|  |  |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Japanese company – hit by strong yen and limited model choice – to focus US business on motorcycles, quad bikes and boats Suzuki will pull the plug on its unprofitable car sales business in the US after nearly three decades, hurt by a strong yen and a limited choice of vehicles that failed to excite consumers. The Japanese company said on Tuesday it would use a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by its US subsidiary in federal court in California to shut down the car business and focus instead on sales of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and boats. The departure of Suzuki ends a 27-year effort to gain traction in the world's second-largest car market and should most benefit Kia and Nissan, the two brands that consumers most compared with Suzuki, according to car shopping website Edmunds.com. The bankruptcy could allow Japan's No 4 automaker to step away from its contractual responsibilities to the more than 200 dealers who maintain franchises, much as General Motors and Chrysler were able to drop dealerships during their 2009 bankruptcies. Suzuki models did not catch on in the US and the company suffered from a lack of investment in new vehicles. It also struggled from the strong yen that makes it more expensive to export products from Japan. It sold 21,188 vehicles in the US through October this year, a 5% drop from the previous year at a time when the overall market was up by 14%. That made the brand the second worst-selling mainstream brand, behind the Smart micro-car. Suzuki, which had marketed the Kizashi saloon and the Grand Vitara 4x4 in the US, said it would continue to honour warranties during the bankruptcy and did not see the need for outside financing during the restructuring. American Suzuki Motor Corp, the sole distributor of Suzuki vehicles in the continental US, will file for bankruptcy with $346m (£215m) in debt, of which $173m is owed to Suzuki group companies, the company said. The Japanese parent company plans to buy the motorcycle, ATV and outboard engine operations out of bankruptcy and shift its auto business to service existing vehicles on the road. The new US operating unit plans to keep the American Suzuki name, it said. Suzuki's failed tie-up with Volkswagen on vehicle development had raised questions about its commitment to the US market and whether it would be able to invest in a revamped product line-up months before Tuesday's announcement.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A 48-hour strike is under way in Greece as workers protest against the austerity package being considered by MPs today, ahead of Wednesday night's vote
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mitt Romney to continue campaigning on polling day while Barack Obama goes to home city of Chicago After hundreds of rallies, thousands of miles flown back and forth across the US by the presidential candidates, and billions of dollars in political advertising, the 2012 election campaign has entered its final 24 hours as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on Tuesday. At the end of one of the most polarising, relentless and expensive campaigns in recent US political history, the final batch of polls on Monday showed Barack Obama and Mitt Romney basically where they were at the start of the year: stuck in a dead heat. Both teams claim to be on course to win, as they completed what should have been their final blitz of the swing states. Obama, accompanied by rock star Bruce Springsteen, took in Wisconsin and two stops in Ohio, where he was joined on stage in Columbus by both Springsteen and rapper Jay-Z. From there, he was heading to Iowa for a late-night final rally in Iowa, where his 2008 run for the White House began. Romney's campaigning took him from Florida through Virginia and Ohio, ahead of what should have been his final rally, in Manchester, New Hampshire. But, in a surprise announcement, his team said he would continue to campaign on election day itself. He will vote near his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, in the morning, before heading for Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More conventionally, Obama is to stay put in his hometown, Chicago, on Tuesday. He is planning a game of basketball with friends and staff, but is not totally abandoning the campaign trail, with about a dozen television and radio interviews planned. The president's campaign spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, dismissed as stunts Romney's visit to Pennsylvania, a state that leans Democratic, and Ohio, the state that will almost certainly decide the final result and where Obama also holds a narrow lead. "We know that they've been playing a lot of head-faking games and going to states where they don't have a ground game, they've never led in a poll and we have massive voter registration advantages," Psaki said. "Ohio remains a very difficult nut for them to crack. And we feel we have a superior ground game and a superior campaign in the state and we're confident of victory there." The candidates' fates are now in the hands of the voters, but neither campaign is taking any chances. Both teams have put in place lawyers in the swing states in anticipation of messy, inconclusive results, a potential rerun of the "hanging chads" debacle in 2000. Legal challenges have already been launched in Florida and Ohio amid allegations of opportunities for early voting being curtailed and rows over IDs. Psaki said complaints about voting in Florida and Ohio were being monitored. "We're continuing to work on that today. And our plan is always, until the very last moment when the polls close, making sure people who are eligible have the opportunity. And we're confident we'll be able to do that in Florida and in states across the country," she said. Both campaigns also continued to flood television and radio networks with ads, buying up as much space as they could on digital media, too. In an effort to reach almost every possible market, Obama and Romney recorded interviews to be shown at half-time in Monday night's football match between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints. Real Clear Politics, which aggregates all the major polls, puts Obama on 48.5% and Romney on 48.1%. In all of the swing states – where the election will be decided – Obama has a slight edge, although in some the lead is so minuscule it is, in effect, a tie. In the most important swing state, Ohio, Real Clear Politics has Obama on 49.7% to Romney's 46.7%. The final Washington Post-ABC News national tracking poll, released on Monday afternoon, had likely voters dividing Obama 50% to Romney 47%, while Gallup's final pre-election survey of likely voters breaks Romney 49% to Obama 48%. Obama, in his closing argument to a crowd of 20,000 in Madison, Wisconsin, defended his record as president and pleaded for four more years. "You have a choice to make. It is a choice between two different visions for America," the president said. About 30 million people have already taken advantage of early voting, an estimated 35% of the final vote, up from 30% in 2008. More registered Democrats have turned out than Republicans in all but one of the crucial swing states. Obama, normally not given to shows of public emotion, was in a nostalgic mood, knowing that whatever happened it was his last day on the campaign trail. He took with him the original members of his 2008 campaign, beginning the day in two of the swing states, Wisconsin and Ohio, and, in another nostalgic touch, ending in Iowa, where his improbable adventure began in January 2008. In Wisconsin, he sympathised with the voters over "way too many TV commercials". He and Romney between them have raised about $2bn (£1.2bn) and much of this has gone on advertising. Reiterating the same message he has pursued relentlessly over the past few days, Obama said: "In 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression." He said 5.5 million new jobs had been created under his tenure, the car industry was back on top, home values rising, dependence on foreign oil down, the production of clean energy up, the war in Iraq over, the war in Afghanistan coming to a close, and Osama bin Laden dead. Earlier, in an interview, he said turnout would be decisive. His campaign team is claiming it has built an historically sophisticated ground operation that will give it the edge in the scramble for 270 electoral college votes. A notice circulated to Obama supporters on the campaign's digital network Dashboard said it had 5,117 staging locations in the battleground states from which the get-out-the-vote drive would be co-ordinated at neighbourhood level. Volunteers have made 126 million phone calls or door knocks to closely targeted households homing in on sporadic and new voters who might otherwise fail to vote. "This is the difference between the Obama campaign and any other campaign we have ever witnessed," wrote Mitch Stewart, director of the Obama campaign in the battleground states. Romney, who has to outperform the polls to win, told a rally in Virginia: "One final push is going to get us there. We're only one day away from a fresh start, one day away from the start of a new beginning." In his last speeches, Romney opted for a message of change, as Obama had done in 2008. Not a natural performer on the stump, his speeches are often ponderous, laden with platitudes and his final message appeared vague. "Tomorrow we begin a new tomorrow. Tomorrow we begin a better tomorrow," Romney said. "This nation is going to begin to make a change for the better tomorrow. Your work is making a difference, the people of the world are watching, the people of America are watching. We can begin a better tomorrow tomorrow."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In the Rockaways area of New York, residents are increasingly worried about a new storm, the growing likelihood of crime and how long everyone can last without heat or light Inside the foyer of a 12-storey building in the devastated beach community of the Rockaways, a handful of residents gather around a bar of power points from an emergency generator, mostly charging their phones. A transistor radio provides news updates on the coming storm and the dropping temperatures outside. Boxes of food and water line the floor, donated by volunteers. They have food to eat, water to drink. The lucky ones have running water to wash in, although those who are sheltering here from the Dayton building opposite do not. They have to walk down pitch-dark staircases to the swimming pool to fill buckets to flush their toilets. They're doing OK so far, they say, thanks to the kindness of strangers. What they don't have, however, is power or any idea of when it will be restored. A full week after this small coastal area in the Queens borough of New York City was battered by superstorm Sandy, tens of thousands are facing plummeting temperatures with no electricity or heat and a big nor'easter storm that is due to hit overnight on Wednesday . Rumours circulating on the peninsula vary depending who you talk to. Those in charge of the volunteer networks that have sprung up here say it could be anywhere from a month to a month and a half before power is restored, others hope and pray it could be sooner. A call to the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), yields little other than a recorded message in which no date is given for power restoration in the Rockaways, where a substation was destroyed by hurricane Sandy. Brynda Palma-Dowery, a receptionist at a PR firm, who lives on the forth floor of the building on Shorefront Parkway and is keeping herself warm by turning the oven and burners on, said that she was one of the "blessed". But she is worried about the coming storm, the cold and how long everyone is going to last without heat and light. "We've got this little nor'easter coming," she said. "We want to know when LIPA is coming. If we could get electricity we could get back to normal." One of her neighbours, who did not want to be named, said: "We were one of the hardest hit and yet we're the last to get services. We don't know anything." There are worries too, about what is already happening when darkness falls in the community and whether things will get worse. Palma-Dowery said she heard on the news of looting and gangs with guns further down the peninsula, in the Far Rockaway. Her neighbours made a complaint to the local police after a neighbour in a nearby building was robbed by someone posing as a LIPA representative, she said. "I feel safe, but I have heard that further down, things aren't so good." A few miles further east, outside St Francis De Sales church, people from the community are co-ordinating volunteers to help with everything from handing out donations of food and clothes to pumping and cleaning basements to organising medical supplies for those residents who have run out of vital prescriptions. Alison Thompson, from an organisation called the Third Wave Volunteers, has a red cross sewn onto a white hat on her head. She is co-ordinating medical supplies and treatment here, but is not from the Red Cross. Thompson, who came here after working in Haiti, says that what is needed most is volunteers – and light. The hall behind her, currently full of massive piles of clothing, food and water, is going to be turned into a "warming center", she said. "The electricity is not going on for at least a month and a half – that's what people are saying," said Thompson. "And that's here in this cold. Right now we're trying to prepare for the storm and we're trying to get blankets to people. We need volunteers and we need empty trucks. We need to get this stuff out of here so that it can be turned into a warming center." She, too, is worried about the chaos that might ensue if the power is not restored, or light is not set up soon. Gesticulating behind her, to the west, she says: "These neighbourhoods down that way, that is where to watch. There are gangs down there and people are scared. Woman and children are at risk. They need generators and they need lights. There is one big floodlight here, brought in by the mayor's office. They need that every five or six blocks." "At night it's very dangerous. You have 17 miles of pitch dark. Below 84th Street, there are gangs patrolling the streets at night. They have guns. It festers and it festers. They have to get into that area before it gets into an impossible situation." On Monday, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg talked of the need to get down to the "micro level" of help for people in communities hit by the storm. "There's no doubt that the lack of heat and light is jeopardising the health and safety of people in affected areas." Asked whether the agencies, such as the Red Cross or Fema, were doing enough to help, Thompson said: "This disaster is too big for government aid groups. There were people here yesterday and they were overwhelmed." At one point, a group of people wearing Red Cross jackets turn up. They are nurses and mental health professionals, but they cannot talk to the Guardian, they said, because they have not yet assessed the situation and the need here. They stand together and talk to the volunteers. There is concern that there are patients form a residential home who need medical attention. David Andersen, 47, a retired US marine from Queens, who has been helping residents for the past few days, said: "Literally everywhere you go people need help." He points behind him to the piles of debris piled up alongside the mountains of sand on the dirt roads outside houses. "It's the basic necessities people take for granted. They realise how important they are. I see all the agencies trying their best. It's so limited that people feel that they aren't here and that's tough. "That's what Iraq looks like," he added. "People here aren't supposed to experience this". Other voluntary groups are less charitable about government and other agencies. Along Rockaway Beach Boulevard, which is littered with debris, smashed up furniture and the mounds of sand that were left behind when the storm surge passed, there are little islands where people are gathered, places that serve as refuges either for those who refused to leave their homes during hurricane Sandy or those who returned to try and repair the damage to their flooded and shattered homes. One such place is a former store called Yana, which now stands for You Are Never Alone, according to a handwritten sign above it. A huge solar panel next to the store, on a truck donated by Greenpeace, is powering generators for essentials, such as phone charging and, for one boy, his much needed nebuliser medication needed for his asthma. The store is one of nine volunteer centers dotted around the Rockaways run by the anti-capitalist Occupy movement. Diego Ibanez, who is part of Occupy Sandy relief, said: "It's ridiculous how long Fema is taking, how long the Red Cross is taking. We are just a small network on Facebook and Twitter and we have helped the people here." He said that phase one has been relatively successful thanks to organisations like Occupy. "Phase one was getting everyone food and water," said Ibanez. "We're not Fema or the Red Cross but we're giving people hugs and boosting morale. Phase two is helping people clean their houses and clean their yards. "They went through the storm. They are not scared. But people now need electricity. The talk is of it being into December. We are going to put the pressure on the electricity company." Back at St Francis Church, Thompson and Jaime Jordan, who set up a Facebook page Rockaway Emergency Plan, talk to a woman from Bloomberg's department about how to get through the next few days. "The situation is there are a number of people here who are unwilling to leave their homes" said Jordan. "That is unreal," came the response.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Jeffrey Sinclair's defence asks that prosecution be replaced after privacy violations in rare case against a high-ranking officer US army prosecutors offered the first details of a rare criminal case against a general, alleging in a military hearing Monday he committed sex crimes against five women, including four subordinates and a civilian. An article 32 hearing on evidence in the case against Brig Gen Jeffrey Sinclair opened Monday at Fort Bragg, a sprawling post that is home to the 82nd airborne division. Officials said it was expected to last at least two days. Sinclair faces possible courts martial on charges including forcible sodomy, wrongful sexual conduct, violating orders, engaging in inappropriate relationships, misusing a government travel charge card, and possessing pornography and alcohol while deployed. He served as deputy commander in charge of logistics and support for the division's troops in Afghanistan from July 2010 until he was sent home in May because of the allegations. Before prosecutors could begin presenting their case Monday, defence lawyer Lt Col Jackie Thompson said military investigators had violated Sinclair's rights by reading confidential emails he had exchanged with his lawyers and wife discussing the accusations against him. Under questioning from Thompson, the lead investigator in the case acknowledged she had read the confidential e-mails, violating the terms of the subpoena used to obtain them from Sinclair's service provider. Those e-mails were later turned over to prosecutors, who are barred from seeing Sinclair's communications with his counsel. Thompson then asked criminal investigative command special agent Leona Mansapit if she had the resources she needed to conduct a proper investigation in Sinclair's case. "Probably not, sir," Mansapit replied. "I wish I had." The defence is asking the hearing officer, Maj Gen Perry L Wiggins, to either require all new prosecutors be assigned or have the case thrown out. Until now, the army had kept details secret in the rare criminal case against a high-ranking officer. In other high-profile cases, army prosecutors have been quick to release charging documents. In one case, prosecutors also said that Sinclair threatened one woman's career, as well as her life and the lives of her relatives, if she told anyone about his actions. Sinclair's attorney asked for the charges to be thrown out, arguing that the prosecutors had read confidential emails between the general and his defence. Defence attorney Lt Col Jackie Thompson said this violated his client's rights and asked that new prosecutors be brought in to try the case. The hearing officer called a recess until early Monday afternoon to give a legal adviser time to review the documents.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Soldier returned to camp in southern Afghanistan covered in the blood of his victims, prosecutor says at preliminary hearing A US soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan villagers returned to his base wearing a cape and with the blood of his victims on his rifle, belt, shirt and trousers, a military prosecutor said on Monday. Staff Sgt Robert Bales was incredulous when fellow soldiers drew their weapons on him when he returned to Camp Belambay in southern Afghanistan last March, prosecutor Lt Col Jay Morse said as a preliminary hearing opened at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Bales then turned to one sergeant at the scene and said: "Mac, if you rat me out ..." Morse said. Prosecutors say Bales slipped out of a tiny, remote base that he shared with special forces troops in the early hours of 11 March. Armed with an assault rifle, he then allegedly headed into two poor villages in Kandahar province, the Taliban's heartland, and went on a murderous rampage in which six people were also injured. The atrocity was the worst committed by US forces in Afghanistan since they helped topple the Taliban government in 2001. If found guilty, Bales, a 39-year-old father of two, could be executed. The judicial process starts with a preliminary hearing that could last up to two weeks. Bales, from Lake Tapps, Washington, sat beside one of his civilian lawyers, Emma Scanlan, in green fatigues as an investigating officer read the charges against him and informed him of his rights. Bales said "Sir, yes, sir" when asked if he understood them. Morse said Bales seemed utterly normal in the hours before the killings. With his colleagues, Bales watched the movie Man on Fire, a fictional account of a former CIA operative on a revenge rampage. Just before he left the base, Morse said, Bales told a special forces soldier that he was unhappy with his family life, and that the troops should have been quicker to retaliate for a roadside bomb attack that claimed one soldier's leg. "At all times he had a clear understanding of what he was doing and what he had done," said Morse, who described Bales as lucid, coherent and responsive. Witnesses to the killings are expected to appear over videolink from Afghanistan, and the court may also see images from a spy balloon that monitored Bales's base. Officially, the hearing is designed to assess whether he should face a full court martial, although Bales's defence lawyers say a full trial is inevitable. "This hearing is important for all of us in terms of learning what the government can actually prove," Bales's lawyer, John Henry Browne, said. "The defence's job is to get as much information as possible. That's what our goal is, in preparation for what is certainly going to be a court martial." Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. He is also charged with assault, and using steroids and alcohol while deployed. In Afghanistan there has been some anger that Bales was sent to the US rather than brought before an Afghan court near the site of the killings. Sardar Mohammad Nazari, then police chief in Kandahar's Panjwai district, where the massacre took place, said: "The people were very emotional after the killings and came to the district office and said 'We want justice. We want the Americans to hand the soldier over to us and we will punish him ourselves.'" Most people in Panjwai district are convinced Bales is guilty of the killings. The attacks were brutal, and some of the bodies were set on fire. Nine of the victims were children, and 11 were from the same family. But Bales remembers little or nothing from that evening, his lawyers say.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands still lack power or heat after Sandy but elsewhere city's schools and subway lines are almost back to normal New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg promised Monday that all New Yorkers still without power following superstorm Sandy would be found warm shelters ahead of a new storm hitting the city later this week. Overnight temperatures are set to drop to near freezing levels on Monday night, putting in focus the plight of up to 40,000 people in New York who need refuge from the cold amid ongoing power outages. Bloomberg said the city had adequate shelters to accommodate all those in need, and that every effort was being made to ensure that elderly and vulnerable citizens were able to find shelter in advance of Wednesday's nor'easter – which could dump up to four inches of rain on the region. The evacuation comes as much of Manhattan began to get back to business as usual on Monday. With power restored to lower Manhattan and 94% of schools open, the city's network of subway lines were full with commuters and students as it operated a revised timetable. But further afield concerns were more grim. In the Rockaways – a coastal region in the borough of Queens – thousands of residents were without power for the seventh straight day. With temperatures dropping and a powerful new storm due to hit mid-week, city officials are facing an uphill battle to find alternative accommodation in a city where spare housing is scarce. On Sunday, Bloomberg said between 30,000 to 40,000 New Yorkers may need to be relocated as they could be without power for some days to come. "We're not going to let anybody go sleeping in the streets … but it's a challenge, and we're working on it," he said. Governor Andrew Cuomo was likewise frank with his assessment. "People are in homes that are uninhabitable," he told reporters at a press briefing. "It's going to become increasingly clear that they're uninhabitable when the temperature drops and the heat doesn't come on." One option could be setting up mass trailer camps, similar to those that existed in New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of those that need temporary resettlement, it is thought that 20,000 currently reside in public housing. In an update Monday, Bloomberg said there were adequate numbers of shelters to accommodate those in need. "Every New Yorker who needs a warm place to live and a roof over his or her head is going to have one," he pledged. "We have to go down to an even more micro level and make sure each individual gets the services they need," Bloomberg added. The incoming storm made the work of emergency teams "more difficult and more urgent" the mayor said, adding that housing everyone would pose a "big challenge". The nor'easter could bring gusts of up to 55mph and further flooding. "Prepare for more outages," was the advice of National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pollina. "Stay indoors. Stock up again," he added. The immediate concern facing those in cut-off areas is how to keep warm. "Nights are the worst because you feel like you're outside when you're inside," said Genice Josey, a Far Rockaway resident who has slept under three blankets and wears long johns under her pyjamas in an effort to keep warm. "You shiver yourself to sleep," she added. In parts of the badly hit borough of Staten Island, it was a similar story. "When I woke up, I was like: 'It's freezing.' And I thought: 'This can't go on too much longer,'" Sara Zavala said. Sandy has already been blamed for the deaths of some 113 people in the US, adding to the 69 killed as the hurricane made its way through the Caribbean. The fear now is that more people may die as a result of hypothermia. The elderly are particularly at risk. Adding to people's woes is the ongoing scarcity of gas. Long lines at the pumps has becoming a common scene across parts of New York and New Jersey. Part of the problem has been panic buying by motorists, who have been filling the tank in anticipation of gas running out. New Jersey governor Chris Christie tried to allay the fears of drivers on Sunday, stating that the state did not have "a fuel shortage". He had earlier ordered a rationing of supply to customers in a bid to head off dwindling supplies. To help ease the flow, President Barack Obama ordered his administration to release an additional 12m gallons of unleaded fuel and 10m gallons of diesel. Much of that gas was trucked to New Jersey and New York over the weekend and should be delivered by the time the new storm arrives. Meanwhile, politicians have begun turning up the heat on utility companies over their response to the crisis. A week after the storm struck hundreds of thousands of homes remained subjected to power outages. On Sunday, Cuomo warned power suppliers that they would be held accountable for any delays that could have been prevented. "I want them to provide the service that they get paid to perform," he said, adding: "We will be reasonable, but we will hold them accountable."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hundreds gather outside election commission HQ to protest at alleged fraud in poll won by incumbent Viktor Yanukovich Ukraine's opposition demanded a recount or a fresh vote in a dozen contested constituencies on Monday, stepping up their campaign against a parliamentary election last month they say was rigged by President Viktor Yanukovich's ruling party. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Central Electoral Commission headquarters in Kiev to protest against alleged fraud in the 28 October vote, defying warnings that the protest was illegal and might be broken up by force. An opposition victory in the disputed electoral districts would still leave the president's Party of the Regions with a parliamentary majority, but could help galvanise anti-Yanukovich forces that have lost momentum since the jailing of their leader, ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. "We're demanding that the Central Electoral Commission announces the result of voting in 13 districts where, according to the final tally, the opposition won," said Arseny Yatsenyuk, leader of the united opposition. "In those cases where it is impossible to establish the result a re-run should be announced." The demand for action was signed by Tymoshenko's Fatherland party, Freedom nationalists and the UDAR party of boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, and follows criticism of the election in the former Soviet republic.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | US soldier is accused of slipping out of remote base in the early hours to carry out worst such atrocity of war in Afghanistan A US soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan villagers, many of them children, in a midnight shooting spree, is due to appear in court for the first time. Prosecutors say Robert Bales, a US army staff sergeant, slipped out of a tiny, remote base that he shared with special forces troops in the early hours of 11 March. Armed with an assault rifle, he then allegedly headed into two impoverished villages in Kandahar province, the Taliban's heartland, and went on a murderous rampage in which six people were also injured. The atrocity was the worst committed by US forces in Afghanistan since they helped topple the Taliban government in 2001. If found guilty Bales, a 39 year-old father of two, could face the death penalty. The judicial process starts with a preliminary hearing that could last up to two weeks, held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state. Witnesses to the killings are expected to appear over videolink from Afghanistan, and the court may also see images from a spy balloon that monitored the base where Bales was stationed. Officially, the hearing is designed to assess whether he should face a full court martial, although Bales's defence lawyers say a full trial is inevitable. "This hearing is important for all of us in terms of learning what the government can actually prove," Bales's lawyer, John Henry Browne, said. "The defence's job is to get as much information as possible. That's what our goal is, in preparation for what is certainly going to be a court martial." Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. Also on the charge sheet are assault, and using steroids and alcohol while deployed. In Afghanistan there has been some anger that Bales was sent to the US rather than brought before an Afghan court near the site of the killings. Sardar Mohammad Nazari, the then police chief in Kandahar's Panjwai district, where the massacre took place, said: "The people were very emotional after the killings and came to the district office and said, 'We want justice. We want the Americans to hand the soldier over to us and we will punish him ourselves.'" Most people in Panjwai are convinced Bales is guilty of the killings. Nazari said he would like to see him executed or imprisoned for life without parole. "My expectation from the Americans is that they will punish him. Under Islamic law, when someone kills someone he should be hanged. But in America, as I understand, the punishment is life in prison … which would also be acceptable." But Bales's wife, Kari, in an interview on the eve of the trial, said she did not believe her husband was capable of murder. "My husband did not do this – did not do this," she told ABC News. "I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that my husband is not involved." The attacks were brutal, and some of the bodies were set on fire. Nine of the victims were children, and 11 were from the same family. But Bales remembers little or nothing from that evening, his lawyers have said. His wife told ABC she had broken the details of what had happened in the villages to her husband. She said: "He was, like, 'What? What you talking about?' He had … He knew that something was going on but did not know the extent of what was going on, and I was actually the one that had told him how many people had died, and that included women and children, and he was blown away. He did not know the details as they had been portrayed in the press."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sales only included Wi-Fi versions of devices, with 4G-enabled models going on sale later this month Apple says it sold 3m iPad minis and iPad 4 in the three days from Friday – with analysts reckoning that the vast majority were the smaller version of the tablet, which was only unveiled a fortnight earlier. Despite the radical management shakeup initiated by chief executive Tim Cook just days before the products went on sale – including the departure of its retail boss, ex-Dixons chief John Browett – Apple seems to have kept its supply and retail chain running smoothly. The sales only included Wi-Fi versions of the devices, with 4G-enabled models due to go on sale later this month. The company didn't provide a ratio of sales between the devices, but researchers reckoned that the small version, with a screen size half that of the 10in iPad, would have been much more popular. Carl Howe, vice president of data sciences research at analysts Yankee Group, reckoned that iPad minis made 1.8m of the total. Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research in New York, put the figure higher, at 2m. The figures compared with 5m sales in three days of the iPhone 5 when that was launched in September. Google's Nexus 7 tablet, which was launched in July but is sold in only eight countries – compared to the iPads' 34 on its opening weekend – is reckoned to have sold around 2m in total based on figures released by its manufacturer Asus to investors. "On launch, iPads are selling as fast as Windows 8 upgrades," commented Horace Dediu of the consultancy Asymco. Microsoft launched its new Windows 8 operating system eight days earlier, and claimed 4m sales in the first four days. Though Dediu's remark was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, it also pointed to a reality that a growing number of commentators have observed, which is that tablets, and especially the new breed of mini tablets with screens around 7in, have begun to create a new class of computing use. Figures released separately on Monday by the research company IDC showed Apple's share of the tablet market slipping in the third quarter, before it launched the new products. Even so it was far ahead of rivals, with 50.4% of the entire market. IDC calculated that Apple shipped 14m tablets in the July-September period; Samsung 5.1m (18.4%); Amazon 2.5m (9%); Asus, which makes the Nexus 7 for Google and its own Transformer device, 2.4m (8.6%); and others 3.7m (13.65). The introduction of the iPad mini, and the enthusiastic response from buyers, suggests that Apple's share could increase in the fourth quarter - although Google is trying to boost its share by working with Samsung to produce its new Nexus 10 tablet, a 10in device with which it hopes to gain share at the higher end of the market. "Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad," said Cook in a statement. "We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We're working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Nor'easter set to bring freezing temperatures to New York and New Jersey, where many residents remain without heat Officials in New York and New Jersey were engaged in a race against time on Monday to house vulnerable residents left in uninhabitable accommodations by superstorm Sandy before another storm hits this week. Overnight temperatures are set to drop to near freezing levels on Monday night, putting in focus the plight of up to 40,000 people in New York who need shelter from the cold amid ongoing blackouts. The "massive, massive housing problem", as state governor Andrew Cuomo has described it, comes as much of Manhattan began to get back to business as usual on Monday. With power restored to lower Manhattan and 90% of schools open, the city's network of subway lines were full with commuters and students as it operated a revised timetable. But further afield concerns were more grim. In the Rockaways – a coastal region in the borough of Queens – thousands of residents were without power for the seventh straight day. With temperatures dropping and a powerful new storm due to hit mid-week, city officials are facing an uphill battle to find alternative accommodation in a city where spare housing is scarce. On Sunday, mayor Michael Bloomberg said between 30,000 to 40,000 New Yorkers may need to be relocated as they could be without power for some days to come. "We're not going to let anybody go sleeping in the streets … but it's a challenge, and we're working on it," he said. Governor Cuomo was likewise frank with his assessment. "People are in homes that are uninhabitable," he told reporters at a press briefing. "It's going to become increasingly clear that they're uninhabitable when the temperature drops and the heat doesn't come on." One option could be setting up mass trailer camps, similar to those that existed in New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of those that need temporary resettlement, it is thought that 20,000 currently reside in public housing. The storm this week could bring gusts of up to 55mph and further flooding. "Prepare for more outages," was the advice of National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pollina. "Stay indoors. Stock up again," he added. The immediate concern facing those in cut-off areas is how to keep warm. "Nights are the worst because you feel like you're outside when you're inside," said Genice Josey, a Far Rockaway resident who has slept under three blankets and wears long johns under her pyjamas in an effort to keep warm. "You shiver yourself to sleep," she added. In parts of the badly hit borough of Staten Island, it was a similar story. "When I woke up, I was like, 'It's freezing.' And I thought, 'This can't go on too much longer,'" Sara Zavala said. Sandy has already been blamed for the deaths of some 113 people in the US, adding to the 69 killed as the hurricane made its way through the Caribbean. The fear now is that more people may die as a result of hypothermia. The elderly are particularly at risk. Adding to people's woes is the ongoing scarcity of gas. Long lines at the pumps has becoming a common scene across parts of New York and New Jersey. Part of the problem has been panic buying by motorists, who have been filling the tank in anticipation of gas running out. New Jersey governor Chris Christie tried to allay the fears of drivers on Sunday, stating that the state did not have "a fuel shortage". He had earlier ordered a rationing of supply to customers in a bid to head off dwindling supplies. To help ease the flow, President Barack Obama ordered his administration to release an additional 12m gallons of unleaded fuel and 10m gallons of diesel. Much of that gas was trucked to New Jersey and New York over the weekend and should be delivered by the time the new storm arrives. Meanwhile, politicians have begun turning up the heat on utility companies over their response to the crisis. A week after the storm struck hundreds of thousands of homes remained subjected to power outages. On Sunday, Cuomo warned power suppliers that they would be held accountable for any delays that could have been prevented. "I want them to provide the service that they get paid to perform," he said, adding: "We will be reasonable, but we will hold them accountable."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Military prosecutors to lay out case against Robert Bales, who is charged with the deaths of 16 villagers in Kandahar province The US soldier accused of carrying out one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was appearing in a military courtroom Monday, where prosecutors will lay out their case that he killed 16 people, including children, during a predawn raid on two villages in the Taliban's heartland. Robert Bales, a staff sergeant and married father of two, is accused of slipping away from a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan early on March 11 with an M-4 rifle outfitted with a grenade launcher to attack the villages of Balandi and Alkozai in Panjwai district of Kandahar province. Nine of the dead were children, and 11 were members of the same family. Six others were wounded, and some of the bodies were set afire. Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder, plus other charges of attempted murder, assault and using steroids. Monday marks the start of a preliminary hearing before an investigative officer charged with recommending whether Bales' case should proceed to a court-martial. Part of the hearing will be held overnight to allow video testimony from witnesses in Afghanistan. "This hearing is important for all of us in terms of learning what the government can actually prove", said Bales' attorney, John Henry Browne.
Bales, 39, joined the army in late 2001 after the 9/11 attacks and as his career as a stockbroker imploded. He was serving his fourth combat tour after three stints in Iraq, and his arrest prompted a national discussion about the stresses posed by multiple deployments. Another of his civilian attorneys, Emma Scanlan, declined to say to what extent the lawyers hope to elicit testimony that could be used to support a mental-health defense. Bales himself will not make any statements, his lawyers said, because they don't think he would have anything to gain by it. During such hearings, defendants have the right to make sworn or unsworn statements. Making a sworn statement opens the defendant to cross-examination by the prosecutors.
No motive has emerged. Bales' wife, Karilyn, who plans to attend the hearing, had complained about financial difficulties on her blog in the year before the killings, and she had noted that Bales was disappointed at being passed over for a promotion. Browne has also said that Bales suffered a traumatic incident during his second Iraq tour that triggered "tremendous depression". Bales remembers little or nothing from the time of the attacks, his lawyers have said. Testimony from witnesses, including an estimated 10 to 15 Afghans, could help fill in many of the details about how prosecutors believe Bales carried out the attack. American officials have said they believe Bales broke the slaughter into two episodes walking first to one village, returning to the base and slipping away again to carry out the second attack. Some witnesses suggested that there might have been more than one killer. Browne said he was aware of those statements but noted that such a scenario would not help his client avoid culpability. Bales, who spent months in confinement at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, before being transferred to Lewis-McChord last month, is doing well, Scanlan said.
"He's getting prepared", she said, "but it's nerve-wracking for anybody".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | On final full day of campaigning before the big day, both candidates plan full schedules of rallies to get out the vote
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | On final full day of campaigning before the big day, both candidates plan full schedules of rallies to get out the vote
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | On final full day of campaigning, both candidates complete full schedules of rallies to get out the vote
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | America is not the only global superpower picking a new leader this week With its glamorous presenter, primetime slot, nervous participants and eager crowd – brandishing smiling or frowning cardboard faces to indicate approval or disdain – it might sound like another of China's glitzy dating shows. But the anxious men facing the cameras on Wuhan Television have more than romance on their minds. All are officials facing up to angry complaints from the public and a potentially career-stalling audience verdict. "Ordinary people take part. Ordinary people comment. Ordinary people supervise," growls the voiceover on a trailer. America is not the only global superpower picking a new leader this week. On Thursday, China opens its 18th party congress, designed to usher in the new generation of Communist party officials who will govern the world's most populous country into the 2020s. The process will be choreographed to within an inch of its life. Its outcomes, decided in advance by the leadership, will not be properly known until the middle of November. But the men (there almost certainly will not be any women) who file on to the stage for collective approbation face a public that increasingly demands the right to hold its government to account. The party is seeking new ways to respond without undermining its rule. Officials are adopting additional methods of observing and channelling the public mood, whether that be using microblogs – there are 80,000 government accounts, according to state media – or television shows such as Wuhan's. Citizens expect more from their officials, and stories of malfeasance or incompetence spread quickly online. Governance problems are given a face by figures such as "Uncle House" - a Nanjing official under investigation after internet users revealed he and his family owned more than 20 properties, despite his modest monthly salary of around 10,000 yuan (£1000). Authorities have repeatedly vowed to crack down on corruption. State media have reported that 600,000 officials faced punishment for disciplinary violations over the last five years. Yet in 2008, just under 40% of Chinese people deemed corrupt officials a very big problem. That has risen to 50%, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project. The Chinese leadership "knows the legitimacy of the party now depends on performance, in terms of delivering services and improvements in living standards", said Steve Tsang, an expert on Chinese politics at the University of Nottingham. The result is what he calls "a consultative Leninist system … They want to know what people think so they can take away the causes of discontent and potential challenges to the party. That's not the same as the accountability we would talk about and expect in Europe or North America; it's more of a safety valve and has an element of [the Maoist injunction] 'from the masses, to the masses'." The Wuhan show, which aired this summer and is due to return next month, is limited both in the subjects it tackles and in the personnel taking part. While vice-mayors appeared this summer, the city's most senior leaders were absent. It touched on issues such as food safety, but steered well clear of sensitive topics such as birth control. Even so, the questioning was pointed at times. "I'm still sweating," vice-mayor Hu Lishan told the Global Times after appearing on the show. Both Wuhan Television and government officials declined to respond to queries from the Guardian. Zhao Zhenyu, a scholar at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology who also participated, said: "Because it's live, the officials can't prepare; you can tell they are nervous during the show. They have to fix the problem after appearing on the programme, as people are watching them, and they have pressure. "There are many ways to supervise the government. This TV show is just one of them." In one programme, a disgruntled resident complained: "You always ask us ordinary people to report it if the lake is getting filled [up with stuff], but actually even if we report it we're just wasting our time. You said you would ask people to take responsibility. You just cheat people." An official's promise to clear up the rubbish quickly met with short shrift from the presenter: "Next month? You said 'as soon as possible'," she reminded him. "By the end of this month," he responded. "There are only a few days left," she said. "In a week," he added, with a nervous smile. In another show, not available online, the head of the industry and commerce administration was reportedly confronted with footage showing his workers asking businesses to give them cash-filled envelopes - then was handed an empty letter by a presenter. Mao Yushi, a leading economist who has pushed hard to improve governance, said improving communication with the public was a positive step, but warned: "If it becomes propaganda, it will be meaningless." Critics see such projects as essentially tokenistic and argue they do little to tackle the problems at their roots. They say what is needed are measures to improve transparency, such as publishing officials' assets, and, ultimately, democratic reforms. "These new programmes sanitise and normalise the 'trials by internet' of corrupt and incompetent government officials which has already been going on for some years in China," said Dr Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on propaganda at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. Those had developed, she argued, because the justice system cannot be relied on to resolve such problems and the Chinese media is muzzled and shackled. "These programmes represent an attempt to appease the popular desire to hold officials accountable and will also likely attract a wide audience - meeting both the Party line and the bottom line," she added. • What better way to prepare to ring in the new, than to clean out the old? And so the week began with the formal expulsion of Bo Xilai, the erstwhile rising star who fell from grace, accused of numerous crimes including corruption and bending the law to hush up the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood by his wife, Gu Kailai. Once his wife was convicted, Bo's fate was never seriously in doubt. The only surprise, perhaps, was that it took a four-day closed-door meeting to ratify it. • Few things encapsulate the authorities' approach to the 18th congress – the simultaneous desire for fanfare and secrecy – better than state news agency Xinhua's report on plans to update the party's constitution. It announced that the central committee had approved an amendment, which can only be made at the congress, and that the heir apparent, Xi Jinping, had elaborated on it. It said that the amendment had been decided at a Politburo meeting last month – and that it would reflect the party's latest theoretical achievements in localising Marxism and practical experience. Is that clear?
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Officials claim investigator wrote false reports linking army to rape and murder but UN says expulsion breaches obligations South Sudan has expelled a UN human rights investigator, accusing her of writing false reports, a move that the UN mission said breached the country's legal obligations to the United Nations. UN sources, who named the officer as Sandra Beidas, said the expulsion may have been related to an August report accusing the army of torturing, raping, killing and abducting civilians. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July last year under a 2005 peace deal that ended a decades-long civil war in which around 2 million people died. Sporadic conflict has continued in disputed border areas. Human rights groups accuse the new nation, which depends heavily on western aid, of allowing abuses by its security forces, mostly composed of poorly trained former guerrilla and militia fighters. Government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the officer had been "writing reports which have no truth in them". He did not elaborate. Hilde Johnson, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, called the expulsion a "breach of the legal obligations of the government of the Republic of South Sudan under the charter of the United Nations". Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused South Sudan's army of gross human rights violations during a disarmament campaign aimed at stopping inter-tribal warfare in Jonglei.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Binyamin Netanyahu ordered military to prepare for strike against Iran two years ago, according to TV documentary Israel's prime minister and defence minister ordered the country's military to prepare for a strike against Iran's nuclear installations two years ago, according to a television documentary to be aired on Monday. But the order was not enacted after it met with strong opposition from key security chiefs, the military chief of staff and head of the Mossad, the programme in the TV series Uvda [Fact] claims. It says that, following a meeting of selected key ministers and officials, Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak decided to order the army to raise its level of preparedness to "P Plus", a code signifying imminent military action. But the army chief Gabi Ashkenazi and Mossad head Meir Dagan, who were both present at the meeting, opposed the move. According to the hour-long Channel 2 programme, Dagan told Netanyahu and Barak: "You are likely to make an illegal decision to go to war. Only the cabinet is authorised to decide this." The programme reported Dagan saying after the meeting that the prime minister and defence minister were "simply trying to steal a war". Ashkenazi voiced fears that raising the alert level would "create facts on the ground", making a military strike inevitable. He was quoted as saying: "This is not something you do unless you are certain you want to execute at the end." Both security chiefs have since left their posts. Barak, who was interviewed for the programme, said the order was not enacted because the military did not have the necessary operational capability. He rejected the notion that security chiefs vetoed the order. "The things you are describing are the responsibility of the government," he said. "The idea that if the chief of staff does not recommend something that is possible to do, then we cannot decide to carry it out – this has no basis in fact. The chief of staff must build the operational capacity, he must tell us from a professional point of view whether it is possible to carry out an order, or if it is not possible, and he also can – and must – give his recommendation. [But] it can be carried out against his recommendation." Barak also said that raising the alert level "did not necessarily mean war". The Channel 2 reporter for the programme, Ilana Dayan, said Israeli military censors prevented her from disclosing the date in 2010 for the order. Since leaving office, both security chiefs have made clear their opposition to premature military action against Iran's nuclear programme. In August, Ashkenazi said "we're still not there", urging more time for sanctions and diplomacy. Dagan said bombing Iran was "the stupidest idea I've ever heard". He told CBS's 60 Minutes: "An attack on Iran now before exploring all other approaches is not the right way … to do it." The military and intelligence establishment in Israel is also believed to have serious reservations about launching unilateral military action. The US has urged restraint, arguing that sanctions need time to take effect. In his speech to the United Nations in September, Netanyahu pulled back from the likelihood of an imminent Israeli strike when he declared that a "red line" – the point at which Iran is close to nuclear capability – would not be crossed until next spring or summer. The Iranians say their nuclear programme is for domestic use, not to create weapons. Channel 2's disclosures came as a respected Israeli thinktank, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), published the outcome of a war game simulating the 48-hour period after an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear installations. In the scenario, Israel does not inform the US of its operation until after its launch. Iran reacts by launching around 200 missiles at Israel, and urging its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas to do likewise. However, it is careful to avoid attacking US targets in the immediate aftermath of a strike. According to the INSS, there are two opposing outcomes of an Israeli attack: "One anticipates the outbreak of world war three, while the other envisions containment and restraint, and presumes that in practice Iran's capabilities to ignite the Middle East are limited." Its war game "developed in the direction of containment and restraint".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Child fell from a viewing platform into an enclosure holding wild African dogs and was mauled by a pack of the animals A young boy has been killed at Pittsburgh zoo after he fell into an enclosure holding African wild dogs and was attacked by a pack of the animals. Lieutenant Kevin Kraus of the Pittsburgh police said the attack happened at about 11.45am local time on Sunday after the mother picked the child up and put him on top of a railing at the edge of a viewing deck. "Almost immediately after that he lost his balance, fell down off the railing into the pit, and he was immediately attacked by 11 dogs," Kraus said. "It was very horrific." It was not clear whether the boy died from the fall or the attack, said Barbara Baker, president of the zoo. Staff at the zoo at first estimated the boy fell 4.2 metres (14ft), but police said it was 3.3 metres. Authorities said zoo staff and then police responded "within minutes" but visitors described that time as being filled with screams for help. Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building. Three more eventually were drawn away from the child, but the last dog was aggressive and police had to shoot it. Experts said the death was highly unusual. Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the US Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said no one he had spoken to could recall any deaths of children at an accredited zoo over the past 40 years or more. Feldman said Pittsburgh zoo successfully completed its five-year review in September, which meant it met or exceeded all safety standards. Authorities did not release the name of the boy or his mother, but said she was 34 years old and lived in Pleasant Hills, just outside Pittsburgh. The boy's father arrived on the scene soon after the accident, police said. The zoo was immediately closed, and it was not clear when it will reopen, authorities said. The so-called painted dogs are about as big as medium-sized domestic dogs, and weigh 16 to 36kg (37 to 80lb), according to the zoo. They have large, rounded ears and dark brown circles around their eyes and are considered endangered. The attack happened in a 0.6-hectare (1.5-acre) exhibit called the Painted Dog Bush Camp that was part of a larger open area holding elephants, lions and other animals. Visitors walk on to a deck that has glass on the sides, but is open in front with a railing about 1.2 metres high. In May, some of the dogs crawled under a fence and escaped into a part of the exhibit that was usually closed. The zoo was on lockdown for about an hour as a precaution. Past fatal attacks at US zoos have prompted a review of safety features. In 2007 a tiger jumped over a wall at the San Francisco zoo, killing one visitor and wounding two others. Authorities first said the wall was 5.5 metres, but a review found it was just 3.6. In September a man jumped off an elevated viewing train at the Bronx zoo in New York and was severely mauled by tigers. Kraus said there was nothing to prevent visitors to the painted dog exhibit from jumping into the exhibit area. Police and the local medical examiner's office are investigating. They have not yet interviewed the mother or father, who are receiving grief counselling. Baker said the zoo would also investigate. She said no decision had been made yet on the future of the exhibit.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as the Syrian National Council discusses whether to take part in a new opposition initiative backed by western powers
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow the day's developments as they unfolded
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Claudio Sciarpelletti is accused of helping pope's butler, who was jailed for aggravated theft over leaked documents A Vatican computer expert goes before a court on Monday in a trial that could shed light on whether Pope Benedict's former butler acted alone in leaking sensitive documents or was a pawn in a bigger power struggle. Claudio Sciarpelletti is accused of aiding and abetting the butler, Paolo Gabriele, who in October was sentenced to 18 months in jail for aggravated theft. Sciarpelletti, 48, spent one night in a Vatican prison cell on 25 May, two days after Gabriele was arrested when police searched his home and found copies of papal documents, some alleging infighting in the papal court and corruption at the highest levels of the Roman Catholic church. Gabriele, one of the pope's closest household assistants, admitted leaking the documents to the media in what he said was an attempt to help disclose corruption and "evil" in the headquarters of the 1.2-billion-member faith. Vatican officials, eager to put the embarrassing episode behind them, say Sciarpelletti's role was marginal and expect the trial, in the same small courtroom, to be speedier than that of the ex-butler, which lasted only four sessions. When Vatican police searched Sciarpelletti's desk in the secretariat of state – the nerve centre of the Holy See's administration – they found a closed envelope addressed to Gabriele and marked "personal". It contained documentation relating to a chapter in a book about Vatican corruption and intrigue written by the Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, who received confidential documents from Gabriele. In four sessions of questioning in May and June, Sciarpelletti provided "wavering and contradictory" answers, according to a court indictment. On the night of his arrest, Sciarpelletti said he had just a "working relationship" with Gabriele. He later said the two were friends and their families had gone on outings together and that he knew that Gabriele had had a very difficult childhood. Sciarpelletti at first said Gabriele gave him the envelope. He later said it had been given to him by someone in the Vatican identified only as "W" in court documents and later said it had been given to him by someone identified as "X". It is not clear if X or W are clerics or lay people working in the Vatican. Prosecutors had at first considered charging Sciarpelletti with being a direct accomplice to aggravated theft, violation of state secrecy and obstruction of justice but later lessened their accusations to aiding and abetting. Among the witnesses expected to be called are Gabriele, Monsignor Carlo Polvani, Sciarpelletti's superior in the secretariat of state, Major William Kloter, the deputy commander of the Swiss Guards, and two Vatican security officials, including the commander of the police force, Domenico Giani. Sciarpelletti faces up to one year in jail but is expected to get off with a light sentence or a fine. At the end of Gabriele's trial some commentators faulted the judge for not pursuing other lines of questioning regarding who "influenced" the butler, leaving many doubts and suspicions lingering. The documents he leaked constituted one of the biggest crises of Pope Benedict's papacy, embarrassing the Vatican as it struggled to overcome a string of child sex abuse scandals involving clerics and mismanagement at its bank. Gabriele told investigators he had acted because he saw "evil and corruption everywhere in the church" and that information was being hidden from the pope. Many Vatican watchers are sceptical that a butler could have acted totally alone and suggest he may have been forced to take the blame in order to shield bigger players inside the Holy See. Few people outside the Vatican know what Sciarpelletti looks like. Unlike Gabriele, who rode in the front seat of the popemobile and travelled with the pope, Sciarpelletti worked in an office in one of the Holy See's most secretive departments. The trial will be covered by a pool of journalists but the court has banned photographers and television from the tribunal.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Euro hits one-month low against the dollar and the pound, at the start of a crucial week in the eurozone crisis as Greece's €13.5bn package of cuts and tax rises reaches the Athens parliament today
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Euro hits one-month low against the dollar and the pound, at the start of a crucial week in the eurozone crisis. Greece's €13.5bn package of cuts and tax rises reaches the Athens parliament today
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Communist Party will hold internal inquiry into New York Times claims that Chinese premier has 'hidden riches' of $2.7 billion China's ruling Communist Party has launched an internal inquiry into allegations made by the New York Times that the family of premier Wen Jiabao accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches", the South China Morning Post said on Monday. Wen himself asked for the inquiry in a letter to the Politburo Standing Committee - the party's top decision-making body of which he is also a member - in an apparent move to clear his name, the Hong Kong daily said, citing unnamed sources. Lawyers for the Wen family have rejected the New York Times' 26 October report, which says corporate and regulatory records show Wen's mother, siblings and children amassed most of their wealth since Wen became vice premier in 1998. "The Standing Committee had agreed to his (Wen's) request," the South China Morning Post said, quoting the sources. It cited some analysts as saying that Wen's request for a probe showed the premier was keen to use it as a chance to push forward a long-stalled "sunshine law", which would require a public declaration of family assets by senior leaders. However, professor He Weifang, a law expert at Peking University, told the Post that he doubted the party's senior leadership would go that far. "Even if Wen wants to disclose his assets, I don't think other senior leaders, who may also have 'hidden wealth' of their own, will allow him to go ahead, considering the explosive social repercussions," He said.
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