| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President addresses mourners at an interfaith vigil saying the nation has not done enough to protect its children from attacks To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us, "Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. For light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands. We gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America. Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief, that our world, too, has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We've pulled our children tight. And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown, you are not alone. As these difficult days have unfolded, you've also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school's staff did not flinch. They did not hesitate. Dawn Hocksprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Russeau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy, they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care. We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying, "Wait for the good guys, they are coming. Show me your smile." And we know that good guys came, the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm's way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma, because they had a job to do and others needed them more. And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do, one child even trying to encourage a grownup by saying, "I know karate, so it's OK; I'll lead the way out." As a community, you've inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you've looked out for each other. You've cared for one another. And you've loved one another. This is how Newtown will be remembered, and with time and God's grace, that love will see you through. But we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. You know, someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around. With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there's nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child's very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won't -- that we can't always be there for them. They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can't do this by ourselves. It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realise no matter how much you love these kids, you can't do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation. And in that way we come to realise that we bear responsibility for every child, because we're counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we're all parents, that they are all our children. This is our first task, caring for our children. It's our first job. If we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. That's how, as a society, we will be judged. And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we're meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? Can we claim, as a nation, that we're all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we're truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose? I've been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we're honest with ourselves, the answer's no. We're not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we've hugged survivors, the fourth time we've consoled the families of victims. And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose - much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. We can't tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this. If there's even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that's visited Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try. In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom? You know, all the world's religions, so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question. Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose? We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it's wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that, no matter how good our intentions, we'll all stumble sometimes in some way. We'll make mistakes, we'll experience hardships and even when we're trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God's heavenly plans. There's only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child's embrace, that is true. The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger, we know that's what matters. We know we're always doing right when we're taking care of them, when we're teaching them well, when we're showing acts of kindness. We don't go wrong when we do that. That's what we can be sure of, and that's what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That's how you've inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that's what should drive us forward in everything we do for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth. "Let the little children come to me," Jesus said, "and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeline, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle, Allison, God has called them all home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. May God bless and keep those we've lost in His heavenly place. May He grace those we still have with His holy comfort, and may He bless and watch over this community and the United States of America.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President issues strongest call for change in gun policy of any political leader in a generation saying carnage must end Barack Obama delivered the most impassioned speech of his presidency on Sunday night, addressing the grieving families of Newtown, Connecticut with words of comfort while delivering a clarion call to the nation that enough was enough and that the "carnage" of mass shootings must end. White House observers had expected the president to give an emotional address that would skirt around difficult issues relating to the country's bloody marriage to firearms. But in the end in a speech that did not include a single reference to the word "gun", he issued the strongest cry for change in gun policy of any political leader in a generation. Addressing an audience of about 900 local people, including about 15 families of victims, at Newtown high school he talked about the disaster at Sandy Hook elementary school, in which "20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults" had died. He said since the terrible events he had been reflecting on a simple question: was America meeting "our first task, our first job: caring for our children. If we don't get that right we don't get anything right." He answered his own question with a blunt answer that will prick up the ears of Congress and set alarm bells ringing at the offices of the National Rifle Association, arguably the country's most powerful lobbying group that, though it received no mention either, was palpably the elephant in the room. "The answer," Obama said, "is no." Looking sombre and at times worn, Obama talked about the burden he has had to carry, as all modern US presidents do, of comforting the survivors of mass shootings and consoling the families of victims. This was no fewer than Obama's fourth such agonising trip to a town held in the grip of unfathomable mourning, an average of one for every year of his first term. He travelled to Fort Hood, Texas soon after the 5 November 2009 tragedy in which 13 service members died at the hands of a fellow military member; he was in Tucson, Arizona days after the 8 January 2011 that left the Congress member Gabby Giffords shot in the head and six dead; and he was in Aurora, Colorado to mark the 20 July rampage in a cinema in which 12 people were killed. Now, less than five months later, he was back in this dark place once again. And he had a clear message this time, unlike any of his previous responses: "We can't tolerate this any more. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change." Without straying into specifics, he laid down the parameters of the change that he said America now has to make. He promised to engage law enforcement, parents, educators and others in a dialogue on how to prevent further mass shootings. "What choice do we have? We cannot accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say we are powerless in the face of such carnage? That the violence visited on our children year after year is the price of our freedom?" Obama's oratory was not the only poignant point in an exceptional evening. There was the haunting singing by Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel of El Maleh Rachamim, the Hebrew prayer for the soul of the departed traditionally chanted at a funeral. There was the reading of Psalm 23 by the Episcopal pastor Kathleen Adams-Shephard: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." And there was the address by the First Selectwoman of Newtown Patricia Llodra, who described the community as one that "loves children above all." "It is a defining moment for our town," she said, "but it does not define us. We are defined by acts of courage, by acts of love and our continuing commitment for our children." But despite all those moments, the most powerful words were Obama's, words that if he has the strength in his second term to follow through on them could spell deep changes ahead for America. "I'll use whatever power I have to prevent the type of tragedy that occurred in Newtown," he said. And then, to a hushed congregation, he dealt his most powerful card. He read out the names of the 20 children who lost their lives on Friday, slowly, deliberately, stopping occasionally to contain his own emotions. "God has called them all home," he said. "To those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Obama to speak at a vigil in Newtown tonight, as calls for gun control are revived in the aftermath of shooting
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | New York mayor leads way demanding stricter gun laws as police say they found 'hundreds' of bullets at school crime scene Barack Obama is under intensifying pressure to take the lead in a campaign for greater gun control following the disclosure by police that the Newtown gunman used a semi-automatic assault rifle equipped with "numerous" high-capacity magazines holding hundreds of bullets to carry out his massacre of young children. Connecticut state police confirmed the identity of the killer on Sunday as Adam Lanza, 20, and revealed that he carried out his dreadful killing spree of 20 six- and seven-year-olds and six adults in Sandy Hook elementary school using a Bushmaster semi-automatic assault rifle. Lanza also carried several high-capacity magazines each holding 30 rounds, with police confirming they found hundreds of bullets at the scene. Lanza also carried several high-capacity magazines for the Glock and Sig Sauer handguns that he brought with him to the school, said lieutenant Paul Vance of the Connecticut state police. He used one the handguns to kill himself, said Vance, who also confirmed that he had killed his mother Nancy before going to the school. The emerging details explain how Lanza managed to kill so many people in a relatively short period, believed to be under 10 minutes, before police arrived. The fact that he was armed with an assault weapon – understood to belong to his mother – and large-capacity magazines adds to the building pressure for action on gun control from Obama, who is due to attend a vigil in Newtown on Sunday night. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and leading US senators pressed the president on Sunday to tell Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons which are common to almost all recent mass shootings in the US, including Friday's tragedy in Connecticut. Bloomberg, while welcoming Obama's tearful reaction to the deaths, called on him to make the issue a priority. The president has faced accusations of political cowardice over his failure to tackle gun control following other massacres. "It's time for the president to stand up and lead and tell the country what we should do. Not go to Congress and say: what do you guys want to do? This should be his number one agenda. He's the president of the United States and if he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns. That's is roughly the number of Americans killed during the whole Vietnam war," said Bloomberg, on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. The mayor called for a renewal of the assault weapons ban that president Bill Clinton pushed through Congress in 1994, which also included restrictions on the size of bullet magazines. The Bush administration allowed it to lapse a decade later. Police say that the Newtown killer, Adam Lanza, used a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns. "I don't think the founding fathers had the idea that every man, woman and child could carry an assault weapon," said Bloomberg. "I think the president through his leadership could get a bill like that through Congress, but at least he's got to try." The issue of high-capacity magazines is also now likely to form a large part of the strengthening debate around gun controls. As with semi-automatic rifles, the magazines have been a feature of virtually all the most horrendous gun rampages in recent times, including the Aurora cinema shooting in July in which the suspect James Holmes carried an extended 100-round magazine drum capable of firing 60 times a minute; the drum jammed, otherwise the death toll of 12 might have been much higher. Six states – California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and New York – as well as Washington DC have restrictions in place on high-capacity magazines. Democrats in the US Senate are considering debating a federal ban on any magazines with more than 10 rounds, possibly as early as next week. Senator Dianne Feinstein, an influential Democrat, also said she intended to introduce legislation to reinstate the assault weapons ban on the first day the new Congress sits, in January. "It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession, not retroactively, but prospectively," she said "The purpose of this bill is to get … weapons of war off the streets." The White House on Sunday said the president supported the reinstatement of a federal ban on assault weapons – a commitment he made during his 2008 election campaign but has not pushed since. Gun control advocates also say Obama has shied away from using the powers he has to restrict the import of semi-automatic weapons and magazines that hold large numbers of bullets. Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal, a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general for 20 years, backed Feinstein. "I'm hearing from the community, as well as my colleagues in law enforcement, we need to do something," he said. "And I'm hearing from my colleagues in the Senate around the country, some in states like Wisconsin and Colorado, where there have been similar horrific, horrible tragedies, maybe not involving children with this kind of incomprehensible kind of circumstance, but we need to do something, at the very least, perhaps, about the high-capacity magazines that were used in this crime. I intend to talk about it on the floor of the United States Senate perhaps as early as this week." The debate has also widened to include questions about treatment of the mentally ill, another factor common to most recent mass killings in America. Joe Lieberman, another Connecticut senator, called for a national commission to examine America's gun laws and mental health system as well as the role violent video games and movies have in mass shootings. "We've got to hear the screams of these kids and see their blood to keep this from happening again," he said. Pro-gun rights politicians have gone to ground. NBC's Meet the Press said it had invited the 31 senators, Republican and Democrat, who openly oppose stricter gun control laws to appear on the programme with Bloomberg and Feinstein. None accepted. The National Rifle Association, the largest and most influential of the gun rights lobby groups, has been similarly silent since the massacre. But others in the movement are pushing back.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Muslim Brotherhood's political wing says 56% voted for draft constitution but opposition warns of violations in first round poll Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has claimed victory in the first round of the country's bitterly divisive constitutional referendum, with opposition forces complaining of large-scale rigging and violations. Unofficial results from Saturday's first round showed 56% approval to 43% rejection on a low turnout of 33%, with a clear no win in Cairo, one of the 10 governorates where polling took place. The referendum is to be held in the country's remaining 17 governorates next Saturday - where prospects for a no win are poorer. The figures were reported by the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Brotherhood, whose results have proved accurate in previous elections. If, as expected, the trend is confirmed, the referendum will bolster the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, who was elected president on a 51% mandate last June. But no end is in sight to the country's grave political crisis. Sit-in protests against the constitution were continuing on Sunday night in Cairo's central Tahrir Square and at the presidential palace in Heliopolis, where nine people were killed last week. Gehad El-Haddad, a senior Brotherhood and FJP adviser, said: "We thank Allah and the people of Egypt for such honourable practice of democratic participation and although approval [is] lower than expected, [we are] glad it's yes." The opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) claimed a 66% no to the controversial draft basic law. It said it had detected "unprecedented rigging," including 750 violations. These included unstamped ballot papers, the names of deceased people on lists and the absence of observers at polling stations. The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights reported the use of religious slogans and financial inducements for voting yes. Mohamed ElBaradei, the co-ordinator of the NSF, warned Morsi in Twitter messages: "In light of Egypt's evident, and dangerous, division, will you realize the necessity of being a president for all Egyptians? Country split, flagrant irregularities, low turnout, disillusion with Islamists on the rise. Illiteracy remains a hurdle." Many Egyptians, alarmed by a growing budget deficit and the weakness of the pound against the US dollar, agree that stability will remain elusive through next month's second anniversary of the outbreak of the revolution which overthrew Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years. "Even with all this rigging and intimidation the Brotherhood could only get 56%," Hisham Kassem, a political commentator, told the Guardian. "So next week will be much worse. Egypt is heading for disaster." The referendum was largely peaceful, but violence erupted on Saturday night when the Cairo headquarters of the liberal Wafd Party, part of the NSF, came under attack. The Wafd accused the Salafist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail of being involved but he denied responsibility. The hastily-arranged vote follows three weeks of protests and sporadic violence after Morsi adopted sweeping powers bypassing the judiciary and rushed through completion of the constitutional text in the constituent assembly. In a highly polarised atmosphere the Brotherhood camp complains of a "counter-revolution" against a democratically-elected president by a coalition of anti-Islamist activists and so-called felool or remnants of the Mubarak regime. But secular and liberal opponents, including many Muslims, insist that they object to his undemocratic and non-consensual behaviour and an ambiguous constitution flawed by what it says or implies about the role of Islam and clerical scholars, human and labour rights, the position of the still powerful army and other fundamental issues. Independent Egyptian and foreign observers argue that a divided and disorganised opposition has seized too gleefully on Morsi's miscalculations and vacillation and now risks raising the stakes with an escalation of the crisis. If passed, the constitution will pave the way for new parliamentary elections next year. The last national assembly, dominated by the Brotherhood and Salafis, was dissolved. In a new election, many now expect a decline for the Islamist vote and a better performance by more confident and united opposition candidates. "The Brotherhood will not be able to run the country," predicted Kassem. "They will end up with state failure." The FJP said: "The Egyptian people have expressed their free will in the first stage of the constitutional referendum and have also proved to be highly aware. This is a genuine democratic process."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Newtown school massacre reignites gun control debate as politicians call for a law 'to get weapons of war off the streets' Barack Obama is under intensifying pressure to take the lead in a campaign for greater gun control following the Newtown massacre of young children. The mayor of New York and leading US senators pressed the president on Sunday to tell Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons which are common to almost all recent mass shootings in the US, including Friday's tragedy in Connecticut in which 20 children, aged six and seven, and seven adults were killed. Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor, praised the president for his tearful reaction to the deaths but called on Obama, who has faced accusations of political cowardice over his failure to tackle gun control following other massacres, to make the issue a priority. "It's time for the president to stand up and lead and tell the country what we should do. Not go to Congress and say: what do you guys want to do? This should be his number one agenda. He's the president of the United States and if he does nothing during his second term, something like 48,000 Americans will be killed with illegal guns. That's is roughly the number of Americans killed during the whole Vietnam war," said Bloomberg, on NBC's Meet the Press. The mayor called for a renewal of the assault weapons ban that president Bill Clinton pushed through Congress in 1994, which also included restrictions on the size of bullet magazines. The Bush administration allowed it to lapse a decade later. Police say that the Newtown killer, Adam Lanza, used a semiautomatic rifle and two handguns. "I don't think the founding fathers had the idea that every man, woman and child could carry an assault weapon," said Bloomberg. "I think the president through his leadership could get a bill like that through Congress, but at least he's got to try." Senator Dianne Feinstein, an influential Democrat, said she intended to introduce legislation to reinstate the assault weapons ban on the first day the new Congress sits, in January. "It will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession, not retroactively, but prospectively," she said "The purpose of this bill is to get… weapons of war off the streets." Feinstein added that she is looking to Obama to make a stand. "He is going to have a bill to lead on," she said. The White House on Sunday said the president supported the reinstatement of a federal ban on assault weapons – a commitment he made during his 2008 election campaign but has not pushed since. Gun control advocates also say Obama has shied away from using the powers he has to restrict the import of semiautomatic weapons and magazines that hold large numbers of bullets. Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal, a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general for 20 years, backed Feinstein. "I'm hearing from the community, as well as my colleagues in law enforcement, we need to do something," he said. "And I'm hearing from my colleagues in the Senate around the country, some in states like Wisconsin and Colorado, where there have been similar horrific, horrible tragedies, maybe not involving children with this kind of incomprehensible kind of circumstance, but we need to do something, at the very least, perhaps, about the high-capacity magazines that were used in this crime. I intend to talk about it on the floor of the United States Senate perhaps as early as this week." The debate has also widened to include questions about treatment of the mentally ill, another factor common to most recent mass killings in America. Joe Lieberman, another Connecticut senator, called for a national commission to examine America's gun laws and mental health system as well as the role violent video games and movies have in mass shootings. "We've got to hear the screams of these kids and see their blood to keep this from happening again," he said. Pro-gun rights politicians have gone to ground. NBC's Meet the Press said it had invited the 31 senators, Republican and Democrat, who openly oppose stricter gun control laws to appear on the programme with Bloomberg and Feinstein. None accepted. The National Rifle Association, the largest and most influential of the gun rights lobby groups, has been similarly silent since the massacre. But others in the movement are pushing back. Gun Owners of America blamed legislators who support gun control for the Newtown massacre. "Gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands," said its director Larry Pratt. "Federal and state laws combined to insure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones." Before the Newtown shooting, the momentum was with the gun lobby. Last week, Michigan passed a law permitting gun owners to carry concealed weapons in schools. The calls for tougher legislation are a direct challenge to Obama, whom critics accuse of kowtowing to the gun lobby. Since coming to power he has signed laws allowing people to carry guns in national parks and failed to use his existing powers to block the import of semiautomatic weapons and clips that hold large numbers of bullets. The president was also silent when the supreme court struck down state and local restrictions on gun ownership, and when some southern states passed laws permitting guns in bars and churches. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, named after James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was badly wounded during an assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, gave Obama an "F" grade on gun control. In a report on the president's gun policy after a year in office, entitled Failed Leadership, Lost Lives, the Brady Campaign accused the president of giving in to the "guns anywhere mentality of the gun lobby" and said he had "muzzled Cabinet members who expressed support for stronger gun laws". "His White House staff removed statements from the White House website that declared support for gun violence prevention laws," said the report.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands flee and dozens feared dead after attack on Yarmouk camp as Palestinians in Syria are caught up in civil war A bomb dropped by a Syrian air force jet killed and wounded scores of Palestinians on Sunday in the largest refugee camp in Damascus, sending thousands of residents fleeing for other areas of the capital now besieged by civil war. The exodus has sparked fears that the flood of refugees into neighbouring countries, which is already straining resources in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, will further intensify, with Syria's Palestinian population of 500,000 increasingly caught in the middle of bitter and protracted fighting. Yarmouk camp, where the attack took place, has steadily been drawn into the conflict in Damascus over the past month. Previously, it had been a relative safe haven as security decayed elsewhere in the capital, which has been assaulted since late November by rebel groups attempting to penetrate the regime's inner defences. The attack is believed to be the first strike on Yarmouk by an air force jet, the most potent weapon used so far by the regime in its defence of the capital. A bomb dropped from a jet hit a mosque near the centre of the camp. The death toll is unknown, but videos posted online showed carnage near the mosque and dead and injured people being collected by residents. There were reports that hundreds of families were making plans to flee. A mass movement of Syria's Palestinian population is considered a nightmare scenario by international humanitarian leaders. Senior figures from the United Nations and the European Union are in the region trying to find ways to manage what they fear could be the next phase of a gathering refugee crisis that has already seen more than 500,000 Syrians flee for neighbouring borders. Between 1.2 million to 2 million Syrians are also believed to be internally displaced, many facing desperate shortages of food, water, heating and shelter as winter sets in. "The Palestinians have been on the move for some time now," said the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva. "Their situation is especially sensitive because they do not have too many places to go. "We are looking at finding urgent solutions for them. There is limited capacity in the camps in Lebanon and it is an extremely sensitive issue in Jordanian society to take in extra Palestinians." So far, only about 500 Palestinians from Syria are registered in Jordan. Another 12,000 are believed to have made it to Lebanon, where 12 refugee camps hold a local Palestinian community of about 280,000 people. Palestinians in Syria had enjoyed the protection of the Syrian regime for much of the past 40 years. However, their loyalties have been tested as the civil war has intensified. The large majority of the Palestinian population in Syria is Sunni, as is the opposition movement which is attempting to oust the regime of Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite sect is aligned to Shia Islam. About half of Syria's Palestinian refugees are thought to remain supportive of the regime; the resthave grown hostile to it as the 21 month crisis has intensified. Sunday'sattack is believed to have occurred after sporadic fighting inside the camp over the past fortnight between rebel units and Palestinian factions loyal to Assad, headed by Ahmed Jibril, a veteran local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation Of Palestine. "They are increasingly being asked to take sides," said Georgieva. "This is a very difficult situation for the Palestinian community and we will do everything we can do make sure that they do not become yet another victim of the terrible events in Syria. One option we will look at is trying to establish safe havens inside the country." The recognition by more than 100 states of the new Syrian National Coalition as a legitimate representative of Syrian people has made it easier for global humanitarian bodies to begin operating in Syria, where many communities face chronic shortages of food. Until now, deeply unstable supply lines made it almost impossible to get meaningful supplies into ravaged cities, such as Aleppo in the north and Homs in the west. Aid groups are now trying to establish aid hubs near the Turkish and Jordanian borders and exploring ways to secure routes to battle zones, which will probably require negotiations with rebel groups.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cedar Lake police arrest 60-year-old man alleged to have threatened to 'kill as many people as he could' at school Authorities have said that an Indiana man who had 47 guns and ammunition in his home has been arrested, after allegedly threatening to kill people at an elementary school near his home in Cedar Lake, about 45 miles southeast of Chicago. Cedar Lake police were called to the home of 60-year-old Von I Meyer early Friday, after he allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire. A police statement said Meyer had also said that he would enter Jane Ball Elementary School and "kill as many people as he could". Authorities found 47 guns and ammunition worth more than $100,000. Prosecutors filed felony intimidation charges against Meyer on Saturday, one day after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. He is being held without bond.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former prime minister, who resigned in 2007, appears to have put troubles behind him as his party decisively regains power Japan's voters appear to have short memories. Shinzo Abe, who is assured of becoming prime minister after his party's resounding victory in Sunday's election, last led the country in 2006, but stepped down after a troubled year in office. The official reason given for his abrupt resignation was a chronic bowel ailment, which the leader, 58, says he now controls with a new drug. But his health condition may have been a cover. Abe's first administration was marred by scandals and gaffes. Months before he quit, his Liberal Democratic party [LDP] suffered a heavy defeat in upper house elections. Abe says he has learned the lessons of his inglorious debut as prime minister. His tenure began with encouraging diplomatic overtures to Beijing and Seoul over historical and territorial disputes. It ended with accusations that he had filled his cabinet with close friends who were woefully under-qualified for their posts. Sunday's resounding election victory has given him one last shot at redemption, as only the second Japanese politician to serve twice as prime minister since the war. Behind Abe's soft-spoken manner and aristocratic background lurks a fervent nationalist, which led one liberal commentator to describe him as "the most dangerous politician in Japan". Abe has often said he went into politics to help Japan "escape the postwar regime" and throw off the shackles of wartime guilt. In its place he has talked of creating a "beautiful Japan" defended by a strong military and guided by a new sense of national pride. "I have not changed my view from five years ago when I was prime minister that the biggest issue for Japan is truly escaping the postwar regime," he said in a recent magazine article. Abe's biggest ideological influence was his maternal grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who was arrested, but never charged, for alleged war crimes. He went on to become prime minister in the late 1950s. Decades later, confronted with an aggressive China and nuclear-armed North Korea, Abe is eager to fulfil his grandfather's dream of giving Japan's military the teeth he believes it has been denied by the country's postwar pacifism. His return to office will surely ring alarm bells in Beijing and Seoul. Abe says he will cede ground in territorial disputes with China and South Korea. He is also the founding member of a group of rightwing MPs who support a revisionist version of history that plays down, or overlooks, Japanese militarism's worst excesses in Asia in the first half of the 20th century. Abe's confirmation as prime minister later this month represents his last chance to take care of unfinished business. Japan, and the wider region, is waiting to see if he stays true to his beliefs or, as some expect, gives way to a more pragmatic Abe Mark II.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Obama to speak at a vigil in Newtown tonight, as calls for gun control are revived in the aftermath of shooting
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Massachusetts senator set to replace Hillary Clinton after UN ambassador Susan Rice withdraws from consideration President Barack Obama has decided to nominate senator John Kerry as the next secretary of state, to replace Hillary Clinton, according to two major news outlets. An announcement is possible before Christmas. Kerry, a senior ranking Democrat who ran for the White House in 2004, emerged as favourite after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, withdrew from contention on Thursday. That speculation hardened over the weekend, with both ABC and CNN reporting that Obama had opted for Kerry. His appointment would require Kerry to resign from the senate, with a special election having to be held by the summer. His replacement as Democratic candidate would almost certainly face a strong challenge from the former Republican senator Scott Brown, who lost the other Massachusetts seat to Elizabeth Warren in November. Kerry, who is currently chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, is in the classic diplomatic mould, with decades of experience in foreign policy and a desire to be engaged in the big issues of the day, from Syria to Iran. While Clinton also wanted to be involved in the major issues of the day, she also pursued single, universal issues such as championing women's rights. Conventional thinking in Washington has it that Clinton has never been close to Obama and has tended to be excluded from decision-making on major issues such as Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though she played an important part in shaping policy on Libya. Likewise, Kerry is not thought to be part of Obama's inner circle, but he will harbour hopes that he will not be left on the sidelines, having been used by the president as an envoy to resolve awkward issues in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unlike Rice, Kerry, as a senator, can expect a smooth nomination process. The vacancy in Massachusetts could prompt infighting among Democrats for a plum senate seat in what is normally one of the safest Democratic states. But Brown's surprise 2010 victory in the state, following the death of Ted Kennedy, offers the Republicans hope for another election upset. The special election would have to take place within 145 to 160 days of Kerry's resignation. The winner would then complete the remaining year and a half of Kerry's term, before facing re-election in 2014. Another place in Obama's diplomatic and national security team could be filled by the appointment of a former Republican senator, Chuck Hagel, as defense secretary, a move that would help Obama portray his cabinet as bipartisan. But Hagel's appointment could provoke a backlash from some pro-Israeli groups. Hagel has long been an advocate of the US taking a more balanced approach towards the Israelis and Arabs. He is also a passionate advocate of direct US negotiations with Iranian leaders over the nuclear issue – during the Bush presidency he publicly opposed air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Hagel has emerged as one of the frontrunners to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon. "I don't know who else is in contention but he is a contender," said a source who knows Hagel. Bloomberg News disclosed on Thursday that Hagel had been vetted for the job. The source added: "He has met with many people in the White House about this." There have been three meetings, including one with Obama on 4 December, it is thought. Hagel, a former infantry sergeant who saw combat in Vietnam and was awarded two Purple Hearts, has often adopted positions on foreign policy that put him at odds with his Republican colleagues, including opposition to the 2003 Iraq war. Since leaving the Senate in 2009, he has been co-chair of the president's intelligence advisory board. Other contenders for the job include Michele Flournoy, the former under-secretary for defense.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Separate Saturday incidents in Birmingham and Cleburne County lead to five deaths and numerous injuries Police in Alabama killed two suspects Saturday, following separate shooting incidents that left three other people dead and several injured, including two officers. East of Birmingham, police shot and killed a man armed with an AK-47 assault rifle at the end of a pursuit that began with a triple killing in Cleburne County, near the Georgia state line, authorities said. In the other incident, authorities said Jason Letts, 38, of Jemison opened fire early Saturday morning at a hospital in Birmingham, wounding a police officer and two employees before being shot and killed by another officer. Police were sent to St. Vincent's Hospital around 4am, to check on a report of an armed man inside the facility. Two officers who arrived separately converged on the suspect on the hospital's fifth floor. "When the officer encountered the suspect, there was immediate gunfire from the suspect," Birmingham Police sergeant Johnny Williams said. He said detectives were still trying to establish a motive. A handful of cardiac patients and several staff members were on the fifth floor, hospital spokeswoman Liz Moore told reporters. She said the hospital was secure and stable, and patient care had not been interrupted. Birmingham Police chief AC Roper said in a statement: "In light of the recent mass shooting in Connecticut, too many of these incidents end with unimaginable tragedy." In the other incident, neighbors reported hearing gunshots at a mobile home park in Heflin and summoned police around 10am, Cleburne Sheriff's office Investigator Michael Gore told The Anniston Star. On Saturday night, authorities were in the process of removing three bodies from the mobile home. Investigator Dennis Green of the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office told the newspaper that the three gunshot victims were males but that authorities were uncertain of their ages. Green said a child younger than age 2 had been injured, and subsequently taken to a Georgia hospital. Initial reports from a police official that the victims at the mobile home were a mother and her young children were false. A police pursuit of a suspect ensued and wound into Oxford, where the man crashed a car near the busy interchange of Leon Smith Parkway and Jimmy Hinton Drive. Partridge said the suspect fired at police with an AK-47, wounding one officer. That officer was reported to be in critical condition Saturday night. The suspect "exited the vehicle and started shooting at the officers," Oxford police chief Bill Partridge said. "The officers returned fire." Authorities said the suspect then carjacked a vehicle at the intersection, though the occupants were able to escape. Police caught up with the suspect in nearby Coldwater. As he was being chased, he crashed his car into another vehicle. Partridge said the suspect then reached for the assault rifle as he exited the car. Two members of an Oxford police Swat team fatally shot him at around 12:40pm, authorities said. Law-enforcement officials were examining multiple crime scenes Saturday afternoon, trying to determine what happened, said Lynn Hammond, the chief assistant district attorney for Calhoun and Cleburne counties. She said that authorities were investigating a homicide, but she declined to comment further. Late on Saturday, Oxford police identified the deceased suspect as 33-year-old Romero Roberto Moya, of Heflin. Also in Alabama, in Homewood, police continued to investigate the deaths on Friday of a 30-year-old woman and her two sons, ages 4 and 5, at the family's apartment. Police said they were awaiting autopsy results to determine how they were killed. Authorities said they received a call from a man who said he had found his family dead when he returned from work. Police said the man was being held in "protective custody".
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thousands flee and dozens feared dead after attack on Yarmouk camp as Palestinians in Syria are caught up in civil war At least one rocket from a Syrian air force jet has killed and wounded dozens of Palestinians in the largest refugee camp in Damascus, sending thousands of residents fleeing for other areas of the capital now wracked by civil war. Sunday's attack is believed to be the first strike against the Yarmouk camp by an air force jet, the most potent weapon used so far by the regime in its defence of the capital. The rocket hit a mosque near the centre of the camp, killing at least 25 people, Reuters reports. There was panic in the area near the mosque. Videos posted online showed the dead and injured being collected by residents. The exodus sparked predictions that the flood of refugees into neighbouring countries, which is already straining resources in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, will further intensify, with Syria's Palestinian population of 500,000 increasingly caught in the middle of the bitter and protracted fighting. The Yarmouk camp has steadily been drawn into the fighting in Damascus over the past month. Though hit by an artillery shell in August, which killed 20 people, the camp had largely remained a relative safe haven as security disintegrated elsewhere in the capital amid rebel attempts to advance towards the regime's power base. Palestinians in Syria had enjoyed the protection of the government for much of the past 40 years. However their loyalties have been tested as the civil war has intensified. The large majority of the Palestinian population in Syria is Sunni, as is the opposition movement which is attempting to oust the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite sect is aligned to Shia Islam. Roughly half of Syria's Palestinian refugees are thought to remain supportive of the regime, while the other half have grown hostile to it as the 21-month crisis has escalated. The attack is believed to have occurred after sporadic fighting inside the camp over the past fortnight between rebel units and Palestinian factions loyal to Assad, headed by Ahmed Jibril, a veteran local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine general committees.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Muslim Brotherhood's political wing says 56.5% voted for draft constitution but opposition warns of violations in first round poll Recriminations have broken out over Egypt's constitutional referendum even before the two-stage vote has been completed, with the Muslim Brotherhood claiming victory and the opposition complaining of rigging and insisting the no camp has triumphed. Unofficial overnight results from Saturday's first round showed 56.5% approval to 43% rejection on a turnout of 33%, with a clear no win in Cairo, one of 10 of Egypt's governorates where polling took place. The referendum is to be held in the country's remaining 17 governorates next Saturday. The figures reported by the Freedom and Justice party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, were based on 99% of the votes being counted. If confirmed, the referendum will be a victory for Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who was elected president on a 51% mandate in June. Gehad El-Haddad, a senior Brotherhood and FJP adviser, said: "We thank Allah and the people of Egypt for such honourable practice of democratic participation and, although approval [is] lower than expected, we are glad it's yes." The opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) claimed 66% voted no to the controversial draft basic law. It said it had detected "unprecedented rigging", including 750 violations. These included unstamped voting papers, the names of deceased persons on voting lists, the absence of observers at polling stations, and delays in opening. The Egyptian Coalition for Human Rights reported cases of financial inducements for voting yes. Mohamed ElBaradei, the co-ordinator of the NSF, warned in a Twitter message: "Country split, flagrant irregularities, low turnout, disillusion with Islamists on the rise. Illiteracy remains a hurdle." Egyptians of all political views agree that stability will remain elusive through the second anniversary of the outbreak of the revolution on 25 January. Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, was overthrown on 11 February. The referendum was largely peaceful, but violence erupted on Saturday night when the Cairo headquarters of the liberal Wafd party, part of the NSF, came under attack from unknown assailants. Wafd accused the Salafist preacher Hazem Abu-Ismail of being involved but he denied any responsibility. The hastily arranged vote follows three weeks of protests and sporadic violence after Morsi, who pledged last June to rule for all Egyptians, adopted sweeping powers bypassing the judiciary and rushed through completion of the draft constitutional text in the constituent assembly. In a highly polarised atmosphere, the Muslim Brotherhood camp has complained of a counter-revolution against a democratically elected president by a coalition of anti-Islamist activists and so-called felool or remnants of the Mubarak regime. But secular and liberal opponents, including many Muslims, say they object to his undemocratic and non-consensual behaviour and an ambiguous constitution flawed by what it says or implies about the role of Islam and clerical scholars, the position of the still-powerful army, presidential appointments, rights and other fundamental issues. Independent Egyptian and foreign observers argue that a divided opposition has seized too gleefully on Morsi's miscalculations and vacillation and now risks raising the stakes with an escalation of the crisis. If passed, the constitution will pave the way for new parliamentary elections early next year. The last national assembly, dominated by the Brotherhood and conservative Salafis, was dissolved.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Crushing defeat looms for centre-left government as far-right party emerges as third election force Japan's main conservative party is on course for a resounding victory in Sunday's election, with exit polls indicating it could take control of two-thirds of the lower house, consigning the centre-left government to a crushing defeat. The Liberal Democratic party [LDP], ousted from office just three years ago, has staged a dramatic comeback under its leader, Shinzo Abe, who as head of the largest party is assured of becoming prime minister. Exit polls showed the LDP would win 296 seats in the 480-seat lower house, while its longtime ally, New Komeito, was on course to win 32 seats. Combined, the tally would give the parties the "super-majority" they need to take total control of both houses of parliament and end years of policy deadlock and instability. Abe, who resigned as prime minister in 2007 after a year blighted by scandals involving cabinet ministers, has promised to take a tougher stance towards China over the Senkaku islands, give Japan's armed forces a bigger international role and retain nuclear power, despite growing opposition to atomic energy in the wake of last year's Fukushima Daiichi meltdown. On the economy - the single biggest issue of the campaign - Abe has pledged to return to high spending on public works and ease monetary policy to boost growth. The Japanese economy has been beset by stagnation and deflation for two decades and recently entered its fourth recession since 2000. The governing Democratic party of Japan [DPJ] is expected to suffer a heavy defeat, three years after it ended the LDP's near-monopoly on power with a landslide victory at the last election. Exit polls said the party could be reduced to fewer than 70 seats. Party officials interviewed by TV networks hinted that its leader, Yoshihiko Noda, would have to take responsibility for its disastrous showing and resign immediately. The election also saw the emergence of a third force in the form of the Japan Restoration party, a far-right group led by the outspoken former governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara. It was predicted to win around 46 seats. At one point polls suggested the Restoration party could overtake the DPJ as the country's second-biggest party and act as powerbroker in a hung parliament. That level of influence now looks unlikely, however. Turnout was sluggish at just over 27% by mid-afternoon, down 7.8 percentage points from 2009, according to government data. Abe, 58, will become Japan's seventh prime minister in just over six years. Noda's 11th-hour plea to reject the LDP's "old-style politics" failed to sway voters. The LDP, which governed for all but 11 months between 1955 and 2009, has capitalised on popular anger over the DPJ's failure to deliver on a promise to replace pork-barrel politics with a focus on families, welfare and healthcare. Many voters feel the DPJ has dithered over the reconstruction of the region devastated by last year's earthquake and tsunami. And they associate Noda with an unpopular plan to double the consumption (sales) tax to 10%, a measure that passed only with the support of Abe's party. But there was little enthusiasm outside polling stations for the LDP and Abe, the grandson of a former prime minister who holds revisionist views on Japan's wartime conduct and supports a more active overseas role for Japan's armed forces. Instead, uncertainty over the economy and Japan's response to the rise of China appears to have sent voters reaching for the familiar – big spending on public works to boost growth, and close security ties with the US to counter the perceived threat from China. "The Democrats are out because they have been unable to implement their policy manifesto and are divided internally. But that doesn't mean I support the LDP," said Yosuke Matsumoto, 33. "Nothing will change under them." Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, said the election was about punishing the DPJ, which won by a landslide in 2009. "It seems to me that people are driven by nostalgia, as they seem to want to bring the LDP back to power because they lack better alternatives," he told Reuters. Voters, many of whom said they were undecided going into the election, had no fewer than 12 parties to choose from. Of the 480 seats in Japan's lower house, 300 are elected from single-seat districts and the remaining 180 through proportional representation in 11 regional blocs.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Liberal Democratic party expected to return to office three years after dramatic defeat Voters in Japan have gone to the polls in an election that is expected to return the country's biggest conservative party to office, three years after its postwar monopoly on power came to a dramatic end. TV networks will release forecasts of the result after polling stations close at 8pm local time (11am GMT) on Sunday. Opinion polls taken in the runup to the election indicated that the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) would secure a majority in the 480-seat lower house. Turnout was sluggish at just over 27% by mid-afternoon, down 7.8 percentage points from 2009, according to government data. If the forecasts are correct, the LDP leader, Shinzo Abe, will become Japan's seventh prime minister in just over six years. An 11th-hour plea to voters by the prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, to turn their backs on the LDP's "old-style politics" was unlikely to save his Democratic party of Japan (DPJ) from a crushing defeat. Some polls suggest the LDP, along with its traditional ally, New Komeito, could even secure two-thirds of seats in the lower house – giving it the "supermajority" it needs to overcome a policy deadlock that has blighted successive governments since 2007. The LDP, which governed for all but 11 months between 1955 and 2009, has capitalised on popular anger over the DPJ government's failure to deliver on a promise to replace pork-barrel politics with a new focus on families, welfare and healthcare. Many voters feel the DPJ has dawdled over the reconstruction of the region devastated by last year's earthquake and tsunami. And they associate Noda with an unpopular plan to double the consumption (sales) tax to 10%, a measure that passed only with the support of Abe's party. But there was little enthusiasm outside polling stations for the LDP and Abe, the grandson of a former prime minister who holds revisionist views on Japan's wartime conduct and supports a more active overseas role for Japan's armed forces. Instead, uncertainty over the economy and Japan's response to the rise of China appears to have sent voters reaching for the familiar – big spending on public works to boost growth, and close security ties with the US to counter the perceived threat from China. "The Democrats are out because they have been unable to implement their policy manifesto and are divided internally. But that doesn't mean I support the LDP," said Yosuke Matsumoto, a 33-year-old voter. "Nothing will change under them." Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, said the election was about "punishing" the DPJ, which won by a landslide in 2009. "It seems to me that people are driven by nostalgia, as they seem to want to bring the LDP back to power because they lack better alternatives," he told Reuters. Voters, many of whom said they were undecided going into Sunday's election, have no fewer than 12 parties to choose from. Most are unlikely to have an impact on the outcome, but one possible exception is the Japan Restoration party, a far-right group led by the outspoken former governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara. His party has placed second in some polls and could force Abe into coalition talks in the event of a hung parliament. Abe, 58, whose first stint as prime minister ended in 2007 amid scandal and ill health, has pledged to take a tougher stance on the Senkaku territorial row with Beijing, and to abandon plans to phase out nuclear power by 2040 – a measure the DPJ introduced in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Of the 480 seats in Japan's lower house, 300 are elected from single-seat districts and the remaining 180 through proportional representation in 11 regional blocks.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Actor attacks French government for punishing talent as he moves to Belgium Gérard Depardieu has said he is handing back his French passport and social security card, lambasting the French government for punishing "success, creation, talent" in his homeland. A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old actor is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country by buying a house just over the border in Belgium in response to tax increases by the Socialist president, François Hollande. The prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, described Depardieu's behaviour as pathetic and unpatriotic at a time when the French are being asked to pay higher taxes to reduce a bloated national debt. "Pathetic, you said pathetic? How pathetic is that?" Depardieu said in a letter to the weekly newspaper le Journal du Dimanche. "I am leaving because you believe that success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned," he said. An angry member of parliament has proposed that France adopt a US-inspired law that would force Depardieu or anyone trying to escape full tax dues to forgo their nationality. The Cyrano de Bergerac star recently bought a house in Nechin, a Belgian village a short walk from the border with France where 27% of residents are French nationals, and put his sumptuous Parisian home up for sale. Depardieu has also inquired about procedures for acquiring Belgian residency. He said he had paid €145m (£120m) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14. "People more illustrious than me have gone into [tax] exile. Of all those that have left none have been insulted as I have." The actor's move comes three months after Bernard Arnault, chief executive of the luxury goods giant LVMH and France's richest man, caused uproar by seeking to establish residency in Belgium – a move he said was not for tax reasons. Belgian residents do not pay wealth tax, which in France is now levied on those with assets over €1.3m. Nor do they pay capital gains tax on share sales. "We no longer have the same homeland," Depardieu said. "I no longer have any reason to stay here. I will continue to love the French and this public that I have shared so much emotion with." Hollande is pressing ahead too with plans to impose a 75% supertax on income over €1m. "Who are you to judge me, I ask you Mr Ayrault, prime minister of Mr Hollande? Despite my excesses, my appetite and my love of life, I remain a free man," Depardieu wrote.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Friends and family have been paying tribute to the 20 children and six adults killed by Adam Lanza in Connecticut
 | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire