| |  | | | | | 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rebels say Syrian president offered no meaningful concessions in his first public speech in seven months Syria's opposition and its international backers have rejected Bashar al-Assad's latest initiative to end the 21 months of violence, insisting that he offered no meaningful concessions and should surrender power at once. Hopes of a breakthrough were dashed after an hour-long speech in Damascus in which the Syrian president called for "a war to defend the nation" against "terrorist" violence and urged foreign countries to stop supporting his enemies – while offering a national dialogue and a constitutional referendum. He proposed what he called a "comprehensive plan" that included an "expanded government". But there was no sign that he was prepared to step down as the first stage of a political transition – a demand of all opposition groups. "I will go one day, but the country remains," he said. Assad referred repeatedly to "plots" against his country and the role of al-Qaida, long portrayed as the leading element in what began as a popular uprising in March 2011. Syria was not facing a revolution but a "gang of criminals" and "western puppets", he said. "We are now in a state of war in every sense of the word," the president told cheering supporters. "This war targets Syria using a handful of Syrians and many foreigners. Thus, this is a war to defend the nation." The speech from the stage of the Damascus Opera House in the heart of the capital was punctuated by thunderous applause and loyalist chants from what was certainly a carefully selected audience. The city was described as being under a security lockdown before the event. Internet services were disconnected. But it was hard to see how the president's public speech – the first in seven months – offered even a faint glimmer of a way out of the bloody impasse between the regime and rebels in a conflict which the UN said last week had claimed 60,000 lives. The opposition Syrian National Coalition said the closely watched address marked an end to diplomatic efforts led by the UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. "The appropriate response is to continue to resist this unacceptable regime and for the Free Syrian Army to continue its work in liberating Syria until every inch of land is free," said George Sabra, its deputy president. "It was a waste of time. He said nothing constructive," a spokesman, Louay Safi, told al-Jazeera TV. "It was empty rhetoric." Walid al-Bunni, a veteran activist, said: "The genuine opposition inside and outside Syria won't accept the initiative." Assad's speech was "beyond hypocritical", Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, commented on Twitter. "Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one." Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi, told CNN that he supported calls for Assad to be tried for war crimes. Assad's last last public speech was in June 2012. In November he told Russian TV he would "live and die in Syria". Opposition media described clashes taking place between government and rebel forces near the Yarmuk refugee camp as well as anti-Assad demonstrations in Qadam and Homs. In all, 52 people were reported killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor. Reconciliation could take place only with those "who have not betrayed Syria", the president declared, repeating that the government had no "partner" for peace. There could not be simply a political solution he insisted, but there had to be an end to violence and terror. There was loud cheering when he praised the bravery of the Syrian armed forces. Assad said a "national dialogue" would draw up a charter to be put to a national referendum, followed by parliamentary elections and a general amnesty. But Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, thought Assad had simply repeated empty promises. "As Assad no longer has the representative authority over the Syrian people, his words have lost persuasiveness," he said. "A transition period needs to be completed swiftly through talks with representatives of the Syrian nation." In Brussels, the EU foreign affairs chief, Cathy Ashton, promised to "look carefully" at the speech, but added: "We maintain our position that Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition." In his speech, Assad thanked Russia, China and Iran for supporting Syria in the face of hostility from the US, Britain and France. "Syria is impervious to collapse and the Syrian people impervious to humiliation," he concluded. "We will always be like that. Hand in hand we will move ahead, taking Syria to a brighter and stronger future."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NFL Playoffs: In a match-up of two superb rookie quarterbacks, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson, the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks face off at FedEx Field
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Town authorities and police set up website in attempt to counter criticism over events surrounding Big Red football team Officials in the small industrial town of Steubenville in Ohio have launched a campaign to rebut claims of a cover-up in the investigation of an alleged gang rape involving stars of the "Big Red" high-school football team. The Steubenville town authorities, in league with the local police force, have set up a website through which they attempt to counter a tidal wave of criticism that has been unleashed against them through social media sites and by hackers led by the collective Anonymous. Titled Steubenville Facts, the site seeks to debunk claims of a cosy relationship between the authorities and a football team that is the dominant local feature of a community that has fallen on hard times. Over the past few weeks Steubenville, an old steel mill and coal mining town in the Appalachian area of eastern Ohio, has become embroiled in a bitter dispute over an alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl in the course of a night of parties frequented by Big Red players. Two of the most celebrated players on the team, quarterback Trent Mays and wide receiver Ma'lik Richmond, both 16, have been charged with rape and are scheduled to stand trial on 13 February. Both boys deny the accusations. But a growing chorus of criticism has circulated virally on the internet, alleging that many more players were involved, either as participants or as onlookers who tweeted and disseminated photographs of the assault on social media networks but did nothing to stop it. Last week the hacker group Anonymous stepped into the fray, briefly taking control of the Big Red sports website, and posting to YouTube a 12-minute video in which another player on the team makes crude and disparaging comments about the girl at the centre of the incident while team-mates stand around and laugh. The Steubenville Facts website underscores how rattled the town has been by the criticism it has faced. Clearly alluding to the Anonymous video, and to screengrabs of offensive Tweets by Big Red players that were posted by an Ohio-based blogger, Alexandria Goddard, the authorities say: "Nothing in the law allows someone who says repugnant things on Twitter, Facebook, or other Internet sites to be criminally charged for such statements. "Steubenville Police investigators are caring humans who recoil and are repulsed by many of the things they observe during an investigation. Like detectives in every part of America and the world, they are often frustrated when they emotionally want to hold people accountable for certain detestable behavior but realize that there is no statute that allows a criminal charge to be made." The manager of Steubenville City, Cathy Davison, told the Associated Press: "When people are saying that our police department did not follow procedure, that the football team runs the city, that is not the case." In a further effort to puncture any impression of collusion, the chief prosecutor in Jefferson County, which has jurisdiction in the region, agreed to stand aside from the case as her son plays in the Big Red team. The prosecution has been handed to a team of special investigators led by the attorney general for the whole state of Ohio, Mike DeWine. But despite such exceptional measures, there is no sign of the furore dying down. On Saturday, more than 1,000 people attended a rally called by Anonymous outside the Jefferson County Courthouse, to demand more comprehensive action against the wider group of teenagers allegedly involved in gang rape. The allegations relate to events on the night of 11-12 August last year. A series of pre-season parties were held around Steubenville. The alleged victim, who remains unidentified, was seen drinking heavily at the parties and at some point appears to have become unconscious. Pictures taken during the night and circulated on Instagram and Twitter allegedly showed her being carried and dragged between parties; she is alleged to have been assaulted at a variety of locations. Tweets posted during the night by team players were tagged with "rape" and "drunk girl" and she was referred to as "dead person". There were also suggestions that she was urinated on. Though the crowd left a great deal of digital evidence, the police investigation has been hampered by the fact that images were quickly deleted and they have struggled to retrieve photos and videos from players' iPhones. Few witnesses have so far come forward. Though several Big Red players are alleged to have been present at the parties, and to have been involved in disseminating pictures and Tweets about the incident, only Mays and Richmond have been charged. Fred Abdalla, the sheriff of Jefferson County, appeared before the protesters on Saturday and told them that there would be no further charges. "I'm not going to stand here and try to convince you that I'm not the bad guy, you've already made your minds up," he said, as the crowd tried to shout him down. The intensity of the dispute is enhanced by the powerful role the high-school football team plays in the life of Steubenville. The Big Red stadium is packed to capacity every Friday evening in season with 10,000 fans – more than half the population of the town. Every time the team scores a touchdown, a 6ft flame emanates from a statue of a rearing red stallion, known as the Man o' War, that stands on top of the scoreboard.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senate minority leader says debt ceiling talks must focus on spending cuts, a day after Obama targets further tax reform The Republican co-architect of the deal which meant America avoided the fiscal cliff has ruled out any further tax hikes on the rich, stating that spending cuts must be the focus of looming talks over the debt ceiling. Speaking on ABC's This Week, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said the issue of tax revenues was "finished, over, completed", and added that negotiations must now be centered solely on the White House's "spending addiction". The comments, coming from a man who last week worked with the vice-president, Joe Biden, to broker a last-minute agreement to stave off a punitive austerity package that could have plunged America back into recession, will be taken as a drawing of a line in the sand by Republican negotiators. McConnell's words came a day after President Barack Obama signalled that he would be pursuing a hard line in future talks with the Republicans. Despite having only narrowly avoided the so-called fiscal cliff of across-the-board tax increases and swingeing spending cuts, Washington is bracing itself for another round of brinkmanship over the debt ceiling. The administration needs Congress to increase the US's borrowing limit, to ensure the smooth running of government. Without an agreement to do so, America could default on its debt, potentially triggering a panic on the markets. Last year, uncertainty over whether lawmakers would increases the debt limit contributed to America's credit rating being downgraded, despite politicians agreeing to an eleventh-hour deal to raise the ceiling. In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Obama outlined the consequences of failing to do so again. "If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic," he said. "The last time Congress threatened this course of action, our entire economy suffered for it. Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again." Obama said he accepted that spending cuts would form part of the solution, but that they "must be balanced with more reforms to our tax code". In the fiscal cliff deal, Democrats secured a hike in tax rates for families making more than $450,000 a year and saw significant spending cuts postponed. The deal passed through Congress, despite coming under heavy attack from Republicans in the House of Representatives. Mindful, perhaps, of an apparent schism in GOP ranks over the fiscal cliff deal, McConnell has set out his stall well in advance of the next round of negotiations. "The tax issue is finished, over, completed," said the senator from Kentucky. "That's behind us. Now the question is what are we going to do about the biggest problem confronting our country and our future, and that's our spending addiction." Asked whether Republicans would threaten a default on the US's obligations if spending-cut concessions were not forthcoming, McConnell said: "It's not even necessary to get to that point. Why aren't we trying to settle the problem? Why aren't we trying to do something about reducing spending?" Democrats on Sunday warned that any deal over the debt ceiling would have to form a mix of increased revenue and spending cuts. Representative Chris Van Hollen told Fox News Sunday that McConnell's comments represented "a recipe for more gridlock" in Washington.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Small-scale protest in Northern Ireland escalates to month of violence with fears disruption will spread south of the border After a month of violent protests that left more than 40 police officers injured, dozens of rioters arrested, live rounds being fired on the streets of Belfast, politicians' offices torched and now the prospect of the home of Northern Ireland's first minister being picketed, the union flag dispute has become a lightning rod for widespread loyalist disaffection from the political process. A spontaneous protest movement about Belfast city council's decision in early December to restrict the number of days the Union flag flies above city hall has morphed into a wider organisation whose actions, its opponents claim, are destabilising Northern Ireland. Now, as the smoke clears from the battle grounds of the dispute, especially in working class east Belfast, alienated loyalists are threatening to take their protests south of the border. The newly constituted Ulster People's Forum will hold a protest rally outside the Irish parliament next Saturday as well as a series of demonstrations close to one of the most unstable sectarian interfaces in Belfast. A loyalist working class/underclass disconnected from the mainstream unionist parties has established a movement that has become a fresh focus for many other grievances ranging from social deprivation, poor educational attainment to the alleged maltreatment of unionist victims of the Troubles. Some of its demands are wildly unrealistic, such as the reintroduction of direct rule and the suspension of devolution. The leaders emerging range from a former soldier who sells Nazi uniforms from a shop in Carrickfergus to veteran loyalists previously lukewarm about their paramilitary leadership's support for the peace process and the Good Friday agreement. Many of the protests that later turned violent have been organised on an ad hoc basis through social media. The "foot soldiers" of the disorder are mostly young men and teenagers wearing the uniform of hoodie and football scarf wrapped around face as they confront police lines. And while some loyalist paramilitaries have been in the vanguard, such as members of the Ulster Volunteer Force in east Belfast, the leaders of that group and the Ulster Defence Association, have been unprepared for the depth of anger within their communities. Leading figures in the UVF have said they are concerned that extreme, anti-ceasefire elements, including loyalists with connections to the British far right, are trying to exploit the flag issue. Victims campaigner and Ulster People's Forum spokesman Willie Frazer said three coaches would take 150 people to the Irish capital this weekend. "We will be challenging the Irish government to change its flag flying policy and stop flying the tricolour 365 days per year over the Dáil. If nationalists insist we can't do this in Belfast, in our capital, then there should be full equality on this island. They should take down their flag." Frazer added that among those coming to Dublin would be unionist victims of the IRA during the Troubles. "They are coming down to tell the taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and his government that they have reneged on their promise to meet and listen to them, to hear their concerns about collusion between the Irish state and the IRA." He also confirmed that the nascent protest movement would be targeting the home of Northern Ireland's first minister and Democratic Unionist leader, Peter Robinson. "When the idea that we march on Peter Robinson's home was raised at a meeting of the Ulster People's Forum last week in Newtonards it was met with wild cheering. There is a lot of pressure on to picket Robinson's home, to make it clear to him on his doorstep that he is letting the loyalist, Protestant people down," added Frazer. He claimed that there had been meetings about the flag dispute from Enniskillen in the west to Bangor in the east. But the movement's critics believe their hardline rhetoric is enabling dissident republicans to portray themselves as defenders of embattled nationalists and Catholics worried about loyalist attacks. The Dublin protest contains both danger and heavy irony: the Continuity IRA has warned loyalists to stay from the Irish capital this weekend; the demonstrators are arriving in a state which itself has lost its economic sovereignty to the IMF and EU and where there is little sympathy for the international image of Ireland portrayed by the northern protests. A number of planned loyalist demonstrations close to a sectarian divide in east Belfast alongside ongoing violence are also in danger of "creating fresh space for republican dissident terrorists", according the MP for the area. Naomi Long, the Alliance MP who has been the subject of death threats because of her party's role in the Belfast city council flag vote, was responding to reports that republican opponents of the peace process have offered to "defend" the Catholic enclave of Short Strand as sectarian tensions heighten in the east of the city. Following 72 hours of street disorder since last Thursday culminating in gunfire being directed at police lines on Saturday evening along the Newtonards Road, Long said the increasingly sectarian nature of the protests was "enabling dissident republicans to offer themselves as defenders of their people". "There are reflections here of 1969 and 1970 when people feeling under threat unfortunately looked towards paramilitary groups to defend them. "Today those behind these supposedly peaceful loyalists protests ought to realise they are in danger of creating a new space for the republican dissidents to thrive, to claim they can defend people in, say, the Short Strand from loyalists even though people there support the peace process and the political settlement. They [the protestors] are enabling republican dissidents to thrive. "In addition, these protests and riots are draining away police resources from the fight against dissident republican terrorism. In the middle of all this trouble we had a dissident republican attempt to murder a police officer and his family in my constituency. So not only are these protests gifting the dissidents a chance to recruit they are diverting police time and resources away from countering the threat from the new IRA, Continuity IRA and so on." Long and her party have been under fire since the flag dispute erupted in early December. The Alliance party secured a compromise at Belfast city hall allowing the union flag to be flown atop the council building on 17 designated days. Sinn Féin and the SDLP wanted to do away with the union flag altogether but Alliance, which holds the balance of powerin Belfast, succeeded with its motion. This was not enough for hardline loyalists, though, and what began as a reactionary protest has now assumed far more threatening overtones.
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  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rebels say Syrian president offered no meaningful concessions in his first public speech in seven months Syria's opposition and its international backers have rejected Bashar al-Assad's latest initiative to end violence, insisting that he offered no meaningful concessions after 21 months of bloodshed and must surrender power at once. Hopes for a breakthrough in the crisis were dashed after an hour-long speech in Damascus in which the Syrian president called for "a war to defend the nation" against "terrorist" violence and urged foreign countries to stop supporting his enemies – while offering a national dialogue and a constitutional referendum. Assad proposed what he called a "comprehensive plan" that included an "expanded government". But there was no sign he was prepared to step down as the first stage of a political transition – a demand of all opposition groups. "I will go one day, but the country remains," he pledged. The Syrian leader referred repeatedly to "plots" against his country and the role of al-Qaida, long portrayed as the leading element in what began as a popular uprising in March 2011. Syria was not facing a revolution but a "gang of criminals" and "western puppets", he said. "We are now in a state of war in every sense of the word," the president told cheering supporters. "This war targets Syria using a handful of Syrians and many foreigners. Thus, this is a war to defend the nation." The speech from the stage of the Damascus Opera House in the heart of the capital was punctuated by thunderous applause and loyalist chants from what was certainly a carefully selected audience. The city was described as being under a security lockdown before the event. Internet services were disconnected. But it was hard to see how his latest address – the first in seven months – offered even a faint glimmer of hope of way out of the bloody impasse between the regime and rebels in a conflict which the UN said last week had claimed 60,000 lives. The opposition Syrian National Coalition said the closely watched address marked an end to diplomatic efforts led by the UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. "The appropriate response is to continue to resist this unacceptable regime and for the Free Syrian Army to continue its work in liberating Syria until every inch of land is free," said George Sabra, its deputy president. "It was a waste of time. He said nothing constructive," a spokesman, Louay Safi, told al-Jazeera TV. "It was empty rhetoric." Walid al-Bunni, a veteran activist, said: "The genuine opposition inside and outside Syria won't accept the initiative." Assad's speech was "beyond hypocritical", Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, commented on Twitter. "Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one." Earlier David Cameron repeated the call for Assad to step down. Egypt's president, Mohamed Morsi, told CNN that he supported calls for Assad to be tried for war crimes. Assad's last public comments were in November, when he told Russian TV he would "live and die in Syria". His last public speech was in June 2012. Opposition media described clashes taking place between government and rebel forces near the Yarmuk refugee camp as well as anti-Assad demonstrations in Qadam and Homs. In all 52 people were reported killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor. Rami Khouri, a commentator for Lebanon's Daily Star, tweeted: "Assad speech appropriately made in Opera House. It was operatic in its other-worldly fantasy, unrelated to realities outside the building." Reconciliation could take place only with those "who have not betrayed Syria", the president declared, repeating that the government had no "partner" for peace. There could not be simply a political solution he insisted, but there had to be an end to violence and terror. There was loud cheering when he praised the bravery of the Syrian armed forces. Assad said that a "national dialogue" would draw up a new charter that would be put to a national referendum that would be followed in turn by parliamentary elections and a general amnesty. But Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, thought Assad had simply repeated empty promises. "As Assad no longer has the representative authority over the Syrian people, his words have lost persuasiveness," he said. "A transition period needs to be completed swiftly through talks with representatives of the Syrian nation." In Brussels the EU foreign affairs chief, Cathy Ashton, promised to "look carefully" at the speech, but added: "We maintain our position that Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition." Opposition reactions were scathing. Colonel Riad al-Asaad of the FSA commented: "Assad speech business as usual. Death, destruction, starvation, detention, rape, torture, displacement … struggling to find the positive bits." Another opposition supporter tweeted: "There is a saying in Arabic that goes along the lines of 'he killed the man then walked in his funeral procession.'" A video clip of the event posted by opposition media dubbed the soundtrack of the speech so that Assad barked liked a dog and the audience bleated and brayed like farmyard animals. In his speech, Assad thanked Russia, China and Iran for supporting Syria in the face of hostility from the US, Britain and France. "Syria is impervious to collapse and the Syrian people impervious to humiliation," he concluded. "We will always be like that. Hand in hand we will move ahead, taking Syria to a brighter and stronger future."
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Senator Lindsey Graham says 'incredibly controversial choice' will be an 'in-your-face nomination to all supportive of Israel' President Barack Obama could announce the former Republican senator Chuck Hagel as his pick for defense secretary as early as Monday, despite senior GOP figures raising questions over the seemingly imminent nomination. Reuters quoted a congressional Democratic aide as suggesting that the former Nebraska senator would be named as the replacement for Leon Panetta, with a White House statement expected early next week. This would set up a confrontation with Hagel's detractors in the Senate, many from his own party, who believe that he has only been lukewarm towards the US's traditional ally in the Middle East, Israel. One senior Republican said on Sunday that it would be an "in-your-face" nomination by the president. Hagel has also been criticised for comments he has made over the effectiveness of sanctions in dissuading Iran from pursuing its nuclear programme. The appointment of Hagel would give Obama credibility regarding his expressed desire for a bipartisan cabinet. Many Republicans, however, are bracing for battle. On Sunday's round of political talk shows, senior GOP figures went on the offensive. "It is an incredibly controversial choice," the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told CNN's State of the Union. "This is an in-your-face nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of Israel." Hagel has been critical of the influence of pro-Israeli lobbyists in Washington on US foreign policy. The Senate's top Republican, the minority leader Mitch McConnell, was more reserved in his comments. Speaking on ABC's This Week, McConnell said Hagel "has certainly been outspoken" on foreign policy matters in the past. He added that if the nomination was made, he would want to see if the former Nebraska senator's views "make sense for that particular job". The likely confirmation battle in the Senate comes after the Obama administration backed down from a similar fight over Susan Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations who had been Obama's first pick to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Rice withdrew under a barrage of criticism from Republicans, regarding remarks she made in the aftermath of the assault on the US consulate in Benghazi in September that killed the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. The White House could face an equally tough battle over Hagel. "The administration has a lot of work to do on Hagel. He is in a weaker position now than Rice ever was because Rice would have rallied Democrats behind her," a Senate Democratic aide told Reuters. But Obama has already pressed the case. "I've served with Chuck Hagel. I know him. He is a patriot. He is somebody who has done extraordinary work both in the United States Senate, somebody who served this country with valour in Vietnam," the president told NBC's Meet the Press last week.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Islamabad accuses Indian troops of cross-border raid and India claims Pakistani shelling destroyed civilian home Pakistan and India exchanged gunfire across the disputed border of Kashmir on Sunday, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed one of its soldiers and India claiming that Pakistani shelling destroyed a civilian home on its side. The confrontation is unusual in Kashmir, where a ceasefire has held for a decade. The Pakistani military said troops exchanged gunfire after Indian forces crossed the "line of control" dividing the two sides of Kashmir in the Haji Pir sector and raided a post called Sawan Patra. Colonel Brijesh Pandey, a spokesman for the Indian army in Kashmir, denied that Indian troops had crossed the border. He said Pakistani troops "initiated unprovoked firing" and fired mortars and automatic weapons at Indian posts early on Sunday morning. "We retaliated only using small arms. We believe it was clearly an attempt on their part to facilitate infiltration of militants," Pandey said. India often accuses Pakistan of sending militants into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, often under cover of these types of skirmishes. The latest violence could upset a tentative rapprochement in recent months. Last month the two countries announced a new visa regime designed to make cross-border travel easier, and they have been taking steps to facilitate economic trade. Both claim the entire region as their own, and the countries have fought two full-scale wars over control of Kashmir. On Saturday leaders of a Pakistan-based militant coalition held a rally in the city of Muzaffarabad, near Kashmir, in which they pledged to continue the fight to gain control of the entire region. A ceasefire in 2003 ended the most recent round of fighting. Each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by lobbing mortars or shooting across the line of control. In November a number of Pakistani civilians were wounded due to Indian shelling, and in October the Indian army said Pakistani troops fired across the disputed frontier, killing three civilians. But accusations that one side's ground forces crossed the line are rarer.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Minute-by-minute report:Mansfield proved a stubborn test as Luis Suárez's scored what proved to be a controversial winner
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Former top commander says in memoir conflict over the 'decision-making process on Afghanistan' was 'costly' The advent of an Obama administration led to a "deficit of trust" between the White House and the Pentagon, the US's former top commander in Afghanistan claims in a new book. In the memoir, which is due out on Monday, General Stanley McChrystal writes that tension was evident from the outset, with conflict largely focusing on the "decision making process on Afghanistan". In excerpts reported by the US media, the general said the effects of the disconnect between the White House and the department of defense had been "costly". However, in My Share of the Task: A Memoir, McChrystal takes sole blame for the events that led to his resignation in 2010. He stepped down as top commander in Afghanistan after the publication of a Rolling Stone article in which his aides were openly critical of the Obama administration. McChrystal writes that he was surprised by the tone of the article, but adds: "Regardless of how I judged the story for fairness or accuracy, responsibility was mine." Despite the incident leading to the abrupt end of his 34-year military career, McChystal does not dwell on the affair, confining his comments to a mere page and a half. But elsewhere in the book, he expresses regret over the level of access he allowed to media. "By nature I tended to trust people and was typically open and transparent... but such transparency would go astray when others saw us out of context or when I gave trust to those few who were unworthy of it," he writes. McChrystal states that at the centre of the tension between the Pentagon and the White House was wrangling over the numbers proposed for a troop surge in Afghanistan. The general had requested 40,000 additional soldiers, but the White House signalled a far lower figure. McChrystal also writes that he presented the White House with a goal of defeating the Taliban but was advised by the administration to lower his sights, to an attempt to "degrade" the Taliban. The general also writes that he aired concern over the laying out of a timeframe for withdrawal, with President Obama stating that troops would be brought home by the end of 2014. McChrystal feared that such a deadline might embolden the Taliban.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Authorities search for missing islanders as fires cut off communities and hamper efforts to search devastated areas Australian authorities searched for missing residents in burnt-out vehicles and homes in areas worst hit by wildfires on the island of Tasmania, where more than 40 fires still raged on Sunday. Acting Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard said there were about 100 people with whom authorities are still trying to make contact. It may take days to determine whether the fires have killed anyone during what is the peak holiday season on the island. "We're hoping very much along with everyone else that there won't be [any deaths], but we need to go through the process to confirm that there haven't been," Tilyard told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The blazes began on Thursday on the state's thinly populated south-eastern coast, amid a fierce heatwave and strong winds. The heat eased over the weekend, slowing the fires, but late on Sunday firefighters issued an emergency warning for residents in Taranna, near the state capital, Hobart, where a fire burning for more than three days threatened homes. The national weather bureau warned that this weekend's relative mildness would be a brief reprieve, with extremely hot conditions set to return to much of the country early next week. The fires that continue to burn in Tasmania have cut off communities and hampered efforts to search devastated areas. In the small town of Dunalley, 56km east of Hobart, more than 65 homes and a school have been destroyed. Nearby Boomer Bay and Marion Bay have also suffered damage. Tasmania experienced its peak temperature since records began at 41.8C (107F) on Friday, when much of mainland Australia sweltered in similar conditions and fires burned across several states. The heatwave, which began in western Australia on 27 December and lasted eight days, was the fiercest in more than 80 years in that state and has spread east across the country, making it the widest-ranging heatwave in more than a decade, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Fire crews from Victoria and South Australia headed to Tasmania on Sunday to help, while fires burned on in mainland states South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. Bushfires are a major risk in the Australian summer, which brings extreme heat, dryness, and strong winds. Authorities warned earlier this year that much of the country faced extreme fire conditions this season. The "Black Saturday" fires, the worst in Australia's history, killed 173 people in Victoria in February 2009. Australia's wheat harvest is unlikely to be affected by the fires and hot weather, as the vast majority of this season's crop has been harvested, analysts said.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Biden taskforce will aim to strengthen federal monitoring of gun sales, close loopholes and ban semi-automatic weapons The Obama administration is reportedly preparing to confront the might of the National Rifle Association and its gun-supporting allies in Congress with a sweeping package of proposals for tighter firearms controls that would go beyond previous attempts to combat gun violence. An article in the Washington Post claimed on Sunday that a White House taskforce led by the vice president, Joe Biden, is looking at a range of proposals that would beef up federal monitoring and checks on all gun sales, seek to improve systems to prevent mentally-ill people acquiring weapons and introduce new penalties for carrying guns near schools. The taskforce, which was set up in the wake of the 14 December Newtown school shooting, in which 20 children and six school staff were killed, is expected to present its proposals to President Obama later this month. So far the post-Newtown debate has focused on a revival of the 1994 federal ban on military-style assault rifles that was steered through Congress by Biden and other leading Democrats. In order to push the ban through Congress, a 10-year time limit was added to the crime bill. It lapsed in 2004. The Biden taskforce is known to be considering a proposal to reintroduce the ban, that would prevent new sales of a range of AR-15 semi-automatic weapons as well as impose an upper ceiling of 10 rounds per magazine in an attempt to reduce the ability of shooters to inflict enormous carnage in a short burst of violence. The shooting spree carried out by Adam Lanza at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown involved a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle and lasted for less than 10 minutes. But the Washington Post suggests that the taskforce is also minded to go considerably further than a revision of the assault weapons ban. In particular, Biden is taking a hard look at two of the most egregious weaknesses in the current system of gun controls in the US. The first is the patchy system of background checks on buyers of guns. At present, anyone purchasing a gun from an authorised dealer has to go through a federal background check. However, if you buy a weapon from a private seller, operating on the internet or through gun shows, there is no such safeguard. The Biden taskforce is reported to be considering a move to close the private-seller loophole – a long-standing demand of gun control advocacy groups. The second anomaly is the parlous state of national tracking systems to record and monitor the movement and use of weapons, in an attempt to prevent them falling into the hands of criminals and mentally ill people. A database operated by the FBI is notoriously patchy – while some states, such as New York, have contributed more than 100,000 names into the records, 19 states have offered fewer than 100 and Rhode Island has submitted none. The gaps in the database make a mockery of the idea of national safeguards against the misuse of firearms. According to the New York Times, since 2005 more than 22,000 weapons have been bought by people who were later deemed to have been disqualified because of previous criminal behaviour or mental illness. A proposal being reviewed by the Biden taskforce, the Washington Post says, would be to introduce a new modernized and comprehensive database to track the movement of guns under the auspices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The White House is evidently aware that it is likely to face fierce opposition from the NRA, one of the most powerful lobby groups in the country, to any measures that it might introduce. So far the only idea offered by the NRA towards the debate has been the call from its executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, for armed guards to be placed in all schools. Obama has signaled that he intends to move swiftly to introduce new controls, in the hope of riding on the wave of revulsion created by the Newtown shooting, before the nationwide sense of outrage dissipates. Last week he told the television programme Meet the Press: "I'd like to get it done in the first year. This is not something that I will be putting off. And, yes, it's going to be hard." The Washington Post indicated that the White House is examining how it could use the president's executive powers to push through reforms – thus allowing the administration to bypass a potentially bruising battle with Congress. A majority of Republican members of Congress, as well as a substantial minority of Democrats, are closely aligned with the NRA. The administration is also hoping to dilute the influence of the NRA by creating a wide alliance of support for reforms, particularly among traditional supporters of gun rights. Biden has already convened a high-level meeting of law enforcement leaders – in a clear bid to enlist their backing – including police chiefs and sheriffs' associations. He is in close contact with the team of gun control experts assembled by Michael Bloomberg, the New York mayor, who is a leading advocate of reform. The administration is also focusing on retail outlets such as Wal-Mart as potential allies. The idea is to appeal to such retailers for support in closing the private-seller loophole on the grounds that it would financially benefit their businesses by redirecting trade in guns through them.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A quiet match exploded with three goals in a crazy final 10 minutes before ending 2-2
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ninety-four-year-old former South African president has made steady progress since leaving hospital, government says Nelson Mandela has recovered from a lung infection and surgery to remove gallstones that kept him in hospital for nearly three weeks, the government said on Sunday. The 94-year-old former South African president, who has been in frail health for several years, spent most of December in a Pretoria hospital – his longest stay for medical care since his release from prison in 1990. He has been receiving treatment at his Johannesburg home since leaving hospital on Boxing Day. "President Mandela has made steady progress and clinically he continues to improve," the South African presidency's office said in a statement. He has recovered from his surgical procedure and the lung infection, it said, citing his medical team. Nobel peace prize laureate Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on Robben Island, off Cape Town. He became South Africa's first black president after the first all-race elections in 1994 brought an end to apartheid.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Idle No More movement began as campaign by four women against changes to Indian Act and environmental deregulation The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, has agreed to a meeting with First Nations leaders following indigenous protests sparked by a hunger strike. Since 10 December there have been road and rail blockades across Canada, flash mobs and solidarity events as far away as New Zealand, in the biggest grassroots social movement in North America since Occupy. On Algonquin island in the Ottawa river, within view of parliament, Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat, a poor aboriginal community, has been living in a teepee in sub-zero temperatures subsisting on liquids for 27 days. Two other Aboriginal elders were in week four of their fasts when Harper agreed to meet to discuss aboriginal rights and economic development. Spence said she would continue her fast until the meeting had produced concrete action and a promise of consultations. "I'll still be here on my hunger strike until that meeting takes place," she said. "We'll see what the results are … because there are a lot of issues that we need to discuss." Harper recently forced through parliament two budget bills, each more than 400 pages long. MPs had limited time to study the hundreds of legislative changes, let alone debate and amend them. The protest movement, under the slogan Idle No More, started as a campaign by four women who feared that the bill's changes to the Indian Act and environmental deregulation would disproportionately affect First Nations peoples, many of whom live like second-class citizens. News of the meeting, scheduled for 11 January, has done little to slow the momentum of the movement, a self-professed leaderless and bottom-up mobilisation driven by Aboriginal women and media-savvy youth that has gained increasing sympathy from the broader public. Further disruption of road and rail routes was planned this weekend. On Wednesday a court ordered an end to a nearly two-week blockade of CN Rail in Sarnia, Ontario, the city with the worst industrial pollution in Canada. First Nations constitutionally protected land rights are often seen as red tape in the way of the government's economic plans. Clayton Thomas-Muller, a Manitoba Cree running the Indigenous Environmental Network's tar sands campaign, called for a "separation of oil and state". "400 years ago we had Jesuit priests come into our First Nations in black robes promising a better way of life by changing the way we communicated with our creator," he said. "Today, CEOs come into our communities in black suits promising a better way of life if we change the way we relate to the sacredness of mother earth." Nina Segalowitz, an Inuit throat singer attending a flash mob in a Montreal mall, said: "Hopefully people will understand it's not just an Aboriginal issue. Everyone needs to protect the legacy of the earth that we're going to leave for generations to come."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Drug company boss faces manslaughter investigation as victims complain of delays in compensation A weight-loss drug believed to have killed hundreds of people in France's biggest pharmaceutical scandal has sparked fresh controversy as victims complain of delays in state compensation and a leading drug-company boss has been placed under formal investigation for manslaughter. The amphetamine derivative Mediator was marketed to overweight diabetics but often prescribed to healthy women as an appetite suppressant when they wanted to lose a few pounds. According to the French health ministry, it has killed at least 500 people from heart-valve damage, but other studies put the death toll nearer to 2,000. Thousands more complain of cardiovascular complications that have limited their daily lives. As many as 5 million people were given the drug between 1976 and November 2009, when it was withdrawn in France, years after being pulled in Spain and Italy. It was never authorised in the UK or US. The scandal, which has prompted the resignation of the head of France's public health agency, sparked a furore about drugs regulation and the lobbying power of pharmaceutical companies in France, which has one of Europe's highest levels of consumption of prescription drugs. Mediator is now at the centre of one of the most important medical legal battles of the year. Along with the prosecution over the French-made faulty PIP silicone breast implants, it has shaken the French medical world. Recently Louis Servier, the 90-year-old head and founder of France's second biggest drugs company, which created Mediator, was placed under formal investigation on suspicion of manslaughter. A related trial to determine whether the Servier company misled patients and authorities about the drug was postponed and is expected to start in spring. The company has denied the accusations. Servier has long been a powerful figure in the Paris establishment. Less than a year before Mediator was withdrawn, he was awarded France's highest state honour, the Legion d'Honneur, by Nicolas Sarkozy – who once acted as his lawyer. Dominique Courtois, of Avim, a Bordeaux-based association dealing with thousands of victims' cases, said victims were finally being heard. He added: "The manslaughter charge is very important. That the justice system has made the link between the deaths and the drug is key. There were lots of doctors who saw problems, but no one listened. Now patients and GPs are being listened to." Daniele Mourhlon, 71, a retired police administrator from Albi, had a thyroid problem when she was prescribed with Mediator to avoid gaining weight. She said: "Ironically I was actually never a person who carried extra weight. I had had three kids and people always said how slim I looked. I cooked healthily and loved long hikes. But I followed the doctor's orders and took Mediator three times a day for five years and it cut my appetite." But it had a terrible side-effect. "My kids said: 'Mum, you're speaking quietly, walking slowly.' It's as if I was on tranquilisers. They thought there was something odd about me." Mourhlon had to have open-heart surgery on three valves after damage from the drug. "Since then I'm very fragile. I'm dependent on medication. I have problems breathing and can't do even the smallest things. I can't hike any more. My life expectancy has been reduced. I'm angry with the pharmaceutical labs. I never would have taken it if I'd known." Joseph Reynel, 78, a retired IT worker, has type two diabetes and was prescribed the drug from 2003 to 2009. He now has heart valve disorder and struggles for breath. "My flat is on the third floor without a lift. It got to the stage where I couldn't climb the stairs carrying a pint of milk. So I had to leave and rent another apartment at great personal expense. The judicial process is slow and there has been no movement on parallel compensation claims. But what stuns me is the lack of support from the state, even psychological support. The victims are the ones who have to bear the consequences of this and we have been totally abandoned."
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Prime minister emphasises government's strong resolve after Argentinian president ramped up claims on sovereignty David Cameron has insisted Britain will fight to keep the Falklands as Argentina ramps up the rhetoric against UK sovereignty. The prime minister said the government's resolve was "extremely strong" and stressed the islands' military defences, days after Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner accused Britain of colonialism. Fernández claimed her country had been forcibly stripped of "Las Malvinas" in an open letter to Cameron, which was printed as an advertisement in the Guardian on Thursday. Cameron told BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "I get regular reports on this entire issue because I want to know that our defences are strong, our resolve is extremely strong." Asked if Britain would fight to keep the islands, he said: "Of course we would and we have strong defences in place on the Falkland islands, that is absolutely key, that we have fast jets stationed there, we have troops stationed on the Falklands." Cameron has rejected talks with Argentina unless people in the Falklands want them. He said last week: "Whenever they have been asked their opinion, they have said they want to retain their current status with the UK. They are holding a referendum this year and I hope the president of Argentina will listen to that referendum and recognise it is for the Falkland islanders to choose their future, and for as long as they choose to stay with the UK they have my 100% backing." The islanders are due to vote in a March referendum, which is expected to give overwhelming backing for the territory to remain British. Cameron also told Marr the UK still had one of the top five defence budgets in the world despite cuts to its armed forces.
 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Opposition denounces president's peace plan as 'empty rhetoric' as Assad pledges to stay and continue fighting 'terrorist' violence
Bashar al-Assad has pledged to continue fighting "terrorist" violence and urged foreign countries to end support for his enemies while also offering a national dialogue and a constitutional referendum to end Syria's bloody crisis. The Syrian president used an hour-long speech in Damascus on Sunday to propose what he called a comprehensive plan that included an "expanded government". But there was no sign he was prepared to step down as the first stage of a political transition – a demand of all opposition groups. "I will go one day, but the country remains," he said. The Syrian leader referred repeatedly to plots against his country and the role of al-Qaida, long-portrayed as the leading element in what began as a popular uprising in March 2011. Syria was not facing a revolution but a "gang of criminals", he said. "We are now in a state of war in every sense of the word," the president told supporters. "This war targets Syria using a handful of Syrians and many foreigners. Thus, this is a war to defend the nation." It was hard to see how his latest speech offered even a glimmer of hope for a way out of the bloody impasse between the regime and rebels in a conflict that the UN said last week had claimed 60,000 lives over 21 months. The opposition Syrian National Coalition said the closely watched address marked an end to the diplomatic effort being led by the UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. "It was a waste of time. He said nothing constructive," a spokesman, Louay Safi, told al-Jazeera TV. "It was empty rhetoric." Walid al-Bunni, a veteran activist, said: "The genuine opposition inside and outside Syria won't accept the initiative." Assad's speech was "beyond hypocritical", Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, commented on Twitter. "Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one." Assad's last public comments were in November, when he told Russian TV he would "live and die in Syria". His last speech was in June 2012. Sunday's speech from the stage of the Damascus opera house in the heart of the capital was punctuated by thunderous applause and loyalist chants from what was certainly a carefully selected audience. The city was described as being under a security lockdown before the event. Reconciliation could take place only with those "who have not betrayed Syria", Assad declared, repeating that there was no partner for peace. There could not be simply a political solution, he insisted, but there had to be an end to violence and terror. There was loud cheering when he praised the bravery of the armed forces. Assad said a national dialogue would draw up a new charter. This would be put to a national referendum that would be followed in turn by parliamentary elections and a general amnesty. Opposition comment on social media was predictably scathing. The speech prompted one anti-Assad figure to tweet: "There is a saying in Arabic that goes along the lines of: 'He killed the man then walked in his funeral.'" Assad also thanked Russia, China and Iran for supporting Syria in the face of hostility from the US, Britain and France.
  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Film star visits Russian president in Black Sea resort after leaving France to avoid François Hollande's millionaires' tax Gérard Depardieu has met the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in the Black Sea town of Sochi and obtained his Russian passport, the Kremlin has said, after the French film star left his homeland to avoid a new tax rate for millionaires. Putin signed a decree on Thursday granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu, who objected to plans by the French president, François Hollande, to impose a 75% tax rate on the super-rich. His decision to quit France had prompted accusations of national betrayal. The Russian president and Depardieu were shown on state-run TV station Channel One shaking hands and hugging each other early on Sunday during what the Kremlin said was a private visit. "A brief meeting between the president and Depardieu took place," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "On the occasion of his visit to Russia, he was handed a Russian passport." Peskov did not say whether Putin personally gave Depardieu the passport or if he obtained it through standard procedures. He said the actor also told Putin about his career plans. Depardieu, who starred in Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card, is a popular figure in Russia, where he has appeared in many advertising campaigns, including one for ketchup. He also worked there in 2011 on a film about Grigory Rasputin. Putin asked Depardieu whether he was pleased with his work in the movie, TV footage of their meeting showed, with the actor saying he had already sent Putin excerpts. Depardieu bought a house in Belgium last year to avoid the French income tax rise. The French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, called Depardieu's decision to seek Belgian residency "pathetic" and unpatriotic, prompting an angry response from the actor. Putin said last month Depardieu would be welcome in Russia, which has a flat income tax rate of 13%, compared with the 75% tax on income over €1m Hollande wants to levy in France. The Russian president offered Depardieu a Russian passport, saying he had a close, special relationship with France and had developed warm ties with the actor, even though they had rarely met. Putin's critics said the passport move was a stunt and pointed out that the president announced last month a campaign to prevent rich Russians keeping their money offshore.
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