| |  | | | | | SHUTTING DOWN Feed My Inbox will be shutting down on January 10, 2013. To find an alternative service for email updates, visit this page. | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | | | | | The Guardian World News | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | News of bank's agreement comes hours after Standard Chartered admitted settlement with US regulator over Iran HSBC is expected to admit on Tuesday it has settled allegations of running money for Mexican drug barons for a larger than expected $1.9bn (£1.2bn), barely 24 hours after close rival Standard Chartered admitted paying $670m (£415m) in penalties to US regulators to settle allegations it broke sanctions on Iran. The $1.9bn that HSBC will pay to the US authorities exceeds the $1.5bn it had warned it could cost to settle the allegations raised in a damning US Senate report in the summer which came amid a wave of scandals to hit the banking sector. HSBC is expected to confirm it has struck the agreement which has already led to the departure of compliance head David Bagley and put pressure on former chairman Lord Green, now a trade minister. The bank is expected to admit violating US laws meant to prohibit money laundering including the Bank Secrecy Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The deal is expected to include a settlement with the powerful Manhattan district attorney's office and a deferred prosecution agreement with both the Justice department and Treasury department. Ahead of the settlement, HSBC on Monday named a former US official as head of group financial crime compliance, a newly created role, as the bank prepared for the fine related to drug allegations. Bob Werner, who used to work for the US treasury, will create a global financial intelligence unit to conduct internal investigations at HSBC. Peter Henning, a professor of law at Wayne State University, said: "If the numbers are right, this is going to get everybody's attention. The worst situation would be if the charges were for money laundering but it looks like this is a deferred prosecution relating to books and record controls, that gives the bank some wiggle room in terms of its explanations. But the size of the fine means the bottom line is this is very significant." Henning said the fine would have a significant "reputational impact" and HSBC would have to be very careful in future. "You get one black mark. If something like this comes up again in the US, the authorities are not going to be very forgiving." European banks seemed to have under estimated the prosecutorial zeal of the US authorities, he said. "We have had Standard Chartered and now this and we still have more Libor cases to come." US authorities are investigating banks involved in the alleged manipulation of London's Libor, the key measure for setting loan rates around the world. Britain's banks are braced for fines following the £290m penalty slapped on Barclays – now vastly exceeded by the amounts levied by US regulators for breaching sanctions and laundering money. The fines on Standard Chartered follow accusations that lax systems left the US financial system vulnerable to "drug kingpins" and terrorists. Standard Chartered is paying $327m to the US Federal Reserve, the US justice department and the New York district attorney, it was announced yesterday, following a settlement of $340m in August with the New York department of financial services. The bruising episode for Standard Chartered, which until the summer was regarded to have preserved its reputation through the banking crisis, also includes the bank being forced set up "acceptable" compliance programmes. Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, said: "Banks occupy positions of trust. It is a bedrock principle that they must deal honestly with their regulators. My office will accept nothing less – too much is at stake for the people of this country." The Fed, which is receiving $100m of the Standard Chartered fines, said it was imposing "one of the largest penalties" it had ever announced for "alleged unsafe and unsound practices" adopted by the bank. "Under the cease and desist order Standard Chartered must improve its programme for compliance with US economic sanctions, the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering requirements," the Fed said. The Financial Services Authority, the UK watchdog, has agreed to assist in the supervision of the order. The department of justice and the district attorney for New York County have entered into "deferred prosecution agreements" for which the bank which will pay $227m. The bank has also settled with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) but the settlement of $132m is offset against other penalties. Standard Chartered said that Ofac had concluded the "vast majority" of transactions were not in violation of sanctions. The bank said that $24m of transactions for Iranian counterparties and $109m from other countries facing sanctions – such as Burma, Sudan and Libya – had breached sanctions.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | FTC investigating whether firms are in breach of existing laws and says little progress made on ensuring children are protected Most mobile applications aimed at children collect information – including device IDs, location data and phone numbers – without their parents' permission, according to a Federal Trade Commission report released Monday. The FTC is also launching investigations to see whether some of these app companies are acting in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) or the Federal Trade Commission Act. "While we think most companies have the best intentions when it comes protecting kids' privacy, we haven't seen any progress when it comes to making sure parents have the information they need to make informed choices about apps for their kids. In fact, our study shows that kids' apps siphon an alarming amount of information from mobile devices without disclosing this fact to parents," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said. The most commonly shared information was the device ID that can contain personal information including names, phone numbers, friends lists, emails and location data. Of the 400 apps reviewed, 235 shared this information with third parties. Nearly 60% of the apps send information from a device to developers, advertising networks, analytics companies or other third parties. Of these third parties, a very small group receives the information, which the FCC says could allow these companies to create detailed profiles on children based on how they interact and use different apps. Many of the apps also failed to disclose in-app features including advertising, links to social media and the ability to purchase virtual goods. The FTC first surveyed children's mobile apps last year and released its findings in February 2012. The FTC felt that mobile application companies had failed to address the commission's concerns. "All of the companies in the mobile app space, especially the gatekeepers of the app stores, need to do a better job," said Leibowitz. "We'll do another survey in the future and we will expect to see improvement." Of the surveyed apps, the FTC found only 20% disclosed information on their privacy practices. Kathryn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement that the FTC's findings show "a widespread disregard for children's privacy rules." "In the rapidly growing children's mobile market, companies are seizing on new ways to target children, unleashing a growing arsenal of interactive techniques, including geo-location and use of personal contact data" Montgomery said. "It is clear that there is an urgent need for the FTC to update its Coppa regulations and to engage in ongoing enforcement." This study was released as Center for Digital Democracy and other privacy rights groups are issuing support for a proposed update to Coppa, which requires online companies to obtain permission from parents before collecting information from children under 13. If passed, the proposed update would make changes accounting for technological advancements made since the act was went into effect in 2000. It would limit the amount of time companies can keep data collected on children, and that third parties who collect the information adequately protect it.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President says controversial laws passed by state house and senate will give workers 'the right to work for less money' Barack Obama has intervened in the controversy over "right to work" legislation, during a visit to Michigan on the eve of a mass protest against the state's new union-restricting measures. In a speech in Detroit on Monday, the president said such legislation would only give workers the "right to work for less money". Thousands of union members are expected to protest at the Michigan state capitol in Lansing on Tuesday. The Republican-dominated Michigan state senate voted in favour of a right-to-work bill on Thursday, by 22 votes to 16. Governor Rick Synder has said he will sign the bill into law on Tuesday. Obama was in Michigan to discuss his plans for avoiding the fiscal cliff, arguing the case for higher taxes on the richest Americans. He told workers at the Daimler plant in Detroit that the three bills awaiting Snyder's signature "don't have to do with economics". "They have everything to do with politics," he said. "What we shouldn't be doing is try to take away your rights to bargain for better wages or working conditions," Obama said. "We don't want a race to the bottom. We want a race to the top."
Union leaders in Michigan have been training members in methods of "peaceful civil disobedience", in preparation for the protest on Tuesday. Supporters of the right-to-work law, which among other measures would prohibit unions from collecting fees from non-union workers, are also expected to demonstrate at the state capitol in Lansing. The Teamsters union, which helped host the training sessions at the weekend, said hundreds of people were "ready to get arrested" in the push against right-to-work legislation. Union officials said the mass demonstration outside the capitol would be accompanied by flash mobs, rallies and news conferences throughout the day. Dawn Kettinger, from the Michigan Nurses Association, told the Guardian that "at least 10,000 people" would protest at the state capitol on Tuesday. "This will be the biggest event like this that Michigan has ever seen," she said. "People understand this is part of what is happening across our country. People are trying to buy our government in state after state, the assault on the middle class is continuing." Eight people were arrested at the capitol on Thursday, as state senators voted on the legislation. Police said the arrests came after some of the crowd had attempted to rush into the senate. Officers used pepper spray on some of the protesters. Opponents of the "right to work" laws said the bills had been rushed through the legislature. Democrats said Republicans had wanted to act to pass the law before a new senate takes office next month – when the Republicans will be weakened, as the party lost five house seats in the November elections. Should the bills be signed into law on Tuesday, Michigan will become the 24th state to introduce "right to work" legislation. Unions argue that wages in right-to-work states are lower than those which do not have the legislation. In February last year a study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that wages in right-to-work states are on average 3.2% lower than states without such legislation. The right-to-work legislation in Michigan is made up of three bills – senate bill 116 and two house bills, 4003 and 4054. The legislation would make it illegal for workers to be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, which Republicans say would attract more jobs. Opponents of the law say that the bill can lead to a "free rider" problem, where workers do not pay union fees yet still get the benefits of collective bargaining by the union, funded by members. Democrats have criticised the legislation as existing to curb the power of the unions. Neighbouring Indiana passed a right-to-work law earlier this year, becoming the first rust-belt state to do so. Previously, most right-to-work states had been in the south. More than 3,000 people have signed up to a Facebook event page created for Tuesday's planned protests. Attendees are encouraged to wear red, to show their opposition to the legislation. On Monday the Michigan branch of National Nurses United protested outside the capitol, protesters fixing tape over their mouths. "Nurses are outraged at governor Snyder's war on workers, knowing that the wounds he is inflicting on our state will hurt for decades to come," said Katie Oppenheim, a registered nurse from Ann Arbor. "Our union is our voice in the workplace, and nurses use that voice every single day to keep patients safe against corporations that only care about their profits. Governor Snyder and CEOs are using right to work to shut workers up, pure and simple." The NNU will be among several unions with a presence in Lansing on Tuesday. Last week protesters received a boost when the NFL Players Association came out against right to work. "We stood up against this in the past, and we stand against it in its current form in Michigan," George Atallah, the association's assistant executive director for external affairs, told ThinkProgress. "Our leadership and players are always proud to stand with workers in Michigan and everywhere else. We don't think voters chose this, and we don't think workers deserve this." Michigan state police posted the rules of the state capitol over the weekend and said it would be strictly enforcing the guidelines, which say action should not interfere with a legislative session or threaten the safety of those who work at the capitol. Streets will be closed to traffic around the building on Tuesday morning, in anticipation of large numbers of protesters.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | News sees Italy's borrowing costs rise and share prices fall, and EU leaders worry about possible spillover into Spain European leaders watched Italy with a mounting sense of alarm yesterday as renewed political turbulence threatened to end months of relative calm over the euro and spill over into Spain. They rushed to shore up the prime minister, Mario Monti, after his discredited predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, pulled the plug on his support for the reforming technocratic government, sending share prices down in Milan and increasing Italy's borrowing costs. The Spanish government worried about the spillover as it came under renewed pressure to seek a eurozone bailout or bond-buying help from the European Central Bank. With EU finance ministers due to discuss a new eurozone banking supervisor on Wednesday followed by a summit on Thursday and Friday devoted to shoring up the longer-term viability of the currency, the Italian drama shifted to Oslo, where EU leaders, minus David Cameron, had gathered to receive the Nobel peace prize. Herman van Rompuy, who will chair the summit and was receiving the prize, said there was no alternative to the policies pursued by Monti. "Mario Monti was a great prime minister of Italy and I hope that the policies that he put in place will continue after the elections. There is no alternative to sound public finances and a competitive economy," he said. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany conferred with Monti in the Norwegian capital as her foreign minister warned of a domino effect from more financial turmoil in Italy. "Italy can't stall at two-thirds of the reform process," said Guido Westerwelle. "That wouldn't cause turbulence for just Italy, but also for Europe." The impact of the weekend events in Rome was promptly reflected in the financial markets, with Italy's long term borrowing costs rising by 6% and shares dropping by more than 2%. In New York, Bank of England governor Mervyn King said a "black cloud" of uncertainty in the eurozone had hit any recovery in UK investment spending. Speaking to the Economic Club of New York, King said he could not see any easy solution to the single currency zone's problems. El Pais, the influential Madrid newspaper, pressed the Spanish government to request help from the eurozone so that the ECB in Frankfurt could launch its first bout of promised bond market interventions. Spain's borrowing costs also rose, by a fifth of a percentage point. "Every time there are doubts … for example, today in the case of Italy, when there are uncertainties about the political stability of a neighbouring country such as Italy, that immediately affects us," Luis de Guindos, the Spanish finance minister, told state radio. The chief of the eurozone's permanent bailout fund, Klaus Regling, who has generally been upbeat about Europe having seen off the worst of the euro crisis, also worried about a broader setback following Monti's statement of intent to resign after getting the Italian budget passed this month. "In the last year Italy has pushed through important reforms," Regling told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. "So far, the markets have honoured that, although they have reacted with concern to the developments of recent weeks." As the dust settled on the Berlusconi comeback and the Monti resignation, it seemed Italy would be called to the ballot box on February 17 or 24. Monti refused to be drawn on whether he would run for prime minister. "I'm not considering this particular issue at this stage. All my efforts are being devoted to the completion of the remaining time of the current government," he told reporters. That is no small task: officials warned of "institutional chaos" if a measure abolishing some of Italy's provinces is not approved before the government falls. The provinces have already been stripped of some responsibilities, so in some parts of the country no one would responsible for schools, roads and rubbish collection. As business representatives lobbied behind the scenes for a Monti candidacy, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party, Pier Luigi Bersani, warned the prime minister to stay out of the political fray while adding that he could "still be useful". Bersani did not elaborate beyond referring cryptically to "the need to have an association [with Monti] in the name of Italy". Bersani and other centre-left leaders were reportedly concerned that a party led or sponsored by Monti could split the vote and make an already confused situation chaotic. The outgoing prime minister – a practising Catholic – did, however, get a scarcely veiled endorsement from the church. The leader of the Italian bishops, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, said: "It would be a mistake in future not to take advantage of someone who has contributed in a rigorous and competent way to the credibility of our country". That sentiment was echoed at the ECB, where influential executive board member Jörg Asmussen said Monti had "achieved great things in a short amount of time".
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hotel maid who alleged sexual assault by the former IMF chief settles civil action case, bringing end to lengthy court battle A hotel maid who claims she was brutally sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn has settled her civil action against the former IMF chief for an undisclosed sum, in a move that allows her to "move on with her life", lawyers said. In Bronx supreme court on Monday, a judge announced that an agreement had been reached just minutes before the session started, adding that the amount – which is rumoured to be as much as $6m – remained "confidential". It brings to an end a lengthy New York court battle for the man once tipped to become French president, having earlier seen criminal charges of attempted rape dropped. Nonetheless, Strauss-Kahn's legal woes are not completely behind him – he is yet to hear if prosecutors in France will be allowed to pursue charges of aggravated pimping related to an alleged prostitution ring in France. A court is due to rule in that case on 19 December. The lawsuit settled in New York on Monday relates to claims by Nafissatou Diallo, a 33-year-old former housekeeper at the upmarket Sofitel hotel in Manhattan. She says Strauss-Kahn attacked her on 14 May 2011 as she attempted to clean his room. Diallo alleges that Strauss-Kahn ran at her naked, molested her and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The claims led to a criminal investigation against the IMF boss last year, and to his house arrest in Manhattan. But charges of attempted rape, sex abuse, forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment were eventually dropped, with prosecutors citing "substantial credibility issues" with Diallo. Despite the collapse of a criminal investigation, Diallo continued to pursue Strauss-Kahn through the civil courts, leading to a counter defamation suit by the former IMF head. At first, Strauss-Kahn's lawyers tried to claim that their client had diplomatic immunity him from being sued. But that failed, with the courts dismissing his claims of protection. A settlement in the case was widely expected ahead of Monday's hearing. Strauss-Kahn's New York attorneys had previously acknowledged that talks had taken place. But they dismissed as "flatly false" a French newspaper's report that the amount agreed to was a payment of $6m to Diallo. In court on Monday, judge Douglas McKeon confirmed that a deal had been struck, but not the amount. "Ten minutes ago we reached a settlement in this case, which was put on the record," he said during a brief session. He added: "The amount of the settlement is confidential." McKeon also confirmed that a claim against the New York Post – which had reported that Diallo had worked as a prostitute – had also been settled. Again, the terms were not discussed in open court. Diallo sat through the court proceedings accompanied by her legal representatives. Dressed in a snow-leopard skin print headscarf and emerald blouse, she made no statement while in the courtroom. But in brief comments on the steps of the Bronx supreme court, Diallo, who was born in Guinea and who is the mother to a teenage girl, thanked her supporters. "I just want to say I thank everyone that supported me all over the world. I thank everybody; I thank God," she said. Her attorney, Kenneth Thompson, said Diallo was a "strong and courageous woman who never lost faith in our system of justice". "With this resolution, she can now move on with her life," he added. Strauss-Kahn was not in court. Nor did his legal representatives offer any comment after it was announced that settlement had been struck, other than to thank the court. Monday's hearing marks an apparent end to Strauss-Kahn's New York legal battles. But it has come at cost for the 63-year-old. As well as losing his job at the IMF, it ended any realistic chance Strauss-Kahn had at a run at the French presidency as further lurid details of his lifestyle later emerged. In addition, it led to a raft of other sexual allegations being made against him and likely contributed to his separation from his wife, French journalist Anne Sinclair. Next week, Strauss-Kahn will hear if a separate attempt to get charges levied against him by French prosecutors thrown out has been successful.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | National Intelligence Council also sees water and food shortages and suggests world is at a 'critical juncture in human history' A US intelligence portrait of the world in 2030 predicts that China will be the largest economic power, climate change will create instability by contributing to water and food shortages, and there will be a "tectonic shift" with the rise of a global middle class. The National Intelligence Council's Global Trends Report, published every five years, says the world is "at a critical juncture in human history". The report, which draws in the opinion of foreign experts, including meetings on the initial draft in nearly 20 countries, paints a future in which US power will greatly diminish but no other individual state rises to supplant it. "There will not be any hegemonic power. Power will shift to networks and coalitions in a multi-polar world," it says. The report offers a series of potential scenarios for 2030. It says the best outcome would be one in which "China and the US collaborate on a range of issues, leading to broader global co-operation". It says the worst is a world in which "the US draws inward and globalisation stalls." "A collapse or sudden retreat of US power probably would result in an extended period of global anarchy; no leading power would be likely to replace the United States as guarantor of the international order," it says, working on the assumption that the US is a force for stability – a premise open to challenge in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East and beyond. The NIC report draws a distinction between what it calls "megatrends" – things that are highly likely to occur – and "game-changers", which are far less certain. Among the megatrends is growing prosperity across the globe. "The growth of the global middle class constitutes a tectonic shift: for the first time, a majority of the world's population will not be impoverished, and the middle classes will be the most important social and economics sector in the vast majority of countries around the world," the report says. With prosperity spreading across the globe will come shifts in influence and power. "The diffusion of power among countries will have a dramatic impact by 2030. Asia will have surpassed North America and Europe combined in terms of global power, based upon GDP, population size, military spending, and technological investment. China alone will probably have the largest economy, surpassing that of the United States a few years before 2030," the report says. That change will mean that the economic fortunes of the US and European countries will have a diminishing impact on the global economy. "In a tectonic shift, the health of the global economy increasingly will be linked to how well the developing world does — more so than the traditional west. In addition to China, India, and Brazil, regional players such as Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Turkey will become especially important to the global economy. "Meanwhile, the economies of Europe, Japan, and Russia are likely to continue their slow relative declines." The report also says that "individual empowerment" will accelerate with the growth of the global middle class and reduction in poverty combined with new types of communications. The NIC warns that also has a downside. "In a tectonic shift, individuals and small groups will have greater access to lethal and disruptive technologies (particularly precision-strike capabilities, cyber instruments, and bio terror weaponry), enabling them to perpetrate large-scale violence – a capability formerly the monopoly of states," it says. The megatrends also point to increased instability because of rising demand for water, food and energy compounded by climate change. "Demand for food, water, and energy will grow by approximately 35, 40, and 50% respectively owing to an increase in the global population and the consumption patterns of an expanding middle class. "Climate change will worsen the outlook for the availability of these critical resources. Analysis suggests that the severity of existing weather patterns will intensify, with wet areas getting wetter and dry and arid areas becoming more so. Much of the decline in precipitation will occur in the Middle East and northern Africa as well as western Central Asia, southern Europe, southern Africa, and the US south-west." The NIC says that a world of scarcities is not inevitable but "policymakers and their private sector partners will need to be proactive to avoid such a future". It says any solution will require more able countries to help more vulnerable states. Among the less predictable but possible "game changers" identified by the report are the collapse of the euro, a severe pandemic, or a nuclear attack by Pakistan or North Korea. It also says a democratic or collapsed China, or the emergence of a more liberal regime in Iran, could have a significant impact on global stability. The report warns that a number of countries are at high risk of becoming failed states by 2030, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. The risk of civil wars and internal conflicts remains high in Africa and the Middle East, but is declining in Latin America. The intelligence assessment will add to pressure on Barack Obama to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because it backs the president's view that the issue feeds instability in the Middle East alongside Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons. But it says the Arab spring could prove a stabilising force. "On the one hand, if the Islamic Republic maintains power in Iran and is able to develop nuclear weapons, the Middle East will face a highly unstable future. On the other hand, the emergence of moderate, democratic governments or a breakthrough agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could have enormously positive consequences."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Supporters and protesters of the law, which curbs unions ability to collect fees, will gather at the state Senate on Tuesday Union leaders in Michigan have been training members in "peaceful civil disobedience" methods in preparation for a protest on Tuesday against controversial right-to-work legislation. Supporters of the law, which among other measures would prohibit unions from collecting fees from non-union workers, are also expected to demonstrate at the state capitol in Lansing. The Republican-dominated Michigan Senate voted the right-to-work bill on Thursday by 22 votes to 16. Governor Rick Synder has said he will sign the bill into law and could do so on Tuesday. The Teamsters union, which helped host the training sessions at the weekend, said hundreds of people are "ready to get arrested" in the push against right-to-work legislation. Union officials said the mass demonstration outside the capitol would be accompanied by flash mobs, rallies and news conferences throughout the day. Barack Obama, who reiterated his opposition to right-to-work laws on Thursday, was due in Michigan on Monday as he presses his case for fiscal cliff negotiations to result in tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans. It is not known if Obama will discuss Michigan's right-to-work status, but last week White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said the president "continues to oppose" the law. "The president believes our economy is stronger when workers get good wages and good benefits, and he opposes attempts to roll back their rights," Lehrich said. "Michigan – and its workers' role in the revival of the US automobile industry – is a prime example of how unions have helped build a strong middle class and a strong American economy." Eight people were arrested at the Capitol on Thursday as state senators voted on the legislation. Police said the arrests came after some of the crowd had attempted to rush into the Senate. Officers used pepper spray on some of the protesters. Opponents of the right-to-work laws said the bills ad been rushed through the legislature. Democrats said Republicans had wanted to act to pass the law before a new Senate takes office next month – when the Republican majority will be weakened as the party lost five House seats in the November elections. Should the bills be signed into law on Tuesday Michigan will become the 24th state to introduce right-to-work legislation. Unions argue that wages in right-to-work states are lower than those which do not have the legislation. In February last year a study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that wages in right-to-work states are on average 3.2% lower than states without it. The right to work legislation in Michigan is made up of three bills – Senate bill 116 and two House bills, 4003 and 4054. The legislation would make it illegal for workers to be required to pay union dues as a condition of employment, which Republicans say would attract more jobs. Opponents of the law say that the bill can lead to a "free rider" problem, where workers do not pay union fees yet still get the benefits of collective bargaining by the union, funded by members. Democrats have criticised the legislation as existing to curb the power of the unions and reduce their influence. Neighbouring Indiana passed its own right-to-work law earlier this year, becoming the first rust-belt state to back the law. Previously most of the right-to-work states had been in the south. More than 3,000 people have signed up to a Facebook event created for Tuesday's protests on Facebook, with attendees being encouraged to wear red to show their opposition to the legislation. On Monday the Michigan branch of National Nurses United protested outside the building, with members fixing tape over their mouth. "Nurses are outraged at Gov Snyder's war on workers, knowing that the wounds he is inflicting on our state will hurt for decades to come," said Katie Oppenheim, a registered nurse from Ann Arbor. "Our union is our voice in the workplace, and nurses use that voice every single day to keep patients safe against corporations that only care about their profits. Gov Snyder and CEOs are using 'Right to Work' to shut workers up, pure and simple." The NNA will be among several unions with a presence in Lansing on Tuesday. Last week protesters received a boost when the NFL Players Association came out against right to work. "We stood up against this in the past, and we stand against it in its current form in Michigan," George Atallah, the association's assistant executive director for external affairs, told ThinkProgress. "Our leadership and players are always proud to stand with workers in Michigan and everywhere else. We don't think voters chose this, and we don't think workers deserve this." Michigan state police posted the rules of the state capitol over the weekend and said it would be strictly enforcing the guidelines, which say action should not interfere with a legislative session or threaten the safety of those who work at the capitol. Streets will be closed to traffic around the building on Tuesday morning in anticipation of large numbers of protesters.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | State's voters say they would choose the comedian to replace Jim DeMint but governor Nikki Haley says it won't happen Stephen Colbert, the Puck of American politics, is the top choice of South Carolina voters to replace outgoing senator Jim DeMint, according to new numbers from Public Policy Polling. Colbert, the popular Comedy Central satirical news host, leads the field of Senate contenders with a 20% share of respondents naming him as their top pick, PPP said. His closest competition, Republican Tim Scott, nabbed 15%. Governor Nikki Haley, a Tea Party darling, will appoint DeMint's replacement before Congress reconvenes in the new tear. DeMint is leaving the Senate to run a conservative thinktank, the Heritage Foundation . The chances of Haley naming Colbert to the Senate are indistinguishably close to zero. She is expected to pick Scott, a congressman entering his third term; another congressman; or former state attorney general Henry McMaster. Colbert, however, who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, shows impressive strength on paper, besting a prospective field that includes former governor Mark Sanford (8%) and the governor's former wife, Jenny (11%). It helps that the primetime satirical news show host has his own ready-made political machine. Last Thursday he urged his audience to tweet messages at Haley asking her to appoint him. "When I look at the US Senate I think to myself, you know what they could use?" Colbert mused. "Another white guy." Haley, an unpopular governor who had visible fun as a guest on Colbert's show in April, poured cold water on the host's Senate bid on Facebook: Stephen, thank you for your interest in South Carolina's US Senate seat and for the thousands of tweets you and your fans sent me. But you forget one thing, my friend. You didn't know our state drink. Big, big mistake.
During Haley's appearance, Colbert, under duress, failed to name South Carolina's state drink, which is milk. Haley rejected calls Monday afternoon that she appoint a "placeholder" senator who would pledge to serve for only two years and not seek election to the seat in 2014. Such a move would take the governor out of her kingmaker role in deference to the normal course of statewide elections. "While I am an avid supporter of term limits, I do not want the effectiveness of our state's new US senator to be undermined by the fact that he or she will automatically be leaving the office such a very short time after assuming it," Haley said in a statement. Despite his lead in PPP's contest, Colbert's polling numbers may not be as strong as they appear. In 2010, mystery Democrat Alvin Greene, who displayed such lack of polish as a candidate that theories circulated of a Republican conspiracy to stand him for office, lost to DeMint – but still managed to win 28% of the general election vote. The current PPP survey polled Democrats and independents as well as Republicans. Colbert's name recognition alone could account for his polling performance in an upstart field of relative unknowns.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Software mogul wanted in Belize as a 'person of interest' in the murder of his neighbour currently behind bars in Guatemala John McAfee's communications from behind bars continued over the weekend with a live online broadcast in which he repeated his desire to return to the United States. The software mogul, who is cited in Belize as a "person of interest" in the murder of his fellow expatriate Gregory Faull, said he wanted to live his "declining years" in peace. In his broadcast, McAfee once again said he believed the authorities in Belize, where he has lived since 2008, wanted to silence him because of his claims that they are corrupt. "The reason I avoided the authorities is that I believe then, and I believe even stronger now, that the intent to question me has nothing to do with Mr Faull's murder," McAfee said. "Since April of last year the Belizean government has been trying to level charge after charge against me, all of them groundless, none of them sticking … this is simply the latest in that chain." McAfee said he had been on the run with his girlfriend Sam Vanegas, intermittently, since before Faull's murder. "The odyssey that Sam and I have been on did not begin after the death of Mr Faull; it began on October 15 this year, after an aborted raid by the police of San Pedro and Belize City. Since that time we have been on and off the run," McAfee said. "After the death of Mr Faull, we went underground in earnest." The Belizean government have expressed doubts about McAfee's mental stability and the country's president called him "bonkers." British-born McAfee expressed his desire to return to the US in the video, and said: "I have dual citizenship; I would be happy to go to England. I would be very happy to go to America. America is where I was raised and that's exactly what I want." On returning to the US, he said the first thing he would do is go to Portland, Oregon to see his best friend cartoonist Chad Essley. "I simply would like to live comfortably day by day, fish, swim, enjoy my declining years," McAfee said. "My long-term plan was simply to get away from Belize, think, and decide what to do." McAfee was arrested in Guatemala on 5 December after he illegally crossed in the country. Guatemalan authorities denied McAfee asylum the next day and he was taken to a police-run hospital hours later following complaints of chest pains. Authorities did not say why he was denied asylum. McAfee made his name and millions founding the anti-virus software company that bears his name. He sold the company in 1994 and invested in several other tech ventures before retiring to Belize in 2008. While on the run, he provided frequent updates on his bizarre tale of escape to members of the media and on his blog whoismcafee.com, where some posts, including one suggesting his double was caught at the border with a North Korean passport, have been deleted. After reportedly losing contact with the people running his blog for 24 hours, they began releasing a trove of information he had previously told them to release if he had not spoken with them in that time period. "The following posts are the beginning of the archived writing and evidence that Mr McAfee has instructed be released in the event he does not communicate with us in 24 hours," the post by "Harold M" says. The posts contain photos, data and reports that McAfee believes are evidence of corruption by the Belize government.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Morsi decree sets 'dangerous precedent' warns Amnesty amid fears civilians could be subjected to military trials There has been growing concern in Cairo about a decree issued by President Mohamed Morsi that gives Egypt's armed forces powers of arrest and detainment during Saturday's constitutional referendum vote. The decree, which lasts until the result of the referendum is announced, has reignited the issue of detainment of civilians in Egypt and their subjection to military trials. During the transitional period overseen by the military junta, some 12,000 civilians were tried and sentenced in military tribunals. Amnesty International called the decree a "dangerous loophole" that could once again lead to detainment of civilians. "Considering the track record of the army while they were in charge, with more than 120 protesters killed and in excess of 12,000 civilians unfairly tried before military courts, this sets a dangerous precedent," said Amnesty's deputy Middle East and north Africa director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. The constitutional referendum comes at a polarised time in Egyptian politics, after Morsi issued a decree granting himself extraordinary powers, which he partially rescinded on Saturday after protests. The opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) has rejected the referendum and called on Egyptians to stage peaceful protests on Tuesday . Opposition forces were considering whether to boycott the referendum or mobilise for a "no" vote if it is not postponed. NSF member Hassan Moanis told Associated Press: "For now, we reject the referendum as part of our rejection of the draft constitution." Morsi also suspended a series of tax rises on Monday morning, hours after they had been issued. The increases were announced as part of an economic reform package being introduced before a 19 December deadline for International Monetary Fund approval of a $4.8bn loan. Then at 2am local time, a message was posted on Morsi's official Facebook page suspending – not cancelling – the tax hikes because he "felt the pulse of the streets and is aware of how much the Egyptian citizen is burdened in these tough economic times".
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Western officials believe Israel may have leaked information from IAEA investigation in bid to raise global pressure on Tehran Israel is suspected of carrying out a series of leaks implicating Iran in nuclear weapons experiments in an attempt to raise international pressure on Tehran and halt its programme. Western diplomats believe the leaks may have backfired, compromising a UN-sanctioned investigation into Iran's past nuclear activities and current aspirations. The latest leak, published by the Associated Press (AP), purported to be an Iranian diagram showing the physics of a nuclear blast, but scientists quickly pointed out an elementary mistake that cast doubt on its significance and authenticity. An article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists declared: "This diagram does nothing more than indicate either slipshod analysis or an amateurish hoax." The leaked diagram raised questions about an investigation being carried out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors after it emerged that it formed part of a file of intelligence on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work held by the agency. The IAEA's publication of a summary of the file in November 2011 helped trigger a new round of punitive EU and US sanctions. Western officials say they have reasons to suspect Israel of being behind the most recent leak and a series of previous disclosures from the IAEA investigation, pointing to Israel's impatience at what it sees as international complacency over Iranian nuclear activity. The leaks are part of an intensifying shadow war over Iran's atomic programme being played out in Vienna, home to the IAEA's headquarters. The Israeli spy agency, the Mossad, is highly active in the Austrian capital, as is Iran and most of the world's major intelligence agencies, leading to frequent comparisons with its earlier incarnation as a battleground for spies in the early years of the cold war. The Israeli government did not reply to a request for comment and AP described the source of the latest leak only as "officials from a country critical of Iran's atomic programme". An "intelligence summary" provided to AP with the graph appeared to go out of its way to implicate two men in nuclear weapons testing who had been targeted for assassination two years ago. One of them, Majid Shahriari, was killed on his way to work in Tehran in November 2010 after a motorcyclist fixed a bomb to the door of his car. The other, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, was wounded in a near identical attack the same day. A book published earlier this year by veteran Israeli and American writers on intelligence, called Spies Against Armageddon, said the attacks were carried out by an assassination unit known as Kidon, or Bayonet – part of the Mossad. One western source said the "intelligence summary" supplied with the leaked diagram "reads like an attempt to justify the assassinations". According to one European diplomat, however, the principal impact of the leak would be to compromise the ongoing IAEA investigation into whether Iran has tried to develop a nuclear weapon at any point. "This is just one small snapshot of what the IAEA is working on, and part of a much broader collection of data from multiple sources," the diplomat said. "The particular document turns out to have a huge error but the IAEA was aware of it and saw it in the context of everything it has. It paints a convincing case." Sources who have seen the documents said that the graph was based on a spreadsheet of data in the IAEA's possession which appears to analyse the energy released by a nuclear blast. The mistake was made when that data was transposed on to a graph, on which the wrong units were used on one of the axes. There is widespread agreement among western governments, Russia, China and most independent experts that the evidence is substantial for an Iranian nuclear weapons programme until 2003. There is far less consensus on what activities, if any, have been carried on since then. The IAEA inquiry has so far not uncovered any "smoking gun". Analysts say that the recent leaks may have shown the IAEA's hand, revealing what it knows and does not know, and therefore undermined the position of its inspectors in tense and so far fruitless talks with Iranian officials about the country's past nuclear activities. Iran rejects the evidence against it as forged and has not granted access to its nuclear scientists or to a site known as Parchin where IAEA inspectors believe the high-explosive components for a nuclear warhead may have been tested. The IAEA says it has evidence that the site is being sanitised to remove any incriminating traces of past experiments. David Albright, a nuclear expert at the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, said he had no knowledge of who was behind the leak but added: "Whoever did this has undermined the IAEA's credibility and made it harder for it to do its work." The IAEA is due to talk to Iran on Saturday in Tehran. The US has said that if Iran does not co-operate with the IAEA investigation by March, the matter should be referred to the UN security council. The security council has repeatedly demanded that Iran suspend enrichment of uranium until it has satisfied the international community that it is not pursuing a covert weapons programme. Iran has rejected the demand, insisting its programme is entirely peaceful, and has intensified its enrichment effort, triggering Israeli threats of military action. A new round of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, aimed at trading curbs on enrichment for sanctions relief, is due to begin in the next few weeks but no date has been set.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | National Transportation Safety Board makes first official confirmation of singer's death in northern Mexico The US National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that the Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in northern Mexico. It is the first official confirmation of Rivera's death, although she has been widely presumed dead since the wreckage of her plane was found on Sunday. The NTSB is sending a team to assist Mexican authorities with the investigation. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway saud Mexican aviation authorities had confirmed Rivera's death to the NTSB. Her he plane left Monterrey, Califronia about 3.30am on Sunday after Rivera gave a concert there. Aviation authorities lost contact about 10 minutes later. It had been scheduled to arrive in Toluca, outside Mexico City, about an hour later. Also on board the plane were her publicist, lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew. The 43-year-old, who was born and raised in Long Beach, California, is one of the biggest stars of the Mexican regional music style known as grupero, which is influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchera styles. Also known as diva de la banda, Rivera was beloved by fans on both sides of the border for such songs as De Contrabando and La Gran Señora. She recently won two Billboard Mexican music awards: female artist of the year and band album of the year for Joyas Prestadas.The singer, businesswoman and actor appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown, and has her own reality shows including I Love Jenni and Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis & Raq-C and her daughter's Chiquis 'n Control. Rivera had given a concert before thousands of fans in Monterrey on Saturday night. After the concert she gave a press conference during which she spoke of her emotional state following her recent divorce from former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who played for teams including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. "I can't get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman," she said on Saturday night. "The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up." The mother of five children and grandmother of two had announced in October that she was divorcing Loaiza after two years of marriage. It was her third.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pharmaceutical giant says it will consider giving money again 'when the organisation's inclusion criteria has been expanded' The drugs giant Merck has suspended its funding for the Boy Scouts of America, citing its discrimination against gay people. The maker of top-selling drugs including asthma treatment Singulair and the HPV vaccine Gardasil joins Intel and UPS, which both pulled their funding following a campaign by lobby group Scouts for Equality. In July, after a two-year consultation, the BSA reaffirmed its long-time policy barring openly gay members from joining the organisation and barring gay and lesbian people from serving as scout leaders. The ban sparked a national backlash and was condemned by both president Barack Obama and his Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney. Scouts for Equality, led by activist Zach Wahls, has petitioned all of the organisation's major sponsors in an attempt to get the BSA to overturn the ruling. Wahls is currently lobbying telecoms firm Verizon to pull its support for the BSA via petition website Change.org. So far over 63,000 people have signed the petition. "I am thrilled that Merck & Company, a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical giant, has announced its foundation arm is immediately withdrawing funding from the Boy Scouts of America until the program ends its anti-gay membership policy," he said. In a statement, Merck said: "Merck Foundation has suspended all funding to the Boys Scouts of America. The Merck Foundation will consider funding the BSA again when the organization's inclusion criteria has been expanded. "The BSA's policy of exclusion based on sexual orientation directly conflicts with the Merck Foundation's giving guidelines. The foundation re-evaluated funding for the BSA when the organization restated its policy that excludes members on the basis of sexual orientation. Merck Foundation has notified the BSA of this decision." The Merck Foundation has given $38,000 over the past three years to the Boy Scouts of America. Merck has also removed the BSA from its employee matching scheme. It did not say how much it had given to the BSA in this way. There are over 2.7 million children and young adults in the BSA, and over 1 million adult members. The BSA formed a committee in 2010 to evaluate "whether the policy was in the best interests of the organization," and said it came to its decision after a two-year process of "extensive research and evaluations." The BSA's policy states: "While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA. "Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting. The vast majority of parents we serve value this right and do not sign their children up for Scouting for it to introduce or discuss, in any way, these topics. "The BSA is a voluntary, private organization that sets policies that are best for the organization. The BSA welcomes all who share its beliefs but does not criticize or condemn those who wish to follow a different path."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Australian radio DJs' call to King Edward VII hospital could violate the Data Protection Act, says leading barrister The Australian radio DJs who made the hoax call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness could have committed an offence under UK law, a leading barrister has said. Hugh Tomlinson QC, one of the barristers representing phone-hacking victims in civil damages cases against News International, said the call to the King Edward VII hospital appears to be an offence under the Data Protection Act, which bars anyone from obtaining or disclosing confidential personal records. "It appears that, in the course of the prank call the Australian DJs obtained personal data relating to the Duchess of Cambridge – about her medical condition," said Tomlinson, of Matrix Chambers, who specialises in media, privacy and data protection law. "This was without the consent of the data controller, which in this case is the King Edward VII hospital. There is no difference between obtaining private information as a 'prank' and obtaining it to sell or publish. As a result, it appears that the two DJs may be guilty of an offence under section 55 of the Data Protection Act." There are certain circumstances whereby the obtaining or disclosure of personal data is permissible under the law and one defence, used by the journalists, is that the information was obtained because it was in the public interest. But Tomlinson said there is not a public interest defence in these circumstances. "The two DJs do not appear to have a defence under section 55 as it cannot, credibly, be argued that obtaining private medical information about a pregnant woman by deception is 'in the public interest'," he added. Section 55 states: (1) A person must not knowingly or recklessly, without the consent of the data controller— (a) obtain or disclose personal data or the information contained in personal data, or (b) procure the disclosure to another person of the information contained in personal data. Mel Greig and Michael Christian phoned the hospital at 5.30am one morning, UK time, last week when the Duchess was still a patient and have expressed their sorrow in a series of Australian TV interviews following the apparent suicide of the nurse who took the call. They reiterated that no one could have expected or foreseen what happened after the call. "At every single point it was innocent on our behalf. It was something that was funny and lighthearted and a tragic turn of events that I don't think could have been predicted," said Christian. If they were prosecuted in the UK, they could be fined £5,000 each under section 60 of the Data Protection Act. 2Day FM, the Sydney radio station where they work, is already facing a possible investigation. The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, confirmed it had received complaints from around the world, and said it was considering whether it should launch an investigation into whether the presenters breached the country's commercial radio code of practice. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Barack Obama takes his fiscal cliff campaign to Michigan after holding talks at the White House with House speaker John Boehner
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Barack Obama takes his fiscal cliff campaign to Michigan after holding talks at the White House with House speaker John Boehner
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  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Italian prime minister's promise to step aside brings fresh political uncertainty to the eurozone, sending shares tumbling in Milan and Italy's bond yields up
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hector Celaya, 31, opened fire on California police, hours after killing his daughter, mother and her two brothers The church bell that rings out to announce the deaths of tribal members on the Tule River Indian Reservation tolled repeatedly Sunday after a man shot dead his daughter, his mother and her two brothers. The suspect also died in a shootout with police. Authorities cornered Hector Celaya, 31, on a country road in the middle of citrus orchards 30 miles away from the reservation and about six hours after the shootings Saturday night, that also left two of his other children wounded. In the car with him were two daughters, eight-year-old Alyssa and five-year-old Linea. One had life-threatening injuries; the other did not. Authorities said Celaya was fatally wounded by deputies after he opened fire on them. By Sunday night, authorities confirmed that Alyssa died of her injuries. Police said Celaya, pictured, had a tattoo of her name on his right leg. Authorities have not disclosed what motivated Celaya to kill his relatives, who lived in a travel trailer on a family compound on the reservation of about 800 people. But tribal members said the former custodian at the reservation's casino had a troubled past. "He had a real hard life," said Rhoda Hunter, the tribal council secretary. "But all of us do, we all have a hard time. But we try not to let it get the best of us." Hunter said that Celaya's mother was a friend of hers. The Tulare County sheriff's department, which is investigating the case, identified her 60-year-old Irene Celaya. The killings stunned the tight-knit tribal community. "We've had a lot of deaths here, but nothing like this. Not murder. No, not murder," Hunter said. The remote reservation relies on the Eagle Mountain Casino for revenues. Each tribal member receives $500 a month, but Hunter said most of the profit is invested into educational programs for the children. The compound where the shooting took place is on a dirt road in a scenic canyon lined with oaks and sycamore trees. Herds of horses graze the hillsides, and modular houses sit on hilltops. The 911 call came to the Tule River Indian Reservation fire department at about 7.45 pm on Saturday, said Shelby Charley Jr, an engineer and supervisor. He said his crew, which most often attends to people who fall ill at the casino, was shocked by the carnage. "This is a once in a lifetime kind of deal," Charley said. "It's one of those calls you could go your whole career and not walk into. This is one of those calls that will stick with you for the rest of your life." Charley said his crew immediately discovered a woman and man dead of gunshot wounds, then quickly discovered a young boy with critical wounds. Thick fog grounded helicopters in Fresno and Bakersfield, so rescue workers had to drive the gravely injured boy 40 minutes to the nearest hospital in Visalia. Minutes later, sheriff's deputies found a third body in an outbuilding that had been set up as a makeshift bedroom. Authorities said the bodies of Irene Celaya and her 61-year-old brother Francisco Moreno were found in the trailer. The body of their 53-year-old brother, Bernard Franco, was in the shed. The wounded boy was identified as Celaya's 6-year-old son, Andrew. Deputies found Celaya by tracking his cellphone. A chase ensued, though Celaya never exceeded the speed limit and sometimes slowed to 15 mph, police said. He eventually pulled over in a rural area deep in the heart of citrus country outside the tiny community of Lindsay, about 30 miles from the reservation. Celaya opened fire, prompting deputies to return fire, sheriff's spokeswoman Chris Douglass said. She did not say how many shots were fired, but said Celaya fired his gun "multiple times." Celaya was shot during the exchange of gunfire, Douglass said. He died hours later at a hospital. It was unclear when Celaya shot his daughters, Douglass said. Police said Celaya was "known to law enforcement" and "known to use drugs," though Douglass could not provide details. On the steps of Mater Dolorosa Catholic church, Hunter said she has never known such tragedy. The church bell echoed through the reservation Sunday as news of each death made its way to tribal authorities. "This is so horrible. We will be doing a lot of praying," Hunter said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former South African president, 94, had 'a good night's rest' after spending second night in Pretoria hospital Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president and revered anti-apartheid leader, is to undergo more tests in hospital after having a good rest on his second night in the facility, the government said. A statement on Monday from the office of the president, Jacob Zuma, who visited the Nobel peace prize laureate on Sunday, gave no details other than to say Mandela had a "good night's rest and is in good hands". It also thanked members of the public for their messages of support. The defence minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, told reporters after visiting Mandela in 1 Military hospital in Pretoria that the former African National Congress (ANC) leader was doing "very, very well". The military is responsible for the health of sitting and former South African presidents. Mandela, the country's first black president and a global symbol of resistance to racism and injustice, spent 27 years in apartheid prisons, including 18 years on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town. He was released in 1990 and went on to be elected president in the historic all-race elections in 1994 that ended white-minority rule. He used his prestige to push for reconciliation between whites and blacks, setting up a commission to investigate crimes committed by both sides in the anti-apartheid struggle. The ANC has continued to govern since his retirement from politics in 1999, but has been criticised for perceived corruption and slowness in addressing apartheid-era inequalities in housing, education and healthcare. When Mandela was admitted to hospital on Saturday, officials said there was no cause for concern, although domestic media reports suggested senior members of the government and people close to him had been caught unawares. The City Press newspaper said the Nelson Mandela Foundation and his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had not known about his transfer to the capital from his home in the remote village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape province. "I wish Mr Mandela a quick recovery from his sickness so we can be with him all the time. He was a good president, a good leader, so he must be with us," said John Sekiti, a petrol station attendant in Pretoria. Mandela remains a hero to many of South Africa's 52 million people, and two brief stretches in hospital in the past two years made front-page news. He spent time in a Johannesburg hospital in 2011 with a respiratory condition, and again in February this year because of abdominal pains. He was released the following day after a keyhole examination. He has since spent most of his time in Qunu. Mandela's fragile health prevents him from making public appearances in South Africa, although he has continued to receive high-profile domestic and international visitors, including former US president Bill Clinton in July.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | His films captured John Lennon in bed, the Velvet Underground deafening a roomful of psychiatrists, and New York during the high point of the last real avant garde. Adrian Searle tunes into a remarkable retrospective The films of Jonas Mekas are fragments of a life passing. His show at London's Serpentine Gallery is filled with these moments from his long and interesting life; people he has met, events he witnessed and took part in, places he has been. And everywhere we keep coming across his voice, recalling the past, composing a love letter to his adopted New York, commenting, reading a poem, singing. And always there are images. Images projected and playing on banks of monitors. Cacophanies, excerpts, new things and old footage, portraits, stills and blow-ups. You plunge in to this partial and personal selection of work, never quite knowing how long you'll be detained. The filmmaker's voice, engaged, insistent, and remembering, keeps me stilled. Aged four or five in the Lithuanian countryside, he sang out the stories and details of his day to his father. "Every detail I sang to my father", Mekas recalls, in a voiceover to his most recent film, Outtakes From the Life of a Happy Man. "I have been trying to retain that kind of intensity all my life." With their shaky hand-held shots, their overexposed bleach-outs and dodgy sound, their silences and wavering focus and lingering attention on inconsequent detail, Mekas's films are like home movies. But what home movies they are. Here's John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Montreal Bed-In. Salvador Dalí hamming up his surrealist act on the New York streets. Carl Jung puffing his pipe and ruminating beside a Swiss lake. Danish film-maker Carl Theodore Dreyer querulous before the camera. Mekas's film portraits anticipate those by Tacita Dean, and indeed Andy Warhol, whose hundreds of film portraits of people who passed through the Factory Mekos regards as Warhol's finest work. Mekas filmed Warhol too, at the Factory, on the beach at Montauk, amongst his silk-screen images and cow wallpaper at the Whitney museum. There are so many fascinating glimpses of other lives here: poets Frank O'Hara, Le Roi Jones and Allen Ginsberg onstage at a reading. Here's Patti Smith, Jackie Onassis, Timothy Leary. Fluxus mastermind and fellow Lithuanian George Maciunas. in 1966 Mekas shot the earliest footage of Nico and the Velvet Underground, playing at a psychiatrists' conference, with I'll Be Your Mirror muffled and booming on the soundtrack. The song feels apt. The list goes on. Mekas's films are full of the living and the dead, cultural highpoints and period moments, intimacies and the everyday. A kind of diary, his films trace his life. The amateurishness of Mekas's films is a deception. They are an attempt to capture the real. Their artlessness is artful. These are the films of a man who was displaced from his native Lithuania and spent several years in German labour camps during the second world war, and who found his way to New York in 1949, where he bought his first camera within months of arrival. New York, he insists, saved his sanity, and it is where he found himself at the centre of the last real avant garde. New York itself has been a constant subject: the twin towers, snow falling between the downtown buildings, winter after winter, fleeting spring in Central Park. There are apartments, parties, social gatherings, endless cats, lives adrift from their moorings but captured on film. Mekas at home in his loft, dancing and fooling around, cutting and editing and patrolling the rows and stacks of film cans. He improvises a love letter to New York direct to camera, as he drinks wine on a hot night. He remembers, he plays his accordion, he seems a happy man. But often, here and there in his films, printed cards fill the screen, little typed statements that talk of someone's suicide, sudden moments of emptiness, morbid days and gloom. There are memories Mekas would prefer to forget. Mekas wants to show us that his life is not much different to anyone else's. Except of course it is. He also objects when people say his films are his memories. "Who cares about memories! Every second of what you see is real, right there in front of your eyes," he says, in Outtakes from the Life of a Happy Man. Memory, however, provided the subject of the poems that made him famous in Lithuania long before he was recognised as a film-maker, let alone had a visual arts centre in Vilnius named after him. His 1947 poems Idylls of Semeniskaiai became popular in Lithuania during the Soviet years, while the subsequent poems, Reminiscences, were banned. The first, written in a displaced persons camp in Kassel, spoke of his homeland. The second, written in New York in 1950, were poems of exile. A new film, Reminiscences from Germany, uses photographs taken by Mekas and his brother Adolfas during their years in forced labour camps, camps for displaced persons and in their post-war wanderings and studying in Germany. It also includes footage shot on visits to Germany in 1971 and 1993. He is always going back to old footage, splicing and cutting and editing. Mekas speaks of a loaf of bread he ate in Mainz in 1947, and the pleasures of reading, carrying suitcases full of books but no other belongings. He sings in a tree with spring-green leaves under a blue sky. Piano music drifts through an open window. He takes a walk down a street in modern Kassel. The last time he took this same walk it was through piles of rubble. Mekas's poems are of nature, a rural childhood, war and displacement and loss. Whatever he says, his films are filled with memories, life passing, the things you grab hold of even as you're losing them. Watching, they become real presences. Later, they become your memories too.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | King Edward VII hospital contradicts claim that Australian 2Day FM tried to get in touch with managers The grieving family of Jacintha Saldanha arrived at Westminster on Monday seeking answers concerning her death as recriminations spread over the Australian radio station's royal prank call that preceded her suspected suicide. Saldanha's husband, Benedict Barboza, and their teenage son and daughter met Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, at the House of Commons, after the DJs responsible for the hoax call to the private hospital that was treating the Duchess of Cambridge for acute morning sickness said they were "gutted, shattered and heartbroken" by the nurse's death. Mel Greig and Michael Christian of radio station 2Day FM, spoke out for the first time since the death of the 46-year-old nurse at King Edward VII hospital, where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated last week. In the early hours of the morning and close to the end of her shift, Saldanha transferred a call by the DJs, who were impersonating the Queen, to another nurse who revealed details of the Duchess's condition. Saldanha was found dead on Friday in nurses' quarters, two days after the call was repeatedly broadcast around the world. Speaking at a lunch on Monday the prime minister, David Cameron, described the situation as "an absolute tragedy" and said "everyone will want to reflect on how that was allowed to happen". Vaz's office said Saldanha's family were holding a meeting with executives at the private hospital on Monday."They just want to establish the facts," said an aide to the MP. John Lofthouse, chief executive of the hospital said: "Throughout the past few days we have remained in touch with the family and continue to offer support, including specialist counselling should they wish it." He added that a senior member of staff is comforting the family and offering assistance and will continue to do so for as long as needed." Earlier on Monday Vaz accused the private hospital, which has a history of treating members of the royal family, of not doing enough to help the nurse's grieving family. "I'm surprised that nobody has made the journey to Bristol to sit with them and offer them the counselling that I think they need," he said before Monday's meeting. He urged the hospital to hold an inquiry and provide more support to the relatives. There was also a row over the Australian radio station's claims that it had tried to discuss the hoax with the hospital prior to its broadcast. The hospital issued a statement denying any such contact. The day began with the broadcast of tearful interviews with Greig and Christian, who have been bombarded with abusive and threatening messages on social media websites and were said to be receiving "intensive psychological counselling". "There's not a minute that goes by that I don't think about what that family is going through and the thought that we may have contributed to it is gut-wrenching," said a distraught Greig in an interview with Australia's A Current Affair TV programme. "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family," said Christian, who had to break off several times to choke back tears. "We just hope that her family and friends are being as good as they can be and are giving [them] the love and support they need. We are shattered." Commentators in the Australian media have voiced concern that the young DJs could themselves fall victim to "the blame game". The pair told Australian TV news programmes they never expected the call to be passed through and intended it to be just a 20-second stunt where they were rumbled and told to go away. "At every single point it was innocent on our behalf," said Christian. "It was something that was funny and lighthearted and [took] a tragic turn of events that I don't think could have predicted." A postmortem is due to be carried out on Saldanha's body in Westminster on Tuesday and detectives from Scotland Yard were reported to have contacted police in Sydney with a view to interviewing the DJs ahead of a forthcoming inquest that has been opened and adjourned. As attention turned to the radio station's decision to broadcast the pre-recorded prank, the DJs insisted they had not been involved in the editorial vetting process, with Christian saying: "There are people that make those decisions for us." Experts have said the call may have breached the commercial radio code of practice in Australia as well as the privacy code of the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The broadcaster claimed that it had repeatedly tried to call the hospital about the hoax before broadcasting, but this was denied by hospital figures. Rhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo, which owns 2Day FM, said the station had attempted to contact King Edward VII hospital "no less than five times" before broadcasting. But a spokeswoman for the hospital said on Monday: "Following the hoax call, the radio station did not speak to anyone in the hospital's senior management or anyone at the company that handles our media inquiries." Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, said it was considering its response to a letter from Lord Glenarthur, chairman of the hospital, in which he called for the "truly appalling" broadcast to "never be repeated". The family's parish priest, Tom Finnegan, said Saldanha's children were devastated, while Vaz, who visited the family in Southmead in Bristol on Sunday, said they were in "terrible distress". The hospital responded earlier to Vaz's criticism saying that it had "at all times offered to provide whatever assistance and support it can to Mrs Saldanha's family". It said Lofthouse offered support twice by telephone and once in writing. It has also established a memorial fund and will be holding a memorial service later this week. . "Jacintha Saldanha sadly died last week in tragic circumstances," said Lord Glenarthur. "She was an outstanding nurse whose loss has shocked and saddened everyone at the hospital. Following discussions with her family, we have now established the Jacintha Saldanha Memorial Fund in her memory." The hospital also faced questions about how the DJs' call could have been passed through when hospitals sometimes operate a protocol using passwords for patients of interest to the media to ensure confidential medical details are not leaked. It is understood the protocol for a call in the middle of the night would have been to take a message and tell the patient in the morning. However, it appears Saldanha did believe it was the Queen calling and the hospital was sympathetic to the fact she was the victim of a hoax and so did not raise with her afterwards the question of why she diverged from that norm.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | King Edward VII hospital contradicts claim that Australian 2Day FM tried to get in touch with managers The London hospital where Jacintha Saldanha worked as a nurse before apparently taking her own life has contradicted claims by an Australian radio station that it tried to contact hospital managers before broadcasting a prank call. Rhys Holleran, chief executive of Southern Cross Austereo – which owns 2Day FM, the station that broadcast last week's hoax in which Mel Greig and Michael Christian impersonated the Queen to acquire details of the Duchess of Cambridge's acute morning sickness – said the station attempted to contact King Edward VII hospital "no less than five times" before broadcasting. "It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," Holleran told Fairfax Media. "We rang them to discuss what we had recorded," he said, adding that this was done before the recorded prank went to air. "Absolutely. We attempted to contact them on no less than five occasions. We wanted to speak to them about it." But a spokeswoman for the hospital said on Monday: "Following the hoax call, the radio station did not speak to anyone in the hospital's senior management or anyone at the company that handles our media inquiries." The dispute over prior notification comes after the media company's chairman, Max Moore-Wilton, said it was considering its response to a letter from Lord Glenarthur, chairman of the hospital, in which he called for the "truly appalling" broadcast to "never be repeated". A postmortem examination of Saldanha's body is due to be held this week and an inquest opened and adjourned at Westminster coroner's court, Scotland Yard said. The death is not being treated as suspicious. Greig and Christian are said to be receiving "intensive psychological counselling" to deal with the tragedy. Scotland Yard is understood to have asked police in Sydney for assistance, with a view to interviewing the two DJs before the inquest. The pair, who are on indefinite leave from the radio station and have been bombarded with abusive and threatening messages on social media websites, spoke out for the first time since they went into hiding on Saturday. "[It was] the worst phone call I've ever had in my life," Greig told the Nine network's A Current Affair programme. "There's not a minute that goes by that I don't think about what that family is going through and the thought that we may have contributed to it is gut-wrenching." Asked if she had a message for Saldanha's family, Greig said she had thought about it "a million times in my head and have wanted to reach out to them and just give them a big hug. I hope they're OK, I really do." "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family," said Christian. "We just hope that her family and friends are being as good as they can be and are giving [them] the love and support they need. We are shattered." Asked by Channel 9 whose idea the prank call was, the DJs said it had come up at a team meeting before the show, but did not say who suggested it. "We had the idea for a simple harmless call. A call that would go for 30 seconds that we thought we would be hung up on," said Christian. Neither expected their call to be put through to the Duchess of Cambridge's room. Cristian and Greig said they thought the joke was on them and their poor accents rather than on the nurses. "Every other media outlet wanted to touch on it. Our angle was having those silly accents," said Grieg. They reiterated that no one could have expected or foreseen what happened after the call. "At every single point it was innocent on our behalf. It was something that was funny and lighthearted and a tragic turn of events that I don't think could have predicted," said Christian. Both DJs said they had not participated in the vetting of the interview. They said it was standard practice for them to record an item and then hand it over to be assessed by others. Both said they did not know what the vetting process included. The segment was subject to an internal review, including with 2Day FM's lawyers, before it went to air. The host of the Nine programme, Tracey Grimshaw, told Fairfax Media the prerecorded interview was "very intense" with a lot of people in the room including radio station staff and supporters. She said she felt sympathy for the DJs. "They're at a certain point on the food chain," she said. "There are other people who made the decision to put it to air. It wasn't live to air. There was a decision made after that prank call was recorded to put it to air, and virtually all the focus has been on them," Grimshaw said. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which regulates radio broadcasting, confirmed it had received complaints from all around the world, and said it was considering whether it should launch an investigation into whether the presenters breached the Commercial Radio Code of Practice. Sources told the Press Association an investigation was "likely" to be opened into the broadcast. The nurse's devastated family were being comforted by relatives and friends at their terraced home in Southmead, Bristol. A friend at the address said Saldanha's partner, Benedict Barboza, 49, and their son and daughter, aged 14 and 16, were "very, very shocked and unhappy at the tragedy". In a statement, Saldanha's family said they were "deeply saddened" by the death and asked for privacy. They said: "We as a family are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Jacintha. We would ask that the media respect our privacy at this difficult time."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Follow live updates as the decision by the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, to rescind most of the controversial decree fails to head off opposition
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Three EU presidents collect prize for helping to transform Europe from 'continent of war' into 'continent of peace' The European Union's three presidents have collected the Nobel peace prize in Oslo in recognition of six decades of work promoting "peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights". David Cameron was one of six EU leaders who decided not to attend. But his deputy, Nick Clegg, was there to represent the UK at the Nobel Institute. Attendees heard the Nobel committee president, Thorbjoern Jagland, praise the EU's role in transforming a European "continent of war" into a "continent of peace". "That should not be taken for granted – we have to struggle for it every day," he said. Jagland told how the same prize had been awarded in the 1920s to the foreign ministers of France and Germany, marking post-first world war reconciliation. Then in the 1930s the continent had reverted to conflict and war. But, he said, now was the time to celebrate prolonged peace – and welcome the French and German leaders sitting side by side in Oslo. The announcement of the peace award in October caused surprise and controversy in the midst of one of the EU's worst crises, and at a time of deep, albeit non-violent rifts between major member states. The ceremony comes in the week of yet another EU summit to try to resolve the continuing eurozone crisis, which, according to the UK Independence party leader, Nigel Farage, risks "engendering violence, poverty and despair across Europe". But the European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said: "This is an award for the European project – for the people and the institutions – that day after day, for the last 60 years, have built a new Europe. "We will honour this prize and we will preserve what has been achieved. It is in the common interest of our citizens. And it will allow Europe to contribute in shaping that 'better organised world' in line with the values of freedom, democracy, human rights and rule of law that we cherish and believe in. "The last 60 years have shown that Europe can unite in peace. Over the next 60 years, Europe must lead the global quest for peace." Receiving the award alongside him were the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the president of the European parliament, Martin Schulz.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Strong yen and diplomatic row with major trade partner China have harmed Japan's economy Japan – the world's third largest economy – has fallen into recession, hit by sluggish exports to China. Revised official data on Monday morning showed that the Japanese economy shrank very slightly in the second quarter of 2012, by 0.03%, before contracting by 0.9% between July and September. Analysts expect the country to stay in recession in the final quarter of the year, ratcheting up the pressure on the government to take steps to boost the economy in the runup to the general election on 16 December. Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo, said: "There have been some positive indicators out in October but there is still a good chance that Japan's economy will suffer another contraction in the October-December quarter." The eurozone crisis, a strong yen that has weakened exports and a diplomatic row with major trade partner China have harmed Japan's economy, dampening hopes of a strong recovery after the 2011 tsunami. Last month, Tokyo approved $10.7bn (£6.67bn) of spending to boost the economy, more than double a package announced in October. But polls suggest it will not be enough for the prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, and his Democratic party to avoid defeat at the elections on 16 December. Japan's main opposition party has promised to spend heavily on public works and push the Bank of Japan to launch measures to boost growth if it wins. Recent polls suggest the party will win a solid majority and return to power for the first time since 2009. The deputy governor of the Bank of Japan said last week that the central bank will debate whether further stimulus is needed to support the economy, the strongest signal yet that it may loosen policy again at its next rate review on 19-20 December in the face of growing political pressure.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Opposition says it will contest results after electoral commission announces incumbent has been re-elected president The incumbent John Dramani Mahama has been declared the winner of Ghana's presidential election, despite widespread technical glitches with the machines used to identify voters and protests by the country's opposition, which claims the vote was rigged. Armoured tanks surrounded Ghana's electoral commission and police barricaded the roads around its offices as its chairman, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, announced that Mahama had polled 5.5m votes, or 50.7%. The opposition leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, who lost the 2008 election by less than 1%, came second with 5.2m votes, or 47.7%, Afari-Gyan said. Voter turnout was high, with around 80% of the roughly 14 million registered voters casting ballots in Friday's presidential and parliamentary elections. In a draft statement seen by reporters, the opposition said it would contest the results. "This situation, if allowed to go unchallenged and uncorrected, would seriously damage the essence of the electoral process and the substance of democracy in Ghana," the New Patriotic party said in the draft statement, which was emailed to reporters. "To accept this result is to discredit democracy in Ghana and, in the process, distort the process of democratisation in Africa. Therefore, the New Patriotic party cannot accept the results of the presidential election as declared by the EC [election commission] this evening," the statement said. Ghana has one of the longest traditions of democracy in this troubled corner of Africa, but Friday's election was fraught, after biometric machines used to identify voters through their fingerprints failed to work in scores of polling stations, forcing officials to extend voting into a second day. Akufo-Addo's party has accused the ruling party of using the disorder caused by the technical failure to rig the election. International observers called Friday's election the sixth transparent vote in Ghana's history. No other country in the region has had as many free and fair votes. However, analysts point out that Ghana's history and its record of democratic progress is not that different from that of nearby Mali, a nation also considered a model democracy until a coup this spring. The outcome of the election will hinge on whether the 68-year-old Akufo-Addo will accept the results. Neighbouring Ivory Coast was dragged to the brink of civil war last year after that race's loser refused to accept defeat. "We won. They are sore losers. They wanted [the electoral commission] to postpone the announcement of the results and [the chairman] said there is no reason to postpone. There was no foundation for their allegations," said Mahama's presidential adviser, Tony Aidoo. He added that the opposition's allegation of vote rigging "was a plan to create mayhem, and mayhem will come … They had such high expectations of coming back to power." International observers endorsed the elections, calling the vote credible despite the delays caused by the failure of the voter identification machines. "There were hiccups but not such that would grossly undermine the result of the election," said the former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who led the delegation from Ecowas, the bloc representing nations in west Africa. Mahama, a former vice-president, was catapulted into office in July after the unexpected death of the then president, John Atta Mills, an ascension that was itself praised as a democratic example because the constitutional order of succession was swiftly applied by the government and unanimously accepted by the population. Before becoming vice-president in 2009, the 54-year-old Mahama served as a government minister and a member of parliament. Akufo-Addo is a former foreign minister and the son of one of Ghana's previous presidents. Both candidates tried to make the case that they would use the nation's oil riches to help the poor. Besides being one of the few established democracies in the region, Ghana also has the fastest-growing economy. Oil was discovered in 2007 and the country began producing it in December 2010. But a deep divide still exists between those benefiting from the country's oil, cocoa and mineral wealth and those left behind financially.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Italian prime minister's promise to step aside brings fresh political uncertainty to the eurozone
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Australian DJs who made prank call to Duchess of Cambridge hospital speak out for first time since death of Jacintha Saldana The two DJs at the centre of the prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was staying have spoken for the first time since the tragic death of nurse Jacintha Saldana. Teary and upset, Mel Greig and Michael Christian told of their distress upon hearing about Saldanha's death. "(It was) the worst phone call I've ever had in my life," Greig told the Nine network's A Current Affair programme. "I've thought about this a million times in my head and have wanted to reach out to them (the family of Saldanha) and just give them a big hug. I hope they're OK, I really do," said Greig. "I just hope that they get the love, the support and care that they need," said Christian. The two DJs spoke to the media for the first time since they went into hiding on Saturday. They gave interviews to Channel Nine and Channel Seven's main evening current affairs programmes, to be aired on Monday evening. Christian told Channel Nine's Today Tonight he was "shattered, gutted, heartbroken". Greig said: "It doesn't seem real because you just couldn't foresee something like that happening from a prank call. You know it was never meant to go that far. It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before. This wasn't meant to happen." The DJs pulled out of a third interview they were scheduled to do for The Project, on the Ten network, because they were unwell, according to a spokesman for the TV channel. The host of the Nine programme, Tracey Grimshaw, earlier tweeted that the interview had not been paid for. It was "neither asked nor offered", she said. Grimshaw told Fairfax Media the prerecorded interview was "very intense" with a lot of people in the room including radio station staff and supporters. She said she felt sympathy for the DJs. "They're at a certain point on the food chain. There are other people who made the decision to put it to air. It wasn't live to air. There was a decision made after that prank call was recorded to put it to air, and virtually all the focus has been on them," Grimshaw said. "We talked about the process of the prank call, how it came about, what happens after you record something like that, where are the checks and balances, what is the network's policy on prank calls, where do you draw the line," she addedd. "We talked about their future and we talked about whether prank calls should be banned." Southern Cross Austero Media said it had suspended advertising on 2Day FM until further notice, ended Greig and Christian's Hot 30 show and suspended prank calls across the company. The statement said attempts had been made to contact the hospital before the hoax was broadcast, adding that it believed no laws had been broken. "Several attempts were made by the production team to discuss the segment with the hospital, but with no success. The segment was referred to an internal review process which included internal legal review and authorisation was granted to broadcast," the statement said. "The company does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code. The company will fully co-operate with any investigations." Rhys Holleran, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo, said the station attempted to contact King Edward VII hospital "no less than five times" before broadcasting the pre-recorded material. "It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," Holleran said. "We rang them to discuss what we had recorded," he said, adding that this was done before the recorded prank went to air. "Absolutely. We attempted to contact them on no less than five occasions. We wanted to speak to them about it," he said. Holleran reiterated that he was "deeply saddened" by the tragic events that have unfolded since the call but again said no one could have reasonably foreseen the circumstances. He said the station was happy to co-operate with any investigation into the incident. The industry-drawn-up Commercial Radio Codes of Practice and Guidelines state that a station must not broadcast the words of an identifiable person unless they have been informed in advance that the recording may go to air. If someone is unaware they are being recorded, the interviewee must grant consent for it to be played, prior to anything being broadcast. Shares in Southern Cross Austereo fell 7.7% in early trading on the Australian stock market before recovering slightly. • For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Australian DJs who made prank call to Duchess of Cambridge's hospital speak out for first time since death of Jacintha Saldana The two DJs at the centre of a prank call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was staying have spoken for the first time since the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who killed herself. Mel Greig and Michael Christian told of their distress upon hearing about Saldanha's death. "[It was] the worst phone call I've ever had in my life," Greig told the Nine network's A Current Affair programme. "There's not a minute that goes by that I don't think about what that family [of nurse Jacintha Saldana] is going through and the thought that we may have contributed to it is gut-wrenching," she said. Asked if she had a message for Saldanha's family, Greig said she'd thought about it "a million times in my head and have wanted to reach out to them and just give them a big hug. I hope they're OK, I really do." "Our deepest sympathies go out to the family," said Michael Christian. "We just hope that her family and friends are being as good as they can be and are giving (them) the love and support they need. We are shattered." The two DJs were speaking for the first time since they went into hiding on Saturday when news broke of the the death. They gave interviews to both Channel Nine and Channel Seven's main evening current affairs programmes. Asked by Channel 9 whose idea the prank call was, the DJs said it had come up at a team meeting before the show, but did not say who suggested it. "We had the idea for a simple harmless call. A call that would go for 30 seconds that we thought we would be hung up on," said Christian. Neither expected their call to be put through to the the Duchess of Cambridge's room. Christian and Greig said they thought the joke was on them and their poor accents rather than on the nurses. "Every other media outlet wanted to touch on it. Our angle was having those silly accents," said Grieg. They reiterated that no one could have expected or foreseen what happened after the call. "At every single point it was innocent on our behalf. It was something that was funny and lighthearted and a tragic turn of events that I don't think could have predicted," said Christian. Both DJs said they had not participated in the vetting of the interview. They said it was standard practice for them to record an item then hand it over to be assessed by others. Both said they did not know what the vetting process included. The segment was subject to an internal review, including with 2Day FM's lawyers, before it went to air. The DJs pulled out of a third interview they were scheduled to do for The Project, on the Ten network, because they were unwell, according to a spokesman for the TV channel. The host of the Nine programme, Tracey Grimshaw, earlier tweeted that the interview had not been paid for. It was "neither asked nor offered", she said. Grimshaw told Fairfax Media the prerecorded interview was "very intense" with a lot of people in the room including radio station staff and supporters. She said she felt sympathy for the DJs. "They're at a certain point on the food chain. There are other people who made the decision to put it to air. It wasn't live to air. There was a decision made after that prank call was recorded to put it to air, and virtually all the focus has been on them," Grimshaw said. Rhys Holleran, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo, which owns 2Day FM, said the station attempted to contact King Edward VII hospital "no less than five times" before broadcasting the pre-recorded material. "It is absolutely true to say that we actually did attempt to contact those people on multiple occasions," Holleran told Fairfax Media. "We rang them to discuss what we had recorded," he said, adding that this was done before the recorded prank went to air. "Absolutely. We attempted to contact them on no less than five occasions. We wanted to speak to them about it." Holleran reiterated that he was "deeply saddened" by the tragic events that had unfolded since the call but again said no one could have reasonably foreseen the circumstances. He said the station was happy to co-operate with any investigation into the incident. In a statement, the radio station's owner, Southern Cross Austero Media, said it had suspended advertising on 2Day FM until further notice, ended Greig and Christian's Hot 30 show and suspended prank calls across the company. "The company does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code. The company will fully co-operate with any investigations," the statement said. The industry-drawn-up Commercial Radio Codes of Practice and Guidelines state that a station must not broadcast the words of an identifiable person unless they have been informed in advance that the recording may go to air. If someone is unaware they are being recorded, the interviewee must grant consent for it to be played, prior to anything being broadcast. This is not the first time the radio station 2Day FM has been in trouble. It has had two license conditions imposed on it in the past three years by the statutory regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The first followed an on air incident in 2009 in which a 14 year old girl was strapped to a lie detector, and was questioned by her mother about whether she was sexually active. The mother volunteered to quiz her daughter despite apparently already knowing she had been sexually assaulted. When she said that she had been raped aged 12, 2Day FM's shock jock, Kyle Sandilands, who presented the show with DJ Jackie O'Neil, then asked: "Right, and is that the only sexual experience you've had?" The interview ended after O'Neil stepped in and she and Sandilands apologised. ACMA found that the station had breached standards of decency and ordered the it to implement staff training programmes. In 2012 another licence condition was imposed after Sandilands insulted a female journalist for reporting the low ratings of a TV show that he and O'Neil had presented. "Some fat slag on (the media website) news.com.au has already branded it a disaster," he said. "You can tell by reading the article that she just hates us and has always hated us. What a fat, bitter thing you are. You're deputy editor of an online thing. You've got a nothing job anyway. You're a piece of shit." ACMA made the Code's decency requirement (which says "program content must not offend generally accepted standards of decency") a condition of the 2Day FM's license for a period of 5 years Shares in Southern Cross Austereo fell 7.7% in early trading on the Australian stock market before recovering slightly. • For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90
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