| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka killed by gunman who set property on fire in order to set up an ambush Two volunteer firefighters who were shot dead in upstate New York on Monday are believed to have been lured into a trap by a gunman who set a property alight and waited for first responders to arrive. The gunman, who also shot two other firefighters in the ambush, was later found dead from a gunshot wound at the scene in Webster, a quiet town about 12 miles from Rochester on the shore of Lake Ontario. At a press conference, Webster police chief Gerald Pickering fought back tears as he revealed the names of the two men who were killed – including a police lieutenant who gave up his free time to volunteer at the local fire station. Mike Chiapperini, 43, was a public information officer for Webster police department. Tomasz Kaczowka, whose age was not released, was a 911 dispatcher. "These people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. They don't expect to be shot and killed" said Pickering. He added: "Causative reasons we don't have a this time." Asked if he believed the fire had been started deliberately, Pickering replied: "It does appear it was a trap that was set for first responders." The other firefighters suffered "significant injuries" in the attack. Joseph Hofsetter received a complex bullet wound to the pelvis, while Theodore Scardino was hit in his right knee and left shoulder. Both remained in an intensive care unit at hospital in nearby Rochester on Monday. Neither man's injuries are life threatening, but they are likely to need lengthy medical treatment, a hospital spokeswoman said. An off-duty police officer who happened to be driving past the scene was also injured by shrapnel. The deaths come amid renewed demands for tougher gun laws, after the Newtown school shooting 10 days ago in which 20 children and seven adults were killed. On Sunday, the most powerful gun rights lobby group in the US, the National Rifle Association, vowed again to oppose any new restrictions and said it would not cooperate with a task force on gun violence which is to be led by vice-president Joe Biden. The fire took hold shortly before 6am Monday morning at a house on a narrow peninsula near the lake. After the shooting started, police evacuated 33 people from the immediate surroundings. Fire crews were forced to wait until the area had been secured, with the help of Swat teams, before tackling the blaze. By then the fire had spread to nearby buildings and a car. In all, four homes were destroyed and a further four damaged, police said. The gunman – who was fired at by the first police officer on the scene – was found dead from a gunshot wound. Pickering said it was not known if he had taken his own life or had been shot dead. His identity has not been released. Mindful of the debate over the ownership of assault rifles in the US following the recent mass shooting at a school in Connecticut, Pickering said it was too early to say what type of gun the shooter had used in the attack. So soon after the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school, focus will again turn to America's gun violence and lax controls of firearms. Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn lamented the rise in incidents of mass shootings. "It's sad to see that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Guardian understands that US intelligence officials helped Jihad Makdissi to flee, though details of journey are unknown The Syrian government's former spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is co-operating with US intelligence officials who helped him flee to Washington almost one month ago, the Guardian understands. Makdissi became one of the most prominent regime defectors in late November when he left Beirut after first crossing from Syria. The Guardian reported at the time that he had fled for the US, possibly in return for asylum. This has now been confirmed. The latest development comes after almost a month of debriefings, which have helped intelligence officials build a picture of decision-making in the inner sanctum of the embattled regime. Syrian officials have denied that Makdissi has defected, saying he had instead taken three months of administrative leave. However, at the time of his departure, Hezbollah's television network in Beirut – not known to be out of step with the regime line – announced that the spokesman's views had strayed from official positions and that he had been fired. The state department did not respond immediately to requests for comment, and the CIA was unwilling to discuss the story. Makdissi is the most senior member of the regime to defect since Syria's prime minister, Riyad Hijab, fled with his family to Jordan in August. While not a member of the inner sanctum, Makdissi was central to shaping the regime's message and privy to many of its most sensitive communications. Makdissi, a former senior diplomat at the Syrian embassy in London, worked closely with foreign minister, Walid al-Mouallem and information minister, Adnan Mahmoud, whom he dealt with regularly as security steadily decayed over the past 18 months. Despite the worsening situation, the Syrian security establishment has remained largely intact and committed to defeating the armed insurrection that aims to topple it. Key decision makers in Syria are largely drawn from the Alawite sect, to which Bashar al-Assad belongs. Intelligence officials in states that are hostile to the regime are not known to have close links to the inner sanctum. Until recently, debriefings of Hijab and former general, Manaf Tlass, both Sunni Muslims, have been instrumental in shaping western views of how decisions are taken in Syria and the influence of foreign stakeholders. Details of Makdissi's journey to the US are not yet known, although Britain has previously denied that he arrived in the UK after fleeing Beirut. Lebanese officials had previously suggested he was either staying with his family in a Christian area near Beirut or had been captured and returned to Syria.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Neighbourhood in Webster evacuated and Swat teams called in after first responders are targeted by 'one or more shooters' Two volunteer firefighters are reported to have been shot dead and two more injured while responding to a house blaze in upstate New York on Monday. A neighbourhood on the shore of Lake Ontario in Webster was evacuated and Swat teams deployed after the gunman opened fire, local television news reported. Emergency services were called to the fire at 6am. On arrival, they were targeted by "one or more shooters", local police chief Gerald Pickering told the Associated Press. Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said: "When they got there, they stated to take on rounds and the initial responders were struck." Monroe said that a Webster police officer responding to the shooting exchanged gunfire with the shooter, but he did not go into further detail. It is believed that four firefighters were shot in total, with two dying at the scene. The deaths come amid renewed demands for tougher gun laws, after the Newtown school shooting 10 days ago in which 20 children and seven adults were killed. On Sunday, the most powerful gun rights lobby group, the National Rifle Association, vowed again to oppose any new restrictions and said it would not cooperate with a task force on gun violence to be led by vice-president Joe Biden. The Webster fire started in one property, but it was left to spread to two more residences and a car while police searched for the gunman. It was only after Swat teams secured the area that firefighters were able to tackle the blaze. At a press conference shortly before 10am, police confirmed that there were no active shooters in the area, according to the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper. "The whole strip's been evacuated," a Webster resident, Michael Damico, told the Democrat and Chronicle. "They're evacuating all of the houses and going through them."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hope rests with Senate with a week to go until deadline to avoid tax rises and the Christmas holiday beginning US stock markets slid again on Monday, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill grew increasingly skeptical that a deal can be reached on the fiscal cliff budget crisis ahead of a year-end deadline. Investors were reacting to comments from senior politicians over the weekend that time had run out and the best available option was an interim patch to mitigate the 1 January imposition of mass tax hikes and spending cuts. With less than a week to go, all eyes are on the Senate after president Barack Obama urged senators to pass a stop-gap measure that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000, extend unemployment benefits and delay spending cuts until a full agreement can be reached. The Senate is now the last hope to avert the fiscal cliff after the collapse of negotiations between Obama and Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, last week. Boehner's scheme to launch his own "plan B" also failed after right-wing Republicans balked at a compromise on tax hikes. Obama is on vacation in Hawaii and will not return until after Christmas. On Sunday, senator Joe Lieberman told CNN: "We're going to spend New Year's Eve here, I believe... I told my colleagues they're just doing it to make sure that those of us who are retiring this year work every last day of our term." The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has fallen on two of the last three days, slipped again in early trading ahead of an early close for the Christmas holidays. On Friday the Dow lost 120 points, it's largest fall since November, as it became clear Washington was getting further away from a deal. Failure to reach a deal by 1 January will automatically end Bush-era tax cuts that the Tax Policy Center calculates will cost the average American $3,446 in 2013 and trigger across-the-board spending cuts. The combination, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will push the US back into recession and drive unemployment back up to 9.1% from the current 7.9%. Talks between Boehner and Obama appeared to be progressing last week as both sides gave ground. Obama increased the spending cuts he was prepared to make and Boehner reportedly proposed several major compromises, including raising taxes on those earning over $1m a year – as opposed to the president's original $250,000 threshold. But the Republican leader has been unable to convince his colleagues to go along with a negotiated plan or even his own "plan B". Tea Party activists told Associated Press over the weekend that they were determined to continue lobbying abainst compromise. "I want conservatives to stay strong," said Christine Morabito, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party. "Sometimes things have to get a lot worse before they get better." Steve Bell, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank, said the split in the Republican ranks made a deal look increasingly uncertain. "This is a continuation of the balkanisation of the Republican caucus that has been going on for four years," he said. He said that elements within the party were determined not to compromise and that Boehner would have to forge an agreement with Democrats and moderate Republicans that was likely to be worse than a deal he could have agreed if his party has hung together. "I see this a gross betrayal of the speaker," he said. "The consequences are likely to be negative for the economy. I'm very concerned about what the impact will be come January."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senator arrested in US capital after running a red light early on Sunday morning and bailed for 4 January court date A US senator was arrested early Sunday and charged with driving under the influence in a suburb of Washington, DC, authorities said. Michael Crapo, a Republican who represents Idaho in the Senate, was pulled over after his vehicle ran a red light, police in Alexandria said. He failed field sobriety tests and was arrested about 12:45am, according to a police spokesman, Jody Donaldson. Crapo was then taken to the Alexandria jail, from which he was released on an unsecured $1,000 bond at about 5am. "There was no refusal" to take sobriety tests, Donaldson said, and "no accident, no injuries. Just a traffic stop that resulted in a DUI." The police said that Crapo, who was alone in his vehicle, had registered a blood alcohol content of 0.11%. The legal limit in Virginia is 0.08%. Crapo, 61, has a 4 January court date. "I am deeply sorry for the actions that resulted in this circumstance," he said in a statement on Sunday night. "I made a mistake for which I apologize to my family, my Idaho constituents and any others who have put their trust in me. I accept total responsibility and will deal with whatever penalty comes my way in this matter. I will also undertake measures to ensure that this circumstance is never repeated." A spokesman for Crapo declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding his arrest. Crapo has been in the Senate since 1999, and served for six years in the House of Representatives before that. He was easily re-elected in 2010, and will not have to run again until 2016. Crapo has built a reputation as a staunch social and fiscal conservative. It had been expected that he would take over the top Republican spot next year on the Senate banking committee. He also serves on the Senate's budget and finance panels, and was one of the "gang of six" senators who worked in 2011 toward a deficit-reduction deal that was not adopted by Congress. Crapo grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and was named a bishop in the Mormon Church at age 31. He is a lawyer who graduated from Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Susan, have five children and three grandchildren.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A day after police quell rising anger with teargas and water cannons, PM calls for calm and promises justice for victim The prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, called for calm on Monday in a televised public address a day after police used baton charges, water cannons and teargas to disperse crowds of demonstrators calling for stronger measures to combat the wave of sexual violence towards women in the country. The brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old in the capital, Delhi, has provoked widespread anger, focused largely on the police, politicians and senior officials, and has dominated news bulletins since the attack eight days ago. The victim, a physiotherapy student who was returning home with a friend from a film in the south of the capital, is still in a critical condition. Six men have been arrested and face life imprisonment if convicted of any role in the assault, which took place over an hour on a bus travelling on main roads in the capital. Singh, 80, admitted that there was "genuine and justified anger and anguish" but called on "all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm". "We will make all possible efforts to maintain safety of women in this country … [and] punishment to those who commit these monstrous crimes," he said. There was some angry reaction to the inadvertant broadcast of Singh asking "thik hai?" ("was that ok?") after his final sentence. A massive security operation has shut down much of Delhi with metro stations closed around the centre and police roadblocks keeping out all traffic. Local television broadcast images of ambulances carrying patients including children needing emergency treatment stuck in vast traffic jams. The venue for a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin was moved at the last minute. With opposition politicians now increasingly outspoken, the issue is becoming a major problem for the beleaguered Congress party, which leads a coalition government, and has been unable to shake off claims of incompetence and being out of touch. Singh and other Congress politicians, most of whom are elderly, have repeatedly struggled over recent years to communicate to the youthful population. Many protesters have called for the death sentence to be imposed for rape.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A day after police quell rising anger with teargas and water cannon PM calls for calm and promises justice for gang rape victim The prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh, called for calm on Monday in a televised public address a day after police used baton charges, water cannon and teargas to disperse crowds of demonstrators calling for stronger measures to combat the wave of sexual violence towards women in the country. The brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old in the capital, Delhi, has provoked widespread anger, focused largely on the police, politicians and senior officials, and has dominated news bulletins since the attack eight days ago. The victim, a physiotherapy student who was returning home with a friend from a film in the south of the capital, is still in a critical condition. Six men have been arrested and face life imprisonment if convicted of any role in the assault, which took place over an hour on a bus travelling on main roads in the capital. Singh, 80, admitted that there was "genuine and justified anger and anguish" but called on "all concerned citizens to maintain peace and calm". "We will make all possible efforts to maintain safety of women in this country … [and] punishment to those who commit these monstrous crimes," he said. There was some angry reaction to the inadvertant broadcast of Singh asking "thik hai?" ("was that ok?") after his final sentence. A massive security operation has shut down much of Delhi with metro stations closed around the centre and police roadblocks keeping out all traffic. Local television broadcast images of ambulances carrying patients including children needing emergency treatment stuck in vast traffic jams. The venue for a meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin was moved at the last minute. With opposition politicians now increasingly outspoken, the issue is becoming a major problem for the beleagured Congress party, which leads a coalition government, and has been unable to shake off claims of incompetence and being out of touch. Singh and other Congress politicians, most of whom are elderly, have repeatedly struggled over recent years to communicate to the youthful population. Many protesters have called for the death sentence to be imposed for rape.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Shooting inside police headquarters in Kabul is the first attack on foreigners by a woman serving in the national security forces An Afghan female police officer has shot dead a US adviser in police headquarters in Kabul, the first attack on foreigners by a woman serving in the national security forces. "Today at 10am a female police constable opened fire on an American adviser with a pistol," Daoud Amin, deputy provincial police chief for Kabul said on Monday. "He was seriously wounded, they took him to hospital and he passed away there." The woman has been arrested, and Amin said police were investigating the shooting, which is the latest in a string of insider attacks on the foreign troops by Afghan police and soldiers they mentor and fight alongside. There have been very few female combatants among insurgent ranks in conservative and male-dominated Afghanistan, although the Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack. A spokesman said the group was investigating the shooting. The dead man, who has not been named, worked for the Nato-led mission in Afghanistan. Nato confirmed the shooting but declined to comment on his nationality or precise role. Over 60 soldiers and civilian advisers have been killed in 46 shootings this year, compared with 35 deaths in all of 2011. They account for nearly one in six of all Nato casualties in Afghanistan, and risk undermining the entire mission as it shifts towards a focus on training. However, it was unprecedented to have a woman pulling the trigger and unusual to have an attack at such a high-level office, although two officers were shot dead in the interior ministry at the start of the year. The woman was confused and weeping, according to a police source from a gender awareness section of the interior ministry, which supervises the police. "She is crying and saying 'what have I done,'" Reuters news agency quoted the source saying. Nato commanders argue that the attackers account for the tiniest portion of security forces, now more than 300,000 strong, and many shootings are driven by personal grudges rather than ideology. But infiltration might be easier to spot or tackle systematically than the chance collision of personal problems and anger at western troops. And the shooters' motivation has no bearing on how the attacks affect sentiment both in Afghanistan and the countries that lose soldiers. In a bid to tackle the growing problem there are now intelligence agents undercover in many Afghan army units to seek out insurgent sympathisers, and Nato has created a system of "guardian angel" – soldiers who watch over fellow troops when they are with armed Afghan forces. • Mokhtar Amiri contributed reporting
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Commander Job W Price died from non-combat related injury while supporting operations in Uruzgan province US military officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy Seal commander in Afghanistan. Navy Seal Commander Job W Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday from a non-combat-related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. A US military official said the death "appears to be the result of suicide". The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated. "The Naval Special Warfare family is deeply saddened by the loss of our teammate," said Captain Robert Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which manages all Virginia-based Navy Seal teams. "We extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and NSW community during this time of grieving." Smith added: "As we mourn the loss and honour the memory of our fallen teammate, those he served with will continue to carry out the mission.". A US military official confirmed Price was from Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Seal Team 4, which is part of the mission to train Afghan local police to fend off the Taliban in remote parts of Afghanistan. Price is survived by a wife and a daughter.
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