| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Income tax rise proposed for individuals earning over $400,000 as president closes in on deal with Republicans Barack Obama has moved to head off the fiscal cliff budget crisis, tabling an offer to Republicans that involves raising taxes on those earning over $400,000, almost doubling his previous threshold of $250,000. The outlines of a possible deal, after weeks of stalemate, took shape on a day of compromise in Washington as Obama met the Republican House Speaker, John Boehner, at the White House. According to Politico the president sent the $400,000 offer in response to a Republican plan to set new top rate taxes for those earning $1m or more. The two sides are trying to hammer out an agreement ahead of a series of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes that will be imposed after 31 December unless a political solution is found. Obama won a tough election in which he stood by plans to allow taxes to rise for top earners while renewing tax cuts for the vast majority of Americans. But even after the election Republicans have fought hard against his proposals. The federal reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, warned again last week that the US could be plunged back into recession unless a compromise is reached before the year end deadline. Over the weekend it emerged that Boehner had softened the Republicans' position on tax hikes for the rich, a key component of Obama's plan to tackle America's $16tn debt. News of Monday's meeting was enough to cheer US investors, with stock markets snapping a three-day losing streak. Boehner reportedly proposed several major compromises, including raising taxes on those earning over $1m a year as part of a plan to raise $1tn in higher tax revenues, up from an earlier proposal of $800bn. The Republican proposal fell far short of the $1.4tn in revenues that Obama has proposed. The new offer from Obama would reduce to $1.2tn the amount of money raised from the expiration of tax cuts brought in under President George W Bush. The movement by the president to a $400,000 threshold will appeal to Democrats from states such as California and New York where earnings are higher. There were further signs of compromise from the Republicans. Boehner also reportedly agreed to postpone for a year negotiations over US borrowing limits, which must be agreed by February. In June 2011 the argument over raising the debt ceiling resulted in a historic credit downgrade of the US by ratings agency Standard & Poor's. Leading Republicans and Democrats are likely to face opposition in their own ranks from any deal as more details about spending cuts and tax hikes emerge. Earlier on Monday Republicans had moved to temper reports of a breakthrough and the offer was quickly rejected by some Democrats, who argued that limiting the tax hike to millionaires was too restrictive. The Conservative group Club for Growth also condemned Boehner's proposal. "First Speaker Boehner offered to raise tax rates after promising not to, and now he's offering to raise the debt ceiling. Raising tax rates is anti-growth and raising the debt ceiling is pro-government growth – and this is the Republican position?" said the group's president, Chris Chocola, in a statement. Neither the White House nor the Republicans would comment on the talks. The two sides released an identical statement that read: "The president and the speaker are meeting at the White House to continue their discussions about the fiscal cliff and balanced deficit reduction." Political analysts saw the talks as a sign of possible compromise with less than two weeks to go until the end of the year. Sean West, a US policy analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, wrote in a note to clients: "The political burden is now shifted back to the president, who must be willing to take on his party in order to get a deal Boehner can ultimately pass. We do not think the president will over-reach: Obama will work with Boehner to get to a deal." The potential breakthrough comes as polling data shows that the US public want compromise. According to the latest USA Today/Gallup poll 66% said the two sides should compromise "on their principles and beliefs" on taxes and spending to avert the year-end budget crisis.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | News of meeting cheers investors following suggestions House speaker Boehner has softened position on tax hikes for the rich Hopes rose Monday for an end to the fiscal cliff crisis as President Barack Obama met Republican House speaker John Boehner at the White House on amid signs of a breakthrough in the fraught budget talks. A series of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes are set to be imposed two weeks from now unless a political solution is found. Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and government economists have warned that the US could be plunged back into recession unless a compromise is reached before the January 1 deadline. Over the weekend, it emerged that Boehner had softened the Republicans' position on tax hikes for the rich, a key component of Obama's plan to tackle America's $16tn debt. News of Monday's meeting was enough to cheer US investors, with stock markets snapping a three-day losing streak. Boehner reportedly proposed several major compromises, including raising taxes on those earning over $1m a year – as opposed to the president's proposed $250,000 threshold – as part of a plan to raise $1tn in higher tax revenues, up from an earlier proposal of $800bn. The Republican proposal falls far short of the $1.4tn in revenues that Obama has proposed, but comes amid further signs of compromise. Boehner also reportedly agreed to postpone negotiations over US borrowing limits, which must be agreed by February, for one year. In June 2011 the argument over raising the debt ceiling resulted in a historic downgrade of US credit by ratings agency Standard & Poor's. Leading Republicans and Democrats are likely to face opposition in their own ranks from any deal as greater details about spending cuts and tax hikes emerge. Republicans moved to temper reports of a breakthrough, and the offer was quickly rejected by some Democrats, who argued that limiting the tax hike to millionaires was too small. Conservative group Club for Growth also condemned Boehners' proposal. "First Speaker Boehner offered to raise tax rates after promising not to, and now he's offering to raise the debt ceiling. Raising tax rates is anti-growth, and raising the debt ceiling is pro-government growth – and this is the Republican position?" said the group's president Chris Chocola in a statement. Neither the White House nor the Republicans would comment on the talks. The two sides released identical statement that read: "The president and the speaker are meeting at the White House to continue their discussions about the fiscal cliff and balanced deficit reduction." Political analysts saw the talks as a sign of possible compromise with less than two week to go until the end of the year. Sean West, a US policy analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, wrote in a note to clients: "The political burden is now shifted back to the president, who must be willing to take on his party in order to get a deal Boehner can ultimately pass. We do not think the president will overreach: Obama will work with Boehner to get to a deal." The potential breakthrough comes as polling data shows that the US public want compromise. According to the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll, 66% said the two sides should compromise "on their principles and beliefs" on taxes and spending to avert the year-end budget crisis.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Christopher Chaney, who hacked stars' online accounts, pleaded guilty to wiretapping and unauthorised access to a computer A federal judge on Monday sentenced a man who hacked into the personal online accounts of Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis and other women to 10 years in prison. US district judge S James Otero sentenced Christopher Chaney in Los Angeles after hearing from a tearful Johansson in a videotaped statement. The biggest spectacle in the case was the revelation that nude photos taken by Johansson herself and meant for her then-husband Ryan Reynolds were placed on the internet. Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty to counts that included wiretapping and unauthorized access to a computer. Chaney also targeted two women he knew, sending nude pictures of one former co-worker to her father. The women, who both knew Chaney, said their lives have been irreparably damaged by his actions. One has anxiety and panic attacks; the other is depressed and paranoid. Both say Chaney was calculated, cruel and creepy. Their accounts as cybervictims serve as a cautionary tale for those, even major celebrities, who snap personal, and sometimes revealing photos. Christina Aguilera said in a statement issued days before the sentencing that although she knows that she's often in the limelight, Chaney took from her some of the private moments she shares with friends. "That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy," Aguilera said. Prosecutors said Chaney illegally accessed the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry between November 2010 and October 2011. Aguilera, Kunis and Johansson agreed to have their identities made public with the hopes that the exposure about the case would provide awareness about online intrusion. Some of Aguilera's photos appeared online after Chaney sent an email from the account of her stylist, Simone Harouche, to Aguilera asking the singer for scantily clad photographs, prosecutors said. Chaney was arrested in October 2011 as part of a yearlong investigation of celebrity hacking that authorities dubbed "Operation Hackerazzi." Chaney's computer hard drive contained numerous private celebrity photos and a document that compiled their extensive personal data, according to a search warrant.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Friends describe eulogies for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both six, as makeshift memorial overflows at town's fire house Three days after it suffered one of the worst mass shootings in US history, Newtown in Connecticut has begun the dreadful process of burying the 27 victims on Monday, starting with two of the young children to be killed in their classrooms at Sandy Hook elementary school. One of the two boys was the youngest of all the children to have died, Noah Pozner, who turned six last month. He was described by a relative as a "really lively, smart kid" whose family had moved to Connecticut from Brooklyn for the quality and security of its schools. White balloons lined the street outside the funeral home where the ceremony for Noah took place. The balloons bobbed around in the light breeze as dozens waited patiently to enter the building and pay their respects. "Our hearts are with you Noah," said a green sign pinned to a tree outside the Abraham L Green & Son funeral home. Flowers and a brown teddy bear had been placed at the base of the tree. Amoung the mourners was his twin sister. She had been at the school on Friday morning, but was in a different classroom and survived. Rabbi Shaul Praver, who was leading the funeral in Fairfield, a town 25 miles away from Newtown, said he had spoken to the mother of the boy and counselled her on the hard road ahead. "I told the mother not to plan the rest of her life out right now because she says: 'What am I going to do without my baby?'" Guests walked slowly into the wood-panelled funeral home at around 12.30pm, some wearing blue ribbons in their lapels with cut off angels in the centre that have become the symbol of the Sandy Hook school tragedy. The street, which runs away from one of the main roads through Fairfield towards the shore, was blocked off to the public as the Pozner family prepared to bid Noah farewell in private. Outside the home Rabbi Yakov Barros said people at the funeral were from "all walks of life". He did not know the Pozner family but had travelled from the Catskills in New York, where he is involved with the South Fallsburg Hebrew Association. "I'm here as a human being offering my love and support," Barros said. He said that the Pozner family had felt "tremendous warmth" that he had travelled to be at the funeral. "The mother was very touched. She was crying at the fact I came." Just before 2pm people began to slowly file out of the funeral home where Noah Pozner's funeral took place. The door to the black hearse opened, and was closed. Police motorcycles led the procession away. Roxanne Dunn, who taught Noah and his twin sister karate, said their mother had given a "beautiful" speech, telling the mourners that her son "would always be a part of her. He'll always be part of our lives." "It touched us all," said Dunn, wiping away tears. "He was a beautiful child. A beautiful family. A really, really good family," she said, adding that during karate lessons Noah and his sister had "never wanted to be put on different teams, they always wanted to be on the same team". Audrey Petschek, 48, has lived close to Sandy Hook school for over 20 years. "I just think its important that everybody in Newtown is there to support the families," she said. She said it had been a "very personal and loving tribute". Pozner's elder brother had spoken at the funeral, Petschek said. "Just how he had an endless love for his brother. He's very strong right now. He's being remarkably strong." Pozner's mother spoke too. "She's obviously numb too," Petschek said. "But, you know, a mother's love … It was hard to hear." The second funeral was for Jack Pinto, also six, whose main passion had been the New York Giants American football team. In photos, he was shown with an NY logo drawn on his face and "Go Giants!" tattooed in crayon on his hand. His favourite player was the receiver Victor Cruz, who played against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with "Jack Pinto, My Hero" written on his boots. Mourners gathered for his wake at Honan funeral home on
Newtown Main Street, filing around the little boy's closed casket. The venue was a white clapperboard building in the classic New England style that seemed almost too elegant and refined in the circumstances, considering the horror that had brought the people here. Outside about 20 of the boy's friends, some wearing sweat shirts of the
Newtown Youth Wrestling Association which he had joined just a year ago, milled around on the lawn. At times they played tag around the beech trees
rising above the funeral home, in a display of the enduring irrepressibility of
youth. Across the road a line of photographers and TV cameras stretched as far as the eye could see, media outnumbering mourners. Some Newtown residents were clearly unhappy about the media spectacle: a passing lorry driver wound down his window and shouted expletives at the photographers, telling them to get out of town. This modestly sized community of about 25,000 people is now bracing itself for a sickening glut of funerals: those of the 20 children, the six teachers and teaching assistants, as well eventually as those of the shooter Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy, whom he killed before setting off for the school. As a way of making manifest the grief, of memorialising it, residents and visitors have set up makeshift shrines that grow larger with every day. Sandy Hook fire house, where 20 sets of parents learned that their children would not be coming home, has become the main site of mourning. People drift to and from the growing memorial, some leaving flowers, others soft toys. Many just stand in silence. There is a Christmas tree for each victim, and a space in the middle of the festive shrubbery is filled with flowers, balloons and toys. Two awnings have been erected to shield the tributes and protect the hundreds of candles glowing against the damp greyness of the New England day. The decorations in the trees reflect the age of most of the victims. Teddy bears peer out from between the branches; toy rabbits and pigs have been placed at the base of other trees. Two Teletubbies sit in adjacent trees; a Kung Fu Panda balances precariously in another. Anika Tarne, 18, was reading some of the messages left by wellwishers. She moved to Newtown five months ago, from Hannover in Germany. "I just can't believe it's happened here," she said. Tarne is working as an au pair in Newtown during her gap year. "My au pair son is seven, but is at a different primary school." Her parents had called her after the shooting on Friday. "They were shocked and afraid," Tarne said. "They just cried, and then they were totally afraid that something could happen to me." The road down to the center of Sandy Hook is adorned with tributes to those killed. Many of the houses have erected banners asking for prayers or expressing hope. On the lawn of one home, 20 wooden angels have been placed, the two-foot high structures each with flowers and teddy bears at their feet.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | First signs that Democrats are willing to take on pro-gun lobby as even NRA-endorsed senator Joe Manchin says 'we need action' The White House promised a comprehensive series of measures, including gun control legislation, on Monday to prevent a recurrence of mass shootings such as the "horrific" attack in Connecticut that left 20 children and six teachers dead. The pledge came as the first cracks began to appear in the seemingly impregnable opposition to gun controls. Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama signalled that gun control would be a second term priority during a powerful speech on Sunday evening at a vigil for the victims in Newtown, at least two Democratic senators strongly identified with gun rights shifted position in favour of reform. The killings in Connecticut appear to be bringing about a change in mood that was not evident after shooting sprees over the last decade. They include Virginia Tech in 2007, the attack on congresswoman Gabby Giffords last year and the Aurora cinema shootings in July this year. The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, at the daily briefing went further than Obama the night before in elaborating what kind of measures might be taken.
At the emotional vigil in Newtown, Obama appeared to abandon his reluctance to take on the gun lobby and delivered an impassioned speech in which he said change had to come. 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. Asking if the country had fulfilled its obligation to protect its children, he said: "The answer is no." He added: "In the coming weeks I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement, mental health professionals to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this." He did not specify what change he had in mind, or even whether it would include new legislation on gun control. But Carney, when asked what kind of measures the president had in mind, said: "It is a complex problem that will require a complex solution. No single piece of legislation, no single action will fully address the problem." Proposals that have been put forward since Friday range from the renewal of a lapsed ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons and restricting the number of bullets in a clip. Other proposals suggest addressing how communities deal with mental health issues. Asked if gun control legislation would be part of this comprehensive package, Carney said it would be. Carney pointed out that Obama had long been an advocate of "common sense measures". Before his election in 2008, Obama had supported renewal of a 1994 ban on automatic weapons that lapsed in 2004. Asked whether the president would move to exploit the present mood or wait until he had dealt with issues such as the fiscal cliff stand-off and immigration reform, Carney suggested the former, reminding reporters that Obama had spoken in terms of "weeks". The hopes of gun reform advocates rose when two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin and Mark Warner, came out in favour of reform. Both had been staunchly in favour of gun rights. Manchin, in particular, was a surprise, given that he uses a picture of himself holding a rifle in his campaign literature, is backed by the National Rifle Association and, to publicise his opposition to trade legislation, once fire a shot through a copy of the bill. Manchin, who represents West Virginia, told MSNBC's Morning Joe show that the Connecticut shooting had changed the dialogue. "It's time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way. This has changed the dialogue and it should move beyond dialogue – we need action," Manchin said. He argued it was possible to protect gun ownership for hunting while banning other automatic weapons and large ammunition clips. "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle," Manchin said. "I don't know anyone that needs 30 rounds to go hunting. I mean these are things that need to be talked about." Warner, in an interview with CBS, expressed continued support the constitutional right to bear arms as enshrined in the second amendment. "I believe every American has second amendment rights; the ability to hunt is part of our culture. I've had a NRA rating of an 'A' but, you know, enough is enough," Warner said. "I think most of us realise that there are ways to get to rational gun control. There are ways to grapple with the obvious challenges of mental illness." While opposition to gun controls is strongest in the Republican party, part of the reason for the failure to get legislation through recently has been opposition from many Democrats fearful of upsetting the gun lobby. The Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, who led the push for the ban on automatic weapons in 1994, said on Sunday she will introduce a similar bill in January next year that will ban automatic and semi-automatic weapons and the sale of clips containing multiple bullets. Another Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer, is proposing restrict bullet clips to 10 rounds. Another Democratic congresswoman, Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed in a shooting spree, called for background checks on all gun sales, in particular at gun shows which are not subjected to such checks. A new poll in the Washington Post/ABC showed a shift in attitudes, with a majority, albeit slim, now viewing the shooting not as an isolated act but part of society's wider problems. But there is little change in views towards gun control. While a majority favour a ban on ammunition clips containing a large number of bullets, the poll shows support for gun ownership remains ingrained in America, with 71% opposed to a ban on the sale of handguns.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Authorities report gun-related incidents in Kansas, California, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan and Illinois Incidents of gun violence across the US, leading to deaths, woundings and arrests, continued to be reported on Sunday and Monday while the nation's attention remained on Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 young children and six adults were killed by a gunman on Friday. A Twitter account, @GunDeaths, is attempting to catalogue "every gun death in North America regardless of cause and without comment". Some of the reports below are taken from links to local media provided by @GunDeaths. • On Sunday, two Kansas police officers were shot outside a grocery store, while responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle. The officers died later at a hospital, authorities said. Topeka police chief Ronald Miller called the shootings of Corporal David Gogian and Officer Jeff Atherly "unspeakable". He said Gogian, 50, and Atherly, 29, were shot in the head by a gunman, later identified as 22-year-old David Edward Tiscareno, who opened fire within minutes of their arrival to investigate the vehicle. A third officer was at the scene when the shooting happened, but was not injured. Tiscareno was later apprehended, apparently seriously injured. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 120 police officers have been killed in 2012 – 44 of them by deliberate gunfire. There had been no line-of-duty fatalities in the Topeka police department since 2000. • Late on Sunday, two people were wounded when shots were fired at a movie theater in San Antonio, California. Witnesses said that a number of shots were fired inside the Santikos Mayan Palace theater-complex at around 9.25pm. The 14-screen complex was evacuated. A spokesman for Bexar County Sherriff's Office said the shooting had begun at a nearby restaurant and that the suspect, who was apprehended after being shot at and possibly wounded by an off-duty police officer, had shot at a San Antonio Police Department patrol car. Of the off-duty police officer who fired on the suspect, the spokesman said: "She took all appropriate action to keep everyone safe inside the movie theater." • In Lucedale, Mississippi on Sunday morning, one man was killed and two were critically injured after being shot, local media reported. Authorities said a 27-year-old man was killed and his father injured in the incident, which began as an argument over a driver's behaviour in a truck, before a second son, aged 20, used a gun kept in the family's home to shoot and wound the men's assailant. • In Camden, New Jersey, late on Sunday night, an unidentified person was shot outside an apartment building. Local media said the case, in which details have not been released, was a record 67th homicide in Camden this year. • In Columbus, Ohio, police said that an unidentified man found dead in a vacant house on Sunday had been shot, making him the city's 88th homicide victim this year. • Police said that a murder-suicide had led to a couple being found dead at a house in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Sunday. The mother of Andrea Rachdi, 25, told a local television station that her daughter had been shot and killed by her husband, Nawfal Rachdi, who then shot himself. • In Illinois, it was reported that Springfield police were investigating the shooting death of an unidentified 27-year-old man on Sunday night.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Europe's antitrust chief is to meet Google chairman Eric Schmidt as European Commission ponders similar action Google is this week expected to escape the biggest anti-trust investigation for more than a decade by agreeing with US regulators to tweak the way it displays searches. It is also reported to be ready to sign an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) not to use its patents to stifle mobile competition. Europe's anti-trust chief is meeting Google's chairman, Eric Schmidt, as the European commission ponders similar action. The FTC is expected to announce a deal this week after investigating since June 2011 whether Google has abused its dominant position in search, the lucrative core of its empire, by favouring its own products while disadvantaging rival companies or products. If the case proceeds, it would be the biggest showdown between regulators and Silicon Valley since the government took on Microsoft 14 years ago. That ended with Microsoft avoiding a breakup, but enduring oversight that significantly changed its corporate culture. Any move that stops short of a full-blown case is likely to anger rivals, large and small, who have been pushing for the FTC to curtail what they see as the search giant's abuse of its monopoly in search. Some reportedly met the department of justice last week in preparation for what they saw as a climbdown by the FTC. William Kovacic, former chairman of the FTC and now global competition professor of law and policy at George Washington University, said Google was unlikely to escape the investigation unscathed and some action seemed inevitable. "Institutionally it's hard to believe they won't do something, given all they have invested in Google. I can't imagine the press conference where the chairman stands up and says they have decided to do nothing," he said. In April the FTC hired top lawyer Beth Wilkinson, a former justice department prosecutor who played a lead role in the conviction of the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, to lead the investigation into Google. The recruitment of Wilkinson, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, was seen as increasing the likelihood of a prosecution. The FTC has hired outside litigators only twice in the last decade. Kovacic said he had no inside track on what the FTC was likely to do or when but said: "The likelihood of some intervention is running at 100%." The company declined to comment on the case. "We continue to work co-operatively with the Federal Trade Commission and are happy to answer any questions they may have," Google said in a statement. The Guardian understands from FTC sources that in October the staff recommended to its five commissioners that they take action against Google. That then has to pass a majority vote. Separately, Google is expected to sign an agreement not to use "standards-essential" patents owned by its Motorola Mobility (MMI) handset subsidiary to seek US sales bans against rivals. MMI owns thousands of patents which Google has valued at $5bn, but both the FTC and EC have focussed on MMI's use of them to seek sales bans against Apple and Microsoft in the iPhone, iPad and Xbox. The FTC filed a court brief on 5 December as an observer of the battle between Apple and MMI in which it said that letting holders of standards patents obtain injunctions amounted to a "hold-up" that could harm consumers seeking standards-compliant products. Google bought MMI in a $12.5bn (£7 7bn) acquisition completed in August 2012, but had hedged on whether it would agree to a no-ban deal on standard-essential patents (SEPs). Now it seems ready to agree to the FTC's demands. However Google is believed still to be negotiating with Joaquin Almunia, the antitrust chief of the commission. Jon Liebowitz, the head of the FTC, met Almunia earlier in December, and on Tuesday will meet Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman. The EC is thought to be more concerned about Google's position because it has a far higher share of the search market – more than 95% – compared to the 65% it commands in the US. No agenda has been given for the meeting between Schmidt and Almunia, but the two have met a number of times as the EC investigation has ground on since the end of 2010. Almunia said at a press conference last week that although he didn't have a specific deadline for his talks with Google, "the road won't be open forever". If they can't agree, then a court case could follow in which Google may be obliged to regulate its search results according to EC strictures.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GOP plays down reports of imminent deal following suggestions Boehner had softened position on tax hikes for the rich President Barack Obama met Republican leader John Boehner at the White House on Monday morning amid signs of a breakthrough over the looming fiscal cliff budget crisis. Reports over the weekend suggested the House speaker had softened the Republicans' position on tax hikes for the rich, a key component of Obama's plan to tackle the US's $16tn debt. The two men have until December 31 to avert a year-end deadline that will trigger the expiration of wide-ranging tax breaks and the imposition of draconian spending cuts. Over the weekend, Boehner reportedly proposed several major compromises including raising taxes on those earning over $1m a year – as opposed to the president's proposed $250,000 threshold – as part of a plan to raise $1tn in higher tax revenues, up from an earlier proposal of $800bn. Boehner also reportedly agreed to postpone negotiations over US borrowing limits, which must be agreed by February, for one year. In June 2011 the argument over raising the debt ceiling resulted in an historic downgrade of US credit by ratings agency Standard & Poor's. Republicans moved to temper reports of a breakthrough, and the offer was quickly rejected by some Democrats, who argued that limiting the tax hike to millionaires was too small. Conservative group Club for Growth also condemned Boehners' proposal. "First Speaker Boehner offered to raise tax rates after promising not to, and now he's offering to raise the debt ceiling. Raising tax rates is anti-growth, and raising the debt ceiling is pro-government growth – and this is the Republican position?" said the group's president Chris Chocola in a statement. US stock markets rose on Monday morning as investors reacted positively to the news and political analysts saw the talks as a sign of possible compromise with less than two week to go until the end of the year. Sean West, a US policy analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, wrote in a note to clients: "The political burden is now shifted back to the president, who must be willing to take on his party in order to get a deal Boehner can ultimately pass. We do not think the president will overreach: Obama will work with Boehner to get to a deal."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Residents fear Assad loyalists will enter in search of rebel groups after refugees become drawn into conflict in Syria Syrian tanks have closed in on the entrances to the largest Palestinian camp in Damascus after battles between pro- and anti-Assad groups for the first time directly drew the country's refugees into the 21-month-old crisis. Skirmishes between Palestinian groups allied with the rebel Free Syria Army and other factions loyal to the Assad regime continued on Monday, a day after an air strike on a mosque in Yarmouk camp was thought to have killed around 20 people. Large numbers of residents of the camp, where most of Syria's 500,000 Palestinian population live, were making plans to leave, fearing the Syrian army, now on the camp's outskirts, would soon enter in pursuit of rebel groups, which include Palestinian militants who have turned on the regime long considered to be their protector. Lebanese officials at the Masnaa border crossing reported that several hundred Syrian Palestinians had arrived seeking refuge. The Free Syria Army said on Sunday it had launched an operation inside Yarmouk against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, a pro-regime group led by the veteran militant Ahmed Jibril, who is believed to have since fled with his supporters. Jibril's headquarters were later bombed. Rebel groups claimed to be in control of the camp, and by nightfall Syrian soldiers were reported to be in pursuit of them. Yarmouk, a large sprawling section from the south-west to the east of the capital, is in an area rebel groups have been trying to use as a stronghold from which to penetrate nearby parts of Damascus that are home to government institutions. Palestinians have enjoyed protection in Syria for the past 40 years by a regime that has often used them to showcase its resistance credentials. Until recently, the Palestinian community has largely stayed out of the political fray and the fight for Syria's destiny. However, the Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has abandoned its headquarters in Damascus and turned on Assad, has lately been increasingly vocal in its criticism of the regime. Quoting the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Taher al-Nunu, the Palestinian news organisation, Ma'an, condemned the regime air strike on Yarmouk. Hamas's deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk, now based in Egypt, demanded that all Palestinians and Syrian civilians be kept out of the fighting. Meanwhile, a PLO official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, condemned the Syrian regime's "criminal murder and destruction", and called on the international community to intervene. The battle for the Syrian capital has entered its second month, with neither side seemingly able to make advances. Regime forces still maintain a firm grip over their power base at the centre of the city, which include the security establishment and the presidential palace, while rebels remain undefeated on the outskirts of the city. Syria's vice-president, Farouk al-Sharaa, said neither the regime nor the opposition could win the civil war outright, and called for a negotiated solution to prevent widepsread destruction in the country.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Services for Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto take place on Monday as residents set up makeshift memorials as focus for grief Three days after it suffered one of the worst mass shootings in US history, Newtown in Connecticut will begin the dreadful process of burying the 27 victims on Monday, starting with two of the youngest children to be killed in their classrooms at Sandy Hook elementary school. The two boys to be buried included the youngest of all the children to have died, Noah Pozner, who turned six last month. He was described by a relative as a "really lively, smart kid" whose family had moved to Connecticut from Brooklyn for the quality and security of its schools. "That's one of the reasons they moved: for safety and education," the boy's uncle, Arthur Pozner, told Newsday. Rabbi Shaul Praver, who was leading the funeral in Fairfield, a town 25 miles away from Newtown, said he had spoken to the mother of the boy, whose twin sister was also at Sandy Hook elementary but survived. "I told the mother not to plan the rest of her life out right now because she says, 'What am I going to do without my baby?" The second funeral was for Jack Pinto, also six, whose main passion had been the New York Giants American football team. In photos, he was shown with an NY logo drawn on his face and "Go Giants!" tattooed in crayon on his hand. His favourite player was the receiver Victor Cruz, who played against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with "Jack Pinto, My Hero" written on his boots. As the town of about 25,000 people braces itself for so many funerals – of the 20 children, the six teachers and teaching assistants, as well as those of the shooter Adam Lanza and his mother, Nancy, whom he killed before setting off for the school – residents and visitors have been setting up makeshift memorials as a focus for communal grief. Sandy Hook fire house, where 20 sets of parents learned that their children would not be coming home, has become the main site of mourning. People drift to and from the growing memorial, some leaving flowers, others soft toys. Many just stand in silence. There is a Christmas tree for each victim, and a space in the middle of the festive shrubbery is filled with flowers, balloons and toys. Two awnings have been erected to shield the tributes and protect the hundreds of candles glowing against the damp greyness of the New England day. The decorations in the trees reflect the age of most of the victims. Teddy bears peer out from between the branches; toy rabbits and pigs have been placed at the base of other trees. Two Teletubbies sit in adjacent trees; a Kung Fu Panda balances precariously in another. Anika Tarne, 18, was reading some of the messages left by wellwishers. She moved to Newtown five months ago, from Hannover in Germany. "I just can't believe it's happened here," she said. Tarne is working as an au pair in Newtown during her gap year. "My au pair son is seven, but is at a different primary school." Her parents had called her after the shooting on Friday. "They were shocked and afraid," Tarne said. "They just cried, and then they were totally afraid that something could happen to me." The road down to the center of Sandy Hook is adorned with tributes to those killed. Many of the houses have erected banners asking for prayers or expressing hope. On the lawn of one home, 20 wooden angels have been placed, the two-foot high structures each with flowers and teddy bears at their feet. As schools across Connecticut reopened on Monday morning, there were signs of nervousness in the wake of Friday's terrible events. Schools in two towns close to Newtown were in lockdown after reports of suspicious individuals who may or may not have been armed. Police in Ridgefield, about 20 miles from the site of Friday's rampage, said they were looking "for a suspicious person at an elementary school". All schools were also in emergency procedures in Redding, about 10 miles from Newtown. Local police across the state were providing extra patrols outside schools, and messages have been sent from senior officers outlining safety plans in place. The education commissioner in Connecticut, Stefan Pryor, was sending a letter to all school boards in the state advising classroom teachers how to talk about the tragedy in Newtown with children. "In many instances, teachers will want to discuss the events because they are so recent and so significant, but they won't necessarily know how to go about it," Pryor said. In Newtown, all schools but one will reopen on Tuesday. Parents said they were apprehensive about the immediate future. "I feel like we have to get back to normal, but I don't know if there is normal any more," said Kim Camputo, a mother of two children aged five and 10. "I'll definitely be dropping them off and picking them up myself for a while." The one school that will remain closed – possibly for ever – is Sandy Hook elementary. Plans are being drawn up to send the children to temporary classes in an adjacent town. Plans for the longer term remain unclear for the almost 700 survivors of the school shooting. Lieutenant George Sinko of Newtown police said he would "find it very difficult" for the children to return to Sandy Hook, but stressed: "We want to keep these kids together. They need to support each other."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senior official at Chinese sovereign wealth fund says he isn't optimistic about the eurozone's prospects
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Kim Jong-il unveiled in state mausoleum a year after his death as rumours surface that Kim Jong-un may become a father Tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered in Pyongyang to mark a year since the death of Kim Jong-il, with the embalmed body of the former leader going on public display for the first time. But the solemn occasion was eclipsed by rumours of the imminent arrival of a new member of the Kim dynasty. TV images from Pyongyang showed the country's leader, Kim Jong-un and other members of the regime's inner-circle, paying their respects to his late father, who died of a heart attack on 17 December last year. But it was the telltale signs of pregnancy displayed by Jong-un's wife, Ri Sol-ju, which prompted most discussion among foreign observers and, according to reports, residents of the North Korean capital. The regime has never commented on the possibility that the Kims are about to witness the birth of a fourth generation, and Ri's billowing mourning dress – a traditional black hanbok – made it impossible to say for sure. South Korean media seemed convinced that the regime's first lady, who caused a stir when she was first seen accompanying Kim in July, is expecting. "Ri appeared to be in the late stages of pregnancy," the Yonhap news agency said. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the happy day was "not far away", while the Korea Herald cited a South Korean government official as saying that the birth was "imminent". Ri has been subject to as much speculation as the Kims, the family into which she reportedly married in 2009. Some press reports in South Korea claimed the couple already had a child, although that has never been confirmed. While ordinary North Koreans are reluctant to express anything other than undiluted admiration for the Kim family – in public at least – reports from Pyongyang said Ri's gravid appearance had prompted countless sotto voce discussions about a possible heir. The couple's appearance on Monday, though, was intended to be a wholly sober affair, as Kim Jong-il's embalmed corpse was displayed in a glass coffin in the Kumsusan mausoleum, a granite edifice on the capital's outskirts built to honour in perpetuity the cult and mythology of the Kims. Several floors above Kim, dressed in his trademark khaki jumpsuit, lies the embalmed remains of his father, North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung. The solemnity aside, Kim Jong-un could have been forgiven for feeling a sense of satisfaction one year after the 29-year-old arrived on the world stage as the secretive state's new, and practically unknown, leader. The first few weeks of his leadership were awash with rumours that his youth and inexperience would quickly prove his undoing; that disgruntled generals were simply biding their time before launching a coup. Even his older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, predicted his regime wouldn't last. One year on, what passes for civic life in Pyongyang does not seem to have changed. The public – and allegedly choreographed – outpouring of grief witnessed at Kim Jong-il's funeral last December was in evidence again on Monday. The sound of sobbing filled the hall where Kim Jong-il lay in state next to a small number of personal effects: his trusty parka, sunglasses and platform shoes and, more peculiarly, an open MacBook Pro laptop. Mourners were also granted a viewing of his yacht and the train carriage in which he reportedly died. The mausoleum was reopened on Monday, as it was on the first anniversary of the death of Kim Il-sung. In the plaza outside, recently turned into a grassy, tree-lined public park on Kim Jong-un's orders, tens of thousands of people braved freezing temperatures as the regime's leaders offered eulogies. Elsewhere in Pyongyang, North Koreans paused at noon to bow and pay their respects, while the country's flag flew at half-mast. Construction workers removed their hard hats and executed 90-degree bows while sirens blasted across the capital for three minutes. But for all the collective grief – real or fake – on display, the anniversary was partly a celebration of Kim Jong-un's first year in power, the high point of which came only last week with the successful launch of a satellite into space, eight months after a similar attempt ended in failure. Speaking outside the mausoleum, the North Korean military's chief political officer, Choe Ryong-hae, described the launch as "a political event with great significance in the history of Korea and humanity". As he reviews his first year in charge of country where an estimated third of the people are malnourished and resources poured into the military-first ideology created by his father, one wonders what Kim Jong-un makes of a recent plaudit from a more unexpected source. It emerged last week that he had been voted "person of the year" by readers of Time magazine, admittedly in an online vote that was heavily manipulated by the 4chan website. The magazine appears poised to deny him the accolade, however, hinting that the official winner, ultimately chosen by its editors, would be someone else when the result is announced on Wednesday. Kim Jong-un's year – timeline
April 2012 Named first secretary of the Korean Workers' party Surprises analysts by quickly admitting that an attempted satellite launch failed after the rocket carrying it disintegrated July Dismisses military chief in an apparently successful move to cement his authority and take control of economic policy Named as marshal, the highest rank in the country's military State media confirm Kim is married to Ri Sol-ju, a former singer thought to be in her late 20s Shows a lighter side on a visit with Ri to a newly opened amusement park Attends a concert featuring Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters Gets his own official theme song August Reunited with Kenji Fujimoto, the Japanese sushi chef to his father, Kim Jong-il, after an 11-year estrangement November Sees his name appear in 20-metre-tall letters as part of a hillside slogan that reads: "Long Live General Kim Jong-un, the Shining Sun!" Named "sexiest man alive" by the Onion; the joke is on the online version of China's communist party newspaper, which believes the accolade is genuine December Oversees the successful launch of a rocket, which later sends an earth observation satellite into orbit Named Time readers' person of the year Subject of speculation that he is about to become a father
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Governor Nikki Haley reportedly plans to announce GOP House member and Tea party favourite as Jim DeMint's replacement A Washington GOP official says South Carolina governor Nikki Haley has chosen Representative Tim Scott to replace Jim DeMint in the Senate. Scott, a Tea party-backed conservative, would be the first black senator in the state's history. He would take office in January after DeMint resigns to take the helm of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Scott would face an election in November 2014 should he seek a full term. The official spoke on condition of anonymity before the announcement had not yet been made. Haley has scheduled a noon news conference in Columbia, South Carolina.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Governor Nikki Haley's selection makes current congressman – and Tea party favourite – state's first black senator The announcement that Tim Scott has been appointed to fill South Carolina's vacant US Senate seat represents a remarkable turnaround both for Scott, a 47-year-old African American, and for the Republican party in America's Deep South. For Scott it marks a rapid rise from his election to South Carolina's state legislature just four years ago. For the Republican party Scott will be its first African American senator for more than 30 years – and the first from the south since the post-Civil War era known as Reconstruction. Scott, however, had already made history in 2010 when he was elected to represent South Carolina's first congressional district, becoming the first African American to be elected to Congress on the Republican party ticket by voters in the heartland of the old Confederacy. Charleston, Scott's home and the centre of his congressional district, was also the birthplace of fighting in the Civil War, where monuments to Confederate soldiers abound. To add to the piquancy, in the Republican party primary Scott handily defeated Paul Thurmond, the son of former senator Strom Thurmond, a name synonymous with implacable opposition to the civil rights movement and who switched to the Republican party in protest of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. It is Strom Thurmond's former Senate seat that Scott will now be filling, thanks to the decision by South Carolina governor to appoint him. Given the state's rock-solid record of support for the GOP in recent years, barring disaster or misfortune, Scott is virtually guaranteed to win the special election that will be held in 2014. Some in the Republican party have drawn parallels between Scott and Barack Obama; his rise has been nurtured in recent years by the Republican party's leadership, impressed by the carefully spoken and deeply conservative Charleston native, raised, like Obama, by a single mother. In his 2010 Republican primary Scott was supported by both the Tea party and more mainstream wings of the GOP, receiving backing from Sarah Palin and the then House whip Eric Cantor, as well as the nod from Jim DeMint, the man whose Senate seat he now takes up. Scott had become a grassroots favourite long before, when as a member of the Charleston county council he led a move to display the Ten Commandments outside the council chambers. The council ultimately had to remove the document and settle legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1998 after a court ruled the posting to be a violation of the separation of church and state. Scott was unrepentant: "I've always said and remain in this position: whatever it costs in the pursuit of this goal is worth it," he told the Associated Press. Throughout his career, Scott has avoided much discussion about race, telling the Monitor during the 2010 election season: "South Carolinians want someone who represents values more than someone who represents their face, their complexion." But he is proud to note that he was the first black Republican elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Born in Charleston, Scott's parents divorced when he was seven, and he attributes his belief in conservative values to his mother, a nurse. "By the time I entered high school, I was completely off track. My mother was working hard, trying to help me to realize that there was a brighter future, but I really couldn't see it," Scott wrote in 2010 at the launch of his congressional campaign. Then, he says, he had the good fortune to meet the owner of a Chick-fil-A fast food franchise next door to the movie theatre where he worked. "He taught me that if you want to receive, you have to first give. Embedded in that conversation, I came to realize, was the concept that my mother was teaching me about individual responsibility." From his mentor, Scott says, he was inspired to attend university and then start a thriving career as an insurance agent before taking his first steps into politics by running for the county council in 1995. For all Scott's history-making, his politics remain firmly on the right of the Republican party, although he eschews the theatrics of some of his Tea party-backed colleagues. During the 2011 congressional battle over raising the federal debt ceiling, Scott remained one of the Republican hold-outs, rejecting the deal agreed by the House leadership. In 2012 he was elected unopposed, winning 99% of the vote, with policies mirroring those of his party in the South: deep opposition to tax increases, Obamacare, unions, abortion and immigration reform. In 2010 Scott also declined to join the Congressional Black Caucus. Thanking the Democratic-dominated caucus for its invitation, Scott said: "My campaign was never about race."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senior official at Chinese sovereign wealth fund says he isn't optimistic about the eurozone's prospects
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | With fuel running low, Nasa took decision to stage 'controlled descent and impact' of probes into site near moon's north pole
Two spacecraft orbiting the moon are ending their mission by crashing into a lunar mountain at almost 4,000mph. The twin gravity recovery and interior laboratory (Grail) probes, known as Ebb and Flow, have spent almost a year mapping the moon's gravity in unprecedented detail. With their fuel running low, US space agency Nasa took the decision to stage a "controlled descent and impact". The alternative would have been to let the probes crash randomly which may have damaged places of historic interest, such as the Apollo landing sites. The spacecraft will be flown into a mountain on the edge of a crater near the moon's north pole. Both will hit the surface at 10.28pm UK time at a speed of 3,760mph. There will be no spectacular images of the impact because the region will be in shadow. Grail principal investigator Maria Zuber, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology said: "It is going to be difficult to say goodbye. Our little robotic twins have been exemplary members of the Grail family and planetary science has advanced in a major way because of their contributions." In one final experiment, the probes will fire their main engines until they have run out of fuel to determine the precise amount of propellant left in their tanks. This will help Nasa engineers come up with more accurate predictions of the fuel needs of future missions.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Global targets for combating the disease under threat as rate of increase in funding levels off, says WHO report The remarkable gains made in the treatment of malaria over the past decade are under threat because of insufficient increases in funding over the past two years, according to an annual progress report by the World Health Organisation. Mosquito nets have been key to bringing down the death toll from the disease but, according to the World Malaria Report 2012, these are no longer getting to the families that need them in sufficient quantities. There was a rapid and substantial expansion in funding for malaria control between 2004 and 2009, but between 2010 and 2012 the rate of increase levelled off. Last year, $2.3bn (£1.4bn) was made available, but that is less than half the $5.1bn (£3.2bn) estimated to be needed to control malaria every year. As a result, says the report, the number of long-lasting insecticide-impregnated nets delivered to endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa dropped from a peak of 145m in 2010 to an estimated 66m in 2012. Families will not be able to replace them when they need to – the useful life of a treated net is estimated to be about three years. "Nets delivered in 2007 and 2008 are therefore now due for replacement, soon to be followed by those delivered in 2009 and 2010," says the report. Indoor spraying programmes – to rid homes of mosquitoes – were also on the increase but have levelled off in line with funding. Between 2010 and 2011, indoor spraying coverage flatlined in the WHO African region, reaching only 11% of the population at risk. "During the past eight years, scaled-up malaria control helped us avert over a million deaths. We must maintain this momentum and do our utmost to prevent resurgences," said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia and chair of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, who held an official launch event for the report in Monrovia, Liberia. The report says millions of people continue to lack access to preventive therapies, diagnostic testing and quality-assured treatment. "Considerably more work is needed before the target of universal access to malaria preventive interventions, diagnostic testing and appropriate treatment will be attained," it says. There used to be talk of the potential elimination of malaria, but the levelling off of funds means that targets for controlling the disease are likely to slip. "Global targets for reducing the malaria burden will not be reached unless progress is accelerated in the highest burden countries," said Dr Robert Newman, director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme in Geneva. "These countries are in a precarious situation and most of them need urgent financial assistance to procure and distribute life-saving commodities." Another major concern is the growth of resistance to the newest and best antimalarial drugs – the artemisinin compounds. Deliveries of the drugs to affected countries have substantially increased, from 181m packs in 2010 to 278m in 2011, largely because of a scheme to subsidise their sale in the private sector. But the malaria parasite has proved adapt at developing resistance to drugs, which is why the old antimalarials no longer work in many countries. Resistance to artemisinins has been identified in four countries – Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. The WHO has recommended that artemisinins should only be used in combination with other drugs, which helps to prevent resistance, but the single drug is still allowed to be sold in 25 countries (mostly in Africa) and 28 pharmaceutical companies are still marketing them (mostly India-based).
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Australian court rules that woman, who was hurt when light fitting fell on her during sex in a motel, is entitled to compensation An Australian woman who was injured while having sex on an overnight work trip has won the right to compensation after a court dismissed her employer's argument that her injuries had not been sustained as part of her job. The woman, who can't be named for legal reasons, was hurt when a glass light fitting fell on her during sex in a motel on an overnight trip five years ago. She was treated in hospital for injuries to her nose and face and later suffered depression and was unable to continue in her job. She filed a case for compensation against her employer, a federal government agency, for her physical and psychological injuries. On the night in question in 2007, the woman was staying at a motel in the country town of Nowra, 100 miles south of Sydney. She had dinner with a man and then invited him back to her room where they had sex, during which a light fitting above the bed fell on her. In a statement, heard by a court in 2011, the man said he wasn't sure how the light fell: "I think she was on her back when it happened but I was not paying attention because we were rolling around," he said. His statement added that they had been "going hard" and he wasn't sure if they had bumped the light or if it had just fallen off. The woman's employer had initially accepted her claim for compensation, but later reversed its decision, saying the injury happened outside the course of her official duties. When the case went to court in 2011, the woman's lawyer, Leo Grey, said there was no suggestion the woman was engaged in any misconduct. He said she had been injured while engaging in "lawful sexual activity" and that there had "not been any rule that employees should not have anyone else in their room without express permission of their department". "This is not the 1920s, after all," Grey told the court. Grey argued that sex was "an ordinary incident of life" commonly undertaken in a motel room at night, like sleeping or showering. lawyers acting for ComCare, the woman's workplace insurer, argued that while people needed to sleep, eat and attend to their personal hygiene, they did not "need to have sex". The federal court judged that it did not matter whether she spent her evenings having sex or "playing card games", she was still, in effect, at work. "In the absence of any misconduct, or an intentionally self-inflicted injury, the fact that the applicant was engaged in sexual activity rather than some other lawful recreational activity while in her motel room does not lead to any different result," Justice John Nicholas said. Comcare was ordered to pay costs and must now appeal to the high court if it wants to overturn the decision. Its spokesman told Fairfax Media the agency was reviewing the judgment. "The issue is a significant one. Workers need to be clear about their entitlements and employers should have an understanding of their responsibilities and how to support their staff," he said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Victoria Soto, a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook elementary school has been hailed a hero after reportedly hiding her pupils in cabinets, saving all of their lives
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President addresses memorial for 26 people, 20 of them children, killed when gunman went on shooting spree at Sandy Hook elementary school
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Two of four detained men were members of rightwing Federal Freedom party but police deny ANC conference bomb plot Four white extremists have been arrested in South Africa over suspected acts of terrorism, police say. The raids were made on Sunday, the opening day of the African National Congress conference in Bloemfontein, Free State province. Police have denied reports of a rightwing plot to bomb the event. Brigadier Billy Jones, a police spokesman, said four people had been detained: one in Bloemfontein, one elsewhere in Free State, one in Gauteng, the province containing Johannesburg, and one in Limpopo province. "The suspects are aged between 40 and 50," he said. "Their premises were searched and evidence supporting the investigation was seized. "At this stage we are not linking any of the arrests with the conference at all. The acts of these suspects were countrywide." The four would be charged and brought before a court imminently while police investigate further, Jones added. "We are expecting to make more arrests, but we cannot reveal further details at the moment." The Federal Freedom party (FFP), a fringe group which claims it is pushing for self-determination for the country's Afrikaner minority, said at least two of the people arrested were believed to be members of the party. Francois Cloete, its national secretary, told Reuters: "We were not involved and do not associate ourselves with their actions." Cloete described the FFP, which was established two months ago, as a "party that promotes self-determination of the Afrikaner/Boer people in a confederal political model". More than 4,500 people, including President Jacob Zuma and dozens of ministers and top business people, are attending the five-day conference in Bloemfontein, in the municipality of Manguang, amid a heavy police presence. Meetings are being held on the campus of Free State University, which became infamous four years ago for a video showing white students humiliating black employees and urinating on their food. The few vehicles allowed onto the campus are searched by police and sniffer dogs, while all individual bags are inspected. One newspaper editor described the security arrangements as far more extreme than the last conference in 2007, indicating "paranoia". On Monday, two ANC spokespeople did not respond to the Guardian's requests for comment. A third denied any knowledge of the arrests, saying the party was focused on internal elections. Most white South Africans accepted the ANC's victory in the 1994 election that ended decades of racial apartheid and brought Nelson Mandela to power. But a dwindling handful continue to oppose the historic settlement. In July, a former university lecturer was found guilty of orchestrating a plot in 2002 to assassinate Mandela, overthrow the ANC and drive South Africa's black majority out of the country.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Police claim men were planning attack on South Africa's governing party at its national conference in Bloemfontein South African police have foiled a plot by suspected rightwing extremists to bomb a meeting of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), officers said on Monday. Four men, aged between 40 and 50, were arrested on Sunday before the start of the party's 53rd national conference, the police said in a statement. "They planned to plant a bomb in one of the tents," national police spokesman Phuti Setati said. The Federal Freedom party (FFP), a fringe group fighting for self-determination for South Africa's white Afrikaner minority, confirmed two of those arrested were FFP members but denied any role in the suspected plot. "We were not involved and do not associate ourselves with their actions," the FFP national secretary, Francois Cloete, told Reuters.About 5,000 ANC members – including President Jacob Zuma, government ministers and senior business people – are attending the conference in the central city of Bloemfontein under heavy police presence. Police have not issued more details of the alleged plot, but said the suspects would be charged and appear in court. The few vehicles that were being allowed on to the university campus hosting the meeting were being checked by police and sniffer dogs. "This would have been an act of terrorism that South Africa can ill afford," ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said. The vast majority of South Africa's whites accepted the ANC's victory in the 1994 election that ended decades of white-minority rule and brought Nelson Mandela to power. However, a tiny handful continues to oppose the historic settlement. In July, a former university lecturer was found guilty of orchestrating a 2002 plot aimed at assassinating Mandela, overthrowing the ANC and driving South Africa's black majority out of the country. Nominations for top party positions take place at the conference on Monday, with former union leader Cyril Ramaphosa – now South Africa's second-richest black businessman – well-placed to return to politics as Zuma's deputy. Sources close to Ramaphosa, who has been out of front-line politics for the last decade, were confident he would win the vote for the ANC deputy president position. Results of the internal election are expected on Tuesday. "The numbers are in our favour and we are going for it," said one ANC official backing Ramaphosa. "It's almost a done deal, Cyril is going to be our next deputy president."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President's allies steamroller opposition in vote widely seen on referendum on whether Chávismo can survive Chávez
Allies of the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, have steamrollered the opposition in gubernatorial elections, winning 20 of 23 states. The only good news for the opposition was the re-election of its leader, Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chávez in October's presidential vote. Sunday's vote came less than a week after Venezuela's leftist president had surgery in Cuba for cancer, for the fourth time. It was widely seen as a referendum on whether his socialist-inspired Bolivarian revolution movement has enough momentum to outlive him. Capriles's win sets him up as the presumed challenger to go up against the vice-president Nicolas Maduro, Chávez's handpicked successor in presidential elections that would be held within 30 days of the president's death or separation from office. "It really does underscore the fact that Chávismo really can survive, at least at the regional level, without Chávez," said Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American studies professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. "The reality is that the Chávistas today proved that their movement is institutionalised enough to sustain itself and to win statehouses in almost 90% of Venezuela." The vote was the first in the almost 14 years of Chávez's presidency in which he has been unable to actively campaign. He has not spoken publicly since having surgery on Tuesday. Jorge Rodríguez, campaign manager for the pro-Chávez camp, hailed the victory, saying it represented "the map painted red" – the colour of Chávez's Socialist party. The strong showing could give the president's confidants a freer hand to deepen his leftwing policies, including a drive to strengthen grassroots citizen councils that are directly funded by central government. The loss of ground by anti-Chávez candidates raises tough questions for the opposition. It lost five of its governorships, including the country's most populous state, Zulia, an important centre of the oil industry that is Venezuela's economic lifeblood. Capriles beat former vice-president Elias Jaua in the nation's second most populous state, Miranda, and his win will allow him to cement his position as the country's dominant opposition leader. His supporters celebrated, shouting while fireworks exploded overhead. Capriles told supporters in a victory speech that "it's difficult to come here and show a smile". "This is a difficult moment, but in every difficult moment opportunities emerge," Capriles said, wearing a tracksuit emblazoned with the yellow, blue and red of the Venezuelan flag. "We have to strengthen ourselves more." The 53% voter turnout was considerably lower than the more than 80% who cast ballots in October's presidential vote, when Chávez won another six-year term. Some said the closeness of the vote to Christmas and apparent apathy among some voters contributed to the relatively low turnout. "It seems like people are more interested in getting ready for Christmas than anything else," said Ricardo Méndez, a bus driver who voted for Jaua. Chávez's allies had framed the elections as a referendum on his legacy, urging people to dedicate the vote to the president. Banners went up on lampposts ahead of the vote reading "Now more than ever, with Chávez". The president meanwhile, remained out of sight in Cuba, recovering accompanied by his four children after his latest operation for pelvic cancer. David Smilde, a University of Georgia sociology professor, said the president's candidates benefited from Venezuelans' uncertainty about a future without Chávez and fears of losing benefits they've accrued under him. "I think with Chavez sick… it makes them think what would things be like without Chávez," Smilde said. "People are thinking of their own interest." There were complaints of improper campaigning on election day. While voting was under way, Maduro spoke on television urging supporters to vote, while opponents called his remarks a violation of electoral rules. Speaking at a news conference, Maduro implored voters: "Let's not fail Chávez." He addressed those who hadn't cast ballots yet, saying: "Let's not make a bad impression with our commander Chávez."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Car bomb explodes in Khyber tribal area next to women's waiting area of bus stop A car bomb exploded in a crowded market in Pakistan's troubled north-west tribal region, killing 17 people and wounding more than 40 others, officials said. The bomb went off on Monday next to the women's waiting area of a bus stop near the office of one of the top political officials in the Khyber tribal area, said Hidayat Khan, a local government official. But it was unclear if the office was the target. The 17 dead included five boys and two women, said Abdul Qudoos, a doctor at a local hospital in Jamrud town, where the attack occurred. At least 44 people were wounded, he said. Local TV footage showed several badly damaged cars and shops in the market. Residents threw buckets of water on burning vehicles as rescue workers took the wounded to hospital. The market was close to the office of the assistant political agent for Khyber, said Khan, who works in the office. Initial reports wrongly indicated the women's waiting area was for the political office, not the bus stop. No group immediately claimed responsibility. Khyber is home to various Islamist militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, who have waged a bloody insurgency against the government for the past few years. The army has carried out offensives against the Taliban in most parts of the tribal region, including Khyber, but militants continue to carry out regular attacks. Also on Monday, gunmen killed a provincial government spokesman in south-west Pakistan in an apparent sectarian attack, and then shot dead two nearby policemen, officers said. The attackers killed Khadim Hussain Noori in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, said local police official Hamid Shakeel. Noori was the provincial spokesman and also a Shia Muslim. As the gunmen sped away on a motorcycle, they killed two policemen and wounded a third, said Shakeel. Baluchistan has seen a spike in sectarian killings in the past year as radical Sunni Muslims have targeted Shias, whom they consider heretics. There has also been a decades-long insurgency by Baluch nationalists demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Explosion in women's waiting area of government office in Khyber region also wounds 40 people A bomb exploded in the women's waiting area of a government office in Pakistan's troubled tribal region, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 40 others, a government official said. The bombing targeted the office of the assistant political agent for the Khyber tribal area, one of the top local government officials, said Hidayat Khan, who works in the office. The office is in Jamrud, the main town in the Khyber tribal area. It was unclear whether the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber or a planted device. Local TV footage showed several cars badly damaged outside the office. Residents threw buckets of water on burning vehicles as rescue workers took the wounded to hospital. No group immediately claimed responsibility. Khyber is home to various Islamist militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, who have waged a bloody insurgency against the government for the past few years. The army has carried out offensives against the Taliban in most parts of the tribal region, including Khyber, but militants continue to carry out regular attacks. Also on Monday, gunmen killed a provincial government spokesman in south-west Pakistan in an apparent sectarian attack, and then shot dead two nearby policemen, police said. The attackers killed Khadim Hussain Noori in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, said local police official Hamid Shakeel. Noori was the provincial spokesman and also a Shia Muslim. As the gunmen were speeding away on a motorcycle, they killed two policemen and wounded a third, said Shakeel. Baluchistan has experienced a spike in sectarian killings in the past year as radical Sunni Muslims have targeted Shias, who they consider heretics. There has also been a decades-long insurgency by Baluch nationalists demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the province's natural resources.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ten girls aged nine to 13 killed and one seriously injured as they gathered firewood outside their village in eastern Afghanistan A forgotten Soviet-era landmine has killed 10 Afghan schoolgirls and seriously injured another in a grim reminder of the ongoing impact of decades of war on the country. The girls, all under 12, spent their mornings collecting wood to help their families through the bitter winter, and went to school in eastern Nangarhar province in the afternoon. They were unwittingly gathered round a long-buried landmine, splitting logs with a small hatchet, when the blows detonated the old explosives, said provincial police chief General Abdullah Stanekzai. "The bomb was from Russian times, and the girls were collecting wood and trying to break the wood, but underneath it was the bomb," Stanekzai said. Nine died instantly and one other died in hospital, where an 11th girl is battling for her life. Just one of the group escaped unharmed. "We found another two bombs at the site and defused them," Stanekzai added. The bomb went off in an area of low, forested slopes where the girls gathered wood every morning, said the spokesman for Nangarhar province Ahmad Zia Ahmadzai, who confirmed the death toll. Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, despite years of programmes to clear the land. Children are often victims of forgotten bombs as they play or work in remote rural areas. They also suffer badly from the current conflict; nearly one in five civilian casualties in the first half of this year were children, the United Nations said. "It was a British-made anti-tank mine," Abigail Hartley, the manager of the UN mine programme in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press. She said there were not enough pieces of the exploded mine to determine its exact make, but that two MK7 British mines were found nearby, so they assumed it was a similar mine that exploded. "I was having breakfast when I heard a bang. I came out of my house to see what had happened," villager Jan Mohammad told Reuters. "Later I carried three of the wounded children to the public health centre." They were buried the same day, in accordance with Islamic tradition. Photographs from the ceremony showed a crowd of relatives and neighbours praying round a poignant line of graves marked only by rough slate headstones. The tragedy came on the same day that a truck bomb in Kabul killed two civilians working for a US military contractor and wounded at least 15 others, and gunmen murdered an employee of the education ministry in southern Kandahar province. Kabul's police chief General Ayoub Salangi declined to say if the explosion in the capital was a suicide bombing or a car bomb detonated remotely. The bomb went off by the wall of a compound belonging to Contrack, a US company that builds facilities for military bases, injuring Afghan and foreign employees and killing two Afghans. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the compound was targeted because the firm was working with the government. In Kandahar the education ministry employee was killed by gunman as he was heading from work to classessaid Sher Agha Safai, head of the provincial education department.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ten girls aged nine to 13 killed and two seriously injured as they gathered firewood outside their village in eastern Afghanistan Ten girls were killed when a bomb or landmine exploded as they were gathering firewood outside their village in eastern Afghanistan, an official said. Police said they believed the device was an unexploded mine that had been laid years ago and was triggered as the girls walked through the open field on Monday morning. At least one other old mine was found nearby, provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussian Mashreqiwal said. He said the blast was not next to a road or any obvious target. The girls who died were aged from nine to 13 and came from different families in Dawlatzai village, said Mohammad Seddiq, the government administrator for Nangarhar province's Chaperhar district. Two more girls were seriously wounded and were in critical condition at a hospital, Seddiq told the Associated Press by phone from the site of the blast. Afghanistan remains one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world despite years of clearance. Many mines in rural areas are left over from the 1990s and are discovered only when triggered accidentally.
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