|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sources say BP has reached deal with US justice department over 2010 disaster after months of negotiation BP is expected to plead guilty to criminal misconduct over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster through a plea agreement it has reached with the US department of justice that may be announced as soon as Thursday, according to two sources familiar with discussions. The sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said BP would plead guilty in exchange for a waiver of future prosecution on the charges. BP and the justice department declined to comment. The oil giant has been locked in months-long negotiations with the US government and Gulf Coast states to settle billions of dollars of potential civil and criminal liability claims resulting from the explosion on 20 April 2010 aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig. The deal could resolve a significant share of the liability that BP faces after an explosion killed 11 workers and fouled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states in the worst offshore spill in US history. BP still faces economic and environmental damage claims sought by US Gulf Coast states and other private plaintiffs. It is unclear to which form of criminal misconduct BP would plead guilty. In an August filing, the department of justice said "reckless management" of the Macondo well "constituted gross negligence and willful misconduct", which it intended to prove at a pending civil trial set to begin in New Orleans in February 2013. The US government has not yet filed any criminal charges in the case. It is also unclear whether the deal will resolve any civil charges brought by the justice department – and how large a financial penalty BP might pay to resolve the charges, or other punishments that BP might face. Negligence is a central issue to BP's potential liability. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21bn in a straight-line calculation. According to the justice department, errors made by BP and Swiss-based Transocean Ltd, owner of the Deepwater Horizon platform, in deciphering a key pressure test of the Macondo well are a clear indication of gross negligence. "That such a simple, yet fundamental and safety-critical test could have been so stunningly, blindingly botched in so many ways, by so many people, demonstrates gross negligence," the government said in its August filing. The mile-deep Macondo well spewed 4.9m barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days. The torrent fouled shorelines from Texas to Florida and eclipsed in severity the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. BP has already announced an uncapped class-action settlement with private plaintiffs. The company estimates it will cost $7.8bn to resolve litigation brought by over 100,000 individuals and businesses claiming economic and medical damages from the spill.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Long-expected transition passes off smoothly at Communist party congress after build-up marked by scandals and intrigue Xi Jinping has taken over as leader of China, securing the Communist party's top spot and oversight of the military after a political transition upset by scandals that have added fuel to public demands for change as the country faces slower economic growth. Xi's elevation to party general secretary and chairman of the commission that oversees the People's Liberation Army was announced in a dispatch by the state Xinhua news agency following a week-long party congress that underlined the communists' determination to remain firmly in power. Xi will lead a new seven-member collective leadership of technocrats: Li Keqiang, the presumptive premier; vice-premier Zhang Dejiang; Shanghai party secretary Yu Zhengsheng; propaganda chief Liu Yunshan; vice-premier Wang Qishan; and Tianjin party secretary Zhang Gaoli. The members of the new panel filed on to the stage at the Great Hall of the People and Xi addressed the gathered reporters. The son of a party elder, and vice-president for the past five years, Xi will lead the world's second-largest economy amid increasingly vocal calls for economic and political reform including from within the 82 million member party itself. At ease with colleagues, Xi takes over the party leadership from the stiff and technocratic Hu Jintao and is expected to assume the presidency in March.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Frederick W Humphries II unmasked as investigator who was banned from case because of relationship with Jill Kelley The FBI agent who set in motion the investigation that brought down David Petraeus as CIA director, but was ordered to stay away from the case because of his alleged infatuation with a woman who prompted the inquiry, has been identified as a veteran terrorism investigator, Frederick W Humphries II. The New York Times revealed the agent's name and reported that his colleagues described him as having "conservative political views and a reputation for aggressiveness". Before his name was made public, Humphries had been dubbed Agent Shirtless after it was revealed that he once sent a topless picture of himself to Jill Kelley. Kelley's subsequent complaint to Humphries about harassing emails from Petraeus's mistress, Paula Broadwell, set in motion the investigation that forced the CIA director from office. Humphries, a former military intelligence officer in the US army, is himself under internal investigation. The FBI ordered him to stay away from the Petraeus case, which did not fall within his expertise, because of his close ties to Kelley. Last month Humphries revealed the Petraeus probe to members of Congress because he said he was concerned about a cover-up. But the move could be seen as political with the potential to embarrass the president ahead of last week's election. "Fred is a passionate kind of guy," a former colleague told the New York Times. "He's kind of an obsessive type. If he locked his teeth on to something he'd be a bulldog." Lawrence Berger, general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, spoke to Humphries and then told the New York Times that he sent a shirtless picture of himself to Kelley in jest and that it was not sexual. "That picture was sent years before Ms Kelley contacted him about this, and it was sent as part of a larger context of what I would call social relations in which the families would exchange numerous photos of each other," Berger said.
Humphries shot dead a soldier at MacDill air force base, home of the US military's central command where he became friends with Kelley, in 2010. The FBI agent, who was off duty at the time, killed an army veteran, Ronald Bullock, who confronted him with a knife while trying to flee the base after a confrontation with security officials. Humphries was cleared in a subsequent investigation that found he "operated within the scope of the FBI's deadly force policy". Humphries has been involved in a number of terrorism investigations including one involving Abu Hamza al-Masri who was extradited from Britain to the US in October on charges of involvement with al-Qaida and planning to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.
Three years ago Humphries was involved in the controversial prosecution of an Egyptian student, Youssef Megahed, on terrorism charges in Florida. Megahed was acquitted by a jury and an immigration judge threw out an attempt to deport him. Humphries told the court that Megahed had searched the internet for information on Qassam rockets in order to attack American military vehicles in the Middle East. In 1999 Humphries, who attended high school in Canada and is fluent in French, was working at the FBI office in Seattle was also reported to have identified an Algerian terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, posing as being from Montreal from his north African French accent. Ressam was convicted of planning to bomb Los Angeles airport.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ahmed al-Jabari's assassination in missile strike marks 'start of broader operation' that may involve ground troops, says Israel Israel launched a military operation to eliminate militants and weapon sites in the Gaza Strip, killing the commander of Hamas's military wing, in a move with potentially serious repercussions beyond its borders. The assassination of Ahmed al-Jabari in a missile strike in Gaza City was the "start of a broader operation", according to the Israel Defence Forces, which it named Operation Pillar of Defence. Ground forces were on standby, the IDF said. The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned that the military was "prepared to expand" its Gaza operation. A cabinet communique said the IDF would "continue vigorous action against the terrorist infrastructures operating from the Gaza Strip against the civilian population in Israel". It would, "to the best of its ability, work to avoid harming civilians". In a statement on Twitter, the IDF said: "All options are on the table. If necessary, the IDF is ready to initiate a ground operation in Gaza." The Israeli navy also confirmed that its gunships had fired shells into the Gaza Strip, and there were unconfirmed reports of an incursion in the south of the Gaza Strip late on Wednesday. As Hamas's armed wing warned that Jabari's assassination "had opened the gates of hell", Israel was braced for a surge in rocket fire from Gaza aimed at communities in the south of the country. Residents in towns in southern Israel were ordered to stay in bomb shelters, and schools in a 40km radius closed. The conflict could fracture Israel's shaky relations with the post-revolution government in Egypt, which has strong ties with Hamas. Since Egypt's former president and ally Hosni Mubarak was ousted February last year, Israel has feared for the durability of the peace treaty between the two countries. Following the launch of the operation, Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel, and Israel's envoy to Cairo was also preparing to leave the country. Solidarity attacks from Islamic jihadist groups, which Israel says are operating in Egypt's Sinai peninsula to the south, and from Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Israel believes has thousands of rockets ready to fire over the northern border, could not be ruled out. Dan Harel, a former deputy army chief of staff, said: "It might draw them in. There was a volley of fire this morning from the south. We don't know yet if it came from the Sinai ... Hopefully Hezbollah will keep themselves out of the engagement." Hamas and other militant organisations could deploy longer-range missiles in its arsenals, some of which can reach densely populated cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The IDF claimed multiple air strikes had hit more than 20 underground rocket launchers belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It said it was targeting long-range rockets, such as the Fajr-5, which has a range of up to 75km. Jabari, head of Hamas's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, died when his car was struck in Gaza City by a missile following almost a week of rocket fire from Gaza. Palestinian reports said 10 people died in airstrikes, including two children. Sami Abu Salem, a local journalist, said civilian cars were bringing the wounded to the Shifa hospital in Gaza City. "I saw women and children bleeding from their heads and necks, and a baby who was burned." Gazans were stocking up on emergency supplies of canned food in preparation for war, he added. Jabari is the most senior Hamas operative to be killed by Israel for almost four years, since Operation Cast Lead, its three-week assault on the Gaza Strip during the winter of 2008-09 that left about 1,400 Palestinians dead. The IDF said Jabari was "a senior Hamas operative who served in the upper echelon of the Hamas command and was directly responsible for executing terror attacks against the state of Israel". Its operation was intended "to severely impair the command and control chain of the Hamas leadership, as well as its terrorist infrastructure. This was a surgical operation in co-operation with the Israeli security agency, that was implemented on the basis of concrete intelligence and using advanced capabilities". According to Reuters, calls for revenge were broadcast in Gaza after the air strikes. "Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences," Islamic Jihad said. The Associated Press reported that "plumes of black smoke wafted into Gaza City's skies following at least five airstrikes, in an atmosphere reminiscent of Israel's large-scale 2008-09 attack on Gaza ... Outside the hospital [where Jabari's body was taken], thousands of angry Gazans chanted 'retaliation' and 'we want you to hit Tel Aviv tonight'." Israel had warned for several days that it may launch an offensive in Gaza after more than 130 rockets were fired by militants in recent days. On Tuesday, Netanyahu said he would choose "the right time to exact the heaviest price ... Whoever thinks that they can damage the daily lives of residents of the south, and that they won't pay a heavy price for this ... they are mistaken". The Obama administration backed the Israeli airstrikes. In a statement, State Department spokesman Mark Toner denounced Hamas militants and others in Gaza for a barrage of rocket fired into southern Israel. And he said the US supported Israel's right to self-defence. Toner also urged Israel to make every effort to avoid civilian casualties. Most political figures in Israel endorsed the operation. The Labour leader, Shelly Yachimovich, said Israel was "united in its war against terrorism". But Dov Hanin, of the leftwing Hadash party, condemned the killing . "In place of the leaders killed, others will grow, and we will only get another cycle of fire and blood," he said. Egypt's foreign ministry condemned the operation and urged Israel to halt targeted killings. The Freedom and Justice party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, called the assassination a "crime that requires a quick Arab and international response to stem these massacres against the besieged Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip". A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry also criticised the killing. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, called for "an immediate de-escalation of tensions", and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, was reported to have called for an urgent Arab league meeting.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | State Republicans wade back into women's rights row with move to curb funding to health provider in the buckeye state Last week, pro-choice campaigners celebrated after voters used the ballot box to oppose right-wing Republican candidates with extreme views on abortion, while young women voted overwhelmingly for the return of a president who spoke of reproductive rights. But on Wednesday, state Republicans have once again been accused of a "war against women", after an Ohio state committee voted in favour of a bill which will put Planned Parenthood, the largest reproductive and sexual healthcare provider in the US, at the bottom of the state's priority system for federal family planning funds. Pro-life activists have long campaigned for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, because they also provide abortions. The decision could affect as many as 100,000 women who depend on the health provider. Two committee rooms and an overflow room were packed with Planned Parenthood supporters and pro-choice activists, according to observers who spoke to the Guardian. They chanted "Hear us now" in the halls outside the committee where the bill was being heard. But the vote split along party lines, 11 Republicans to nine Democrat and the Ohio House Health and Aging Committee passed House Bill 298. It will now go to the full floor of the House, which has a Republican super-majority and is likely to be passed. Nina Turner, the Democratic state senator for Cleveland, said: "For the life of me, I cannot understand why Republicans are so intent on taking away from women the right to make their own choices about their bodies." "Voters soundly rejected the foolishness of the radical right on election day in favor of the dignity of American women, but some lawmakers must not have heard." Voters in Missouri and Indiana voted for the Democratic candidates and against Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, two Republican candidates who had caused anger with their comments against abortion, even in cases of rape. Turner, who introduced a protest bill earlier this year that would restrict men's ability to get a Viagra prescription, wore a provocative T-shirt to a press conference on Tuesday on the Ohio bill, with the acronym for the GOP which read: "Get Out of my Panties" Exit polls from last weeks election suggest that 56% of Ohio voters believe abortion should be legal all or most of the time. Some 39% said it should be illegal. Jerid Kurtz, spokesman for the Ohio Democratic party, said that opposition to abortion was a key priority, over job creation, for the state governor, John Kasich. Kurtz said that more than 100,000 women in the state depend on Planned Parenthood for healthcare, which includes HIV and cancer screening as well as contraception. Kurtz said: "Governor John Kasich cannot claim ignorance about this latest attack on women, since he sat down with state legislative leaders to personally calendar out priorities for the Statehouse's final days of 2012." He went on: "After appointing opponents of women's health care to top positions in his administration, including seats on the State Medical Board and Supreme Court Vacancy committee, Kasich's silence on this push to defund Planned Parenthood is no surprise, and sends a blunt message that job creation is not his top priority. The Governor is building a record that sends an incredibly clear message, women just can't trust John Kasich with their healthcare." Kasich recently appointed Michael Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right To Life, to the Ohio state medical board. Kurtz, who set up an email campaign against the bill, said that more than 200,000 emails were sent opposing the bill to the governor's office. Kellie Copeland, executive director for Naral Pro-Choice Ohio, described the bill as a "legislative and ideological witch-hunt against one of the top medical providers in this country." She told supporters that Republican legislators were "putting ideology over the marketplace. They are interjecting themselves into the doctor-patient relationship." She told the Guardian: "Its pretty obvious that they didn't get the message on Tuesday. But the crew down where in Columbus didn't bother much about what women think before the election. It's obvious it's part of their agenda." In a press release from Ohio Right To Life, which backed the bill, Gonidakis said: "It can't be ignored that Planned Parenthood is one of the largest pigs at the taxpayer trough, yet fails to provide certain and basic healthcare services offered at most of the other 300 clinics. It's time to stand up against the special interests, abortion lobbyists and their allies and instead support poor and uninsured women and their kids." The stated purpose of House Bill 298 is to "prioritise" funding, including federal funds, for family planning purposes. It calls for eligible public entities or other community health groups that help uninsured and underinsured women to receive money from the state departments of Health and Job and Family Services before other providers like Planned Parenthood. The bill stalled earlier this year amid concern it could divert funding from hospitals. The state legislature may also reconsider the so-called "heartbeat bill" which would ban abortions after the foetal heartbeat is detected, with no exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Barack Obama holds a press conference and Nancy Pelosi announces she wants to stay as House minority leader
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President insists wealthy must pay their share and says he will not extend Bush-era tax cuts for wealthiest 2% of Americans Barack Obama adopted a tougher approach to the fiscal cliff showdown on Wednesday when he made an unequivocal pledge that he will not cave in to Republican demands for tax cuts for the wealthy. Apparently emboldened by his election victory and free from the pressure of another campaign, Obama told a White House press conference that while almost everything else was up for discussion, the wealthiest Americans would have to pay their share. During last year's showdown with Republican leaders in Congress that almost brought Washington to a standstill, Obama was forced to accept a compromise just days before Christmas that included extending tax cuts for the richest Americans, introduced by George W Bush. Asked at the press conference if he could offer an assurance that he would not cave in again, Obama said: "What I said at the time is what I meant. Which is: this was a one-time proposition. What I have told leaders privately as well as publicly is that we can not afford to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy." The press conference was his first formal, televised appearance before the White House press corps in eight months. He used it to take a swipe at two senior Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who criticised the UN ambassador, Susan Rice, over comments she made about the September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. He also addressed the scandal over General David Petraeus for the first time in detail, said that tackling climate change would be a priority in his second term, and promised to press ahead with immigration reform. One of the biggest criticisms of Obama in his first term from fellow Democrats is that he was too passive in dealing with Republicans and failed to show sufficient leadership. Speaking in the East Room of the White House, Obama was more confident in dealing with the media than some of his laboured performances in the past. He indicated that he understood the criticisms of his first term: "I hope and intend to be a better president in the second term than I was in the first," he said. Democrats in Congress as well as many activists and supporters regard the tax issue as a touchstone. Many of them were dismayed that Obama appeared to be too passive, and at times too willing to bend, in his dealings with Republicans in Congress over the last two years. But given the unequivocal nature of his comments on Wednesday, Obama will find it hard to row back from his promises on tax. The Republican leader in the House, John Boehner, and other senior members of the party have adopted a more conciliatory tone since the election. But they have gone on to say that they remain opposed to any tax rises for the wealthy. At the press conference, Obama reiterated that there were only two options facing the nation on January 1: either everyone's taxes go up, or just those of the top-earning 2% of Americans. Although he repeated he was seeking compromise with the Republicans, Obama combined with this with a new-found air of determination not to bend on the 2%. He is putting the pressure on the Republicans in a way he failed to so last year, suggesting that if everyone faces tax rises on 1 January, it will be the GOP's fault. Obama is seeking a quick bill before Christmas to guarantee that taxes will not go up for the the other 98%. "What we can do is make sure that middle-class taxes don't go up. And so the most important important step we can take right now – and I think the foundation for a deal that helps the economy, creates jobs – is if right away that 98% of Americans are not going to see their taxes go up, 97% of small businesses are not going to see their taxes go up. "If we get that in place, we are actually removing half the fiscal cliff. Half of the danger to our economy is removed by that single step." The showdown has potential ramifications beyond just the next few months. If Obama can win this confrontation, it might make it easier to get other legislation through over the next two years until the mid-term congressional elections. If he does not, Republicans, who retain control of the House, will feel more confident of being able to fend off other legislative initiatives. Obama said that as long as the tax cuts for the top 2% were dealt with, he was open to discussion of the whole tax system, particularly loopholes, and – a contentious point for some Democrats – consider serious reform of entitlements, in particular health costs. "There is a package to be shaped, and I am confident that folks of goodwill in both parties can make it happen. But what I am not going to do is extend Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% that we can't afford and, according to economists, have the least impact on our economy." He added: "I want a big deal, a comprehensive deal." Reflecting his new-found confidence, Obama rounded on McCain and Graham for a press conference at Congress earlier in the day in which they said they would block any attempt by the president to nominate Rice as secretary of state in place of Hillary Clinton, because of what they claim is a misleading account she gave of the Benghazi attack. Obama accused them of "besmirching" her with their "outrageous" comments. He told the press conference he would nominate whoever he wanted as secretary of state. On immigration, which most Republicans have long opposed but which they might now be willing to consider given the importance of Latinos in the election, Obama promised reform "very soon" after his inauguration on January 21. "I am very confident we can get immigration reform done," he said. He wanted to "seize the moment", adding that he was "already seeing signs" that some Republicans are beginning to come round. He favoured strong border controls and a pathway to legal status for those already living in the US, provided they paid taxes and were not engaged in criminal activity. One of the biggest foreign policy challenges in his second term is Iran, and Obama said there is still a window for a diplomatic solution, insisting he will push for dialogue between Iran and the US and other countries. He denied a pre-election report that the US would engage in direct, one-to-one talks with Iran. On Syria, he said the US is not yet ready to recognise the coalition of rebels that has just been formed as an alternative government. He would not go beyond describing them as representing the "legitimate" aspirations of the Syrian people. His concern was that extremists elements might infiltrate the coalition and he did not want to supply arms that might then be used against Americans. Obama hinted again at a possible role for his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, praising his handling of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and acknowledging that he had good ideas on the campaign trail. But he added: "I am not suggesting I have a specific assignment."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | It's the cringe-proof dance that knows no shame. And it refuses to go away Gangnam Style (the video that's taken the – oh, you know what it is) is meant to be dead. Several times over. According to Time magazine, Gangnam first died in early October, when Google's Eric Schmidt was snapped jiving to the pop smash. "Sure Schmidt is a strategic genius behind the world's most important internet company," noted Time, "but he also dresses like your dad. So the minute the lanky 57-year-old software engineer busted a move, we fear 'Gangnam Style' jumped the shark." Then came CNN, which wrote Gangnam's obituary a fortnight later. "I hereby declare," declared CNN's Jarrett Bellini, "October 12, 2012, as the day Gangnam Style died." But reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. Since Schmidt's effort, Boris Johnson has laid claim to the video, as have the boys of Eton. And Madonna. And Ban Ki-moon. And, on Wednesday, Anish Kapoor. Every time a posho or politician referenced the video, Gangnam sprang back to life – Lazarus-like – from the cyber-graveyard where all memes go to die (that's Rebecca Black over by the mausoleum; Downfall's by the church wall, underneath Kim Jong-il looking at ... things). No one, it seems, can stunt the popularity of Gangnam Style. Not even David Cameron, whose love for northern indie has ruined The Smiths for a generation of Mancunians, but whose association with Gangnam has only seemed to boost its popularity. For the time being, it is the cringe-proof meme, the zombie meme, the meme that knows no shame. Quite possibly, it will be danced by grannies at weddings in 2030 – the 21st-century equivalent of the conga line; the new macarena. So can anyone kill Gangnam? In days gone by, you would have plonked the Duchess of Cornwall in front of the camera, and left her to it. But if The Killing can survive Camilla's touting of Sarah Lund's jumper, you sense Gangnam could deal with the Duchess prancing around like a horseless rider. Piers Morgan, too. His every movement drips with cringe, but his strong Twitter following would at the least give Gangnam another million views. Donald Trump, George Osborne, and Rebekah Brooks are other obvious candidates. But even then, one senses Gangnam's Teflon nature would carry the song. It is like a virus that is immune to antibiotics: the lamer its company, the cooler it becomes. So perhaps we need the opposite: someone who, like Gangnam, remains genuinely popular. Someone who, if placed in the same room as Gangnam, might burst the meme mainframe, disrupt the space-time continuum. Someone like Ryan Gosling. Oppa Gosling Style – the meme to end all memes. Quite literally, I hope.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Republicans on Capitol Hill suggest an election week coverup of FBI's investigation into former CIA director's personal life Barack Obama has brushed aside Republican suggestions of a coverup over the FBI investigation of the former CIA director, David Petraeus, as critics question why the White House was not informed about the probe until after last week's presidential election. "The FBI has its own protocols in terms of how they proceed," the president told the first press conference since his re-election. "One of the challenges here is we're not supposed to meddle in criminal investigations, and that's our practice." Members of Congress are questioning why the attorney general, Eric Holder, and the FBI director, Robert Mueller, did not notify the president and the heads of congressional intelligence committees about the months-long Petraeus investigation after it was discovered he was having an affair and a separate one into General John Allen, the US commander in Afghanistan, over emails to Jill Kelley. Kelley's complaint about harassing emails from Petraeus's mistress, Paula Broadwell, set in motion the investigation that forced the CIA director from office. The FBI notified Holder about the Petraeus investigation in the late summer but the information did not reach the White House until after last week's presidential election when Mueller informed the national intelligence director, James Clapper. Clapper swiftly told Petraeus he should resign. Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives judiciary committee, has written to Holder and Mueller seeking "clarification" on the timelines and why the White House and Congress were not informed earlier. Mueller was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to explain the FBI's position. Obama said he is withholding judgement on whether he should have been told earlier about the investigation. "It's also possible that if we'd been told then you'd be sitting here saying why were we interfering in a criminal investigation," he told a reporter. The FBI pursued the investigation, even though it concluded no criminal act had been committed, amid concerns about a potential security breach and speculation that Petraeus might have been open to blackmail over the affair. Obama said he does not believe national security was compromised. "I have no evidence at this point from what I've seen that classified information was disclosed that in any way would have had a negative impact on our national security," he said. The president went out of his way to praise Petraeus as head of the CIA and military commander in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying he provided "extraordinary service" to his country and has left it safer. "My main hope now is that he and his family are able to move on and that this ends up being a single side note on what has otherwise been an extraordinary career," said Obama. Republicans have hinted at suspicions that Holder may deliberately have sat on the information in order to save the president the embarrassment of Petraeus's resignation in the days before the election. Senator Susan Collins said: "I'm puzzled by much of what has occurred in the FBI investigation." Had Petraeus quit before the election it is likely his resignation would have been seen, at least in part, as tied to questions over the CIA's role in the controversy over the killing in Benghazi of the US ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans, including two CIA security men, were killed.
Peter King, chairman of the homeland security committee, has questioned whether the fact that Petraeus knew he was under investigation affected his testimony to Congress about the security failures around the Benghazi attack and the administration's misstatements about the circumstances of the killings in the immediate aftermath. King said that so long as Petraeus was in his job, he was likely to remain loyal to the White House version of events in Benghazi.
Petraeus has agreed to testify to the Senate intelligence committee about the attack, probably on Friday, even though his scheduled appearance as CIA director was cancelled after his resignation. The committee is to hold closed door hearings but some Republican senators, led by John McCain, are pressing for the establishment of open Watergate-style Congressional investigation to look into the security failings that led to Stevens' death, including claims that the state department turned down requests for additional security in Libya, and whether the White House attempted to cover up the circumstances of the attack by saying it was spontaneous. Obama hit back at McCain over Republican attempts to accuse Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, of being part of a coverup because she initially gave misleading interviews immediately after the attack based on an intelligence briefing. McCain said he would work to block Rice's nomination as secretary of state if Obama put her forward to succeed Hillary Clinton. "I think it's important to find out what happened in Benghazi and I'm happy to cooperate in any way Congress wants," said Obama. "But when they go after the UN ambassador, apparently because they think she's an easy target, then they've got a problem with me." Rice initially portrayed the attack as a spontaneous response to an anti-Muslim video on the web which also prompted protests in Egypt and other places. Republicans say that the scale and intensity of the Benghazi attack suggest a well organised and pre-planned operation and say there is evidence of al-Qaeda involvement. The US military commander in Africa, General Carter Ham, waded into the issue on Wednesday by saying that some of those involved in the Benghazi assault had links to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). "There is a growing network of violent extremist organisations and it appears to me very likely that some of the terrorists who participated in the attack in Benghazi have at least some linkages to AQIM," Ham said in Paris. "That is not to say that it was AQIM which planned or organised or led the activity but clearly some of the individuals had some linkages." The Pentagon has suspended Kelley's pass to move freely around the US central command at MacDill air force base in Tampa, Florida. She will now require an escort to enter the base where she got to know both Petraeus and Allen while arranging social programmes. Both she and Allen have denied having an affair after it was revealed that they exchanged a large volume of emails over the past two years, the contents of which raised suspicions among FBI investigators.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Death of Savita Halappanavar from blood poisoning intensifies pressure on government to create guidelines on abortion Ireland's near-total ban on abortion has come under renewed scrutiny amid an outcry over the death of a woman who was denied a termination. Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist, died of blood poisoning at Galway University hospital. She had turned up at the hospital a week earlier, but was denied a medical termination and, according to her husband, was told: "This is a Catholic country." The death intensified pressure on Ireland's Fine Gael-Labour coalition to legislate and create specific guidelines for medical staff on when abortions can be carried out. At present, abortions are permitted only if there is a "real and substantive" threat to a woman's life. By coincidence, the Irish health minister, James Reilly, received an expert report on abortion guidelines yesterday. Enda Kenny, the Irish premier, said the two events should be separated. But Ruth Bowie from the group Terminations For Medical Reasons Ireland challenged Reilly to publish the report's findings. "It is devastating to think that if Savita had been in another country she would probably be alive today," she said. "Does it take a death of a young innocent woman to finally make our government stand up and do something once and for all? The expert group report is long overdue, how long more do we have to wait? How many more tragedies are going to take place before action is taken?" Halappanavar turned up at UHG on 21 October and was found to be miscarrying, but died of septicaemia a week later. She asked medical staff several times over three days to terminate the pregnancy. Her family claimed medical staff denied her a termination because they detected a foetal heartbeat. They believe the delay in allowing her the termination caused blood poisoning and ultimately her death on 27 October. Recounting her final days in UHG, her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, said: "Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby. When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning, Savita asked if they could not save the baby could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said: 'As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can't do anything.' "Again on Tuesday morning, the ward rounds and the same discussion. The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [an Indian Hindu] said: 'I am neither Irish nor Catholic', but they said there was nothing they could do. "That evening, she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took blood and started her on antibiotics. "The next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it, but they said they couldn't." He recollected the moment he heard that medical staff were moving his wife into intensive care. "They said they were shifting her to intensive care. Her heart and pulse were low, her temperature was high. She was sedated and critical, but stable. She stayed stable on Friday but by 7pm on Saturday they said her heart, kidneys and liver weren't functioning. She was critically ill. That night, we lost her." Halappanavar's husband is back in south-west India after taking his wife's remains home. He is also looking after his wife's father, who fell critically ill after hearing about his daughter's death. However, the engineer with Galway-based company Boston Scientific vowed to return to Ireland and seek further answers. Speaking on Irish radio, he said that on learning initially that his wife was pregnant the news had put both of them "on top of the world". A spokesman for the hospital, which is part of a group of medical centres in western Ireland, said: "Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group co-operates fully with coroners' inquests. In general, in the case of a maternal death, a number of procedures are followed, including a risk review of the case and the completion of a maternal death notification form. "External experts are involved in the review and the family of the deceased are consulted on the terms of reference, are interviewed by the review team and given a copy of the final report." Micheál Martin, the leader of the main opposition party, Fianna Fáil, used prime minister's questions in the Dáil to call for a separate inquiry by foreign experts into the tragedy. Kenny said Reilly would review the new report into abortion and brief the European court of human rights on its findings, and its implications, by 30 November. The Taoiseach said: "This is a tragic coincidence in the sense that the ABC report from the expert group has been received by the minister. People will inevitably put these two issues together where they are actually quite separate." Ivana Bacik, a Labour member of Ireland's second parliamentary chamber, the Seanad, said the time was now right to clarify the law surrounding abortion in Ireland. Bacik, who has championed the cause of a woman's right to choose on abortion in Ireland and almost went to jail in the early 1990s for distributing abortion information about clinics in Britain, added: "I think there's a clear indication that governments' failure to legislate over a period of years is largely responsible for the uncertainty around the law." Clare Daly MP of the United Left Alliance said the government bore responsibility for Halappanavar's death because they had rejected legislation proposed by her party in April intended to clarify the circumstances under which an abortion can be performed legally when the woman's life is at risk. "A woman has died because Galway University hospital refused to perform an abortion needed to prevent serious risk to her life. This is a situation we were told would never arise. An unviable foetus – the woman was having a miscarriage – was given priority over the woman's life," said Daly. Ireland's embassy in London was the focus on Wednesday for a demonstration by pro-choice activists, Irish expats and others calling for the Dublin government to legislate on abortion provision. Among them were members the London-based Abortion Support Network (ASN), which provides economic support and accommodation for women seeking abortion in the UK, and which says that Irish women in financial distress were seeking its help in greater numbers. "Our heart really goes out to the Halappanavar family for their tragic loss because, if reports are true, it was entirely preventable," said ASN's director, Mara Clarke. "We are really hoping that the public outpouring around this case will result in a much-needed change in the law in Ireland. We would like nothing more than for our services to be no longer required." Also present was Christine Quiqley, a member of the British Labour Party, who said: "I'm here as an Irish woman living in Britain to show my concern at successive Irish governments' lack of action on abortion. It's absolutely unacceptable in the 21st century that Savita was allowed to die in an Irish hospital, despite Irish Medical Council guidelines that medical abortions can be accessed in Ireland if the mother's life is at risk. "I'm also here to stand up for women in the Republic and in Northern Ireland who don't have access to this basic medical procedure. I want the government to legislate to clarify the law on abortion in Ireland, and to end the farce whereby we export the problem by forcing women to travel to the UK. It's time for Ireland to have a grown-up and sensible conversation about abortion." Figures released in May by the Department of Health (DoH) showed the numbers of women from the Republic of Ireland travelling to England and Wales for abortions fell by 7% last year, but ASN says the number of women contacting it is set to double for the third year in a row.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Barack Obama holds a press conference today and Nancy Pelosi announces she wants to stay as House minority leader
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Riot police have clashed with protesters in Spain and Italy, as European unions hold a Day of Action against austerity
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Millions take part in strikes, stoppages and marches on day of co-ordinated action as eurozone teeters on return to recession Hundreds of thousands of Europeans mounted one of the biggest coordinated anti-austerity protests across the continent on Wednesday, marching against German-orchestrated cuts as the eurozone is poised to move back into recession. Millions took part in Europe-wide strikes, and in city after city along the continent's debt-encrusted Mediterranean rim, thousands marched and scores were arrested after clashes with police. There were banners declaring "Austerity kills," Occupy masks, flares, improvised loudspeakers and cancelled flights. But there was also a violent, even desperate edge to the demonstrations, particularly in Madrid and several Italian cities. In the Spanish capital, police fired rubber bullets to subdue the crowd; in Pisa, protesters occupied the Leaning Tower, and in Sicily cars were burned. "There is a social emergency in the south," said Bernadette Ségol, the secretary general of the European Trade Union Confederation. "All recognise that the policies carried out now are unfair and not working." Swingeing austerity in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal has sent unemployment soaring – there are now more than 25 million unemployed Europeans, and about one in every eight people in the eurozone is jobless. Figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show that the eurozone has tipped back into recession. Across northern Europe, protesters turned out more in sympathy than in anger. Several thousand gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and there were stoppages and marches in Belgium and France. But it was southern Europe that bore the brunt. In Italy, students were in the front line in noisy and often violent anti-austerity marches. In Naples and Brescia, protesters occupied railway tracks; in Genoa, the entrance to the ferry port was blocked. In Turin, a police officer was hit with a baseball bat. Trento, Trieste and Palermo also saw protests. In Padua, two police officers were injured in clashes, and 10,000 people marched in Bologna. There were clashes in Milan, and in Venice protesters draped a bank with banners reading: "You are making money out of our debts". In Rome, where there were four separate marches, traffic was brought to a standstill following clashes on the banks of the Tiber after far-right students tried to get round a police line to reach parliament. In Spain, police helicopters began flying low over central Madrid as soon as the strike started at midnight and stayed there all day. Riot police out in force in the emblematic Puerta del Sol square, where protesters have gathered for centuries, but particularly since the "indignant" movement sprang up 18 months ago. Many shops and banks in central Madrid closed for the day, or put up security shutters, and police formed a cordon around the offices of the governing People's party, and several department stores. Public transport and state radio services were patchy as workers heeded the strike call. Long queues formed at bus stops and the radio relied on recorded fillers. The afternoon news on Spain's RTVE channel was interrupted by protesters waving banners in front of outside broadcast cameras. Traffic jams formed in the evening as noisy demonstrators filled Madrid's main artery, the Castellana, toting banners protesting at budget cuts and backing public services. Many of them chanted "Public health has to be defended, not sold off". In Athens, the turnout was thinner than usual, perhaps because of last week's two-day strike. Protesters described a country running out of reserves. Many have survived three years of recession and austerity by relying on family support or handouts. "But when that dries up, and it will with these latest measures, there will be no reason not to descend en masse on to the streets," said Kostas Kapetanakis, a young sociologist holding a banner in Syntagma Square demanding free education, health and welfare system. "There will be a revolt because we will have absolutely nothing to lose." Nikos Bokaris, the president of the national foresters' association standing with other civil servants outside parliament, feared Greece was being pushed towards a huge explosion. "Civil servants feel they have been very unfairly singled out," he said. "I am very afraid that the country is heading for a massive social upheaval with huge consequences for public safety and order. All it will take is a spark." Nobel moves by the EUThe European Union will spend the $1.2m (£760,000) Nobel peace prize on projects helping children in conflict zones. The EU won the prize for its efforts to keep the peace on a continent long riven by fighting. The European commission on Wednesday agreed to administer the prize money on behalf of the EU. The commission's president, José Manuel Barroso, said that because the award represents reconciliation, the funds "should benefit the first hope for the future, but also the first victims of present and past conflicts: children." The prize, which includes a medal and certificate, will be awarded at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pedro Hernandez, 51, was a teenage clerk at a convenience store in the boy's neighbourhood at the time of the kidnapping The suspect in the 1979 disappearance of a 6-year-old New York City boy that led to a national missing-children movement has been indicted on charges of murder and kidnapping, his lawyer said Wednesday. Attorney Harvey Fishbein said 51-year-old Pedro Hernandez was being charged in the disappearance of Etan Patz. Etan's photo was among the first put on milk cartons, and his case turned 25 May into National Missing Children's Day in the US. Hernandez was arrested this year, and investigators say he confessed. Investigators began focusing on Hernandez after a tipster called police about comments by Hernandez's sister that she had heard Hernandez told a church prayer group in the 1980s that he killed a child in New York City. Hernandez, now a married father, was a teenage clerk at a convenience store when Etan disappeared on his way to school. Police say Hernandez told investigators he lured the boy into the store with the promise of a soda. He allegedly said he led the child to the basement, choked him and left his body in a bag of trash about a block away. Fishbein has described Hernandez as bipolar and schizophrenic, with a history of hallucinations. The diagnosis could become the basis of psychiatric defense claiming that Hernandez agreed to speak to police without understanding his rights, and that the purported confession was a sick fantasy.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Co-founder of NECC pleads fifth amendment at congressional hearing that also included testimony from first victim's family The director of the pharmacy at the centre of a health scandal that has killed 32 people refused to answer questions from a congressional committee on Wednesday. In answer to repeated questions from representatives investigating the meningitis outbreak which affected more than 400 people given contaminated steroid shots, Barry Cadden, co-founder of the New England Compounding Center, cited his fifth amendment right to silence in order to avoid self-incrimination. At one point Cadden was asked by Cliff Stearns, the chairman of the energy and commerce subcommittee for oversight and investigation: "What explanation can you give to the families who have lost their loved ones?" Cadden replied: "Under advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer under basis of my constitutional rights and privileges, including the fifth amendment." Cadden's appearance at the committee followed poignant testimony from the widow of a Kentucky circuit judge who was the first to die, following contaminated steroid injections distributed by NECC across the US. Joyce Lovelace, from Albany, Kentucky, said she wanted those responsible to know that her family will never recover from their loss. Eddie, her husband of 56 years, was her soulmate and a "rock" to his children and grandchildren, she said. Speaking without notes – in tribute to her husband who never used them – Lovelace said: "It was not an easy death that we witnessed. These are human beings. The FDA, the NECC, whoever is responsible, I want them to know their lack of attention to their duties cost my husband his life, cost my family a loss that they will never recover from." Her husband, who was 78, walked three miles a day and was planning to go into law practice with one of his granddaughters, she said. In her written testimony, submitted to the committee, she said he was a church and civic leader who devoted his life to public service, loved quoting Shakespeare and the Bible, and was loved by many. He died on 17 September after a debilitating stroke caused by the steroid produced by NECC. "It was a nightmare to see this man who was so healthy one moment so quickly going downhill and to see doctors treat him to no avail," Lovelace said. She told the committee the family thought he had died of a stroke, but later found out, from a local reporter, that he was considered a victim of the meningitis outbreak. "My family is bitter. We are angry, we are devastated and I'm begging you to do something about it." Members of the committee investigating the deadly outbreak repeatedly challenged the FDA's commissioner to explain why it had not acted sooner against the NECC. They focused on previous problems at NECC and questioned why the FDA or the state regulatory board failed to take effective action. "After a tragedy like this, the first question we all ask is: could this have been prevented?" asked Cliff Stearns, chairman of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations. "After an examination of the documents provided by the Massachusetts board of pharmacy and the FDA — the answer here appears to be: yes." FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg told lawmakers that the problems uncovered in inspections were "very serious," but that the agency was obligated to defer to Massachusetts authorities, who have more direct oversight over pharmacies. "The challenge we have today is that there is a patchwork of legal authorities that oversee the action we can take," said Hamburg, who was nominated to head the FDA by President Obama in 2009. Hamburg read an opening statement which stretched to 15 pages. She said the agency had grown "increasingly concerned" about compounding pharmacies after an increasing number of incidents. She proposed two categories of compounding, "traditional" and "non-traditional", the latter of which are "higher risk" and would be subject to federal standards and urged Congress to strengthen Federal standards for non-traditional compounding. When she finished, Stearns told her: "This was a complete and utter failure on the part of your agency and the [Massachusetts] board of pharmacy … Yet you devoted just once sentence in your statement about this oversight." She was repeatedly questioned about the FDA's letter in 2006 to NECC which threatened to shut down the company because of quality problems. Stearns asked her: "Do you think the FDA had the authority to shut down the NECC, yes or no?" Hamburg told him it was a "very, very complex question" and that "even on smaller regulatory actions the FDA authority to act was contested". Stearns at one point asked her if the letter was an "empty threat" and asked her if she was about "plausible deniability". Her testimony, published on the committee's website, said that the FDA's ability to take action against compounding pharmacies which "exceeds the bounds of traditional compounding pharmacies and poses risks to patients" has been "hampered by gaps and ambiguities in the law". Hamburg said the FDA is now working with Congress to address the gaps in authorities for effective oversight. Fred Upton, chairman of the energy and commerce committee, said the tragedy that befell Lovelace and others was worsened by the fact that it seemed to be preventable. In his opening statement, he pointed to the number of times regulatory bodies had contact with NECC, including the FDA's issuing of a warning letter in 2006, but had taken little action He was "stunned and angered" to learn that an inspection of the NECC by the FDA and the Massachusetts board of pharmacy over 10 years ago identified contamination in the same drug at issue in the current outbreak, he said. In his statement, which is published on the website, Upton said one of his own constituents, a grandmother from Cass County, Michigan, had died in the outbreak. He said: "The loss of innocent lives is tragedy enough, But what makes this tragedy worse is the fact that it seems these deaths and illnesses could have been prevented. "The NECC was not unknown to its regulators," he said, pointing out that it had been inspected on multiple occasions since opening in 1998 by FDA and Massachusetts regulators. I was stunned and angered to learn that an inspection of the NECC by the FDA and the Mass board over 10 years ago identified contamination in the very same drug at issue in the current outbreak. The reason for that inspection? Patients had been hospitalized with meningitis-like symptoms. Ten years later, we are in the midst of an unthinkable, worst-case scenario – the body count is growing by the day – and hundreds have fallen ill. This is simply inexcusable.
He castigated the FDA for not responding to the committee and told them he wanted a "firm timeline form you today" on when they would produce documents. He said: "The sooner FDA cooperates, the sooner we can determine what went wrong and ensure we never endure a deadly outbreak like this one." In his opening statement, Stearns listed the failures of state and federal agencies to regulate NECC. He said: in 2003 "the FDA made a prophetic statement. The FDA stated that there was 'the potential for serious public health consequences' if NECC's compounding practices, in particular those relating to sterile products, are not improved." He cited a complaint fin 2011 from the Colorado Board of Pharmacy, which notified the FDA that NECC was again sending its drugs to out-of-state hospitals without first receiving patient prescriptions. "We are left to wonder what would have happened if FDA had investigated, or at least informed the Massachusetts Board of the Colorado complaint. It is possible that this outbreak very well might have been prevented" Stearns said. The hearing continues.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Israel says assassination of Ahmed al-Jaabari is the start of a broader operation against Gazan militants
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Israel says assassination of Ahmed al-Jaabari is the start of a broader operation against Gazan militants
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Computer security pioneer says he's modified his appearance since becoming a 'person of interest' in death of Gregory Faull The founder of one of the world's biggest computer security companies, John McAfee, is in hiding, possibly in disguise, after authorities in Belize identified him as a "person of interest" in the murder of a neighbour near his beachside compound on an island off the Belize coast. Gregory Faull, a 52-year-old businessman from Florida, was found on Sunday, lying face up in a pool of blood with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. Police said there was a single spent shell in the building and no indications of forced entry. Police have yet to establish a motive. "We're hoping to get to the bottom of it, and hopefully he [McAfee] has some information that can lead us to the conclusion of this case," said a spokesman for the Belize police department, Raphael Martinez. McAfee, a 67-year-old multi-millionaire, spoke to Wired magazine from an undisclosed location shortly after Faull's death. He said he knew nothing about Faull's murder, but was worried he may have been the attacker's intended target. "I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house," McAfee told Wired. "He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out." He reportedly buried himself in the sand and covered his head with a cardboard box to hide. He said he was suspicious of the Belize government, which he believes poisoned four of the 11 dogs on his property. Martinez told the Guardian McAfee's concerns were unwarranted. "Maybe he had some bad experiences before, but we are a law-abiding country," said Martinez. Police said they were investigating several leads into Faull's murder and three people from the San Pedro area had been detained for questioning. McAfee moved to Belize to reduce his exposure to tax and had apparently become an irritant to his neighbours, who were reportedly frightened by his dogs. Faull filed a complaint with the mayor of nearby San Pedro about the dogs, though McAfee said he didn't think Faull would have killed them. Wired reporter Joshua Davis said that McAfee had been contacting him frequently since Monday. Yesterday he told Davis he had disguised himself by dying his hair. "I have modified my appearance in a radical fashion. I'll probably look like a murderer, unfortunately," he said. In the spring, McAfee told the tech site Gizmodo he believed there were several plots on his life, and he had protected his Belize compound with armed guards in response. "I am the only white man in Orange Walk, and I was stupid enough to build right next to the highway, where people could see that I have stuff," he told Gizmodo. "So there have been, in the last year alone, 11 attempts to kidnap or kill me." Faull's family released a statement that said: "Losing Greg leaves a hole in our hearts and our lives. We urge law enforcement authorities in Belize and internationally to bring those responsible to justice quickly. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to people for their messages of support. We ask that the media respect our privacy." McAfee started McAfee Associates in 1989 and took the company public in 1992, raising more than $50m (£31m). That year, he warned the public of the Michelangelo virus, which he said could wreak havoc on 5m computers, though only a few were actually infected. He was accused of trying to generate sales through fear and sold his stake in the company two years later. He dabbled in other tech ventures, including one of the first instant messaging services, before retiring to Belize in 2008.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Computer security pioneer says he's modified his appearance since becoming a 'person of interest' in death of Gregory Faull He's the founder of one of the world's biggest computer security companies, a multimillionaire American expatriate with a beachside compound on an island off the coast of Belize. But 67-year-old John McAfee is now in hiding, and apparently in disguise, after Belize authorities identified him as a "person of interest" in the murder of his neighbor. Gregory Faull, a 52-year-old businessman from Florida, was found on Sunday, lying face up in a pool of blood with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Police said there was a single expended shell in the building and there were no indications of forced entry. Police have yet to establish a motive for the case. "We're hoping to get to the bottom of it, and hopefully he [McAfee] has some information that can lead us to the conclusion of this case," said Belize police department spokesman Raphael Martinez. McAfee told Wired magazine that he was suspicious of the Belize government, who he believes poisoned four of the 11 dogs that live on his property. Martinez told the Guardian that those concerns were unwarranted. "Maybe he had some bad experiences before, but we are a law-abiding country, and, as far as I am concerned, he will see a fair trial if he's charged," said Martinez. McAfee moved to Belize to reduce his exposure to tax and had apparently become an irritant to his neighbors, who were reportedly frightened by his dogs. Faull filed a complaint with the mayor of nearby San Pedro about the dogs, though McAfee said he didn't think Faull would have killed them. After reportedly burying himself in the sand and covering his head with a cardboard box to hide from police, McAfee told Wired that he knew nothing about Faull's murder but was worried he could be the attacker's intended target. "I thought maybe they were coming for me. They mistook him for me. They got the wrong house," McAfee told Wired. "He's dead. They killed him. It spooked me out." Wired reporter Joshua Davis said that McAfee has been contacting him frequently since Monday. On Wednesday he told the reporter he had disguised himself by dying his hair. "I have modified my appearance in a radical fashion," McAfee told Wired. "I'll probably look like a murderer, unfortunately." In the spring, McAfee claimed to the tech site Gizmodo that he knew of several plots on his life and had protected his Belize compound with armed guards in response. "I am the only white man in Orange Walk, and I was stupid enough to build right next to the highway, where people could see that I have stuff," McAfee told Gizmodo. "So there have been, in the last year alone, 11 attempts to kidnap or kill me." Belize police said they were investigating several leads into Faull's murder and three people from the San Pedro area were detained for questioning. Faull's family released a statement that said: "Losing Greg leaves a hole in our hearts and our lives. We urge law enforcement authorities in Belize and internationally to bring those responsible to justice quickly. We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to people throughout the community – especially the students and staff at the University of Central Florida whose lives touched Greg and vice versa – for their messages of support. We ask that the media respect our privacy." John McAfee started McAfee Associates in 1989 and took the company public in 1992, raising more than $50m. That year, he warned the public of the Michelangelo virus, which he said could wreak havoc on 5m computers, though only a few were actually infected. He was accused of trying to generate sales through fear and sold his stake in the company two years later. He dabbled in other tech ventures, including one of the first instant messaging services, before retiring to Belize in 2008.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Workers criticise 'pure greed' as stores like Walmart and Target encroach on family time by opening on Thanksgiving Day Jackie Goebel has worked for Walmart for 24 years, but this year, for the first time, she will spend the Thanksgiving holiday working at the retail giant. Like many of her colleagues, she is not happy. "Walmart has become a company so obsessed by the bottom line and greed that it no longer values the importance of the people and families that work for it," she said. For decades, Thanksgiving has been sacrosanct for Americans – a non-denominational national celebration, and a guaranteed family holiday for most big companies. For retailers, it's also the day before Black Friday, the shopping bacchanal that marks the start of the holiday season. Now Black Friday is slipping into "Grey Thursday" and taking retail workers with it. Walmart will open its doors at 8pm on Thanksgiving Day. Others, including Sears, Toys R Us and Kmart, will also open at 8pm on Thanksgiving. Target opens at 9pm. Gap is planning to open 1,100 of its stores. Retail experts predict that if this year proves a hit, stores will open earlier next year. Goebel, 61, lost her daughter to cancer in 2007. She, too, worked at Walmart. This year Goebel was planning to spend the holiday with her husband and her granddaughter. "An experience like that makes you realise what's important," said Goebel. Sam Walton, Walmart's hard-driven founder, once visited the store in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Goebel works. She believes he would have been horrified by what has become of his company. "He was a hell of a businessman, but he had respect for the people who worked for him," she said. "To me, this is pure greed." Walmart workers are planning strike action over the Thanksgiving holiday, supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and OUR Walmart, an associate led group that in October helped organise the first strike at the retailer in its 70-year history. A Walmart spokesman said "a very small number of associates" were raising concerns. "While the opinions expressed by this group don't represent the views of the vast majority of the more than 1.3 million Walmart associates in the US, when our associates bring forward concerns, we listen. Associates have direct lines of communication with their management team and we work to understand their concerns," he said. "Last year, our highest customer traffic during the Black Friday weekend was during the 10pm hour on Thursday. According to the National Retail Federation, Thanksgiving night shopping has surged over the past three years. Most of our stores are open 24 hours and, historically, much of our Black Friday preparations have been done on Thanksgiving, which is not unusual in the retail industry." Walmart is not the only retailer facing a backlash from staff. Casey St Clair, 24, was so incensed by Target's decision to cancel Thanksgiving for her and her colleagues that she set up a petition on Change.org, lobbying the retailer's CEO for action. It now has over 200,000 signatures. "Every year the opening gets earlier and earlier. Before long, we will be open all day on Thanksgiving," she said. "Thanksgiving is a day about families, and giving thanks for what we have got. There are a lot of single parents at Target. This just ruins the holiday for them." She said she had been surprised by management's attitude to the holiday. "I have always enjoyed working here and they have always seemed flexible," she said. But not about this. "Their attitude seems to be: if you don't turn up for work, you don't have a job." It's not hard to see why retailers are prepared to make their staff so unhappy. Last year, about 28.7 million people did their Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving Day, according to the National Retail Federation, up from 22 million in 2010. The number is still less than a third of the roughly 86 million shoppers who took to stores on Black Friday itself, but it's growing, and likely to continue the trend this year. Dan de Grandpre, CEO of Dealnews.com, a shopping deals tracking service, said Grey Thursday was here to stay. "Last year, Target and Walmart did it, and they were very successful. Stores that sat it out like JC Penney, for example, suffered," he said. Retailers are aiming to capture as much of the money that shoppers have set aside for shopping as early as possible, said Grandpre. If the competition isn't open, they are potentially losing out. "It's very tough for employees and it's a big decision to make, but if the consumers are willing to shop, the stores are willing to do it," said Grandpre. If stores benefit again this year, he expects even earlier opening times next year. But Grandpre said that Dealnews's research showed 70% of the deals were available online, and that anyone expecting to avoid lines by arriving on Thanksgiving is likely to be disappointed. "Realistically, if the shop opens at 8pm on Thanksgiving, you are going to have to be there several hours earlier to make sure of getting the best deals," he said. With so many deals available online, Grandpre says he finds it hard to see the point. Goebel, too, believes customers will eventually push back against Thanksgiving opening. "I truly believe that people would rather be spending the day with their families than spending it in line," she said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Democratic leader in the House seeks another term, praising strides made by female representatives during the election
• Follow all the latest in our daily politics live blog Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, applauded the huge strides made by women in last week's election as she announced that she would seek another term as leader. Surrounded by dozens of Democratic congresswomen at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi cited the number of female representatives as one of the main reasons for her decision. She said: "I come here with my sisters. When I came to Congress 25 years ago, there were about 23 members of Congress who were women out of 435. Just think of that. Twelve Democrats, 11 Republicans, something like that. Today, we have over 60 House Democratic women. Very good. Not enough. We want more." She added: "The point is if America is going to reach its fulfillment as a nation we must have further empowerment of women." Pelosi is a controversial, polarising figure, often demonised by some Republicans as epitomising the kind of liberalism they dislike. In spite of that, she was the key to getting Barack Obama's healthcare reforms through the House. She will need to deploy the same skills over the coming months in securing a deal on debt and spending with Republicans who control the House. Pelosi held out hope for a compromise, suggesting that the new House, which starts in January, would be in better shape than the present one because it would have what she referred to as fewer anti-government ideologues. There were entertaining exchanges when a young reporter asked if Pelosi, 72, had considered making way for a younger colleague. The women surrounding her began grumbling at the suggestion of ageism, particularly in relation to a woman. Pelosi dismissed it with a light-hearted response: "Next." She asked the reporter if he would put the same question to the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, 70. But she went on to describe the question as "quite offensive", adding that the reporter probably did not realise it. Theoretically, she could still be challenged for the job but this is unlikely. If she had stood down, the front-runner to replace her would be Steny Hoyer, 73.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Democratic leader in the House seeks another term, praising strides made by female representatives during the election Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, applauded the huge strides made by women in last week's election as she announced that she would seek another term as leader. Surrounded by dozens of Democratic congresswomen at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Pelosi cited the number of female representatives as one of the main reasons for her decision. She said: "I come here with my sisters. When I came to Congress 25 years ago, there were about 23 members of Congress who were women out of 435. Just think of that. Twelve Democrats, 11 Republicans, something like that. Today, we have over 60 House Democratic women. Very good. Not enough. We want more." She added: "The point is if America is going to reach its fulfillment as a nation we must have further empowerment of women." Pelosi is a controversial, polarising figure, often demonised by some Republicans as epitomising the kind of liberalism they dislike. In spite of that, she was the key to getting Barack Obama's healthcare reforms through the House. She will need to deploy the same skills over the coming months in securing a deal on debt and spending with Republicans who control the House. Pelosi held out hope for a compromise, suggesting that the new House, which starts in January, would be in better shape than the present one because it would have what she referred to as fewer anti-government ideologues. There were entertaining exchanges when a young reporter asked if Pelosi, 72, had considered making way for a younger colleague. The women surrounding her began grumbling at the suggestion of ageism, particularly in relation to a woman. Pelosi dismissed it with a light-hearted response: "Next." She asked the reporter if he would put the same question to the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, 70. But she went on to describe the question as "quite offensive", adding that the reporter probably did not realise it. Theoretically, she could still be challenged for the job but this is unlikely. If she had stood down, the front-runner to replace her would be Steny Hoyer, 73.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Riot police have clashed with protesters in Spain and Italy, as European unions hold a Day of Action against austerity
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ahmed al-Jaabari is most senior member of Palestinian group killed since Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago Hamas's military commander has been killed in an Israeli air strike in a move likely to herald a dramatic rise in violence in Gaza. Ahmed al-Jaabari, the head of the Islamist organisation's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, died when his car was struck in Gaza City by a missile after Israel warned it may step up targeted assassinations, having endured almost a week of intense rocket fire from Gaza. Reports suggested three other Palestinians were also killed. In the hours after the attack on Jaabari, Palestinian witnesses told the Associated Press that air strikes had hit a series of targets across Gaza City. Israel's military spokesman, Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, said the assault could draw cross-border rocket attacks and stretch into days of fighting. "The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted," he told Channel 2 TV. "The home front must brace itself resiliently." The target was confirmed by both the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and Hamas. In a statement, the IDF said Jaabari was "a senior Hamas operative who served in the upper echelon of the Hamas command", and had been "directly responsible for executing terror attacks against the state of Israel in the past number of years". Its operation was intended "to severely impair the command-and-control chain of the Hamas leadership, as well as its terrorist infrastructure. This was a surgical operation in co-operation with the Israeli security agency that was implemented on the basis of concrete intelligence and using advanced capabilities." Israeli military sources said the strike had been the result of "precise intelligence" gathered over a period of months. The Israeli air force carried out multiple air strikes on Wednesday in an operation it named Cloud Pillar, suggesting it had launched a continuing offensive. Calls for revenge were broadcast in Gaza after the air strikes, according to Reuters. "Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences," Islamic Jihad said. Earlier the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, indicated that the government had decided against a major offensive in Gaza after a three-day period during which militants fired more than 100 rockets. On Tuesday, he told a meeting of mayors in towns close to the Gaza border that he would choose "the right time to exact the heaviest price … Whoever thinks that they can damage the daily lives of residents of the south, and that they won't pay a heavy price for this, they are mistaken." There had been intense speculation about the possibility of a ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli forces. But Egyptian mediators persuaded Hamas and other militant groups to sign up to a ceasefire. Jaabari is the most senior Hamas operative to be killed by Israel for almost four years, since Operation Cast Lead, its three-week assault on Gaza, left around 1,400 Palestinians dead.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Afghanistan attitudes survey may be skewed towards positive responses owing to lack of access to dangerous parts of country Nearly half of Afghans think their country is not moving the right direction, fear for their family's safety, or are frightened to run into a member of their police or army, according to a nationwide poll. Concerns about corruption are at the highest level in more than half a decade, and more than a third of people said they would leave Afghanistan if they would. Sizeable numbers also felt job opportunities were down and that electricity supplies had got worse. Although the proportion of people who think Afghanistan is on the right track rose from last year, the Asia Foundation which carried out the survey, admitted it might be skewed towards positive opinions because they could not access Afghans in the most dangerous parts of the country. "Respondents living in highly insecure areas – who might be more pessimistic about the overall direction of the country – are likely to be underrepresented," the report said. Around one in six places where surveys were conducted in the past had to be changed because of security problems. In some provinces – including Logar, south of the capital, Kabul, and Kunar and Laghman in the east – there were 10 or more changes owing to the Taliban extending their control. A similar number of survey sites had to be changed because of weather, remoteness, transport problems or because villages could not be found; the last of these also raises questions about the accuracy of previous surveys. The survey results were not all negative. Four out of five people questioned said they supported government efforts to end decades of conflict by negotiations, while three-quarters gave a positive rating for the central government. Four out of five people also said they have some degree of confidence in the police and army, although police approval ratings were down slightly compared with levels in 2006, before billions of dollars were poured into the training and expansion of the force. But there was a strong perception that people in authority are more focused on serving their own interests than those of their country – from ministers and MPs to court officials to Afghan and international aid organisations. Only ordinary government employees and religious leaders were more often seen as putting the best interests of Afghan society first. A strong majority of respondents said they believed people should subsume their own political instincts to those of their community; more than 80% agreed with the statement "a person should vote the way his or her community votes, not how they feel individually." Only half have noticed improvements to education or efforts to build roads, and even fewer are aware of aid projects for health, water, electricity or mosque construction. Nearly one in 10 of those surveyed said they were a victim of a suicide attack – the highest level since 2007. Nearly three-quarters of Afghans own mobile phones, a more than 50% increase compared with five years ago, and the radio is still the most popular source of news, with a set in four-fifths of homes. And while in many western countries journalists are battling to hold onto their credibility, the survey found the electronic media is the country's third-most respected institution, ahead of religious leaders and the official judicial system.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Prime minister Yoshihiko Noda agrees to early poll in return for opposition backing for electoral reform and budget bill Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda is poised to call a general election for next month, in a move that could see his party thrown out of office just three years after it was elected by a landslide. Noda, who is expected to dissolve the lower house of parliament by the end of the week, agreed to an early election in return for opposition support for electoral reform and an urgent budget-financing bill. After months of speculation, he is also making good on a promise to go to the polls early in exchange for opposition support this summer for a rise in the sales tax. In a heated exchange on Wednesday, Noda told Shinzo Abe, leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic party (LDP), he would call an election for 16 December. In return, the LDP would have to vote for plans to shrink the number of seats in the lower house and address the disparity in the weight of rural and urban votes. "We have to achieve that as soon as possible," Noda said. "We must make a decision and set a deadline. Let's do it." In reply, Abe said: "Is that a promise? You're sure, right? Absolutely sure?" adding, "We'll let the people decide which of us is more qualified to lead the country out of deflation and get the economy back on track." Noda's Democratic party of Japan (DPJ) has a comfortable majority in the lower house but depends on other parties to push legislation through the upper house. That arrangement has resulted in political deadlock, just as Japan's economy risks slipping back into recession and while the country attempts to repair relations with China in its dispute over the Senkaku islands . Speculation over the election date has swirled around since the summer, adding to a lengthy period of political instability in which six prime ministers have been installed since Junichiro Koizumi's resignation in September 2006. Noda, who became leader last September, is the third DPJ prime minister since 2009. "There's a real failure of leadership," Koichi Nakano, a professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, told Associated Press. "That's in part because Japan's expectations for leadership are unrealistic. But also because the quality of leadership in Japan is really low." Noda's decision was greeted with dismay by many DPJ lawmakers who had urged him to wait until the party's fortunes had improved. A poll by the Asahi Shimbun released this week showed support for the Noda cabinet at just 18%; Abe, meanwhile, is the most popular choice as leader. Abe has said he would take a tougher stance against China over territorial disputes, and suggested he would revise a 1995 statement issued by the then socialist prime minister, Tomiichi Murayama, apologising for Japan's wartime conduct. He also wants to revise the constitution to give Japan's military a bigger role. But Abe and his party's traditional ally, New Komeito, could fall short of an overall majority. That could open the door to a coalition involving smaller parties on the right led by the former governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, and the mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto. Ishihara, who launched the party of the Sun on Tuesday, has been discussing a possible election alliance with Hashimoto's Japan Restoration party. "The most prevalent view among the public is that this country will sink if things remain as they are," Ishihara told reporters.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Evandro Carlos Selva is one of 1,400 hi-tech environmental cops who use eyes in space and feet on the ground to patrol a deadly border As his helicopter descends through the smoke towards an Amazonian inferno, Evandro Carlos Selva checks the co-ordinates via a global positioning satellite and radios back to base a witness testimony to deforestation. Flames lick up from below the canopy, smoke billows across the horizon, and down below, the carbon that has been stored in the forest for hundreds of years is released into the atmosphere. Skeletal trees are charred grey, others burnt black. Nearby, what was once forest is reduced to an expanse of ash, dust and embers. Trudging through the debris, Carlos Selva points to a soya farm: "They've been paid to do this. Forty per cent of next year's harvest on this land has already been bought." The clearance is illegal and Carlos Selva – a ranger with Brazil's environmental protection agency, Ibama – sets in motion the process of levying fines, business embargos and other penalties that have helped to slow the pace of deforestation by almost 80% in the past eight years. This represents impressive progress, but it is at risk. The pressure to convert more Amazonian forest is growing stronger due to drought in the US, rising world food prices and a weakening of Brazilian laws. Carlos Selva works in Mato Grosso, the frontline of efforts to find a balance between protecting the climate and feeding a growing world population. Next year, Brazil is expected to overtake the US as the world's biggest soya producer. Most of that crop will be grown in Mato Grosso – where the Amazon forest meets the Cerrado savannah – and both are being engulfed by farm fields. Global priorities are etched on to the land here with geometric precision. Far from most people's image of a vast, unbroken Amazon, the forest has been sliced and diced into polygons that divide the world's most productive soya fields from the world's greatest land carbon sinks. The borders between the two ought to be determined by whether humanity places more value on our lungs or our bellies. In reality, it has become a contest between economics and the law. Carlos Selva is responsible for patrolling and maintaining this restless boundary. It may well be the ultimate 21st-century job: analyst, accountant, climate regulator and eco-cop rolled into one dangerous and important role that is constantly being transformed by satellite data, global warming, world hunger and international commodity prices. He gets deforestation warnings from space and death threats from his neighbours – all the hi-tech support available in the 21st century, with the same risks faced by a wild west sheriff 200 years ago. He is equipped with a GPS system, a camera, a tablet computer and a gun. Monitoring ownership and land change is no easy task. In the state of Mato Grosso alone, there are 110,000 properties. Most are extremely remote. Many owners have invested their lives here and do not take kindly to being told they cannot use the land as they want. Carlos Selva received death threats in June, while the world was debating the pros and cons of sustainability at the Rio +20 Earth summit. He has been held hostage by landowners. They have punctured the tyres on his four-wheel drive. Corrupt local politicians are not on his side. After his most successful operation – a sting that exposed widespread forgery of forest documentation – he and the police chief he worked with were transferred to out-of-the way districts. It could be worse. Other rangers have had their homes shot at. Many environmental campaigners have been killed trying to protect the Amazon. It is hard to overestimate what is at stake. The two sides in the debate put it in stark terms. Save the forest and you fight climate change. Clear the forest and you ease global hunger. Agribusinesses see the Amazon as one of the last great areas for expansion. The rangers are caught in the middle, but this is not a simple either-or choice. There are alarming signs that the Amazon is caught in a vicious circle and the more this great climate regulator is cleared, the less predictable global weather systems will become. That increases the risk of droughts and floods, ruining crops across the world. This in turn, adds to the pressure to clear the forest. Twenty-five million people make their home in the Brazilian Amazon, which covers 2m square miles. Already, 17% has been stripped by cattle ranchers, loggers and soya farmers. At the recent peak of clearance in 2004, an area of 10,723 square miles was deforested in a year, equivalent to the size of Albania, Haiti or Belgium. Since then, deforestation has slowed dramatically thanks to a system that combines eyes in the sky, boots on the ground and a growing collection of carrots and sticks to persuade farmers and ranchers that they are better off leaving the forest intact. It is primarily based on two sets of satellite data: Prodes, which is an annual forest audit down to the level of 6.25 hectares (currently using a UK satellite), and Deter, which provides almost real-time information to rangers in the field such as Carlos Selva, who can reach the affected areas rapidly in helicopters and trucks. Individual violators can be fined, jailed, have machinery confiscated and be barred from access to bank loans. The environment institute said it seized 650 trucks, 60 bulldozers and 200 chainsaws in 2011. Municipalities where more than 30 square miles are illegally stripped are put on a blacklist, which means companies in the area are blocked from cheap financing and firms that trade with them also face restrictions. Francisco de Oliveira Filho, the director of deforestation combat policies in the environment ministry, says the scheme has helped Brazil to move more than half the way towards its Copenhagen commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36% by 2020. "In 2004, people said it was impossible to stop the deforestation of the Amazon, but we have proved it can be reduced," he said. The hard work is still to come, however, because the polygons of deforestation are getting smaller and more scattered. Farmers have learned the limits of satellite observation and the financial incentive to break the law increases with the rise in soya prices. "We are reviewing the system now. We know we're getting to the limits of monitoring and control," said De Oliveira Filho. "Until now, we have made good progress by focusing on big land owners and large deforestation polygons. But we have reached the point where, if we are to meet our goals, we need to target holdings of less than 25 hectares. That is why we need higher resolution satellites." The environment ministry focuses its attention on an arc of deforestation from the north-east to the south-west. This is the frontline where farmers are eating into the forest. By far the worst-hit states are Pará, Mato Grosso and Rondonia. With abundant water resources and flat, fertile land on the border of the Amazon and the Cerrado, Mato Grosso is considered some of the best agricultural territory in Brazil, which has made its forests the hardest to protect. Soya fields have expanded by 10% in the past year. Locals say this is mostly due to the conversion of cattle pastures into cropland. But there is clearly also pressure on the forest. In September, Mato Grosso was the only state where land clearance continued to accelerate – a hefty increase of 158% compared with the same period last year. One of the worst areas is Feliz Natal (Happy Christmas). Many farmers here have already been penalised, but there appears to be no sign that pressure on the forest is letting up. There are plumes of smoke every few hundred metres across a broad expanse of forest. The haze stretches across the sky, but this is far from the worst burn-off. Satellite images of previous blazes show smoke stretching 100 miles. The process of deforestation is simple. Its various stages – carried out over a period of two to 10 years – can all be seen on a one-hour helicopter ride above Mato Grosso. First, there is the cutting. Small secret trails are pierced through the undergrowth by illegal loggers who covertly fell and sell the most valuable hardwood logs to sawmills. Then comes the burning as fires are set every few hundred metres under the canopy, filling the skies with a haze and reducing the tall green forest to low grey ash. Next is the clearing. Bulldozers push the ash into heaps and mechanised claws rip what is left of the roots from the soil so that it can be planted with a monoculture – usually soya, cotton or corn. Elsewhere, most deforestation is for cattle pasture. Some of this is approved by the government, but farmers are supposed to protect 80% of the forest on their Amazonian land and 50% on the Cerrado. To enforce this, the rangers receive satellite printouts showing bright red areas where deforestation has taken place. We land in an area where the trees have been dragged down. Rather than burn the forest, farmers run two powerful tractors in parallel with a thick chain between them that pushes over even the biggest trees in its path. Carlos Selva calculates that 500 hectares have been cleared without permission and initiates a process of punishment and restoration. There are limits on the authorities' vision and powers of enforcement. It takes about two days for satellite information to be processed and sent to agents in the field. After an upgrade next year, this will be accelerated and rangers will also receive data about forest degradation, which should increase their chances of catching violations at an earlier stage. The operation will be helped by two new satellites – one Japanese, one Brazilian-Chinese. The Japanese Alos 2 satellite will provide radar monitoring, which will allow the space and environment agencies to observe the forest even during the cloudy season from November to March. The Brazilian-Chinese satellite Cbers-3 will provide higher resolution and more frequent data. "The landowners know what we can see. So if they deforest an area of less than 25 hectares, we cannot currently spot it from a satellite. But with the new system next year, we'll get higher definition. It's like a game of cat and mouse. As the technology improves, they find new strategies," says De Oliveira Filho. In the best cases, farmers return the cleared land to forest. More often, however, they lodge appeals that can take more than a decade to resolve. "Only 2% of the fines are collected," said a local police officer, who asked to remain nameless. "The rest end up being wrangled over in endless legal challenges. That's Brazil." Dealing with the change in global commodity prices is likely to prove tougher still. Some believe slower deforestation in recent years is partly due to the world economic downturn, but, with soya hitting a record high this year after drought cut the harvest in the US, the temptation to clear more land in the Amazon increases. "It's driven by market forces. Of course, there'll be more pressure. That's why we have to be in the field all the time," says De Oliveira Filho. Last month, the environment minister announced a strategy to put teams of military, police and environment rangers in the field for 365 days a year. Farmers say the economic incentives outweigh the legal risks. "The ones who follow the rules like me are considered idiots. The ones who break the rules make the money," said a landowner, Milton Luiz Molfensteiner. The next soya crop planting is under way. With good weather, Brazil's harvest early next year is forecast to yield about 85m tonnes. Almost a third of that will be from Mato Grosso, which would then account for about one in every 13 soya beans produced on the planet. The local agricultural association says this is a golden era. The price of soya has risen 16.6% – from 60 to 70 reals (£21.50) a sack – in the past 12 months because of the US drought and rising demand from China, which accounts for 60% of exports. "This is a good time for us in agriculture, especially in soy, especially in Mato Grosso. This is now the global centre for soy," said Silvésio de Oliveira, director of the state's Soy and Maize Association. He is asking the government to reduce the proportion of protected forest on farmers' land from 80% to 35%. Antônio Galvan, head of the Agricultural Association of Sinop, says greater land clearance is essential if the world is to feed a global population due to grow by 2 billion people and to offset the loss of agricultural production caused by climate change. "If the US drought continues, someone will have to feed humanity. People might die of hunger. Rural producers don't deforest an area for fun, they do it because of the demand for food," he says. "A big part of the world depends on Mato Grosso. Deforestation is an international concern, but we also have to make a living and the world has to worry about food." Conservationists say such arguments are exaggerated and used as an excuse, not only to clear forest, but also to drive indigenous people off their land. But the Ruralista agricultural lobby is growing in influence. Brazilian legislators are revising the forest code to loosen Amazon protection measures. President Dilma Rousseff vetoed several of the most controversial amendments last month, but conservation groups say the bill is still a disastrous step backwards. Whatever the outcome, enforcement will be left to the country's 1,400 environmental rangers, who must monitor an area that is more than half the size of the US. Carlos Selva says they will be reinforced with extra personnel and better equipment. But with market forces and the climate both swinging against them, the risks are also likely to increase. It is a great deal of responsibility for a monthly salary of £2,600. After a day spent chasing deforesters, the ranger sips a cold beer and weighs up the pros and cons of his job. "I'm not an ecologist or a greenie. This is just work," he says. "I've never liked people who tell others 'don't do this, don't do that', but I've started to understand why it is necessary. This is not idealism, I just like to see things done right." He can understand why his wife wants him to quit the job. The satellites can only do so much to protect the forest and then it is down to what happens on the ground. "The good side of being here for several years is that I know the territory. The bad side is that people know where I live." Additional reporting by Carolina Massote • This article was amended shortly after publication to give the correct increase in the price of soya over the past 12 months
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Member of Irish Labour party says country's almost total ban on abortions must be relaxed The case of a woman denied an abortion at an Irish hospital who later died of blood poisoning must prompt the state to loosen its almost total ban on terminations, a member of one of the coalition parties in Dublin has said. Two investigations – one by Ireland's health executive, the other by the hospital – are now under way into the circumstances of the death of the 31-year-old dentist at University Hospital Galway (UHG) who was denied a medical termination and allegedly told: "This is a Catholic country." Savita Halappanavar's death has highlighted how the ban even can prevent women with life-threatening medical conditions getting an abortion in Irish hospitals. She had turned up at UHG on 21 October and was found to be miscarrying but died of septicaemia a week later. She had asked medical staff several times over a three-day period to terminate the pregnancy. An Irish Labour deputy in the Dáil, Patrick Nulty, said that in light of Halappanavar's death there was "pressing and urgent need" for parliament to "show responsibility and legislate", calling on his party and its Fine Gael partners to press ahead with reforming the abortion law. It is understood her family is now considering taking legal action, arguing that the foetus should have been removed earlier to save the woman's life. Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, said her repeated requests were turned down because she was 17 weeks pregnant and staff could detect a foetal heartbeat. The 34-year-old engineer has since revealed that his wife spent two and a half days "in agony" until the foetal heartbeat stopped. After the dead foetus was removed, he said, his wife was taken to the hospital's intensive care unit where she died on 28 October. Recounting her final days in UHG, he said: "Savita was really in agony. She was very upset, but she accepted she was losing the baby. When the consultant came on the ward rounds on Monday morning Savita asked if they could not save the baby could they induce to end the pregnancy. The consultant said: 'As long as there is a foetal heartbeat we can't do anything.' "Again on Tuesday morning, the ward rounds and the same discussion. The consultant said it was the law, that this is a Catholic country. Savita [an Indian Hindu] said: 'I am neither Irish nor Catholic,' but they said there was nothing they could do. "That evening she developed shakes and shivering and she was vomiting. She went to use the toilet and she collapsed. There were big alarms and a doctor took blood and started her on antibiotics. "The next morning I said she was so sick and asked again that they just end it, but they said they couldn't." He recollected the moment he heard that medical staff were moving his wife into intensive care. "They said they were shifting her to intensive care. Her heart and pulse were low, her temperature was high. She was sedated and critical but stable. She stayed stable on Friday but by 7pm on Saturday they said her heart, kidneys and liver weren't functioning. She was critically ill. That night, we lost her." The hospital said it could not discuss the details of an individual patient with the media but expressed its sympathy to the family. A spokesman for the hospital, which is part of a group of medical centres in western Ireland, said: "Galway Roscommon University Hospitals Group (GRUHG) co-operates fully with coroners' inquests. In general, in the case of a maternal death, a number of procedures are followed, including a risk review of the case and the completion of a maternal death notification form. "External experts are involved in the review and the family of the deceased are consulted on the terms of reference, are interviewed by the review team and given a copy of the final report." The taoiseach, Enda Kenny, said he would not be rushed into any measures while the two independent inquiries were under way. His health minister, James Reilly, is understood to have received a report meanwhile from a group of experts exploring the possibility of reforming Ireland's abortion laws. Women who have had terminations in England for medical reasons called on Reilly on Wednesday to publish the findings as soon as possible in the light of Savita Halappanavar's death. "I think it would be only appropriate that the two investigations that are being carried out here are concluded," Kenny said. At present the coalition government is preparing a report on possible legal reforms of abortion legislation in the light of a European court ruling in 2009 that declared the absolute ban to be a breach of women's human rights. Nulty, TD for Dublin West, said: "The heartbreaking tragedy of the death of Savita Praveen Halappanavar is something which should cause every citizen in our republic to pause and reflect." He added that the government should no longer "hide behind reports and delay tactics. It must act to protect women and their health. This issue cannot be swept aside and ignored as successive governments have done." Intervention by the European court of human rights has forced Ireland to make some minimal changes to its abortion ban. Since the 1992 X case, in which a 14-year-old rape victim took on the state's ban not only on her having a termination in Ireland but also on her travelling abroad for an abortion, there have been some exceptional circumstances. Since Europe ruled that there was a risk to the child's life if she was forced to go ahead with the pregnancy, guidelines have been set down on these rare and exceptional cases. Ireland's Medical Council guidelines state that "abortion is illegal in Ireland except where there is a real and substantial risk to the life (as distinct from the health) of the mother". It adds: "Under current legal precedent, this exception includes where there is a clear and substantial risk to the life of the mother arising from a threat of suicide." The guidance also informs doctors that they "should undertake a full assessment of any such risk in light of the clinical research on this issue". And it advises that "rare complications can arise where therapeutic intervention (including termination of a pregnancy) is required at a stage when, due to extreme immaturity of the baby, there may be little or no hope of the baby surviving. "In these exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to intervene to terminate the pregnancy to protect the life of the mother, while making every effort to preserve the life of the baby." However, such decisions are often left to the discretion of individual doctors and their medical teams. The pressure group Terminations for Medical Reasons Ireland, which campaigns for women whose babies would die if they went full term into their pregnancies, points out that in many cases some Irish doctors will not even advise women on their rights to travel abroad for abortions, let alone recommend emergency terminations in Ireland.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman says alternative would be 'raising a white flag' as cabinet considers action after UN vote Israel should topple the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, if he presses ahead with a request for recognition of the state of Palestine by the United Nations general assembly in two weeks' time, the hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has urged. In a draft paper distributed to the media, Lieberman argued that overthrowing the Palestinian leadership was Israel's only viable option faced with the certainty of an overwhelming vote in support of the Palestinian bid. "A reality in which the United Nations recognises a Palestinian state according to a unilateral process will destroy all Israeli deterrence and completely harm its credibility," the paper said. "Although this step is not simple, considering the implications that Israel will have to deal with, the only other option in this case would be the toppling of Abbas's government … The other option, of containment or a softer response, would be seen as raising a white flag." Lieberman's extreme stance comes as the Israeli cabinet is considering a range of punitive measures it could take in response to the vote, expected on 29 November. These include the full or partial annulment of the 1993 Oslo Accords, financial penalties and an acceleration of settlement expansion. The minister of strategic affairs, Moshe Yaalon, warned the Palestinians would pay a "heavy price" if they submitted a resolution seeking "non-member state" status at the UNGA. It would be a "flagrant breach" of the Oslo Accords, which provided for a limited measure of self rule for the Palestinians, he told army radio. Another government minister, Gilad Erdan, called for the immediate annexation of all Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Palestinians have rejected a personal appeal from President Barack Obama to postpone the vote, instead choosing to submit a resolution on the anniversary of the UN's approval in 1947 of a plan to partition what was then Palestine. They are expected to win the support of around 150 of the UN's 193 member states, and need only a simple majority to the resolution to pass. A move to win admission to the UN as a full member state stalled last autumn after the US pledged to exercise its power of veto in the security council. No country has the right of veto in the General Assembly. "It is now irreversible," said an Israeli government official. "The Palestinians will win, but the quality of the vote is what counts. If you win a vote with your major pillars of support as Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran and Cuba, it comes with only so much moral authority." Israel is concentrating its diplomatic offensive on European Union countries, which are divided in their positions. Lieberman held a three-day meeting in Vienna last week with Israeli ambassadors to EU nations to brief them on the consequences of a vote in favour of Palestinian statehood in order for them to step up pressure on their host governments. Israel believes the Palestinians have the support of up to seven EU countries – Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece, Cyprus and Malta – but wants to maximise the number of nations opposing the resolution. It particularly wants to secure the opposition of the "big three" – Britain, France and Germany. None has yet declared how it will vote, but the French president, François Hollande, told a Paris press conference on Tuesday he could not rule out the possibility of France supporting the Palestinian initiative. The Israeli foreign ministry sent a diplomatic cable on Sunday to all Israeli representatives across the globe warning that the Palestinian resolution was a "clear violation of the fundamental principle of negotiations". It continued: "The adoption of the resolution will give Israel the right to re-evaluate previous agreements with the [Palestine Liberation Organisation] and consider cancelling them partially or completely, and would make progress in the peace process more difficult in the future." The Palestinian initiative was "a fundamental breach of agreements", said an Israeli government source. "If a contract is broken, it's broken. We have no framework, and the situation is very dangerous." However, almost all steps being considered by the Israeli cabinet have potentially negative consequences for Israel as well as the Palestinians. Instability or a return to violence could follow the imposition of measures that would threaten the ability of the PA to govern in the West Bank. According to a government source, the Israeli cabinet has discussed a number of possible measures, but has taken no concrete decisions. Among a "toolbox" of actions under consideration are: • full or partial annulment of the Oslo Accords, under which the PA was established • withholding tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA • cancellation of permits for thousands of Palestinian labourers to work in Israel • withdrawal of travel privileges for senior PA officials • acceleration of building programmes in West Bank settlements • unilateral annexation of the main Jewish settlement blocks. Lieberman's draft paper proposed Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state on provisional borders encompassing around 40% of the West Bank in exchange for the Palestinian leadership dropping its approach to the United Nations. Israel's general election in January may be encouraging some politicians to put forward radical proposals in the belief it will shore up their support among the Israeli public. The UnS is also expected to impose punitive measures in response to a vote in favour of Palestinian statehood at the general assembly. The US Congress froze $200m (£126m) of aid to the Palestinians in response to their bid for full membership of the UN last September. Despite the decision later being overturned, the money has still not been released.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as embattled parents of a CGI-enhanced daughter drive the final stake into this heavily bleeding franchise The Twilight Saga signs off with a tentative whimper which turns into a conditional bang, which turns out to be a different, provisional kind of whimper. It is certainly a bravura display of contact lens acting. Red contact lenses. Black contact lenses. Beigey-orange contact lenses. Almost every single cast member does that robotic, gleaming, double-disc stare at the camera, as if afraid that some vampire slayer will somehow top them all and bury everyone face up just level with the tarmac along a stretch of white lines on the M11. To be fair, the story does acknowledge this tic in one scene by having Bella disguise her vampiric nature – with contact lenses. Two sets, ouch. The story is now at the stage where Bella, played by Kristen Stewart, is now a proper vampire and a proper mum, and Edward (Robert Pattinson) is a dad. But there's a shock in store. She has been delivered of an uncanny-valley CGI moppet called Renesmee, weirder and scarier-looking than any vampire. This bizarre digital contrivance is so that the infant's features can be seen to morph progressively into those of the actual flesh-and-blood performer, 11-year-old Mackenzie Foy, who will come to play Renesmee as a child. Reading this on mobile? Click here to view There are tensions at first, but basically Bella and the baby settle down pretty well with the extended Cullen clan, and with lupine quasi-uncle-guardian Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who has "imprinted" his soul on the child. Once again, the vampire family do a lot of their signature standing around, as if posing for a Boden catalogue of the Undead. They are still living in that very elegant modernist house but, very bizarrely, when the Cullens fix Edward and Bella up in a place of their own, their architectural taste goes right down the toilet with a horrific little Tudorbethan cottage featuring a closet containing four separate vulgar designer bags for Bella. Inevitably, the existence of little Renesmee causes a flareup with the sinister Volturi vampires led by Aro (Michael Sheen) and the stage is set for a titanic battle. Despite all those fierce confrontations and tribal divisions, exhaustively rehearsed and mythologised, nobody's really a bad guy and nothing's really at stake. Well, there's a satisfaction in seeing the story finally rounded off here, although there are rumours of more in store and the Twilight myth has in any case already been resolved, in giving birth to the non-abstinence porn of EL James's Fifty Shades of Grey, originally a fan-fiction coupling of Bella and Edward. Breaking Dawn has moments of wit, but did the Twilight saga have to be so bland? Catherine Hardwicke's first film was a brilliant standalone teen romance, but its saga robes came to hang very, very heavily. Rating: 2/5
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US secretary of state calls formation of new opposition coalition an important step and increases total US aid to Syria to $200m
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Riot police have clashed with protesters in Spain and Italy, as European unions organise a Day of Action against austerity
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | European unions have organised a Day of Action, with workers in Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal all holding protests today
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Kassim Alhimidi to be held without bail over killing of Shaima Alawadi, whose death was initially believed to be hate crime The husband of an Iraqi-American woman whose killing was initially believed to be connected to a hate crime has pleaded not guilty to murdering her during a domestic dispute. The death of Shaima Alawadi last March drew international attention after the couple's teenage daughter said she found a note by her mother's bludgeoned body that read: "Go back to your country, you terrorist." The victim's husband, Kassim Alhimidi, appeared briefly by video monitor in a superior court in El Cajon, a suburb of San Diego, on Tuesday after being charged with murder in the case. He was ordered to be held without bail after prosecutors argued that he had recently travelled to Iraq and was a flight risk. Alawadi, 32, had left Iraq in the early 1990s after a failed Shia uprising and lived in Saudi Arabian refugee camps before moving to the US. Detectives found documents in Alawadi's car indicating that she had planned to seek a divorce, according to an affidavit that was inadvertently given to a local reporter. In addition, the affidavit showed the couple's 17-year-old daughter was distraught over a pending arranged marriage to her cousin in Iraq and was found in a car with another man in November 2011. El Cajon is a conservative city of 100,000 people 15 miles from San Diego that has become popular with Iraqi immigrants. The city is home to 40,000 Iraqis, the second largest such community in the US after Detroit.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pentagon joins president in supporting Afghanistan commander looped into Petraeus scandal as email investigation widens Both Barack Obama and the Pentagon insisted on Tuesday that they were standing by the top US commander in Afghanistan, John Allen, after he became the latest general to find himself entangled in the widening Petraeus emails scandal. Allen is under investigation by the defence department over his communications with Jill Kelley, the Tampa woman who sparked the FBI investigation that stumbled across David Petraeus' affair after she complained about "harassing" emails that were traced to his mistress Paula Broadwell. The Pentagon's inspector general was examining 20,000 to 30,000 pages of documents, including many emails between Allen and Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison for senior officers at MacDill air force base in Tampa, home of US central command. Asked at a White House briefing on Tuesday if the president believed Allen could continue to prosecute the war in Afghanistan while under investigation, the president's spokesman Jay Carney said: "I can tell you that the president thinks very highly of General Allen and his service to his country as well as the job he has done in Afghanistan … He has faith in General Allen, believes he's doing and has done an excellent job at Isaf [International Security Assistance Force]." A Pentagon official, at a separate, anonymous briefing, said Allen denied having had an affair and that the email exchanges were at worst "flirtatious". Allen had been scheduled to take over as chief of US forces in Europe and as the supreme commander of Nato. That appointment has been put on hold pending a defence department investigation. The disclosures about Petraeus and Allen have disrupted president's post-election plans. Obama was blindsided by the FBI revelations about both men. Although there were potential national security implications at least in the case of Petraeus, Obama was not informed until last week, even though the FBI investigation had been under way for months. Carney told reporters that Obama was first informed about Petraeus on Wednesday, the day after the election, and about Allen on Friday. Carney did not overtly criticise the FBI but he said the president was "certainly surprised" when told Petraeus had decided to resign. He referred detailed questions to either the Pentagon or the department of justice. Asked about the FBI delay in informing the White House, Carney said there were protocols in place the FBI had to follow. He appeared to partly contradict himself later, saying these two cases were "unique". Suggesting a breakdown between the White House and the FBI, Carney said he was "not aware" whether Obama had spoken to the FBI director, Robert Mueller, about the investigation. Carney admitted that he would "certainly not suggest [the president] is pleased" by these events. Asked if they had been unwelcome, he said: "Well, I certainly, I think, wouldn't call it welcome." Allen was to have faced a Senate nominating committee this Thursday after being recommended by Obama as head of US forces in Europe and supreme commander of Nato. A Pentagon official said that Allen had informed the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey, that there had been no affair and no security breach. The emails apparently began in 2010, when Allen was in Tampa as deputy of central command, and continued through to this year. The FBI is facing heavy criticism over its handling of the investigation, not just its failure to inform either the White House but senior members of the Senate and House intelligence committee. Allen could face a difficult time if, after completion of a defence department investigation, he goes in front of a Senate nominating committee over the job in Europe. He is due to be replaced in Afghanistan by General Joseph Dunford and the Obama administration has asked the Senate to agree on Thursday to his nomination promptly. The controversies over the generals have proved a distraction in a week in which Obama had hoped to focus primarily on trying to reach a deal with Congress over debt and spending and a visit to New York still struggling to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. They also complicate Obama's reshuffle of his cabinet and White House staff as well as filling other posts. Obama's choice to replace Petraeus as head of the CIA could end up delayed amid messy Senate hearings depending on the choice. Although there is a Democratic majority in the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans are united in criticism of the FBI. Adding a further complication is that members of Congress, particularly Republicans, are still investigating what happened over the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that left the US ambassador and three other Americans killed. Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, wants Petraeus to give evidence about Benghazi even though he has resigned from the CIA. Benghazi could also have an impact on Obama's choice to replace Hillary Clinton, who intends stepping down as secretary of state in the second term. Speculation about her replacement centres on the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the Senate foreign affairs committee chairman John Kerry. Rice could face a difficult Senate nominating process because of her involvement in the Benghazi story, having initially blamed the attack on a US-produced anti-Muslim video.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pentagon joins president in supporting Afghanistan commander looped into Petraeus scandal as email investigation widens Both Barack Obama and the Pentagon insisted on Tuesday that they were standing by the top US commander in Afghanistan, John Allen, after he became the latest general to find himself entangled in the widening Petraeus emails scandal. Allen is under investigation by the defence department over his communications with Jill Kelley, the Tampa woman who sparked the FBI investigation that stumbled across David Petraeus' affair after she complained about "harassing" emails that were traced to his mistress Paula Broadwell. The Pentagon's inspector general was examining 20,000 to 30,000 pages of documents, including many emails between Allen and Kelley, who has been described as an unpaid social liaison for senior officers at MacDill air force base in Tampa, home of US central command. Asked at a White House briefing on Tuesday if the president believed Allen could continue to prosecute the war in Afghanistan while under investigation, the president's spokesman Jay Carney said: "I can tell you that the president thinks very highly of General Allen and his service to his country as well as the job he has done in Afghanistan … He has faith in General Allen, believes he's doing and has done an excellent job at Isaf [International Security Assistance Force]." A Pentagon official, at a separate, anonymous briefing, said Allen denied having had an affair and that the email exchanges were at worst "flirtatious". Allen had been scheduled to take over as chief of US forces in Europe and as the supreme commander of Nato. That appointment has been put on hold pending a defence department investigation. The disclosures about Petraeus and Allen have disrupted president's post-election plans. Obama was blindsided by the FBI revelations about both men. Although there were potential national security implications at least in the case of Petraeus, Obama was not informed until last week, even though the FBI investigation had been under way for months. Carney told reporters that Obama was first informed about Petraeus on Wednesday, the day after the election, and about Allen on Friday. Carney did not overtly criticise the FBI but he said the president was "certainly surprised" when told Petraeus had decided to resign. He referred detailed questions to either the Pentagon or the department of justice. Asked about the FBI delay in informing the White House, Carney said there were protocols in place the FBI had to follow. He appeared to partly contradict himself later, saying these two cases were "unique". Suggesting a breakdown between the White House and the FBI, Carney said he was "not aware" whether Obama had spoken to the FBI director, Robert Mueller, about the investigation. Carney admitted that he would "certainly not suggest [the president] is pleased" by these events. Asked if they had been unwelcome, he said: "Well, I certainly, I think, wouldn't call it welcome." Allen was to have faced a Senate nominating committee this Thursday after being recommended by Obama as head of US forces in Europe and supreme commander of Nato. A Pentagon official said that Allen had informed the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey, that there had been no affair and no security breach. The emails apparently began in 2010, when Allen was in Tampa as deputy of central command, and continued through to this year. The FBI is facing heavy criticism over its handling of the investigation, not just its failure to inform the White House, but senior members of the Senate and House intelligence committee. Allen could face a difficult time if, after completion of a defence department investigation, he goes in front of a Senate nominating committee over the job in Europe. He is due to be replaced in Afghanistan by General Joseph Dunford and the Obama administration has asked the Senate to agree on Thursday to his nomination promptly. The controversies over the generals have proved a distraction in a week in which Obama had hoped to focus primarily on trying to reach a deal with Congress over debt and spending and a visit to New York, which is still struggling to deal with the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. They also complicate Obama's reshuffle of his cabinet and White House staff as well as filling other posts. Obama's choice to replace Petraeus as head of the CIA could end up delayed amid messy Senate hearings depending on the choice. Although there is a Democratic majority in the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans are united in criticism of the FBI. Adding a further complication is that members of Congress, particularly Republicans, are still investigating what happened over the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that left the US ambassador and three other Americans dead. Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, wants Petraeus to give evidence about Benghazi even though he has resigned from the CIA. Benghazi could also have an impact on Obama's choice to replace Hillary Clinton, who intends to step down down as secretary of state in the second term. Speculation about her replacement centres on the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the Senate foreign affairs committee chairman John Kerry. Rice could face a difficult Senate nominating process because of her involvement in the Benghazi story, having initially blamed the attack on a US-produced anti-Muslim video.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senate approves controversial labour laws in biggest shakeup of job market in more than four decades Mexico's senate has approved a wide-reaching labour reform bill in the biggest shakeup of the country's job market in more than four decades. Approval of the watered down bill came after a protracted tussle between outgoing president Felipe Calderón's National Action party (PAN) and pro-union hardliners within the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) of the president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto. The PRI has traditionally relied on union support. "We shouldn't underestimate what we have," said PAN senator Javier Lozano. "It is a very good labour reform, economically speaking, which will really stimulate competitiveness and productivity, and will modernise labour relations." Nonetheless, the bill, approved by 99 votes to 28, has been criticised by leftwing politicians who accused the government of trampling on the rights of Mexico's workers. Protesters gathered outside the senate and television reports showed small scuffles breaking out. "What we're doing here is annulling worker's rights," said Alejandra Barrales, a senator from the leftist Democratic Revolution party (PRD). The bill, which the government said will create up to 400,000 jobs a year, contains a raft of measures, including changes that would make it easier for firms to hire and fire workers and shorten labour disputes. However, parts of the bill that sought to make unions more transparent were cut back. Peña Nieto sent a tweet congratulating congress on the passage of the bill, which he said would "improve the productivity and competitiveness" of Mexico. Under the new measures, work contracts will be more flexible, enshrining trial periods and initial training contracts in labour laws. Regulations will be tightened on outsourcing of personnel, while the minimum wage will rise from an hourly to a daily rate. The reform strengthens the rights of working women, including outlawing gender-based discrimination and helping mothers plan their work schedules. Unions will have to publish their regulatory statutes on the ministry of labour's website, but many of the tougher measures – including rules to force them to show how they manage members' fees – were dropped. Peña Nieto faces an uphill battle to create jobs once he takes office. Last week, Calderón said 2.1m new jobs were created during his six-year term but that figure is well short of his promise of 1m a year. Between 2006 and 2011 the number of Mexicans old enough to work grew by some 6.5m, according to data from the national statistics office. If the bill succeeds in creating new jobs it will help stem the flow of workers into the informal economy, which some estimate employs more than 10% of the population and costs Mexico up to $15bn (£9.5m) in lost taxes each year. "There is a possibility that more people will be hired, but not under the right labour conditions," said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's UNAM university. Labour reform, along with an effort to widen the tax base and allow more private investment in state oil giant Pemex, have been the three main items on Peña Nieto's economic agenda. His election returns the PRI to power after a 12-year hiatus. The centrist party governed Mexico from 1929 to 2000, a rule frequently dogged by allegations of vote rigging, authoritarianism and corruption.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mexico's senate approves controversial labour laws in biggest shakeup of job market in more than four decades Mexico's senate has approved a wide-reaching labour reform bill in the biggest shakeup of the country's job market in more than four decades. Approval of the watered down bill came after a protracted tussle between outgoing president Felipe Calderón's National Action party (PAN) and pro-union hardliners within the Institutional Revolutionary party (PRI) of the president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto. The PRI has traditionally relied on union support. "We shouldn't underestimate what we have," said PAN senator Javier Lozano. "It is a very good labour reform economically speaking which will really stimulate competitiveness and productivity, and will modernise labour relations." Nonetheless, the bill, approved by 99 votes to 28, has been criticised by leftwing politicians who accused the government of trampling on the rights of Mexico's workers. Protesters gathered outside the senate and television reports showed small scuffles breaking out. "What we're doing here is annulling worker's rights," said Alejandra Barrales, a senator from the leftist party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The bill, which the government said will create up to 400,000 jobs a year, contains a raft of measures, including changes that would make it easier for firms to hire and fire workers and shorten labour disputes. However, parts of the bill that sought to make unions more transparent were cut back. Peña Nieto sent a tweet congratulating congress on the passage of the bill, which he said would "improve the productivity and competitiveness" of Mexico. Under the new measures, work contracts will be more flexible, enshrining trial periods and initial training contracts in labour laws. Regulations will be tightened on outsourcing of personnel, while the minimum wage will rise from an hourly to a daily rate. The reform strengthens the rights of working women, including outlawing gender-based discrimination and helping mothers plan their work schedules. Unions will have to publish their regulatory statutes on the ministry of labour's website, but many of the tougher measures – including rules to force them to show how they manage members' fees – were dropped. Peña Nieto faces an uphill battle to create jobs once he takes office. Last week, Calderón said 2.1m new jobs were created during his six-year term but that figure is well short of his promise of 1m a year. Between 2006 and 2011 the number of Mexicans old enough to work grew by some 6.5m, according to data from the national statistics office. If the bill succeeds in creating new jobs it will help stem the flow of workers heading into the informal economy, which some estimate employs more than 10% of the population and costs Mexico up to $15bn in lost taxes each year. "There is a possibility that more people will be hired, but not under the right labor conditions," said Javier Oliva, a political scientist at Mexico's UNAM university. Labour reform, along with an effort to widen the tax base and allow more private investment in state oil giant Pemex, have been the three main items on Peña Nieto's economic agenda. His capture of the presidency returns the PRI to power after a 12-year hiatus. The centrist party governed Mexico from 1929 to 2000, a rule frequently dogged by allegations of vote-rigging, authoritarianism and corruption.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers, including nine children, in a predawn rampage US army prosecutors have asked for a death penalty court martial for an American soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a predawn rampage, saying that Staff Sergeant Robert Bales committed "heinous and despicable crimes". Prosecutors made their closing arguments after a week of testimony in the preliminary hearing. They say Bales, 39, slipped away from his remote base at Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan to attack two villages early on 11 March. Among the dead were nine children. The attacks drew such angry protests that the US temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes. "Terrible, terrible things happened," said prosecutor Major Rob Stelle. "That is clear." Stelle cited statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying they demonstrated "a clear memory of what he had done and consciousness of wrongdoing". Several soldiers testified that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements including: "I thought I was doing the right thing." A lawyer for Bales argued there was not enough information to proceed with the court martial. "There are a number of questions that have not been answered so far in this investigation," Emma Scanlan told the investigating officer overseeing the preliminary hearing. Scanlan said Bales's state of mind on the evening of the killings was still unknown. An army criminal investigator earlier testified that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre. "We've heard that Sergeant Bales was lucid, coherent and responsive," Scanlan said in her closing argument. "We don't know what it means to be on alcohol, steroids and sleeping aids." The investigating officer said on Tuesday he would have a written recommendation by the end of the week but that was just the start of the process. That recommendation will go to the brigade command, and the ultimate decision would be made by the three-star general on the base. There is no clear indication of how long it could be before a decision is reached on whether to proceed to a court martial. If a court martial takes place it will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle, Washington, and witnesses would be flown in from Afghanistan. The military has not executed a service member since 1961, and none of the six men on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, was convicted for atrocities against foreign civilians. All of their crimes involved the killing of US civilians or fellow service personnel.
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