| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | William Spengler killed two men after luring firefighters to blazing homes beside Lake Ontario The ex-convict who lured two firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of gunfire left a typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down his New York state neighbourhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said on Tuesday. Police chief Gerald Pickering said William Spengler, 62, who served 17 years in prison for the 1980 hammer killing of his grandmother, armed himself with a revolver, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle before he set his house in Webster on fire before dawn on Christmas Eve. Two firefighters were shot dead and two were hospitalised. Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him on a narrow spit of land along Lake Ontario. Pickering said one of the weapons recovered was a .233-caliber semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle, the same make and calibre gun used in this month's school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. The note left by Spengler did not give a motive for the shootings, said Pickering, who declined to divulge the note's full contents. He read one line: "I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best, killing people." Pickering said authorities were still looking for Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, who lived with him. Their mother, Arline, lived with the pair until she died in October. Neighbour Roger Vercruysse said Spengler hated his sister and doted on his mother. "He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, but "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other". Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived to put out the fire, Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots. Authorities said Spengler had done nothing to bring cause concern since his parole. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to possess weapons. Pickering said the police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives". A police vehicle was used to recover the two bodies and it also removed 33 people from nearby homes. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes. The dead men were identified as Lt Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster police department's public information officer, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, an emergency dispatcher. Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man". The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in stable condition on Tuesday, Pickering said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Mohamed Morsi wins support for measure amid growing fears for Egyptian economy Egypt's electoral commission announced on Tuesday that voters had approved overwhelmingly the constitution drafted by President Mohamed Morsi's Islamist allies. Final figures from the elections commission showed the constitution was backed by 63.8% of voters, giving Islamists their third straight victory at the polls since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in a 2011 revolution. The yes vote, on an official turnout of 32.9%, paves the way for a parliamentary election in about two months' time. Morsi's leftist, liberal, secularist and Christian opponents had taken to the streets to protest, saying the new constitution would dangerously mix politics and religion, but the president insists it offers sufficient protection for minorities and is necessary to end two years of turmoil and political uncertainty that has wrecked the economy. Standard and Poor's cut Egypt's long-term credit rating on Monday. Hours before the result was announced, the authorities imposed a new ban on travelling in or out of the country with more than $10,000 (£6,200) in foreign currency to halt capital flight. Some Egyptians had withdrawn their savings from banks in fear of tougher restrictions. The result of the referendum, held on 15 December and 22 December, was a disappointment for the opposition which had put pressure on the authorities to recount the result to reflect what they have described as major vote violations. "We have seriously investigated all the complaints," said judge Samir Abu el-Matti of the supreme election committee. Cairo, gripped by often violent protests in the runup to the vote, appeared calm after the announcement and opposition groups have announced no plans for demonstrations to mark the result. Prime minister Hisham Kandil said on Tuesday: "The main goals that the government is working towards now is plugging the budget deficit and working on increasing growth to boost employment rates, curb inflation, and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports." The central bank said on Monday it would take steps to safeguard bank deposits, without giving any details. "I have been hearing that the central bank is going to take over all our bank deposits to pay wages for government employees given the current deteriorating economic situation," said Ayman Osama, a father of two young children. He said he had taken out the equivalent of about $16,000 from his account this week and planned to withdraw more and he had told his wife to buy more gold jewellery. "I am not going to put any more money in the bank and neither will many of the people I know," he said. Hossam El-Din Ali, a 35-year-old newspaper vendor in central Cairo, said the new constitution would help bring some political stability but, like many others, he feared the possible economic austerity measures lying ahead. "People don't want higher prices. People are upset about this," he said. "There is recession, things are not moving. But I am wishing for the best, God willing."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Bad weather contributes to major accident on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma A major winter storm brought a rare white Christmas to the southern US plains, contributing to a 21-vehicle accident that shut down Interstate 40 in Oklahoma. The storm system surging east from Kansas and the Texas Panhandle brings the threat of tornados and severe thunderstorms along its southern fringe, from south-east Texas to Alabama, said the National Weather Service. The storm is expected to bring blizzard conditions and 6-8 inches (15-20cm) of snow as it strengthens and moves north-east into the upper Ohio River valley through southern Missouri and Illinois. Freezing drizzle overnight led to 10 separate collisions on Interstate 40 at Oklahoma City just before 3am, said the Oklahoma highway patrol. The 21-vehicle crash forced the closure of the westbound lanes for about five hours. Twelve people were taken to hospitals. Oklahoma City has only had measurable amounts of Christmas Day snow on a few occasions. Its biggest Christmas snowfall was 6.5 inches (16.2 cm) in 1914. Parts of eastern West Virginia are under a winter storm warning. Ice accumulations of up to half an inch (1.25cm) are expected in higher elevations, the National Weather Service said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | South African president says doctors are happy with 94-year-old's progress Nelson Mandela is in good spirits and is looking much better' said President Jacob Zuma after paying a Christmas morning visit to the 94-year-old former South African president in a Pretoria hospital. Mandela was admitted for care on 8 December and has been treated for a lung infection and gallstones at an undisclosed hospital. It is the longest time he has spent in hospital since his release in 1990, after 27 years in prison. Zuma said he had visited 'Madiba'' – the clan name by which Mandela is known to South Africans – alongside the former president's wife, Graça Machel and members of the Mandela family. "We found him in good spirits. He shouted my clan name, Nxamalala, as I walked into the ward. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making.'' Prayers were said for the elder statesman at midnight masses and Christmas Day services across South Africa. The African National Congress and the Zulus' King Goodwill Zwelithini had earlier sent their good wishes and calls for prayers. Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told the Guardian that Mandela had "quite boisterously'' called out Zuma's clan name. ''Very few people use that name. When you use a clan name, you don't just say it, you actually shout it.'' Maharaj did not disclose details of Mandela's condition but said he was being treated by a top team of specialists. ''I think it is quite legitimate with a 94-year-old to be cautious. You want to be absolutely sure that progress has reached such a stage that everyone is confident [before discharging them]. An infection in the lung can have a side effect in the toe, then go back to the chest. You cannot be too careful.'' He said he would not disclose the hospital at which Mandela is being treated. "Let us not crowd him. I want to shield him and I really want to shield the family,'' said Maharaj, 77, who visited Mandela last week and is a close friend. From 1964 until 1976, Maharaj served hard labour alongside Mandela at Robben Island prison, off Cape Town, where both men worked in a limestone quarry. Mandela contracted tuberculosis during that time. Mandela, who was president of South Africa from 1994 – 1999, retired from public life in 2004. He was last seen in public in July 2010, during the closing ceremony of the World Cup, when he was driven through Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on an electric golf cart. He has been admitted to hospital in Johannesburg and Pretoria three times in the past two years, including for an acute respiratory infection in January 2011. In May this year, the presidency announced that he had moved permanently to Qunu, a rural village in the Eastern Cape, where he spent much of his childhood. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, visited him there in August. On 5 December, shortly before Mandela's latest admission to hospital, a South African air force Dakota plane crashed en route from Pretoria to Mthatha — close to Qunu. Reports said up to 11 people died in the crash in poor visibility in Giant's Castle, in the Drakensberg mountains. The route is used every week by members of Mandela's security and medical team, prompting speculation – denied by the air force – that the flight was carrying medical personnel, medicines or equipment for the elder statesman.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Plan brings total approvals to 5,500 in just over a week as right urges Binyamin Netanyahu to drop two-state solution pledge Israel has given the green light for the fast-track development of a further 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem. It brings the total number of new approvals to 5,500 in just over a week, the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory. The latest plan, which would see almost 1,000 new apartments built over Jerusalem's green line in Gilo, comes as the Israeli media is reporting mounting pressure on the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to drop his commitment to a two-state solution from his platform for re-election in January. The agreement for the Gilo development is only the latest in wave of settlement approvals in Jerusalem agreed by the country's interior ministry and Jerusalem municipality's planning committees before Christmas. That included proposals, which attracted international criticism, to develop the controversial E1 block to the east of Jerusalem. Although Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, is still expected to win the most seats in the 22 January vote, a new poll suggests he has been losing ground since Lieberman was indicted on anti-trust charges this month and forced to step down as foreign minister. A poll conducted by Dialog gives 35 of parliament's 120 seats to Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu list, down from 39 in the previous Dialog survey. The centrist Labor party polled second, with 17 seats. The poll shows a continued surge by the rightwing Jewish Home party. Its leader, Naftali Bennett, stirred up a storm last week by saying he would resist evacuating settlements if ordered to do so as a reserves soldier. The issue of Israel's illegal settlements has come to be a lightning-rod issue in the elections, even as Israel has faced mounting pressure to halt settlement expansion. The latest wave of approvals followed a vote in the UN's general assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to observer status at the United Nations despite US and Israeli opposition. With some critics of Israeli settlement policy arguing that the latest approvals mark the death knell for the two-state solution, it has emerged that some members of Netanyahu's own party are also pushing for him to remove his commitment to a future Palestinian state from his election platform. Netanyahu signed up to the two-state solution in a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University, but senior officials from his party, who spoke anonymously to Haaretz, told the paper he was facing increasing pressure to abandon that position. "Dividing the land will bring about Israel's destruction," one senior Likud official told the newspaper. "We've said that in the past and we say it today. How does this sit with recognising a Palestinian state?" A second senior party official added: "Likud's platform to date has not recognised the establishment of a Palestinian state, and Yisrael Beiteinu rejects outright the possibility that a Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Plan brings total approvals to 5,500 in just over a week Israel has given the green light for the fast-track development of a further 1,200 settlement units around Jerusalem. It brings the total number of new approvals to 5,500 in just over a week, the largest wave of proposed expansion in recent memory. The latest plan, which would see almost 1,000 new apartments built over Jerusalem's green line in Gilo, comes as the Israeli media is reporting mounting pressure on the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, to drop his commitment to a two-state solution from his platform for re-election in January. The agreement for the Gilo development is only the latest in wave of settlement approvals in Jerusalem agreed by the country's interior ministry and Jerusalem municipality's planning committees before Christmas. That included proposals, which attracted international criticism, to develop the controversial E1 block to the east of Jerusalem. Although Netanyahu, who leads a coalition with the ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman, is still expected to win the most seats in the 22 January vote, a new poll suggests he has been losing ground since Lieberman was indicted on anti-trust charges this month and forced to step down as foreign minister. A poll conducted by Dialog gives 35 of parliament's 120 seats to Netanyahu's Likud-Beiteinu list, down from 39 in the previous Dialog survey. The centrist Labor party polled second, with 17 seats. The poll shows a continued surge by the rightwing Jewish Home party. Its leader, Naftali Bennett, stirred up a storm last week by saying he would resist evacuating settlements if ordered to do so as a reserves soldier. The issue of Israel's illegal settlements has come to be a lightning rod issue in the elections, even as Israel has faced mounting pressure to halt settlement expansion. The latest wave of approvals followed a vote in the UN's general assembly to upgrade the Palestinian Authority to observer status at the United Nations despite US and Israeli opposition. With some critics of Israeli settlement policy arguing that the latest approvals mark the death knell for the two-state solution, it has emerged that some members of Netanyahu's own party are also pushing for him to remove his commitment to a future Palestinian state from his election platform. Netanyahu signed up to the two-state solution in a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University, but senior officials from his party, who spoke anonymously to Haaretz, told the paper he was facing increasing pressure to abandon that position. "Dividing the land will bring about Israel's destruction," one senior Likud official told the newspaper. "We've said that in the past and we say it today. How does this sit with recognising a Palestinian state?" A second senior party official added: "Likud's platform to date has not recognised the establishment of a Palestinian state, and Yisrael Beiteinu rejects outright the possibility that a Palestinian state could be established alongside Israel."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Interior ministry claims Segeant Nargas, accused of killing Joseph Griffin, came from Iran 10 years ago An Afghan official says the policewoman who killed a US consultant in Kabul is an Iranian who came to Afghanistan 10 years ago with her husband and obtained a fake ID through him. Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said on Tuesday she had displayed "unstable behaviour" but that the investigation revealed no militants links so far. On Monday, the policewoman identified only as Sergeant Nargas shot 49-year-old Joseph Griffin, of Mansfield, Georgia, in what was the first such shooting by a woman in a spate of insider attacks by Afghans against their foreign allies. The US-based security firm DynCorp International says on its website that Griffin was a U.S. military veteran who had earlier worked with law enforcement agencies. In Kabul, he was advising the Afghan police force and was killed on Monday morning. 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. More than 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 bigger 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.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Festivities mark 'birth of Christ and birth of state of Palestine', patriarch tells crowds Deep in the Grotto of the Nativity, where a 14-point silver star set into a marble slab marks the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, the atmosphere of spiritual serenity seemed a world away from the swirling, and occasionally fractious, Christmas Eve crowds above. Midnight mass at St Catherine's was the finale to a day of celebration and ceremony in Bethlehem, boosted this year by being the first Christmas since the United Nations recognised the state of Palestine last month and the Nativity church was named a world heritage site by the UN's cultural arm, Unesco, in June. Sweet piercing singing echoed around the grotto, beneath the 4th-century Church of the Nativity's cavernous nave, as midnight approached. Nuns and pilgrims perched on steep stone steps leading to the small chapel, most apparently locked in silent prayer. Many knelt to kiss the site where the newborn Jesus had lain in his crib. Outside the church, thousands of people packed Bethlehem's Manger Square, flanked by the Church of the Nativity at one end and St Omar's mosque at the other. Despite the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis, no expense had been spared on festive lighting throughout the city, culminating in a 15-metre (50ft) Christmas tree, lit by thousands of green and gold lights. Hawkers of sweet tea, thick Arabic coffee and lurid pink candy floss were doing good business, along with falafel and shawarma stands on the edge of the square. Close to the church, armed police set up crash barriers to hold back the crowds and channel those in possession of precious crested tickets through to midnight mass. Occasional mild altercations broke out as police blocked entry to the ticketless, or delayed passage into the church to allow for the arrival of dignitaries, including the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. Inside St Catherine's, the Franciscan church within the Nativity complex, worshipers who had failed to secure a place on the wooden pews beneath the soaring arches sat on the floor, leaned against pillars and crowded into aisles. As the service was conducted in at least four languages, mobile phones were raised above the heads of those without a view to record the service in the hope of reliving it later. A baby in a miniature Santa outfit slept throughout on a pew, his arms flung above his head. The Latin Patriarch, the most senior Catholic figure in the Holy Land, led a procession from Jerusalem's Old City to Bethlehem's Manger Square, stopping at the Mar Elias monastery between the two cities, close to where Israel's first new settlement since 1997 is to be built following official authorisation last week. The procession entered Bethlehem through a massive metal gate in the imposing concrete wall separating the city from Jerusalem, opened specially for the occasion by the Israeli military, which controls exit and entry. In his address, the patriarch, Fouad Twal, said this year's festivities celebrated both "the birth of Christ our Lord and the birth of the state of Palestine". But, he added, "the path [to statehood] remains long, and will require a united effort". He appealed to "politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East. Please continue to fight for a just cause to achieve peace and security for the people of the Holy Land." Around Manger Square, traffic congestion threatened outbreaks of Christmas road rage. In the plaza, the drums and bagpipes of at least two dozen Palestinian scout groups competed with pilgrim choirs and the Muslim call to prayer, emanating from St Omar's mosque. A group of young women in traditional Palestinian dress greeted the patriarch. "I am wearing this to show that our history and our culture is not dead, that there is a connection from the past to the future," said Selina Mukarker, 16, clad in a robe which she said was 120 years old. She described her Bethlehem childhood as "living in a big cage". The crowd was overwhelmingly Palestinian. The number of foreign tourists visiting Bethlehem over Christmas was thought to be down from last year, after cancellations following the eight-day conflict between Israel and Gaza last month. However, Palestinian tourism officials were encouraged by increasing numbers opting to stay overnight in the biblical city instead of being bussed in and out by Israeli tour operators. Christoph Fuchs, 22, a student from Munich, said he was not surprised by the presence of the wall and Israeli settlements around Bethlehem as he had previously visited the city four years ago. "But it's still depressing. Everything seems just as bad," he said. Meanwhile, Jerusalem planning officials approved on Christmas Eve the construction of more than 1,200 new homes in the settlement of Gilo, which overlooks Bethlehem. Amid the Manger Square crowd, Nour Odeh, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Authority, said the UN vote "has made us feel we are not alone any more". Christmas was "a time to set aside the difficulties of being Palestinian. It is a time for hope."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pontiff addresses crowds in St Peter's Square and millions viewing at home for annual Urbi et Orbi message Pope Benedict used his Christmas message to the world to say people should never lose hope for peace, even in conflict-riven Syria and in Nigeria where he spoke of "terrorism" against Christians. Marking the eighth Christmas season of his pontificate, the 85-year-old read his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) message to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square and to millions of others watching around the world. Delivering Christmas greetings in 65 languages, Benedict used the Biblical analogy of the "good soil" to underscore his view that the hope represented by Christmas should never die, even in the most dire situations. "This good earth exists, and today too, in 2012, from this earth truth has sprung up! Consequently, there is hope in the world, a hope in which we can trust, even at the most difficult times and in the most difficult situations," he said. In his virtual tour of the some of the world's trouble spots, he reserved his toughest words for Syria, Nigeria and Mali. "Yes, may peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenceless and reaps innocent victims," he said. "Once again I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict." The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics also condemned conflicts in Mali and Nigeria, two countries where Islamist groups have waged violent campaigns. "May the birth of Christ favour the return of peace in Mali and that of concord in Nigeria, where savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians," he said. Benedict also held out a Christmas olive branch to the new government in China, asking is members to "esteem the contributions of religions". China does not allow its Catholics to recognise the pope's authority, forcing them to be members of a parallel state-backed Church. Late on Monday night, Benedict presided over a Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's Basilica, where he urged people to find room for God in their fast-paced lives filled with the latest technological gadgets. "Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself? We begin to do so when we have no time for him," he said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Christmas message, pontiff says he hopes countries affected by Arab spring will build societies 'founded on justice' Pope Benedict has used his traditional Christmas message to call for an end to hostilities in Syria, which he said is "reaping innocent victims". "Once again I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict," said the pope in his address to thousands from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica. The message followed the homily Benedict gave at mass in St Peter's on Christmas Eve, when he likened Joseph and Mary to today's refugees and migrants, stating: "The great moral question of our attitude towards the homeless, towards refugees and migrants, takes on a deeper dimension: do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof?" Sounding hoarse at times, the 85-year-old pontiff also called on Christmas Day for Israelis and Palestinians to find the "courage to end long years of conflict and division". He said he hoped countries undergoing change following the Arab spring, "especially the beloved land of Egypt, blessed by the childhood of Jesus", would work to build societies "founded on justice and respect for the freedom and dignity of every person". Benedict called for greater respect for religious communities in China, which does not allow Catholics to respect papal authority, and called for peace in Mali. He also cited "savage acts of terrorism" in Nigeria and "brutal attacks" against civilians and places of worship in Kenya. The Christmas Eve mass at St Peter's, traditionally held at midnight, was brought forward to 10pm to give Benedict more rest before his Christmas Day speech. Smiling to pilgrims and dressed in gold-coloured vestments, Benedict was pushed up the aisle of St Peter's on a wheeled platform which he has adopted to save energy. In his Christmas Eve homily, Benedict lamented the fast pace of modern life, stating: "The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full," he said. "There is no room for him. Not even in our feelings and desires is there any room for him. We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold of, we want happiness that is within our reach, we want our plans and purposes to succeed. We are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God." The pope did find time on Christmas Eve to tweet a response to a question about Christmas traditions in his own family. "The cribs that we built in our home gave me much pleasure," he wrote. "We added figures each year and used moss for decoration."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | South African president says doctors are happy with 94-year-old's progress Nelson Mandela is looking much better after more than two weeks in hospital, the South African president has said after visiting him in hospital on Christmas morning. Jacob Zuma said in a statement that doctors were happy with the progress the elder statesman was making. "We found him in good spirits. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making," said Zuma. The 94-year-old Nobel peace laureate has been in hospital in Pretoria for more than two weeks after being admitted for routine tests and then undergoing surgery to remove gallstones. Zuma, who has just been re-elected as president of the ruling African National Congress party, last week described Mandela's condition as serious. Periodic statements from the presidency continue to stress that the veteran politician is responding to treatment. No date has been given for his release from hospital. Mandela retired from public life in 2004 after serving one term as South Africa's first black president.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The big day has come, the parcels are unwrapped ... but what was inside? Tell us about your best (and worst) presents Guardian writers can be a miserable bunch. December had barely begun before George Monbiot was bah-humbugging about the planet-destroying nature of many of the "gifts" we give our loved ones: There's nothing they need, nothing they don't own already, nothing they even want. So you buy them a solar-powered waving queen; a belly-button brush; a silver-plated ice cream tub-holder; a "hilarious" inflatable Zimmer frame; a confection of plastic and electronics called Terry the Swearing Turtle; or – and somehow I find this significant – a Scratch Off World Map.
They seem amusing on the first day of Christmas, daft on the second, embarrassing on the third. By the twelfth they're in landfill. A few days later, five more of our resident miserablists remembered the worst Christmas present they had ever received – for Jon Henley it was a scratchy vest knitted by his granny, for Paula Cocozza a model of the Millennium Dome hastily made from an upturned cereal bowl and 12 matchsticks. Not to be outdone, Charlie Brooker looked around at the hordes of austerity-defying pre-Christmas shoppers, each with "the face of someone quietly praying for a stun gun to the temple or some Dignitas vouchers for Christmas" and asked: What are these people buying, what does it say about us as a species, and which of these gifts has the potential to destroy humankind? Now the big day has come, the presents are unwrapped, and we want to hear from you, our cheerful readers. What is the best present you have received this year? We'd like to hear from the grumpy, too: feel free to hide behind anonymity and tell us about the worst gift you unwrapped today. And, if you want to come over all Guardian about it, what do the presents you received say about us as a species – and do any of them have the potential to destroy humankind?
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Court expected to give verdict on Friday in case of whistleblower died in November 2009 after nearly a year in jail Russian prosecutors have dropped their accusations against the only person being tried in connection with the prison death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, asking a court to find a former prison official not guilty. The surprise move in the trial of Dmitry Kratov came in the midst of a row between Moscow and Washington over US legislation meant to punish Russians seen as linked to the death of Magnitsky and other alleged human rights violations. If the court clears Kratov, a former deputy head of a jail where Magnitsky spent part of a year, it will fuel accusations by Kremlin critics that the Russian government has no intention of seeking justice. "We have not determined what happened, and the biggest tragedy here is that … this may have been our last chance to ask questions" of people who may have been involved, said Dmitry Kharitonov, a lawyer for Magnitsky's widow and family. Barack Obama signed a law on 14 December known as the Magnitsky Act, which directs his administration to bar accused Russian human rights violators from entering the United States and freeze any assets they have in US banks. Russia is retaliating with a bill expected to be approved by the upper house of parliament this week. It would apply similar measures to Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians and also bar Americans from adopting Russian children. Magnitsky died in November 2009 after nearly a year in jail – the victim, former colleagues say, of retribution from the same police investigators he had accused of stealing $230m (£143m) from the state through fraudulent tax refunds. His death caused an international outcry and Kremlin critics said it underscored the dangers risks run by Russians who challenge the authorities. The Kremlin's own human rights council said Magnitsky was probably beaten to death. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president at the time, fired several senior prison officials and ordered a investigation, but Kratov, charged with negligence, is the only person now on trial or facing trial in connection with his death. State prosecutor Konstantin Bokov told the court there was no direct link between the actions of Kratov – who he said followed the rules of his job and had never received a health complaint from Magnitsky – and the lawyer's death. The court is expected to rule on Friday on Kratov's guilt or innocence. Kharitonov said a guilty verdict was still possible but unlikely, and he accused the prosecutors of avoiding testimony by several witnesses by saying last week that there was enough evidence for a guilty verdict and speeding the trial to an end. "The prosecutors essentially defended Kratov, rather than prosecuting him," he said in an interview on cable TV and internet channel Dozhd. He said he believed Russian prosecutors want Kratov cleared to avoid any suggestion they themselves are culpable in the death of Magnitsky, which occurred after prosecutors backed efforts to keep him in jail on tax evasion charges. Kharitonov said the prosecutors also wanted to ensure they were on the right side in the conflict over the new US law. "The easiest thing for the prosecutor's office to do is to say that nobody is guilty – and if nobody is guilty, then why is the Magnitsky Act needed?" the lawyer said. He said Magnitsky's family would demand that the state continue investigating his death.
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