of turning public opinion against them in the US."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Islamist cleric woken every hour of the night by guards in Belmarsh jail, barrister tells high court hearing extradition plea The Islamist cleric Abu Hamza is suffering from depression and chronic sleep deprivation due to harsh prison conditions, the high court has been told. The 48-year-old, who was detained in Belmarsh jail in south-east London for eight years, was woken every hour of the night in the high-security unit, his barrister, Alun Jones QC said. A medical report drawn up in August recorded that Hamza was suffering from type 2 diabetes and had to shower twice a day because of sweating. The court is considering applications from Hamza and four other terrorist suspects who are seeking to extend injunctions preventing their extradition to the US, where they are wanted on al-Qaida-related charges. Hamza is also suffering from memory loss and is unfit plead at any trial, Jones told the court. "He has been kept in an utterly unacceptable conditions for eight years," Jones said. "His sleep deprivation is primarily because he is woken every hour by prison officers who turn on the light to check on him." Belmarsh's high-security unit, he added, was the "most restrictive regime in the prison estate" in the UK. Doctors who examined Hamza have requested that he be given an MRI scan to assess whether he has a degenerative medical condition. But one of the judges hearing the case, Sir John Thomas, said: "It could be said that the sooner he stands trial the better for his condition. I don't see how delay can be in the interests of justice." The radical cleric is also said to be feeling "persecuted" by the press. On 21 September, Hamza was moved to Long Lartin prison where the other suspects fighting deportation are being held. Meanwhile, the civil rights group Liberty is seeking to intervene in the high court proceedings against the government and DPP for not allowing another of the suspects, Babar Ahmad, to be prosecuted in the UK. Ahmad is accused of setting up terrorist fundraising websites and has been detained for eight years without charge. The authorities will neither prosecute nor allow the private prosecution attempted by businessman Karl Watkin. Liberty said: "If all or a substantial part of the alleged criminal conduct took place in the UK, a person should face trial here where it is in the interests of justice that they should do so."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Human Rights Watch report says three Palestinians have been executed after 'confessions' apparently obtained under coercion Hamas security forces are routinely subjecting Palestinian detainees in Gaza to torture and abuse, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, which says three men have been executed on the basis of "confessions" apparently obtained under coercion. The report cites serious abuses such as arbitrary arrest, denial of access to lawyers and the use of torture during interrogations. "After five years of Hamas rule in Gaza, its criminal justice system reeks of injustice, routinely violates detainees' rights, and grants immunity to abusive security services," said Joe Stork of HRW. "Hamas should stop the kinds of abuses that Egyptians, Syrians and others in the region have risked their lives to bring to an end." The report, Abusive System: Criminal Justice in Gaza, calls for urgent reforms, including a moratorium on the death penalty. It cites the case of Abdel Karim Shrair, who, according to family and lawyers, was tortured under interrogation before being executed by firing squad in May 2011 after "confessing" to collaborating with Israel. Fourteen Palestinians have been executed since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. This week, the European Union condemned death sentences handed down last month to two men in Gaza, one for murder and the second for collaboration. The EU "considers capital punishment to be cruel and inhuman, failing to provide deterrence to criminal behaviour, and representing an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity", it said in a statement. HRWatch accused Hamas of failing to investigate alleged cases of torture and abuse, and of granting impunity from prosecution to security service officials. It said "intra-Palestinian political rivalry [between Hamas and Fatah] remains a significant factor behind many Hamas abuses against detainees in Gaza". The Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also "arrests and detains Palestinians arbitrarily, including Hamas members or sympathisers, and similarly subjects detainees to torture and abuse", the report said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as bombs target government-controlled areas of Syria's largest city
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