| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The commander of the allied forces in the first Gulf War earned the nickname Stormin' Norman General Norman Schwarzkopf who commanded allied forces in the first Gulf war has died at the age of 78 in Tampa, Florida. Schwarzkopf, who was given the nickname of Stormin' Normin, led the invasion of Iraq and expelled Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991. He lived in retirement in Tampa, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of United States Central Command, responsible for American forces from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan. Schwarzkopf served in Vietnam and was involved in the American invasion of Grenada in 1983 before being given the command in the Gulf war. George Bush Sr – who served as president during the invasion – meanwhile remained in the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital on Thursday, according to a hospital spokesman. Bush, 88,was admitted to Methodist Hospital on 23 November for bronchitis. He was transferred to intensive care on Sunday after setbacks including a persistent fever, family spokesman Jim McGrath has said. "I don't have any guidance so far today except to say no news is good news," McGrath said on Thursday. He said on Wednesday that Bush was alert and talking to medical staff. Hospital spokesman George Kovacik said the former president remained in intensive care on Thursday.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Boehner reconvenes House of Representatives on Sunday evening as Harry Reid says deadline will probably be missed Barack Obama will meet congressional leaders on Friday as members of the House of Representatives prepare to return to Washington for a last-ditch attempt to head off the year-end fiscal cliff budget crisis. Republican speaker John Boehner said the House will reconvene on Sunday evening, with less than 30 hours until the US reaches the fiscal cliff deadline. Boehner warned politicians they may be working through next Friday – after the 31 December deadline – to reach a deal to avert massive tax hikes and spending cuts. The decision to call House members back came after fierce criticism from Democrat Senate leader Harry Reid, who earlier in the day had accused Republicans of "watching movies" while the budget crisis deepened. Obama arrived in Washington on Thursday after cutting short his Christmas vacation to Hawaii, and the Senate also returned to work. But even as talks appeared to be grinding back into motion, there were few signs that a breakthrough was imminent. With five days to reach a political solution, Nevada senator Reid said the deadline would probably be missed. "It looks like that's where we're headed", he said on the Senate floor on Thursday. "The American people are waiting for the ball to drop, but it's not going to be a good drop." "I have to be honest: I don't know, time-wise, how it can happen," Reid added. "I would hope that the speaker and the Republican leader here in the Senate would come to us and say: here's what we think will work." In a call with colleagues, Boehner told House Republicans that he was "not interested" in passing a fiscal cliff deal with "mostly Democrat votes," according to Politico. Reid's gloomy acknowledgement of the failure of bipartisan negotiations triggered a sell-off on US stock markets. All the major US markets had turned negative by noon. The latest survey of consumer confidence by the Conference Board showed a sharp drop to 65.1 in December, from a revised 71.5 in November that the thinktank blamed on uncertainty caused by the budget crisis. On Wednesday, before boarding his plane, Obama had telephone discussions with Reid, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, Boehner, and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. A spokesman for Boehner said in a statement: "Senator Reid should talk less and legislate more. The House has already passed legislation to avoid [going over] the entire fiscal cliff. Senate Democrats have not."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Looting, feuds and divided loyalties threaten to destroy unity of fighters as war enters new phase It wasn't the government that killed the Syrian rebel commander Abu Jameel. It was the fight for his loot. The motive for his murder lay in a great warehouse in Aleppo which his unit had captured a week before. The building had been full of rolled steel, which was seized by the fighters as spoils of war. But squabbling developed over who would take the greater share of the loot and a feud developed between commanders. Threats and counter-threats ensued over the following days. Abu Jameel survived one assassination attempt when his car was fired on. A few days later his enemies attacked again, and this time they were successful. His bullet-riddled body was found, handcuffed, in an alley in the town of al-Bab. Captain Hussam, of the Aleppo military council, said: "If he had died fighting I would say it was fine, he was a rebel and a mujahid and this is what he had set out to do. But to be killed because of a feud over loot is a disaster for the revolution. "It is extremely sad. There is not one government institution or warehouse left standing in Aleppo. Everything has been looted. Everything is gone." Captured government vehicles and weapons have been crucial to the rebels since the start of the conflict, but according to Hussam and other commanders, and fighters interviewed by the Guardian over a fortnight in northern Syria, a new phase has been reached in the war. Looting has become a way of life. "Spoils" have now become the main drive for many units as battalion commanders seek to increase their power. The problem is particularly pronounced in Aleppo, according to Abu Ismael, a young lieutenant from a wealthy family, who ran a successful business before joining the fight against Bashar al-Assad. Many of the battalions that entered the city in the summer of this year came from the countryside, he said. They were poor peasants who carried with them centuries-old grudges towards the wealthier Aleppans. There was also a lingering feeling that the city – where businesses had been exploiting cheap peasant labour for several decades – had not risen up quickly enough against the Assads. "The rebels wanted to take revenge on the people of Aleppo because they felt that we had betrayed them, but they forgot that most of the people of Aleppo are merchants and traders and a merchant will pay money to get rid of his problem," Abu Ismael said. "Even as the rest of Syria was gripped by revolution, the Aleppans said, why should we destroy our business and waste our money?" When the rebels entered the city and started looting the factories, a source of money dried up. "In the first month and a half the rebels were really a united revolutionary group," Abu Ismael said. "But now they are different. There are those who are here only to loot and make money, and some still fight." Did Abu Ismael's unit loot? "Of course. How do you think we feed the men? Where do you think we get all our sugar, for example?" In the chaotic economics of the war, everything has become a commodity. Abu Ismael's unit, for example, took a supply of diesel from a school compound, and every day his unit exchanges a few jerrycans of the precious liquid for bread. Because Abu Ismael has a supply of food and fuel his battalion is more desirable than others in the sector. Commanders who are unable to feed their men tend to lose them; they desert and join other groups. Bullets are equally important. When military installations and warehouses are looted the battalion that captures ammunition grows by cannibalising smaller, less well-equipped units that have no bullets to hand. In a dark apartment in the Salahuddin neighbourhood of Aleppo we sat with a group of commanders who were discussing the formation of a new brigade that would bring their various battalions together. They soon turned to the topic of loot. One of the commanders present had led an operation into the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhood of Ashrafiya in Aleppo, but according to several fighters who were there the action failed when the army counterattacked because the rebel support units that were supposed to reinforce the front instead turned their attention to looting. "I want to know exactly what you took that day," the commander of a small unit told the leader of the assault. The commander opened a notebook to write, while another man held a flashlight above his head. "As long as one fights while the others are busy collecting loot we can't advance," he said. "The loot has to be divided equally." The leader started to list the luxury cars and the weapons his units had found and taken, while the other commander wrote them down in the notebook. Some of the cars would be sold back to the owners – if they paid out a hefty ransom. Outside sponsorsThe war in Aleppo is not only funded by what can be appropriated by the various units, but also by the patronage that they can attract from sponsors outside Syria, a factor which has also contributed to the myriad forming and re-forming of units, all of which control individual fiefdoms in the city. All of this has fuelled rivalries and ever-shifting allegiances, factors that have undermined the struggle to defeat the forces of the Syrian president. Fighting units often exist only because of their sponsors. If a sponsor loses interest a battalion is dissolved and the men join another, better-funded battalion. Battalions are often named after historical Arab or Ottoman figures in order to help lure money from the Gulf kingdoms or from Turkey. One Friday afternoon after prayers a group of the most senior commanders fighting in Aleppo, 32 in all, gathered in part of a sprawling former government compound, the building's once polished marble floors now covered with puddles of water, its walls blackened by soot. Sitting in low leather chairs around a large table, many of the men carried the scars of two years of fighting – missing eyes, lame arms, crippled legs. The meeting was chaired by Abdulkader al-Saleh, a leader of the Tawheed brigade, one of the biggest and best equipped rebel battalions in Syria. First on the agenda was the task of reintroducing the men to each other, as many had switched battalions since their last meeting in the endless game of musical chairs of the Syrian revolution. A who's who of the revolution followed, each commander stating his name and his unit. Some battalions were huge, with hundreds of men, artillery pieces and tanks. Others consisted of fewer than 50 fighters. "Haji, I thought you were with Halab al-Shaba'a brigade," Haji Marea said to one of the men. "No, we have reformed. We are a new battalion," the man said. "Brothers, we have a grave situation ahead of us," interjected Abdul-Jabbar Akidi, a defected colonel who leads the military council of Aleppo. Formed to channel supplies to the rebels, the council was supposed to be the overarching command structure for the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo. Instead, it soon became one more faction among many competing for influence. "The battle has stagnated here," he said. "There has been no real progress on the fronts and that has affected our sponsors, who haven't been sending us ammunition. "Even the people are fed up with us. We were liberators, but now they denounce us and demonstrate against us. We have to unite and form an operations room for all the battalions." Soon, however, the conversation took a familiar turn, moving on to complaints about units keeping equipment to themselves. A short, clean-shaven commander in a leather jacket spoke up: "The problem is that some battalions have artillery and tanks and they are keeping them for themselves and not participating in the attack. Bring me the pieces that were captured from the base of the 46th brigade [a government unit] and I will take over the secret police buildings in Aleppo without having to send my men to die in front of government snipers." The second item on the agenda concerned the formation of a revolutionary police force. As the revolution in Aleppo stagnated and the rebel commanders settled in to rule their "liberated" neighbourhoods, each battalion had started forming its own revolutionary security service, or Amn al-Thawra, manning checkpoints and detaining people, which had led to a spike in kidnapping. The commanders put forward proposals for how they could create a single disciplined security force. One moustachioed former colonel in a brown suit began reading what sounded like a Ba'ath party manifesto: "I call for the formation of a secret bureau of revolutionary military security service," he said. Many of the men in the room had been detained and tortured by Assad's security services and sank into their chairs as the former colonel spoke. "We fought against the regime because of these secret security forces," said a man with a thick rural accent. Another battalion commander with a soft voice and a neat blue turban began to speak. "I call for the formation of a small unit of our brothers, the religious students," he said. "Their job would be to advise the people before the need to use force." He added: "They will be armed with their wisdom and religious teaching and it should be called the committee of ruling with virtue and the prevention of vice. It will be the first step in preparing the people for an Islamic society." At this, a young fighter shouted from one end of the room: "The problem is not with the people. The problem is us! We have battalions sitting in liberated areas who man checkpoints and detain people. They say this person is a shabiha [a government militiaman] and take his car, or that man was a Ba'athist, take his house. "They have become worse than the regime. Tell me why those men are in the city, in liberated areas, why are they not fighting at the frontline?" As the room choked with the smoke of cigarettes, the commanders agreed to form one unified security force. Yet weeks later, there would be little evidence of that force. Abandoned posts There were many further stories of looting heard during the our time in Aleppo. A pharmacist who had volunteered as a medic in one of the rebel field hospitals explained why he was running short of penicillin. The rebels had taken over the warehouse of a leading pharmaceutical company and then had resold the stock back to the owners, shipping all the drugs back into government-held territory, he claimed. He added: "I went to the warehouse to tell them they had no right to the medicine and that it should be given to the people and not re-sold. They detained me and said they would break both my legs if I ever went back." In Saif al-Dawla district a commander who was furnishing a new headquarters for his newly formed battalion walked into a school compound with a few of his men. A group of civilians stood watching in the late afternoon as the men trawled through the school. Burned and torn pictures of Assad lay on the floor. Desks and chairs were upturned and broken, and plastic flowers and students' projects were strewn around. The men ferried some of the tables, sofas and chairs outside the school and piled them up at the street corner. Computers and monitors followed. A fighter registered the loot in a big notebook. "We are keeping it safe in a warehouse," he said. Later in the week I saw the school's sofas and computers sitting comfortably in the commander's new apartment. On the frontlines of the Ameriya neighbourhood, south of Aleppo, we met Abara and his men. Abara is young and short, in his early 20s, with fair hair and few pimples scattered on his face. He had defected from the army a year earlier. We had first met three months earlier when he was leading his men through the alleyways of Salahuddin, and many of those fighters had been killed or maimed since then. He was now sitting with the survivors on a cold concrete floor in an abandoned building a block away from government troops. Between the men was a jar of greasy-looking green olives, a bag of bread, a plate of olive oil and some thyme. "It's much worse now," Abara said of the war. "Now it's copper and wheat that commanders are after instead of liberating the city." He added: "The problem when people stop fighting – I liberate an area, I need resources and ammunition, so I start looting government properties. When this has finished I turn to looting other properties and I become a thief." The physical ground that, at the moment, lay between him and the government line consisted of a series of shattered buildings where snipers from both sides appeared to shoot at almost anything that moved. "When the army attacked us last week the unit that was here abandoned their posts and withdrew," he said. Now, he said, in order to regain the lost territory he would have to fight house to house. "Why should I, when the rest are looting?" He added wearily: "One day when the war against Bashar is over, another war will start against the looters and thieves."
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tech firm CEO, who succeeded the late Steve Jobs, awarded compensation package of $4.17m – down from $378 in 2011 Tim Cook has finally made it to the top at Apple, but in his first full year as CEO his pay package shrank about 99%. Cook, the successor to the late Steve Jobs, was awarded total compensation of $4.17m in 2012 – down from $378m in 2011, Apple said in a federal filing on Thursday. The 2012 package for Cook, who took over as chief executive in August 2011, is also well down on his 2010 pay, which was 14 times his 2012 deal. In 2010 he was serving as Apple's chief operating officer. Jobs, the CEO and co-founder, died in October 2011 of pancreatic cancer. The huge pay reduction is a result of Cook not receiving any stock awards for 2012 because he was handed more than $375m in stock awards the year before. Those awards will vest over many years. The 2012 package instead includes a salary of $1.4m and a bonus of $2.8m, according to the filing. Cook's base salary actually increased compared with the $900,000 he earned in 2011. While Apple's shares are 35% higher than when Cook assumed the CEO role, they have fallen more than 27% since October, when they climbed through $700. The California-based business, which became the world's most valuable company in the summer – when the stock market value of the business was equal to more than $10m for every one of its 63,000 employees – has lost its shine as concerns have mounted that it is losing its momentum. While Apple's iPhone sales still outdo any other manufacturer, some 75% of smartphones sold use Google's Android operating system. Analysts at Jeffries and UBS have both said in the past two weeks that Apple has substantially scaled back its orders for iPhone components, by up to 25%, suggesting it may manufacture fewer devices than previously expected. The company has been dogged by patent disputes and court appearances this year as it tried to ban the sale of Samsung Galaxy phones in the US – and succeeded. However, it failed to get the Samsungs banned in the UK and was instead ordered to make an apology to the Korean company. Apple has also taken legal action against HTC and Motorola, which, like Samsung, use Android. The launch of its iPhone5 was dogged by a rare mis-step when Apple ditched Google Maps, replacing it with its own mapping technology, complete with numerous mistakes. Cook was forced to issue a public apology and Scott Forstall, Apple's iPhone software boss – and an executive viewed as a potential successor to Cook – left the company. The Apple Maps boss also departed.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tech firm CEO, who succeeded the late Steve Jobs, awarded compensation package of $4.17m – down from $378m in 2011 Tim Cook has finally made it to the top at Apple, but in his first full year as CEO his pay package shrank about 99%. Cook, the successor to the late Steve Jobs, was awarded total compensation of $4.17m in 2012 – down from $378m in 2011, Apple said in a federal filing on Thursday. The 2012 package for Cook, who took over as chief executive in August 2011, is also well down on his 2010 pay, which was 14 times his 2012 deal. In 2010 he was serving as Apple's chief operating officer. Jobs, the CEO and co-founder, died in October 2011 of pancreatic cancer. The huge pay reduction is a result of Cook not receiving any stock awards for 2012 because he was handed more than $375m in stock awards the year before. Those awards will pay out over many years. The 2012 package instead includes a salary of $1.4m and a bonus of $2.8m, according to the filing. Cook's base salary actually increased compared with the $900,000 he earned in 2011. While Apple's shares are 35% higher than when Cook assumed the CEO role, they have fallen more than 27% since October, when they climbed through $700. The California-based business, which became the world's most valuable company in the summer – when the stock market value of the business was equal to more than $10m for every one of its 63,000 employees – has lost its shine as concerns have mounted that it is losing its momentum. While Apple's iPhone sales still outdo any other manufacturer, some 75% of smartphones sold use Google's Android operating system. Analysts at Jeffries and UBS have both said in the past two weeks that Apple has substantially scaled back its orders for iPhone components, by up to 25%, suggesting it may manufacture fewer devices than previously expected. The company has been dogged by patent disputes and court appearances this year as it tried to ban the sale of Samsung Galaxy phones in the US – and succeeded. However, it failed to get the Samsungs banned in the UK and was instead ordered to make an apology to the Korean company. Apple has also taken legal action against HTC and Motorola, which, like Samsung, use Android. The launch of its iPhone5 was dogged by a rare mis-step when Apple ditched Google Maps, replacing it with its own mapping technology, complete with numerous mistakes. Cook was forced to issue a public apology and Scott Forstall, Apple's iPhone software boss – and an executive viewed as a potential successor to Cook – left the company. The Apple Maps boss also departed.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari speaks of sacrifices made by family on fifth anniversary of mother's assassination He stood yards from the tomb of his mother, a two-time prime minister killed by Islamic militants exactly five years before, and that of his grandfather, a prime minister and president ousted in a military coup and hanged by a dictator, and told the huge crowd filling the open ground in front of the white domed mausoleum that there were "two powers" in his homeland, "those on the right path and those on the path of lies". On Thursday Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 24-year-old only son of Benazir Bhutto and the heir to one of the most powerful, famous and controversial political dynasties in the world, made his formal debut in the turbulent and often lethal world of Pakistani politics at an emotional rally in a small village which is his family's ancestral home in the south of the country. "Bilawal has arrived. This was a huge step. It was make or break for him," said Nadeem F Paracha, a well-known columnist with Dawn newspaper after the speech. Less than three years ago, Bhutto junior was studying history and politics at Christ Church college, Oxford, a target for tabloid journalists but few others. Now he is probably the most high-profile target in a country hit by wave after wave of extremist violence. Bhutto spoke of the sacrifices made by members of his family, workers of the Pakistan People's party (PPP), and others such as Shia Muslims shot dead in ongoing sectarian violence and Malala Yusafzai, the 15-year-old schoolgirl and activist for girls' education who was shot and badly injured by militants in October and is now recovering in a British hospital. "How long you will go on killing innocent people? … if one Malala will be killed, thousands will replace her. One Benazir was killed; thousands have replaced her," Bhutto told the crowds. Observers noted that Bhutto's Urdu, the national language which he has had to hastily learn since his return to Pakistan to take up his political heritage, was, if still accented, much improved. "He does not believe in being the anointed prince. He wants to earn the respect of the party workers and of the people of Pakistan," said Farnahaz Ispahani, a former PPP member of parliament and a confidant of the Bhutto family. More than 5,000 police had been deployed to protect the event. Helicopters hovered overhead. Parliamentary elections due this spring are likely to test the ruling PPP-led coalition, hit by an ailing economy, rising prices for basic foodstuffs, continuing violence, anger at endemic graft and an ongoing power crisis that brings daily electricity cuts. Bhutto's father, Asif Ali Zardari, has been the president of Pakistan since 2008. A controversial figure who was jailed on corruption charges that he has said were politically motivated from 1996 to 2000 but who has proved a skilful tactical politician, Zardari has been described as a "transitional leader" for the PPP. Though only able to contest elections in September after his 25th birthday, Bhutto's presence will nonetheless be a powerful boost in campaigning over the coming months. "Bilawal grew up with his mother as his father was in jail for a long time. He went with her to rallies and was with her in top-level meetings. His beliefs – in pluralism, democracy, human rights – mirror hers," said Ispahani. However, doubts remain over Bhutto's appeal to new, younger, urbanised and often more religiously minded voters. Osama Siddique, a professor at Lahore University of Management Science, said it was hard to "visualise Bilawal" in a key position in the immediate future. "Putting Benazir's son on a stage makes political sense. It's a very poignant and emotional moment still for many people," he said. Cyril Almeida, analyst and editorialist in the southern city of Karachi, said that though Bhutto's personal courage was unquestionable it was less certain that a political novice could "solve the problems faced by the country … whatever his last name". Benazir Bhutto died when leaving a political rally in the northern city of Rawalpindi while campaigning for elections in 2007 after nearly 10 years in exile. Her killers have never been conclusively identified, though most experts and intelligence services believe Islamic extremists were responsible. The PPP won the postponed polls held after her assassination to gain power. Party officials told the Guardian on Thursday that Bilawal, who was educated at private English-medium schools in Pakistan and in Dubai after his mother went into self-imposed exile in 1999, would contest his mother's parliamentary seat when he was old enough. Last year Fauzia Wahab, a presidential aide and Bhutto family friend, said Bilawal carried "a heavy burden" as he "had the Bhutto genes". Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfiqar, rode to power on an anti-poverty platform before being deposed and eventually executed in prison by the military dictator Muhammed Zia-ul-Haq in 1979. Both he and his daughter are routinely referred to as "shaheed" or "martyred" in Pakistan. Bhutto told the crowd on Thursday that the PPP stood for "food, clothes and shelter" for the common man, purposefully using a slogan from his grandfather's campaigns. Bhutto, who friends say reads history avidly, also appeared well aware of the potential cost of his new role. "The PPP is not just a political party. This is our life," he said. Dynastic politicsIn an uncertain south Asia, it is always nice to have something you can rely on. In Pakistan it is that a Bhutto will be either in power or leading the opposition. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dominated the early 1970s with his brand of populist, leftwing, nationalist and increasingly autocratic politics. His daughter was prime minister twice. Now it's her son's turn to enter the fray. In India, the great local democracy, the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is as dominant as it has ever been with Rahul Gandhi, 42, hoping to become a fourth-generation prime minister, or at least principal candidate, and his mother, Sonia, currently the president of the ruling Congress party. In Bangladesh, the decades-old rivalry between Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed for control of the country continues that between the late husband of one and the father of the other. Bhutan is still a monarchy. In Burma, the Nobel-prize-winning democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the assassinated nationalist leader and effective founder of the modern country Aung San, is leader of the opposition and spoken of as a potential president in the future. In Sri Lanka, the son of the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, himself the son of a prominent politician, has won a seat in the family fief of Hambantota and significant numbers of family members fill posts across the country's administration. At state or provincial level in all these countries, similar dynamics are at work. Why are dynastic politics so tenacious on the subcontinent? In an often mercenary world, there is the obvious need for any successful politician to bolster his or her hold on power by recruiting loyal retainers who will not defect for material gain. This means family first. Then there is simple inheritance of power, influence, money and, especially in India and Pakistan, land. A key factor is the importance of personalities in contests largely stripped of ideological content. Finally there are the high levels of illiteracy, which make a famous name a determining factor for tens of millions of voters. One common strand uniting the dynasties is that most of them speak English as a first language. Along with railways and a swollen bureaucracy, it may be that British rule bequeathed something else too: a taste for hereditary power and deference. There are one or two exceptions to the rule. The Maldives has all sorts of political woes but dynastic rule is not one of them. Nepal has recently done away with its kings, though it is hardly a model of stability either. As for Afghanistan, a relative replacing the president, Hamid Karzai, as a candidate, possibly a successful one too, in coming polls is far from impossible. After all, in south Asia, politics is a family affair.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Eurozone crisis threatens to flare up again as outgoing Italian prime minister Mario Monti holds talks with centrist politicians The eurozone crisis threatened to flare up again on Thursday as outgoing Italian prime minister Mario Monti held talks with centrist politicians over the agenda for reform which he published on Christmas Eve. Some analysts believe Monti could assemble a coalition for next February's general election, setting up a battle with his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi. The Vatican's newspaper, Osservatore Romano, offered support for Monti, saying his message was "an appeal to recover the higher and more noble sense of politics that is ... to take care of the common good". But Berlusconi attacked Monti's performance, saying on Rai 1's Unomattina TV programme that pressure from European countries, particularly Germany, had "crushed" Monti's technocratic administration. The head of Italy's centre-right People of Liberty party also attempted to woo the Italian public by pledging to abolish a property tax introduced since he left office. Jens Weidmann, the president of Germany's Bundesbank, warned Italian politicians that the country could not afford to stray from the reform path taken by Monti during his 13 months in power. Weidmann told the business news magazine Wirtschaftswoche that any deviation would be "disastrous". "Italy suffers from low growth, low productivity and lack of innovation. But under the Monti government Italy has set ambitious goals for reform in order to regain the confidence of investors, and had success with it," said Weidmann. He said eurozone leaders "must not underestimate the distance ahead" before the region's debt crisis is resolved. German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble was more upbeat. "I think the worst is behind us,"he said, arguing that European leaders had realised during 2012 that they must push on with economic reforms to maintain competitiveness. With Germany also heading to the polls next year, Schäuble claimed conditions in Europe's largest economy were "better than expected". In Spain, though, small shareholders who invested in Bankia when it floated in 2011 were warned that their stakes would be virtually wiped out when the bank is recapitalised. Spain's bank rescue fund has calculated that Bankia, which was riddled with toxic property debts, has a negative value of €4.2bn. New capital is expected from the EU, possibly on Friday, but the price will be borne by an estimated 350,000 domestic investors. The news came as Spanish healthcare workers held more protests on Thursday against plans to privatise some hospitals and health centres in the latest signal of opposition to Spain's austerity programme. The tensions in Europe, combined with the ongoing fiscal cliff deadlock in Washington, made for a jittery day for those City workers who returned to their desks after the Christmas break. After initially rallying, the FTSE 100 fell back to end the day unchanged as traders grew more nervous about the situation in America. An early sell-off in New York wiped 100 points off the Dow Jones at one stage, and came after Japan's Nikkei closed at its highest level in 21 months. Japanese investors were encouraged by a pledge from the country's new government to battle deflation and kickstart the economy through new stimulus measures. In the foreign exchange markets, the pound fell to a two-month low against a basket of currencies. Traders said fears over the UK economy were hitting sterling.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | American singer, whose 1965 single Rescue Me topped US R&B charts, is survived by four children Fontella Bass, the soul singer who topped the US R&B charts with Rescue Me in 1965, has died. The singer's daughter, Neuka Mitchell, said Bass died at a St Louis hospice on Wednesday night of complications from a heart attack suffered three weeks ago. The 72-year-old, who had suffered several strokes since 2005, is survived by three other children. Bass was born into a family with deep musical roots. Her mother was the gospel singer Martha Bass, one of the Clara Ward Singers. Her younger brother, David Peaston, had a string of R&B hits in the 1980s and 1990s. He died in February, aged 54. Her husband, the jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie, a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, died in 1999.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Spokesman Jim McGrath says Bush, 88, is alert and talking to medical staff after being admitted to ICU with persistent fever Former US president George Bush Sr remains in intensive care at a Houston hospital, his spokesman said on Thursday. The 88-year-old was admitted to Methodist hospital's intensive care unit on Sunday, after a series of setbacks including a persistent fever, but he is alert and talking to medical staff, according to Jim McGrath. In an email on Wednesday, McGrath said that Bush, the oldest living US president, remains in a "guarded condition" and said that doctors were "cautiously optimistic" about his course of treatment. He is surrounded by his family, McGrath said. Early on Thursday morning, McGrath told the Associated Press that he had no new information on Bush's condition, but would issue an updated statement "when events warrant it." Bush was admitted to hospital on November 23 for a stubborn cough related to bronchitis, after being in and out of hospital after complications linked to the illness. Earlier on Wednesday, McGrath had said a fever that kept Bush in the hospital over Christmas had worsened, and that doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet. "It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath said. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away." But he said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital has improved. A hospital spokesman said in mid-December that Bush was expected to be home in time for Christmas, but, according to Reuters, the spokesman later said doctors felt he should build up his strength before returning home. Bush has lower-body Parkinsonism, which causes a loss of balance, and has used wheelchairs for more than a year, McGrath told Reuters in an email. On Christmas Day, Bush was visited by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive on Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Maryland. He has also been visited twice by two of his other sons, George W Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Bush and Barbara live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at their home in Kennebunkport, Maine. After serving as vice-president under Ronald Reagan, Bush took office as the 41st president in 1989 and served a single term in the White House. He was a naval aviator in the second world war – at one point the youngest in the US navy – and was shot down over the Pacific. After leaving the White House in 1992, he celebrated at least three of his birthdays by skydiving, and had threatened to celebrate his 90th the same way.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Reid's downbeat assessment triggers market sell-off as Obama and senators return to Washington in search of a deal The Democratic leader in the Senate has declared that US politicians are likely to fail in their quest to find a solution to the fiscal cliff budget crisis. With five days to find a political solution before massive tax hikes and spending cuts kick in, Nevada senator Harry Reid said the deadline would probably be missed. "It looks like that's where we're headed", he said on the Senate floor on Thursday. Reid's gloomy acknowledgement of the failure of bipartisan negotiations triggered a sell-off on US stock markets. US senators returned to work on Thursday after the Christmas break, and Barack Obama cut short his Christmas vacation in Hawaii to fly back to Washington in search of a deal. But the House of Representatives is not in session, prompting Reid to to accuse the Republicans of being "out watching movies" with the deadline fast approaching. "I don't know, time-wise, how it can happen," said Reid. "I would hope that the speaker and the Republican leader here in the Senate would come to us and say: here's what we think will work." On Wednesday, before boarding the plane, Obama had telephone discussions with Reid, Reid's Republican opposite number Mitch McConnell, Republican House speaker John Boehner and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. But there was little sign that either side in Congress is willing to act swiftly in search of compromise. Reid's comments came after Boehner called on the Senate to act. On Wednesday, Republican leaders said two bills had already been presented to the Senate aimed at solving the impasse, and that they were prepared to vote on them after amendment. Those bills have stalled over reluctance from Republicans to sign off on any deal that raises taxes, and criticism that Obama's spending cuts do not go deep enough. Reid hit out in a statement on Wednesday in which he said: "The Senate has already rejected House Republicans' Tea Party bills, and no further legislation can move through the Senate until Republicans drop their knee-jerk obstruction," he said. On Thursday he upped the rhetoric, saying Boehner "seems to care more about his speakership" than striking a deal. Boehner faces a vote on his position on January 3, and Reid accused Boehner of delaying negotiations until that vote was resolved. The House is being run "by a dictatorship of the speaker," said Reid.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | President Obama flies back to Washington in a final bid to restart negotiations with Republicans in Congress
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Over the past 20 years Ewan McGregor has transformed from young rebel hero to suave leading man. Now he is starring in Juan Antonio Bayona's new film as the father of a family caught in the 2004 Thai tsunami Six months ago, Ewan McGregor strolled incognito down the Croisette at the tail end of the Cannes film festival. He was dressed in bright white, with a beard, shades and a wide-brimmed hat pulled down to the eyebrows. In the hubbub of the Cote D'Azur's garishly dressed, he somehow melted into the crowd. Intent, or accident? "I wasn't in disguise," he says, taking slight umbrage at the suggestion. "I'd just been given a really nice hat. So I thought I'd wear it. I think if you put a cap and a pair of shades on in an airport, of course everyone's gonna look at you. But I'm not worried about it. I don't feel like it's a curse. If you're gonna be on TV and film, and expect people to watch you, of course they're gonna look at you in the street. What else would they do?" McGregor has been in the business nearly 20 years, and in that time he has segued smoothly from a rebel hero of new British cinema – epitomised by his turn as junkie pin-up in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting – into a suave leading man, the latter cemented by his recent (surprise) Golden Globe nomination for Lasse Hallström's fusty romantic drama Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Until 10 years ago his penchant for full-frontal nudity – The Pillow Book (1996), Velvet Goldmine (1998) and Young Adam (2003) – threatened to overshadow any genuine acting talent but, with his performance in The Impossible, he has put all that behind him. The Impossible is the second film by Spanish director Juan Antonio "Jota" Bayona, who caused a stir with his first, The Orphanage. Where The Orphanage dealt with the mysteries of the supernatural, The Impossible deals with the miracles of the real, telling the story of a married couple (McGregor and Naomi Watts) who go on holiday to Thailand and get caught up in the horrors of the tsunami that hit the country on Boxing Day 2004. McGregor gives a wonderful, low-key performance. One that truly serves the core, intimate drama of a film that, like Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout, isn't just an account of what happened but is also about the psychological aftermath. The trauma and the tragedy is replicated with incredible realism. A standing ovation greeted its premiere in Toronto, where we meet; it's now considered a good bet for a best picture Oscar nomination. Even the mere script, says McGregor, was devastating. "What you got from it was the brutality and truth of the story, through the eyes of that family. In terms of scale, though, it's all very well to read that your character is walking through a devastated area. But it's not until you get on the set that you think: Oh my God …" He says this because, although many of the special effects were reproduced for real – being cheaper than CGI – in a studio tank in Alicante, much of the shoot took place on location, on beaches still scarred by the tragedy. "It was a very difficult film to make," he says, "especially with the weather. We had a lot of rain, and the actual day of the original tsunami was very beautiful, so we had to wait. There was some talk among the Thai crew that the film might be …" – he pauses – "… cursed, you know? That the spirits or the gods might be preventing us from making the film." He pauses again. "There were some spooky moments." So spooky that the crew held a ritual to "appease" these spirits, sending lanterns up into the skies. As soon as they did so, the wind sent them flying in every possible direction. In retrospect, it probably wasn't so much a warning as a reminder of the unimaginable chaos of that day. Says McGregor: "Jota has always said – and he's right – that crying was a real privilege in that situation, because nobody had time. And so when people did cry, they totally fell apart." McGregor is 41 now, and The Impossible is one of his best performances. It requires him to be loving, thoughtful, anxious, scared, bold and broken without the prop of a genre script where the bad guy will be brought to book and right will prevail. Because, although there is heroism, this is not a story about heroes. "I guess it's my first 'dad', really," McGregor says brightly. "I mean, I've been a dad in … Well, I think – because I can't remember – that in Nanny McPhee 2 I had kids." He racks his brains. "Nothing springs to mind. Anyway, I've certainly never made a film that felt to me like an exploration of that, of what it means to be a parent and that love you have for your kids. This was that for me. This is something I've been experiencing for 16 years of my life, and it's not in my work really anywhere. I thought – albeit a really extreme version of that – it was a nice way to look at that specific and unique love you have for your kids." Which is interesting in itself. For female actors, the leap from ingenue to mother roles is an occupational hazard, and one to be avoided. McGregor acknowledges the double standard. "The first time I remember anything like that was on the last film I did with Naomi – Stay [in 2005], with Ryan Gosling," he says. "One day on set I suddenly realised I was the doctor. And I went, 'Oh God … He's the young guy – I'm in the suit! Fuck!'" He laughs. "But that was a long time ago, so it's been happening for a while." Did he ever dread that day? "No. I didn't really. Not at all. I mean, I was somewhat surprised it didn't happen earlier, because, like I said, I've been a dad for so long. I really like kids." And he must do, being a father of four ("All girls," he smiles). Which seems a far cry from being the British film industry's great white sex symbol, the guy who should crash and burn, not live happily ever after. But McGregor seems content enough. He's still a very handsome man; his hair spikes up at wild angles, and there's a lovely glint in his eye, especially when he smiles. He's strikingly unguarded, too; at one point blurting out the title of his next project. "Please don't mention it!" he pleads. "I totally forgot. It's funny; you do sort of lose your marbles. I was sitting here, and somebody went: 'What are you doing next?' And you're brought up up to answer questions, so I said: 'Oh … !' But I was told yesterday: 'Don't mention it! Well, not just yet." Is he comfortable doing press? "It gets better, I think, because it gets easier. It's more difficult when you're younger, somehow. Maybe there's less to talk about." He sighs. "It's not great fun sitting in a TV junket all day. It's not. But this kind of thing is fine, having a chat with somebody. I always feel like saying to people: 'Just enjoy it more. Don't worry about it.'" Is that a result of coaching? "I never had media training, because I'd been doing it for years. I remember the first ever interview I did. Oh fuck, it was in Salisbury Playhouse, and I had to do an interview with TV Quick for Lipstick on your Collar, which was coming out soon. I remember doing it on the phone in a broom cupboard, because I was so embarrassed. My big moment! I didn't know what to do. I probably talked too much. But I always think that you may as well say what you mean, or there's not much point in doing it, really. There are areas I won't talk about and don't feel that it's relevant to talk about. But not many. Not many." The next time we meet, McGregor is in London for the film's UK premiere. Two months have passed, and the glint in his eye has dimmed a little after a day in Claridges being asked about death and disaster. The film has been a huge hit in Spain, but the backlash has kicked in, with some reviewers questioning the director's decision to focus on a western family (the original family were Spanish) and sideline the Thai people's experience. McGregor isn't surprised. "It's a very easy and not very clever criticism, I think," he shrugs. "Because the truth is, it's a story about this family, this western family, who are on holiday there. And that story is many, many people's story. But to say that it doesn't tell the Thai people's stories …" He sighs. "Naomi's character is saved by a Thai man, and taken to safety in a Thai village where the Thai women dress her. It's one of the most moving scenes in the film, really. In the hospital they're all Thai nurses and Thai doctors – you see nothing but Thai people saving lives and helping. Most of the survivors we spoke to had nothing but amazing things to say about the Thai response to the tsunami, in that they mobilised themselves very quickly. "I think it's criticism for the sake of criticising, in a way. People said that about Black Hawk Down: 'Well, it's just the American story.' Well, yeah! It was a film about the American side of the story. So that's what you do! You tell a story. And we were telling this family's story." In the meantime, he can finally discuss the film he let slip in Toronto, August: Osage County, directed by West Wing producer John Wells and adapted by Pulitzer prize-winning Tracy Letts from his play. "Boy did I have a good time on that one," McGregor grins. "We just finished it, Friday night. Eight-week shoot. We had an amazing cast. And I had a front-row seat to watch Meryl Streep." Then there's the small matter of Star Wars, and the return of the franchise. "They let me know the night before they announced it," he says. "Which was nice. I got an email from them, so that I'd be prepared. Other than that, I don't know anything about it. But if they need me to be Obi Wan Kenobi again, I'd be delighted to do so, yeah." Where other actors might be dismissive, or jaded about returning to such an iconic role, McGregor seems genuinely enthused by the prospect. Does he still get excited by going back to work? "Yes," he says. "It's such an adventure, every time you go. It's such a great experience. The downside is that it takes you away from your family, and with kids who are in school, it does. There's no two ways about it. I used to be able to travel with them when they were tiny, but I can't do that now. And they're so spread out in age that it would be impossible. That's the downside. But the upside is that you get these incredible adventures. I'm always excited about them. And you can be disappointed. They're not all great experiences. Some films are much harder work than others, some feel like a holiday. But each one is unique." • The Impossible is released in the UK on 1 January 2013
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Russian president says he sees 'no reason not to sign' bill named after boy who died after being adopted by Americans Vladimir Putin has indicated he is likely to sign into law a bill that bans Americans from adopting Russian children. The bill was proposed in response to the US's recent passing of a law that bans Russian officials implicated in the prison death of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky from travelling to or keeping money in the US. Russia's response has launched a storm of controversy both among Putin's critics, who have accused the government of holding children hostage to politics, and among some of his most loyal ministers. The upper house of parliament passed the bill unanimously on Wednesday. "So far I see no reason not to sign it," Putin said at a meeting of senior officials on Thursday, adding that he would "have to review the final text and weigh everything". "I am ready to sign not only the law … but also a presidential decree that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children," he said. The bill comes amid an increase in state-sponsored anti-foreigner propaganda. Vsevolod Chaplin, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, said this week that Russian children adopted by foreigners would not be allowed into heaven. Tens of thousands of children enter Russia's decrepit orphanage system every year. Around 60,000 children have been adopted by Americans in the past 20 years. Russian officials have spotlighted the 19 who have died, including Dima Yakovlev, a 21-month-old who was left to die in a sweltering car by his father, who was later acquitted of involuntary manslaughter. The Russian bill is named after the boy. Putin has defended the law as a necessary response to the Magnitsky Act, which he has described as "anti-Russian" and having "nothing to do with officials". Magnitsky, a lawyer for the London-based investor William Browder, was arrested after investigating corruption by Russian tax and police officials, and died an excruciating death in 2009. Relations between Moscow and Washington DC have plummeted since Putin announced his intention to return to the presidency last year. He has blamed the opposition against him inside Russia on a plot dreamed up by the US state department. The opposition has slammed the law as "cannibalistic". The independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta gathered more than 100,000 signatures protesting against the law. Russia's foreign minister and education minister are among those Putin loyalists who have spoken out against its passing. Yet Pavel Astakhov, Russia's child's rights ombudsman, urged Putin to extend the ban to other countries, saying: "There is huge money and questionable people involved in the semi-legal scheme of exporting children." He said the 46 children who were in the process of being adopted by Americans would stay in Russia once the bill came into effect.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hamas government in Gaza also orders its officials not to give interviews to Israeli press or television due to media 'hostility' Hamas has banned Palestinian journalists in Gaza from working with or giving interviews to the Israeli media. The order, issued this week, said: "The government has decided to bar co-operation or work with Zionist media due to its hostility. The prohibition applies to all Palestinian reporters and journalists." It has also instructed its own government officials not to give interviews to Israeli press or television. Since the Israeli government banned Israeli journalists from entering Gaza in 2006, citing security reasons, the Hebrew media has depended on local Palestinian or international journalists for reports from inside the enclave. Matan Drori, the foreign news editor of Ma'ariv, which has had a Gaza-based Palestinian correspondent for more than five years, said Hamas's move was "very unfortunate". "It is important for Israelis to understand the motivations and behaviour of the other side, and perhaps also as a way of building bridges for the future. It will be a major loss not to have an authentic voice from inside Gaza," he said. Drori said Ma'ariv would be forced to rely on Facebook and Twitter for reports from inside the enclave, with fewer ways of verifying information. Sami Ajrami, who has been Ma'ariv's correspondent in Gaza for the past 18 months, and filed dispatches for the paper during last month's eight-day conflict, said he was disappointed by the ban. "The Israeli public should know what's happening in Gaza. This is not good for the Palestinian cause. But we are under the Hamas regime, and Hamas has been criticised a lot in the Israeli and international media, so they want to impose controls," he said. Ajrami said Hamas may extend the ban to the international media. "They will refuse entry permits to foreign journalists who are critical of Hamas." Abeer Ayyoub, a 25-year-old journalist who has written for the Israeli paper Haaretz and for the Guardian, called on the Hamas government in Gaza to reconsider its ban. "There are two sides to the conflict, and both sides should be covered," Ayyoub said. "The Israeli media will have no one in Gaza writing about what is going on. I was speaking up for Gaza in the Israeli media. I was telling Israelis what life is like here." Amira Hass, an Israeli journalist for Haaretz who lived in Gaza for several years and now reports from the West Bank, said Hamas's real aim was "to control information that comes out of Gaza. This is not the end of the story. The next step will be to move against the foreign media." The government media office in Gaza did not respond to a request for comment. Hamas has cracked down on Palestinian journalists inside Gaza who have been critical of the de facto government. A report by Human Rights Watch last year said: "Journalists in the Gaza Strip have … faced arbitrary detention, assault, and other forms of harassment from the Hamas authorities." It gave examples of journalists being detained and assaulted by security forces, and media outlets being closed. But the Islamic faction, which has run Gaza for more than five years, has so far allowed the international media to operate without restriction, other than the introduction last year of Hamas-issued permits to enter Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel is to allow construction materials to enter Gaza from next week for the first time since 2007. Despite easing its blockade of the enclave two and a half years ago, it has continued to ban the import of almost all construction materials, such as cement and steel, saying they could be used for military purposes. Twenty truckloads of construction materials will be permitted to cross into Gaza from Sunday as part of the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended last month's conflict.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency gives no specific reason for stepping down from post after four years Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson says she's stepping down after nearly four years on the job. Jackson announced her departure in a statement on Thursday. She gave no particular reason for leaving but said she was ready for new challenges, time with her family and new opportunities to make a difference. Jackson's tenure was marked by high-profile brawls with industry and congressional Republicans over such issues a global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline and new controls on coal-fired plants. She says she's leaving the agency, in her words, "confident the ship is sailing in the right direction". Jackson is expected to leave after the state of the union address in late January. Cabinet members looking to move on often leave at the beginning of a president's second term.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency gives no specific reason for stepping down from post after four years US Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson announced on Thursday that she will be stepping down from her post after a tenure of almost four years marked by battles with Republicans who fought her proposed environmental regulations. Under her leadership, the agency declared for the first time that carbon dioxide was a pollutant that could be regulated under the Clean Air Act, leading the EPA to develop a new regulatory regime to limit carbon emissions. President Barack Obama thanked Jackson for her service, praising her work on mercury pollution limits, fighting climate change and helping set new fuel economy standards. "Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink," Obama said in a statement. Jackson's time at the agency was marked by some bruising encounters with Republican lawmakers, who accused her of orchestrating massive regulatory overreach that they said was choking US economic growth. In her statement Jackson, the first black administrator of the EPA, said she was "confident the [EPA] ship is sailing in the right direction". Leading the list of potential replacements for Jackson are: Bob Perciasepe, the current deputy EPA administrator; and Kathleen McGinty, a former head of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection and a protege of former US vice-president Al Gore. "Lisa Jackson has shown an unwavering commitment to the health of our families and our children," Obama said. Jackson's shepherding of new fuel economy standards "will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump", Obama said. Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Jackson, a chemical engineer by training, might be considering a position at a major university.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Environmental Protection Agency leader played crucial role in enacting standards on mercury pollution and car efficiency The most prominent member of Barack Obama's environmental team announced she was stepping down on Thursday, after four years of running battles with industry and Republicans in Congress opposed to stricter pollution controls. Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will leave the cabinet after Obama's state of the union address in January, she said in a statement. Under Jackson, a chemist by training, the EPA produced nearly all of Obama's main environmental decisions, enacting stricter controls on coal-fired power plants and the first standards on mercury pollution. In a brief statement Jackson, 50, said: "I will leave the EPA confident the ship is sailing in the right direction, and ready in my own life for new challenges, time with my family and new opportunities to make a difference." Jackson gave no further indication of what she intends to do next, but the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported there was speculation she might run for governor. In a statement, Obama said: "Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, including implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution, taking important action to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act and playing a key role in establishing historic fuel economy standards that will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump." Jackson's departure had been anticipated as part of the usual changeover for a second term. But the last four years were tumultuous. She began amid high expectations for actions on climate change and movement on a host of environmental protections stalled by George Bush. But with the collapse of a climate law in Congress, the EPA became a target for industry and others trying to block action on climate change. Industry groups filed hundreds of law suits challenging the EPA's authority. Meanwhile, Jackson was under pressure from the White House to delay controversial regulations. Obama last year ordered a hold on new smog regulations, urged by Jackson and EPA scientists, for fear it would hurt him in the elections. Despite such pressures, however, Jackson was seen as one of the most effective and politically savvy leaders of the EPA. She was crucial to Obama's biggest environmental achievement to date: doubling car efficiency standards to 54.5mpg. Jackson saw through the first rules controlling mercury pollution at power plants. She brought in stricter pollution controls on new coal-fired power plants. The EPA administrator also helped Obama reframe environmental concerns as issues of public health, building broader support for stricter controls on soot and other forms of air pollution. The Natural Resources Defense Council said: "There has been no fiercer champion of our health and our environment." The agency disappointed some environmental campaigners, especially those seeking to ban fracking. The EPA said in a draft report earlier this month that it supports further development of natural gas. But by far the vast majority of Jackson's political battles were with industry and Republicans in Congress, who tried to cast environmental protections as onerous "job-killing" regulations. At one point, Fred Upton, the chair of the house energy and commerce committee, joked he planned to call Jackson to testify so many times she would need her own parking spot at Congress. During the presidential election, Mitt Romney said he would fire her. In the end, however, Jackson managed to protect the EPA as one of the last remaining avenues left to the administration to act on climate change. There was no immediate announcement about Jackson's successor.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Vatican's Osservatore Romano newspaper says Monti's message is "an appeal to recover the higher and more noble sense of politics", as Germany's finance minister suggests next year will be easier
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Speculation is growing that Mario Monti could lead an alliance of centrist parties in the Italian general election, and Silvio Berlusconi's party are not happy
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who were 2012's biggest winners in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, the Olympics, golf and more... Oh sure, everybody says "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game". But nobody really believes it. Sports are all about winning and losing. So as 2012 comes to a close, it's time to separate the year's winners and losers in US sports. Here, we consider the winners. Obviously the list is incomplete, so feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. Tomorrow we will have a run-down of 2012's biggest losers. LeBron JamesIt's pretty much impossible to come up with an American sports figure who had a better year than LeBron James of the Miami Heat. First, he was the regular-season MVP as the Miami Heat proved themselves the best team in the East. Then, he won his first ring and silenced an army of critics when he helped to defeat a very dangerous Oklahoma City Thunder team featuring his arch-rival, Kevin Durant. Then he lead Team USA to a victory over the entire world (possible overstatement) in the London Olympics. Then he came back with the Heat just as motivated as ever, re-establishing them as the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. He's Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, the best basketball player on the planet and he even shut Skip Bayless up for a few days. Finally we can call LeBron James a winner without sarcastically snickering – not even a little. New York GiantsPersonal sympathies aside, there's no doubt that the Giants' second Super Bowl win at the expense of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots put Eli Manning into the "elite" quarterback discussion, completed the transformation of Tom Coughlin from embattled head coach to possible Hall of Famer and made the Jets look even worse by comparison. The Giants didn't take the easiest route to the Super Bowl, coming into the playoffs as the fourth seed after a regular season that included a four-game losing streak, but after their improbable Super Bowl win in 2008 no one was taking them lightly. Who would have thought that Eli would now have twice as many Super Bowl rings as big brother Peyton? It looks like the Giants are again going through the process of bumbling towards the end of the regular season, but nobody's falling for that "drunken master" trickery anymore. Barry Zito, Pablo Sandoval, Marco ScutaroIt would be easy just to list the World Series-winning San Francisco Giants as the big winners here, but just from a misfit sports narrative standpoint it's worth noting three of the Giants' biggest postseason contributors. Before this postseason, Barry Zito was known for having one of baseball's worst contracts – he was so bad that he was left off the 2010 championship team playoff roster. Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval has gone through such long slumps that he's spent as much time as a de facto team mascot as a productive hitter. Marco Scutaro was traded by the Boston Red Sox for salary relief and then let go by the mediocre Colorado Rockies after failing to hit even in the hitter's paradise that is Coors Field. We all know how this movie went. Zito pitched maybe his best start of the season in an elimination game against the St Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series. Scutaro, who seemed to have a knack for driving in timely runs whenever needed, was named NLCS MVP. All Zito did next was outduel the Detroit Tigers' Justin "Reigning AL Cy Young and MVP" Verlander in game one of the World Series. In that game, Sandoval hit three home runs, tying a World Series record and putting him in the company of Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols. The Giants beat the Tigers in four games. Who drove in the series winning run in extra innings in game four? You guessed it, that would be Scutaro. End credits. The David Beckham ExperimentDavid Beckham's career in the USA began in massive hype and almost immediate letdown, but it ultimately ended on a satisfactory note when he won his second MLS Cup with the Los Angeles Galaxy. While Beckham didn't quite manage the huge task of pushing Major League Soccer to the heights of the big four leagues (the NFL, MLB, the NBA and the NHL), he has left US soccer better off and proved himself to be more than just Mr Posh Spice. (Note: not that there is anything wrong with being Mr Posh Spice.) The Guardian's Graham Parker probably summarized Beckham's US legacy best, shortly before the MLS Cup: Beckham will leave the Galaxy on a high regardless of the result in Saturday's final against the Houston Dynamo – respected by his team-mates, the coach, Bruce Arena, and the overwhelming majority of LA fans, as a model professional whose diminishing powers have still contributed significantly to their success, rather than the superstar whose arrival threatened to turn his club, if not the league, upside down. "He's been probably more valuable to the league than to the LA Galaxy," said Arena this week. And while there is truth in that – his former club president Alexi Lalas and the MLS Players Union chief, Bob Foose, were both emphatic about the "worldwide credibility" Beckham's arrival brought – and while it is true that the economic boon of his presence went way beyond the surge in shirt sales at the Galaxy, there is a certain quiet relief among many that at least part of Beckham's legacy here will be a sporting one.
Olympic veteransWe have come to take Serena Williams for granted. This year, she won two gold medals at the London Olympics, a fifth Wimbledon title, a fourth US Open and had maybe her 1,000th on-court controversy. Just another year in the life of one of the greatest tennis players of all time. (Fun Fact: As of this writing, the start of Serena's Wikipedia entry begins with "this article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably". That about sums it up.) Maybe we'll pay more attention to Williams if she retires on top, like Michael Phelps did. Despite failing to win a medal in his first event, the swimmer rebounded to collect four gold medals and two silvers. The Greatest Olympian ever? That's a bit hyperbolic, considering there are more medals to be won in the pool than in most other Olympic events, but Phelps has 22 and 18 of them are gold. Who says that people who smoke pot aren't motivated? US women's Olympic teamsThe most noticeable trend in the USA's success at the London Olympics was that a lot of the victors were women. In fact, women accounted for 29 of the USA's 46 gold medals. At some point the summer games were given the nickname "the Title IX Olympics", after the idea that the current glut of talented female athletes in the USA was a direct result of the still-controversial legislation that, among other things, greatly expanded opportunities for women to pursue college athletics. As true as this may be, validating landmark 1970s legislation probably wasn't foremost in the minds of a US women's soccer team as they sought to rebound from a heartbreaking defeat last year in the World Cup against Japan. Megan Rapione, Abby Wambach, Hope Solo and company did just that when they beat Japan 2-1 in the gold-medal match but before that they had to claw their way back again and again against Canada in the semifinals. Alex Morgan's extra-time goal won it 4-3 in one of the most exciting soccer matches in recent memory. In gymnastics, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Kyla Ross dominated and won America's heart. Collectively, they won gold. Raisman won gold in the floor exercise and bronze on the beam; Douglas won the individual all-around title and became a household name; Maroney won silver on the vault and became a worldwide meme. Collectively they were given the nickname Fierce Five, which is pretty much the most badass thing to happen in gymnastics history. While the men's basketball team, featuring LeBron James and a group of NBA players second only in talent to the original 1992 Dream Team, got most of the accolades and attention, the women's basketball team were even more dominant. A group of all-stars featuring Candace Parker, Sue Bird and Maya Moore, the US cruised to the gold-medal game, where they beat the French in a blowout. You have to admire a team that made LeBron's squad look like it was struggling. University of AlabamaHate him or really hate him, head coach Nick Saban has made the University of Alabama the country's premiere college football program. Alabama began the year by defeating LSU 21-0 in the BCS National Championship Game. By the end of the year, there they were again in the national title game, this time against a resurgent Notre Dame. This makes 2012 the greatest year for the Crimson Tide since they were name-checked in Steely Dan's Deacon Blues, back in 1977. Breakout rookiesWe all love established stars, but sometimes all we want is something new, the thrill of watching a young player achieve his potential. Heck, we want to see great rookie classes come into the league at the same time. Uually the sports world hands us more Ryan Leafs and Greg Odens than Peyton Mannings or Kevin Durants. This year, however, featured three pairs of breakout rookies. In football, Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III went one and two in the NFL Draft, to the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins. Despite the fact that Luck was the No1 pick for anyone not related to RG3, the chatter before the season was about which quarterback would have a better year. Despite the fact that it's probably the most difficult position in pro sports, and both players were headed to highly flawed teams, fans expected Luck and RGIII to have an impact. If anything the two players have exceeded the loftiest of expectations – Luck has turned the worst team in football into a playoff contender and RG3, who is maybe the most exciting quarterback to watch thanks to his ability to make plays with his legs, has become so revered in DC that people believe his mere presence led the woeful Washington Wizards to a win. Baseball had its own budding rivalry in 2012. The five-tooled Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was more heralded when he made his Major League debut, but the all-everything outfielder Mike Trout ended up having the much better season, for the Los Angeles of Anaheim. Trout ended up as the hands-down American League rookie of the year, and there was a strong case that he should have been the MVP. If Harper, the National League rookie of the year, feels overshadowed, he can feel consoled by the fact that he's a year younger than Trout. The Cleveland Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving and the Minnesota Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio came to the NBA on different paths. Irving was 2011's No1 draft pick, after spending a year at Duke; the Timberwolves drafted Rubio a few years ago, but he was playing in Spain and had become something of an urban legend before 2011-12. The better all-around player, Irving is expected to lead the Cavaliers single-handedly, like some other Cav used to before he got older and moved to Florida. Rubio, whose insane assists seem to bend time and space, is there to facilitate those around him, especially rebound-machine Kevin Love. Unfortunately for the basketball world, Rubio suffered a season-ending injury, leading the way for Irving to become unanimous rookie of the year. At the start of 2012-13 Irving and Rubio were both injured, but they recently returned. The NBA is way more fun with them in it. John Calipari"Could you imagine a Calipari team with seniors?" It was a rhetorical question sent via Twitter, reacting to the University of Kentucky basketball team's march through March Madness. Calilpari's team, fronted by mostly NBA-ready freshmen, defeated Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals to advance to the NCAA Championship Game, where they defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59. Calipari's recruiting skills became even more apparent in June when Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and Marquis Teague were taken in the first round of the NBA Draft. Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist became the first players from the same school to be taken first and second in the same draft. The downside to his success? Calipari had to start the 2012-13 season with basically a whole new team. But he's used to that. New York basketballIt goes something like this: the Knicks experience Linsanity! Then the Knicks experience a coaching change! The Knicks win a playoff game! The New Jersey Nets move to Brooklyn! The Nets get Joe Johnson! And Jay-Z is vaguely involved! The Knicks become a legitimate Eastern Conference Finals threat! The Knicks and Nets begin a rivalry! Oh yeah, and somewhere along the way the Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire punched a fire extinguisher, the Nets' Kris Humphries punched Rajon Rondo and Rasheed Wallace became a Knick but didn't punch anyone or anything. Yet. Honorable MentionsRA Dickey (for winning a Cy Young with the New York Mets while throwing the knuckleball – also for no longer being a Met); Rob Gronkowski (for he soy fiesta); Nate Silver (for making the transition from Baseball Prospectus to being the third-most talked about person on election night); Adrian Peterson (for "holy cow he came back from that?"); Avery Bradley (for being My Guy); Johnny Manziel and Manti Te'o (for both deserving the Heisman Trophy even if only Manziel could win it); Miguel Cabrera (for winning the non-horse related triple crown); no-hitters; the return to the running game; and that one person out there who still enjoys "Gangnam Style" parodies. Tomorrow find out who the big losers were in 2012
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Blizzards, heavy snow and ice cause chaos across midwest before storm system heads towards New England A powerful winter storm system pounded the American heartland before barreling into the north-east, where residents faced high winds and heavy snow that disrupted holiday travel, knocked out power to thousands of homes and were blamed in at least six deaths. More than 1,600 flights were canceled or delayed on Wednesday, scores of motorists got stuck on icy roads or slid into drifts, and blizzard warnings were issued on Thursday, amid snowy gusts of 30 mph (48 kph) that blanketed roads and windshields. The system, which spawned Gulf Coast region tornadoes on Christmas Day and a historic amount of snow in Arkansas, pushed through the upper Ohio valley and moved into the north-east. High winds, snow and sleet slickened roads in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, causing dozens of minor accidents. Forecasts called for 12in – 18in (300mm – 457mm) of snow inland from western New York to Maine into Thursday. The National Weather Service said that snow was falling heavily in Pennsylvania, upstate New York and some New England states. Among the highest snow totals were up to 5in inches (130mm) in south-eastern Massachusetts, up to 6in in Connecticut, up to 1ft in some Pennsylvania counties and up to 11in in some parts of western New York. The storm was expected to taper off into a mix of rain and snow closer to the coast, where little accumulation was expected in such cities as New York and Boston. Two passengers in a car on a sleet-slickened Arkansas highway died when the vehicle crossed the centre line and struck an sport utility vehicle. In Oklahoma, the highway patrol said a 76-year-old woman died on Tuesday when a truck crossed into oncoming traffic and hit the car she was in. The patrol earlier reported that a 28-year-old woman was killed in another crash.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Test your knowledge – below is a selection of quotes from film reviews published by the Guardian over the last 12 months. But can you tell which films they're talking about?
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | New Japanese prime minister's vow to battle deflation, and strong yen, helps boost Nikkei's year-to-date increase to 22.1% The Nikkei share average ended at a 21-month high on Thursday, led by exporters and financial stocks, as the new Japanese prime minister's vow to battle deflation and a strong currency buoyed investor risk appetite. The Nikkei advanced 0.9% to 10,322.98, rising for the third consecutive session and taking the index deeper into "overbought" territory, with its 14-day relative strength index at 77.7, far above 70 which is considered overbought and often indicates an imminent pullback. The benchmark has advanced 19.2% over the past six weeks, taking the year-to-date increase for the Nikkei to 22.1%, outpacing a 12.9% rise in the US S&P 500 and a 14.7% gain in the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600. It is on track to log its best yearly gain since 2005. "People are back in the office today … and putting on some positions based on what we saw after the cabinet appointment and LDP policy decision," a dealer at a foreign brokerage said, referring to the ruling party. The finance minister, Taro Aso, said prime minister Shinzo Abe has ordered him to compile a stimulus package without sticking to the previous government's cap on new bond issues, signalling a more aggressive policy to kickstart the ailing economy. But Aso also tried to quell concern about the country's weak finances, saying the government will not rely solely on debt to fund economic stimulus and will try to limit new debt issuance next fiscal year. "We need to make public finances sustainable in the medium to long term," he said. Financials such as insurance stocks rose. Dai-ichi Life Insurance added 2% and T&D Holdings gained 3.9%. Exporters benefiting from a weaker yen included Toyota, Honda, TDK and Panasonic, all up between 1% and 2.6%. The yen hit a more than two-year low of 85.835 yen to the dollar. A weaker yen helps lift exporters' overseas earnings when repatriated, improving their competitiveness, particularly against South Korean and Chinese rivals. Helped by the drop in the yen, the pace of deterioration in Japanese companies' earnings outlooks has slowed further in December. Their one-month earnings momentum – analysts' earnings upgrades minus downgrades as a total of estimates – stood at -7.2%, versus -10.9% in November and -12.2% in December. On top of Thursday's gains in stocks that benefited from the new government's policy, shares in other sectors such as paper and personal finance also attracted buying. But traders said such buying could fizzle out at any time as investors seem to have overlooked fundamentals. "Even junk stocks like consumer finances are rising … individual traders who are trading short-term could be buying them while forgetting that their earnings are far from rosy," said Makoto Kikuchi, the chief executive of Myojo Asset Management. "They may be hoping that the LDP-led government will be relaxing regulations on the sector, but I don't think it's rational buying, and it could trigger profit-taking in any moment," Kikuchi said.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Female student is in a critical condition and being treated for severe internal injuries at Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore A young woman who was gang-raped and assaulted on a moving bus in Delhi has been flown to a Singapore hospital for treatment of severe internal injuries that could last several weeks, officials said. The 23-year-old student, who is in critical condition, arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance and was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ transplant facilities. The hospital said in a statement that she was admitted to the intensive care unit "in an extremely critical condition." It said "she is being examined and the hospital is working with the Indian High Commission (embassy)." The 16 December rape of the woman and her brutal beating triggered widespread protests in New Delhi and other parts of the country and calls for the death penalty for the perpetrators of rape. It is punishable by up to life in prison. All six suspects in the case have been arrested. The rape has highlighted the extensive harassment that Indian women face daily in cities and towns, ranging from unwanted hands being placed on them to being blamed for causing the sexual violence. Even rape victims rarely come forward to complain because of the social stigma. Many women say they have structured their entire lives around protecting themselves and their children, and restricting their movements to avoid being molested. The nearly daily protests in the heart of New Delhi following the rape have been frequently quelled by police using tear gas and water cannons. One policemen died of injuries suffered in the clashes. In a written statement, the Indian High Commission, or embassy, said it has received "many offers to help" the woman, who is "receiving full medical attention." Her family is also being provided all assistance" by the embassy, it said. Police said she was travelling with a male friend in a bus when they were attacked by six men who took turns to rape her. The men also beat the couple with iron rods, stripped them of their clothes and threw them off the bus on a road. They were found by bystanders before being rushed to New Delhi's Safdarjang Hospital. The bus, which was empty except for the attackers and the couple, drove through the city for hours during the assault, even passing through police checkpoints. Press Trust of India quoted hospital medical superintendent, B.D. Athani, as saying the woman suffered severe intestinal and abdominal injuries. She underwent three surgeries and parts of her intestines were removed, he said. He said the Indian government, "based on the advice of a team of doctors," made arrangements for her to be shifted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth hospital because it has state of the art multi-organ transplant facilities. Also, the travel time of 5 ½ hours from New Delhi was considered less arduous. "With fortitude and courage, the (woman) survived the aftereffects of the injuries so far well. But the condition continues to be critical," he was quoted as saying. "The treatment (in Singapore) might take longer." The woman was on ventilator support during the 10 days she was at Safdarjang Hospital. Press Trust of India said the Indian government will bear all expenses of the woman's treatment. Doctors have described her as "psychologically composed and optimistic about future." It said her condition worsened late on Wednesday after her pulse plummeted briefly, and that periodic bouts of infection were also a source of concern.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former US president admitted to Houston hospital with family members remaining by his side, doctors say Former US president George HW Bush has been admitted to a hospital's intensive care unit "following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever", but he is alert and talking to medical staff, his spokesman said. Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said in a brief email that Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist hospital on Sunday. He said doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment and that the former president "remains in guarded condition". No other details were released about his medical condition, but McGrath said Bush is surrounded by family. The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 23 November, when he was admitted for a lingering cough related to bronchitis after having been in and out of the hospital for complications related to the illness. Earlier on Wednesday, McGrath had said a fever that kept Bush in the hospital over Christmas had gotten worse and that doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet. "It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath told the Associated Press. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away." But he said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital has improved. Bush was visited on Christmas Day by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive on Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Maryland. The 41st president has also been visited twice by his sons, George W Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Bush and his wife live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at a home in Kennebunkport, Maine. The former president was a naval aviator in the second world war, at one point the youngest in the navy, and was shot down over the Pacific. He achieved notoriety in retirement for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House in 1992.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former US president admitted to Houston hospital with family members remaining by his side, doctors say Former President George HW Bush has been admitted to a hospital's intensive care unit "following a series of setbacks including a persistent fever," but he is alert and talking to medical staff, his spokesman said. Jim McGrath, Bush's spokesman in Houston, said in a brief email that Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit at Methodist Hospital on Sunday. He said doctors are cautiously optimistic about his treatment and that the former president "remains in guarded condition." No other details were released about his medical condition, but McGrath said Bush is surrounded by family. The 88-year-old has been hospitalised since 23 November, when he was admitted for a lingering cough related to bronchitis after having been in and out of the hospital for complications related to the illness. Earlier on Wednesday, McGrath said a fever that kept Bush in the hospital over Christmas had gotten worse and that doctors had put him on a liquids-only diet. "It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two," McGrath told the Associated Press. "It's a stubborn fever that won't go away." But he said the cough that initially brought Bush to the hospital has improved. Bush was visited on Christmas by his wife, Barbara, his son, Neil, and Neil's wife, Maria, and a grandson, McGrath said. Bush's daughter, Dorothy, was expected to arrive on Wednesday in Houston from Bethesda, Maryland. The 41st president has also been visited twice by his sons, George W Bush, the 43rd president, and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Bush and his wife live in Houston during the winter and spend their summers at a home in Kennebunkport, Maine. The former president was a naval aviator in World War II at one point the youngest in the Navy and was shot down over the Pacific. He achieved notoriety in retirement for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays since leaving the White House in 1992.
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