World News
11 Mar 2010 Greeks stage fresh general strike
Public and transport services grind to a halt in Greece as workers stage a second strike in protest at austerity measures.
11 Mar 2010 Nigeria charges over Jos killings
Police say 49 people are to be charged with murder following communal violence that left scores of Nigerian villagers dead.
11 Mar 2010 Pakistan drone raid 'kills 12'
Two missile strikes by US drone aircraft kill at least 12 suspected militants in north-west Pakistan, security officials say
11 Mar 2010 Nigeria violence 'fed by ethnic issues'
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo insisted Wednesday that this week's explosion of violence that claimed at least 200 lives is not driven by religious tensions between Christians and Muslims -- but by ethnic, social, and economic problems.
11 Mar 2010 Mexican telecom king tops richest list
Forbes magazine released its annual list of the world's richest people Wednesday, and for only the second time since 1995, Microsoft founder Bill Gates' name was not at the top.
11 Mar 2010 Chile's new leader to be sworn in
Chilean tycoon Sebastian Pinera will be sworn in as president, with a major post-earthquake rebuilding effort ahead of him.
11 Mar 2010 Mexican shakes up world rich list
Mexican Carlos Slim overtakes Bill Gates as the world's richest man, according to the Forbes "rich list", with a fortune of $53.5bn.
11 Mar 2010 DR Congo mines 'hit by extortion'
Former rebels in DR Congo, now in the army, are running mafia-style extortion rackets in mines, campaigners say.
11 Mar 2010 Obama pledges to continue Haiti aid, says situation 'remains dire'
President Obama met Wednesday with Haitian President Rene Preval to discuss relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
11 Mar 2010 America confronts its worst nightmare: blonde 'Jihad Jane'
The case of "Jihad Jane" – the middle-aged woman from suburban Philadelphia linked to an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist held to have insulted the prophet Mohamed – represents the worst nightmare of US security authorities: a white, female, all-American terrorist.
11 Mar 2010 Militants mount deadly attack on Pakistan charity
Suspected Islamist militants yesterday stormed an office of World Vision, a US-based Christian aid agency in Pakistan, killing six Pakistani aid workers after singling them out and then blowing up the building.
11 Mar 2010 Supermarket ad mimics Dubai assassination
An Israeli supermarket commercial is looking to cash in on the infamous surveillance footage of an assassination team killing a Hamas commander in Dubai.
11 Mar 2010 Cambodia puts the cremation site of Pol Pot on 'historic' tourist trail
The place where the body of Pol Pot, the former Khmer Rouge leader, was unceremoniously burned in a pile of rubbish is set to be the latest location from Cambodia's dark recent history to be transformed into a tourist spot.
11 Mar 2010 Dangerous detour in Moscow as police order motorists to block getaway car
Moscow's top policeman apologised yesterday after his officers ordered passing motorists to park their cars across a main road to block a speeding getaway car filled with armed criminals.
11 Mar 2010 Oscar-winner directs sting on Hollywood's favourite sushi spot
"Is this the whale?" joked a noisy patron, pointing to some dark red slabs of tuna on the small tray of sushi, which had just been deposited on his table at one of California's renowned sushi restaurants "Come on guys, it's your signature dish! Where's it gone? I'm feeling left out here!"
11 Mar 2010 Love before cricket: star's priorities outrage Australia
She is being called the Yoko Ono of the cricket world. Lara Bingle, a 22-year-old swimsuit model, stands accused of jeopardising the career of the Australian cricketer Michael Clarke. The vice-captain's decision to desert a one-day series in New Zealand has outraged fans and commentators, with some calling for him to be sacked.
11 Mar 2010 Guy Adams: Commercial forces born in the USA
In the doctor's surgery, they've leaflets advertising something called the BabyPlus. Each one costs $150 (£100), but apparently they're the latest big thing among the Hollywood celebrity crowd – and not buying one is tantamount to child abuse. So naturally, I'm tempted.
11 Mar 2010 Militia's hunt for guns renews fears of Nigeria violence
Fears that sectarian violence could spread across Nigeria increased yesterday after it emerged that militia leaders from Jos, where at least 200 people were massacred on Sunday, had been attempting to buy arms in the restive Niger Delta just prior to the attack.
11 Mar 2010 Obama's chief-of-staff undone after setbacks
At the best of times, Rahm Emanuel was always drawn, coiled, and combative. These days though, after less than 14 months on the job, his face is tauter, more lined and even thinner. And not surprisingly. For these times are far from the best. Indeed, Washington is starting to wonder: is President Obama's Chief of Staff, arguably the second most powerful man in the capital of the free world, about to walk the plank?
11 Mar 2010 Biden: U.S. will hold Israelis, Palestinians accountable
The United States will hold both Israel and the Palestinians responsible for any steps that make peace between them more difficult, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.
11 Mar 2010 IPL gets Bollywood treatment
The IPL, six weeks of razzmatazz and TV with a little sport, is predicted to double last year's takings It is already big and brash. It is about to get substantially bigger and brasher. At 8pm on Friday, hundreds of millions of people in India, from tea shops in Mumbai slums to plush Delhi suburbs and thousands of villages in between, will sit down to watch the Deccan Chargers play the Kolkata Knight Riders in the opening match of the third season of the Indian Premier League (IPL)."If you thought the first two seasons were the ultimate cricket-meets-entertainment blockbusters then you haven't seen anything yet," enthused the Financial Express newspaper.The IPL phenomenon cuts across all barriers of class, caste and income. At the exclusive Tollygunge Club in Kolkata – or Calcutta as it is often still known – staff will take a few hours out while members halt their golf, squash and riding. Both clientele and staff (more surreptitiously) will watch the fast and furious 20-over cricket shown on a big screen on the wall of the main bar. "It doesn't matter who wins. It's the game that counts," said Sajad Mundal, the chief steward. For 10-year-old Anvam Najpal, sipping a soft drink that Mundal had just brought him, the tournament has already started. At his exclusive private school, a mini IPL, with just 10 overs played, is already under way. He is a Deccan Chargers fan. His dad however supports the Delhi Daredevils."But we will all watch it together," he said. "Mum's not that interested, but she'll watch it with us. I really like seeing all the different people from all over the world playing together in unity."Not all are attracted by such lofty ideals, however. For Michael Watson, a chef at the Tollygunge, the biggest pull is cheerleaders, cause of much consternation among purists. "The IPL is fun and entertainment," he said. "I just wish I could get a ticket and a day off."By the time the first ball has been bowled on Friday night, most viewers will already be riveted to their screens. For this year's IPL, the trademark razzmatazz has been cranked up another notch.The Indian cricketing authorities, which run the six-week tournament, have done deals for a huge range of pre-match spectacles.Colors, a major local Hindi-language general entertainment channel, is filming a reality show called IPL Rockstar, which will see contestants competing in heats held on a 13-metre (40ft) stage in the cricket grounds while the players warm up."The aim is to get that Superbowl-style entertainment atmosphere," said Rajesh Kamat, chief executive of Colors.Other programmes that Colors plans include an "I'm a cricketing celebrity get me out of here" show: 14 cricketers will confront their "worst fear". There will also be an "IPL Nights" featuring "the hippest parties" and "the hottest fashion shows", where viewers will see their "sporting heroes shake a leg or two on a different pitch altogether"."Bollywood is a passion and cricket a religion," Kamat said. "We are combining the two. But it is the cricketers that interest us, not the cricket."This season's IPL, whatever its huge popularity, has not been trouble-free. The announcement of two new teams – the eight current sides are financed by mini-conglomerates of film stars and tycoons – had to be postponed after only three bids were received. Then there is a dispute with television networks that has limited the pre-tournament publicity. And there are threats from militants linked to al-Qaida which were deemed almost serious enough for the dozens of top cricketers from around the world to forgo their lucrative fees. (Last year's tournament was played in South Africa because of security fears.)However, with so much money and excitement at stake, the IPL has massive momentum. After analysing the potential profits from television rights, sponsorship deals, merchandising and gate receipts, Brand Finance, a firm of international consultants, calculated the league's value this season at more than £2.6bn, twice the 2009 figure."The juggernaut is on the road and the revenue-making machine is in full blast," said Unni Krishnan, managing director of Brand Finance, although he warned that the league would need to work hard to stay ahead of competitors emerging around the world.This season also sees an agreement with Google that means games will be webcast live on YouTube, a historic first. There is also a tie-up with cinema owners around India to allow tens of thousands to watch games in multiplexes and local theatres. In the UK, games will be broadcast by ITV.Senior Indian cricketing officials have warned against too much commercialisation. "It is paramount that a spectator sport should always be treated as a sport first rather than purely a business venture," said Rajeev Shukla, a member of the league's governing council.Lalit Modi, the IPL's commissioner, is clear about his ambitions ."We hope to become the dominant sporting league in the world," he said.Outside the Tollygunge Club a row of rickshaw drivers and Kolkata Knight Riders fans wait for fares."The IPL is very good," they chorus. "Very good."Where will they spend tomorrow night? They point across the traffic to a small tea and roti stall on the pavement opposite. There, among the flickering bulbs and a crowd of clients eating a cheap dinner, perched on a shelf and flickering in the gloom, is that most precious of items: a television. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Google to scan old Italian books
Italy signs a deal with Google to put online the contents of its two national libraries, including works by Dante and Galileo.
10 Mar 2010 Myanmar bars Suu Kyi from election
Myanmar's ruling junta has announced a new election law that disqualifies pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating in upcoming national elections.
10 Mar 2010 Israel supermarket uses parody film of Dubai assassins in advert
An Israeli supermarket chain uses spoof surveillance footage, parodying that of the alleged assassins of a Hamas commander in Dubai, in a TV advert.
10 Mar 2010 Contractors 'divert Somalia aid'
Up to half the food aid in Somalia is routinely diverted to corrupt contractors and militants, a leaked UN report says.
10 Mar 2010 Colleen LaRose: all-American neighbour or Jihad Jane?
Arrest of 'cat lady', suspected of plot to kill Prophet cartoonist, linked to terror suspects held in IrelandShe lived in Main Street, Pennsburg, which in hindsight is about as rich a paradox as could be. Her apartment on the second floor of a block of flats in the Pennsylvania town was nondescript, except for some wind chimes and a star hanging from the balcony.But today the world learned of Colleen LaRose's alleged second life, one quite out of keeping with the low-key figure she presented. She was blonde, blue-eyed, 5ft 2ins tall and wholly unassuming, according to a former boyfriend, Kurt Gorman. "She seemed normal to me. She was a good person," he told the Philadelphia Daily News.But to the FBI agents who had been tracking her every move from at least as early as July last year, she was potentially a dangerous would-be terrorist intent on martyrdom and using the aliases Jihad Jane and Fatima LaRose.Today, an indictment was unsealed accusing her of plotting to murder a Swedish man in order to frighten "the whole Kufar (nonbeliever) world".Although the indictment does not name him, her intended victim is reported to have been Lars Vilks, a cartoonist who drew a satirical picture of the head of the prophet Muhammad on top of a dog's body.US media have reported that LaRose's case is linked to the arrest in Ireland on Tuesday of seven suspected plotters from Algeria, Croatia, Palestine, Libya and the US. Al-Qaida had placed a $100,000 (£67,000) bounty on Vilks's head.The arrest of LaRose, 46, has been seized on by US national security officials as a warning that terrorist groups want to recruit white Americans to circumvent tight travel controls.David Kris of the justice department said the allegation "that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas ... underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face".The US prosecutor for Pennsylvania, Michael Levy, said: "The case demonstrates that terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause, and it shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance."LaRose was arrested on 15 October as she returned to the US from a trip to Europe, but details have only now been released to allow international agents to track her contacts. She is being held at a federal prison in Philadelphia.She grew up in Texas but moved to Philadelphia in 2004. Neighbours in Pennsburg told the Los Angeles Times she had a reputation for eccentricity. "She was the weird, weird, weird lady who lived across the hall. We always called her the crazy lady," said Eric Newell, adding that despite that he never thought she was dangerous. His wife, Kristy, said LaRose used to talk a lot to her cats.Why and when LaRose converted to Islam is not known, but the indictment pinpoints her involvement in jihadist conspiracy to June 2008, when she allegedly posted a comment on YouTube under the alias Jihad Jane, saying she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" the suffering Muslim people.The charges detail how over the next few months she came into contact through the internet with five separate unnamed but known jihadists in Europe and south Asia. The first connection was allegedly in December 2008 with a south Asian resident who wanted to "wage jihad and become a 'shaheed' (martyr)".LaRose replied she too wanted to martyr herself, the indictment says. On 20 February last year she sent an email saying that her physical appearance would allow her to "blend in with many people", which "may be a way to achieve what is in my heart", the indictment says.The following month one of her contacts suggests she "can get access to many places due to ur nationality". LaRose is also alleged to have used the internet to recruit women with passports and easy travel access around Europe in support of violent jihad.The FBI questioned her about soliciting funds for terrorism and posting on terrorist websites under the username Jihad Jane in July last year. But LaRose showed considerable naivety.On 23 August she suddenly disappeared from her apartment, to her boyfriend's amazement. "I came home and she's gone," he said, adding that she stole his passport, for which she has also been charged.That day she travelled to Europe and by September, the indictment says, she was actively searching for her Swedish target, becoming a "citizen" of the artist's cyber community. On 30 September she sent an email saying it was "an honour & great pleasure to die or kill" and pledging that "only death will stop me here that i am so close to the target!"It is not clear why, but she did not go through with the attack and returned to the US on 15 October, when she was arrested.If convicted she faces life in prison and fines of up to $1m.Homegrown terrorismNews of the existence of "Jihad Jane" comes at a time of mounting anxiety in the US about the incidence of American citizens engaging in jihadist activities. It is a phenomenon of homegrown terrorism that has previously been considered rare in the country.In December last year FBI agents and their Pakistani colleagues interrogated five young American Muslims who were suspected of being on their way to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban, against US-led forces. The five, aged 19 to 25, had formed a close-knit social group in the Alexandria area of Virginia. They had all disappeared from their family homes in late November, reportedly leaving behind a video featuring war scenes and statements about the defence of Muslims.Earlier in December, another US citizen, David Headley, was charged with helping to plan the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people in 2008. Headley, 49, who lived in Chicago, is accused of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim people, and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group. Headley was born in Washington DC to a Pakistani diplomat based at the country's embassy and an American mother. He adopted his mother's surname in 2006, which investigators claim allowed him to move more easily across borders. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 UN orders review of glaciers report
Moves aims to restore public confidence in science of global warming after mistake over melting rates of glaciersThe UN called in the world's top scientists today to review a report by its climate body, four months after public confidence in the science of global warming was shaken by the discovery of a mistake about the melting rates of Himalayan glaciers.In an announcement at the UN in New York Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and Rajendra Pachauri, the much-criticised head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the InterAcademy Council, which represents 15 national academies of science, would conduct the independent review.The announcement follows months of controversy which, while not altering the scientific consensus on climate change, has given fresh ammunition to opponents of action on global warming.Pachauri has faced calls for his resignation, a controversy he acknowledged obliquely today. "We have received some criticism. We are receptive and sensitive to that and we are doing something about it," he said.The review, which is to complete its work by August, will not undertake a dissection of the 2007 report, which has been pored over by climate sceptics, or re-examine the scientific consensus that human activity is causing climate change, said Robert Dijksgraaf, the head of the InterAcademy Council."It will definitely not go over vast amounts of data," he told reporters. "Our goal will be to assure nations around the world that they will receive sound scientific advice on climate science."Instead, he said it would focus on putting in place better quality control procedures for the next report, which is due in 2014.These would include guidelines for dealing with material that has not undergone peer review such as the item on Himalayan glaciers.One focus of the review would be the role played by Pachauri who has been criticised for his handling of the error when it first came to light.Djiksgraaf also said the panel, likely to be made up of 10 experts, would also look at procedures for making corrections in a timely and transparent manner.The report has been pored over by climate sceptics for errors since last November when it emerged that the IPCC had stated, wrongly, that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. As Pachauri and Ban noted today, the solid body of the 3,000 page report remained unchallenged.The discovery of the error goes to the core of criticism of Pachauri whose first response to questions about the accuracy of the IPCC's prediction on the melting of the Himalayan glaciers was to dismiss it as "voodoo science".Pachauri had also rankled critics by refusing to apologise for the mistakes.But a spokesman for Pachauri today said the IPCC had initiated the independent review, and had pressed the UN to call in the scientists.In his brief comments, Pachauri said the work of the IPCC, which shared a Nobel prize with Al Gore in 2007, remained the gold standard of climate science. "We believe the conclusions of that report are really beyond any reasonable doubt," Pachauri said.Environmental and science organisations supported the UN's decision."This is the right move," said Peter Frumhoff, the science director for the Union of Concerned Scientist and a lead author on the IPCC report."If this independent review is carried out with rigour and transparency, it will help strengthen the IPCC's commitment to robust scientific assessments and restore public confidence that has been shaken by an aggressive campaign to sow confusion about climate science." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Jihad Jane, American who lived on Main Street
The Pennsylvania woman who dubbed herself Jihad Jane is an American who lived literally on Main Street in an apartment where she spent much time online, posting messages saying she was "desperate to do something" to help Muslims.
10 Mar 2010 Obama says Haiti situation 'dire'
Barack Obama warns that the crisis in quake-hit Haiti is not over, as he meets the country's President, Rene Preval.
10 Mar 2010 Lady
Ashton defends start in EU role
British peer blames plight on Brussels turf wars over shape and powers of a new European diplomatic serviceBritain's new EU foreign and security policy chief, Lady Ashton, used the platform of the European parliament today to hit back at the chorus of criticism that has enveloped her first three months in the job.In a combative performance outlining early views on how to make EU foreign policy more effective, the Labour peer signalled the start of "assertive leadership" and blamed the turf wars raging in Brussels over the shape and powers of a new European diplomatic service for her plight.She also risked reviving a bitter UK-French feud over defence, promising to review calls for a permanent EU military planning headquarters based in Brussels. The British are strongly opposed to such an HQ, believing it would undermine Nato and dilute the Atlantic alliance while the French have long lobbied for a new Brussels office as a means of boosting independent European defence capacities.Smarting from the whispering campaign against her being conducted in EU capitals for weeks, Ashton briefly switched into French and German, speaking a sentence of each, in an attempt to assuage those unhappy with her lack of language skills. She listed every place she had visited in recent weeks, from New York to Sarajevo to Moscow, to dampen criticism of her schedule and complaints about meetings she has missed."My difficulty is that I haven't yet learned to time travel," she quipped in an attempt to silence the doubters.She brushed aside taunts that her private office is top-heavy with British officials. "I will appoint on merit – nothing else," she said. "There are no favourites here."Ashton is charged with building and leading a new European diplomatic machine, the External Action Service. The service, the EU's most ambitious new structure in many years, is the focus of an intense power struggle in Brussels between the European commission and European governments.While Ashton is seeking to tip the balance of power towards the governments, senior players in the parliament today supported José Manuel Barroso, the commission president.Ashton described the new service as "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build something that finally brings together all the instruments of our engagement in support of a single political strategy. If we pull together, we can safeguard our interests. If not, others will make decisions for us. It really is that simple."She repeated remarks from the foreign secretary, David Miliband, last week that demand for European foreign policymaking was outstripping supply and criticised vested interests and bureaucratic blocking tactics in Brussels. "There is a tendency to put process ahead of outcomes in Europe," she said. "Any time you create something new, there will be resistance. Some prefer to minimise perceived losses rather than maximise collective gains."Ashton said her aim was to concentrate on the aims and then work out how to achieve them as well as fashioning "joined-up" policies from the disparate and often rival parts of the EU machine.On the issue of a new defence planning HQ, Ashton called for a "serious debate … the question is whether we need something else."Her remarks today followed talks in Paris last Friday with Hervé Morin, the French defence minister and a trenchant critic of Ashton's performance as EU foreign policy head. Her comments prompted accusations that she was "a handmaiden" for European military and political integration.Geoffrey Van Orden, the Conservative MEP, alleged she was plotting a policy shift that would "ratchet up" EU military integration at the expense of Nato. She denied the charge.The EU now uses Nato's Shape HQ and national centres for planning and co-ordinating military missions abroad.A Brussels-based dedicated HQ, said the French defence ministry afterwards, would be a "capacity, desired by a majority of member states, [and] would improve the EU's responsiveness in the launch of operations and would also be a factor for making cost savings". guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Court hearing over bulldozer death
A 23-year-old American activist stands in front of an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza. The bulldozer drives over her, crushing her to death.
10 Mar 2010 Rome school installs condom machine
Cardinal deplores initiative for 'trivialising sexuality' as headmaster of Kepler school urges others to followFor its critics in the Vatican, it is a matter of "deep concern". For its proponents, it is "evidence of great courage".Amid national controversy, the Kepler scientific secondary school today became the first in the Italian education system to install condom vending machines for students. The machines, in the girls' and boys' toilets, will sell cut-price condoms just a few miles from the Vatican; the Kepler is in a lower-middle class district of Rome, just outside the city's ancient walls.Cardinal Agostino Vallini, who stands in for the pope in his capacity as bishop of Rome, deplored the initiative as "trivialising sexuality".The head of the capital's doctors' association said he too disapproved of the project. "This is like recognising you can have sex at school," said Dr Mario Falconi. "I would not want a scholastic use of the condom to be authorised in this fashion, especially considering there is no problem of availability of prophylactics in our country."The condoms went on sale at €2 (£1.82) for a packet of three – less than half the usual retail price.The Kepler's headteacher, Antonio Panaccione, invited other schools "not to take fright, and do the same". His comments and those of others reflected the continuing influence in Italy of Catholic teaching on sexual matters."At the outset," Panaccione said, "there was some hesitation among some of the parents and teachers, motivated by fear and insecurity. But then, by discussing it, that was all got over."The Italian student's union, which noted that the French Lycée in Rome had been making condoms available to its pupils since 2001, said in a statement: "Only in Italy would this cause a stir." It added: "A number of secondary educational institutions in western countries distribute condoms, as do many schools in the US."Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (Of Human Life) condemned "any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreation." Despite Aids and talk of a rethink after Pope Benedict was elected five years ago, the Vatican has remained solidly opposed to artificial methods of contraception ever since.Italy's very low fertility rate – estimated last year at 1.31 births per woman of child-bearing age – indicates that many couples do use contraception. But the prejudice against artificial methods remains strong.Annalisa Chirico, a student leader standing in an election this month for the regional assembly in Lazio, the region around Rome, said figures from the Italian society of gynaecology and obstetrics last month showed "40% of [teenage] girls do not use any method of contraception and another 20% entrust themselves entirely to the withdrawal method."The Kepler school's initiative followed the adoption by the provincial administration of a resolution in favour of the distribution of condoms in schools.The local politician behind the resolution, Gianluca Peciola, said: "The Kepler school, its headmaster and the school council are showing they have great courage." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Corrie 'died under Israeli bulldozer'
Richard Purssell describes 'shocking event' in Haifa court on first day of civil suit brought by Corrie family against IsraelA British witness told a court today about how he had watched an Israeli military bulldozer run over and kill the American activist Rachel Corrie while she was trying to stop Palestinians' homes being demolished in Gaza.Richard Purssell, who was also a volunteer activist in Rafah at the time, seven years ago, described the "shocking and dramatic event" in an Israeli court in Haifa on the first day of a civil suit brought by Corrie's family against the Israeli state.Twenty-three-year-old Corrie, from Olympia, Washington, in the US, went to Gaza for peace activism reasons at a time when there was intense conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinians.The Corrie family lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, said he would argue that her death was due either to gross negligence by the Israeli military or that it was intended. If the Israeli state were found responsible, the family would press for damages.Purssell, a Briton, now working as a landscape gardener, said he volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to witness events in the occupied Palestinian territories for himself. In Rafah he had been hoping to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing Palestinian homes. The organisation was strictly non violent, he said. "Our role was to support Palestinian non-violent resistance."On the day of her death, 16 March 2003, Corrie was with seven other activists, including Purssell, in Rafah, close to the Israeli-guarded border with Egypt. They saw an Israeli military armoured Caterpillar D9 bulldozer approaching the house of a Palestinian doctor.Purssell described how the bulldozer approached at a fast walking pace, its blade down and gathering a pile of soil in its path. When the bulldozer was 20 metres from the house Corrie, who like the others was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket, climbed on to the soil in front of it and stood "looking into the cab of the bulldozer"."The bulldozer continued to move forward," Purssell said. "Rachel turned to come back down the slope. The earth is still moving and as she nears the bottom of the pile something happened which causes her to fall forward. The bulldozer continued to move forward and Rachel disappeared from view under the moving earth."The bulldozer continued forward four metres as the activists began to run forward and shout at the driver."It passed the point where Rachel fell, it stopped and reversed back along the track it first made. Rachel was lying on the earth," Purssell said. "She was still breathing." Corrie was severely injured and died shortly afterwards.The Israeli military says it bears no responsibility for Corrie's death. A month after her death the military said an investigation had determined its troops were not to blame; the driver of the bulldozer had not seen her and had not intentionally run her over. It accused Corrie and the ISM of behaviour that was "illegal, irresponsible and dangerous".Hussein will argue at the Haifa district court that witness evidence shows that the soldiers did see Corrie at the scene, with other activists well before the incident, and that they could have arrested her or removed her from the area before there was any risk of injury.Before the hearing began, Craig Corrie, Rachel's father, said the family had been on a "seven-year search for justice in Rachel's name". He added: "I think when the truth comes out about Rachel the truth will not wound Israel, the truth is the start of making us heal."Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother, said the family was still waiting for the credible, transparent investigation Israel first promised regarding her daughter's death. "I just want to say to Rachel that our family is here today trying to just do right by her and I hope that she will be very proud of the effort we are making," she said. She said the family had met the staff of US vice-president Joe Biden on Tuesday to talk about the case.Three other witnesses, two more Britons and an American, who were all at the scene in Rafah when Corrie was killed will give evidence at the Israeli court. It is not clear if any Israeli military officials will speak.The hearing is scheduled to run for at least two weeks. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Piñera prepares to take power in Chile
President-elect faces changed priorities after country devastated by worst natural disaster in half a centuryThe Chilean president-elect, Sebastián Piñera, will take power tomorrow in the aftermath of the country's worst natural catastrophe in 50 years.Piñera, a moderate conservative who had planned to cut social spending and introduce a market-based economic model, now faces much-changed priorities after last month's devastating earthquake demolished Chile's physical infrastructure."Chile expects quite a bit of its governing officials. Perhaps they have never been so needed," Alejandro Ferreiro, a columnist with the Chilean newspaper, wrote."Nature has assured that Piñera will have no honeymoon, no trial periods."Federal and private spending is now a priority for Piñera, Chile's first rightwing leader since General Augusto Pinochet stepped down in 1990.He has vowed to spend the first three years of his presidency upgrading and replacing the heavily quake-damaged industrial and public infrastructure in the hard-hit central valley. Estimates for the cost of rebuilding range from $10bn (£6.6bn) to $30bn.While Santiago and the northern cities were largely spared serious damage, much of Chile's industrial production – including wine, forestry products, fishmeal and agriculture – were damaged.Final death tolls for the quake have fluctuated wildly, with the latest figures standing at 500 killed and more than one million homeless.Working closely with the outgoing administration of the socialist Michelle Bachelet, Piñera has asked key aid and administrative officials to remain in their posts.Plans to rebuild the nation's entire hospital infrastructure will be put on hold as the government focus on rebuilding medical institutions in key quake-affected regions.With thousands of homes destroyed and autumn rains expected soon, Piñera's government faces a race to free up federal funds.The incoming president, a successful businessman, made his fortune by investing in LanChile airlines and introducing credit cards to Chile.He has distanced himself from the policies of General Pinochet. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Half of all food sent to Somalia stolen
Corrupt contractors and militants take up to 50% of aid before it reaches the country's hungry people, says leaked documentUp to half the food aid meant to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Somalia is being stolen, according to a leaked UN security council report.The report, seen by the New York Times, says the food is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local UN workers. It advises the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to open an independent investigation into the organisation's world food programme operations in Somalia.The losses are blamed on improper food distribution and the country's war-ravaged infrastructure.The bags of food have to be driven through roadblocks manned by a bewildering array of militias, insurgents and bandits.Not only are kidnappings and executions common, the country's insecurity also makes it difficult for senior UN officials to travel to the country to check on procedures. Investigators who do go there run the risk of relying for protection on the same people they are examining.A UN diplomat, who did not wish to be named, told Associated Press that a significant amount of food delivered by the UN food programme was being diverted to cartels who were selling it illegally.Although nearly half of Somalia's 3.7m people need aid, the country's main extremist Islamic group said earlier this year that it would stop the UN's food programme distributing food in areas under its control because it says the aid undercuts farmers selling recently harvested crops.The group, al-Shabaab, also accused the agency of handing out food unfit for human consumption and of secretly supporting "apostates" who have renounced Islam.The UN's ability to conduct investigations was badly damaged in 2009 when it dissolved its special anti-corruption unit, the procurement taskforce, three years after its establishment. Investigations are now conducted by the office of internal oversight services' permanent investigation division.An AP analysis in January found not a single significant fraud or corruption investigation was completed in 2008 out of about 150 begun. Five major corruption cases were halted.A spokesman for the world food programme, which is based in Rome, said it would not be commenting until it had studied the report.A Nairobi-based spokesman for the programme had previously said that internal investigations showed between 2% and 10% of aid was being sold.The US reduced its funding to Somalia last year after its treasury department said it feared that aid could be diverted to al-Shabaab, which the Americans say has links to al-Qaida. The issue remains unresolved.The report also found regional Somali authorities to be collaborating with pirates and says that government ministers have auctioned off diplomatic visas.However, the Somali finance minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman, denied the charge. "We don't sell visas. That is not true," he said, adding that his government would investigate the allegations.Somalia's government is readying a military offensive to combat an Islamist insurgency linked to al-Qaida and to retake Mogadishu, the capital. The insurgents frequently attack government forces in the city and stage public amputations with impunity.However, the report described the security forces as "ineffective, disorganised and corrupt".The issue of aid distribution has been in the news over the last week following a BBC World Service programme which claimed that 95% of the $100m (£67m) aid raised to fight famine in northern Ethiopia was diverted by rebels and spent on weapons.The allegation prompted a furious denial from the veteran aid campaigner Bob Geldof, who threatened legal action and called for a string of resignations at the World Service.Others, however, have argued that any allegations over the misuse of aid have to be investigated.The former BBC correspondent Rageh Omaar, who was born in Somalia, provoked Geldof's ire by saying that humanitarian operations in disputed territories were "almost always politicised and misused".He added: " The idea that this never happens and that NGOs are never put in situations where, in order to get the aid delivered, they have to work with and often through the powers that control the territory where the suffering is taking place is a ridiculous fantasy."It's happening now, in Congo; in my own country, Somalia, where al-Qaida-affiliated groups have dictated how the world food programme delivers emergency food; and also in Zimbabwe, where I have just spent two weeks talking to aid workers having to work through government bodies in delivering aid to prisoners of Mugabe." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 Bahrain: Islamic rules saved us from recession
Bahrain's finance minister said adherence to strict Islamic rules helped his country escape the worst of the global recession.
10 Mar 2010 Berezovsky wins Litvinenko libel case
Russian oligarch awarded damages over claims he arranged polonium poisoning of friend and former spyThe exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was today awarded libel damages of £150,000 over "savage" allegations he was behind the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned Russian dissident who was his close friend.In a chaotic high court battle in London, the 64-year-old tycoon successfully argued his reputation had seriously been damaged by a Russian state television broadcast in April 2007.The programme, available to view for free by satellite in the UK, included an interview with a man who claimed he had been offered £40m by Litvinenko – who was working for Berezovsky until his death – to falsely confess to being a KGB hitman tasked with killing Berezovsky with a poisoned ballpoint pen.When he refused to take the bribe, the man said, he was drugged and then forced to make a false testimony used to bolster Berezovsky's asylum application in the UK.The purpose of this lie-filled testimony, the man said, was to "prove" the oligarch would be in mortal danger if he returned to his homeland.His evidence was indeed crucial in proving Berezovsky's political refugee status and he was granted asylum in 2003, the court heard.In the same programme the presenter suggested that Litvinenko, who died from poisoning with radioactive polonium in London in November 2006, was killed at Berezovsky's behest because Litvinenko was a witness to Berezovsky's fraudulent claim for political asylum.The logic was that Litvinenko would be an important witness for Russian prosecutors investigating allegations that Berezovsky's asylum was based on lies, and thus Berezovsky wanted him dead – just in case.Berezovsky claimed he was a victim of "selective editing" after the programme began with a clip of him saying: "If I particularly dislike someone I'll kill him." The remark was clearly "ironic or jocular", said his barrister, Desmond Browne QC.The oligarch pulled up to court most days during the trial in a blacked-out limousine and sat in court flanked by his security guards.Giving evidence, he explained why he took action. "I cannot imagine a more offensive and damaging allegation. It would be damaging enough to allege merely that I bribed or drugged a man so as to force him to give false evidence in order to help me secure my asylum status; that I was accused of Sasha's [Alexander Litvinenko's] murder, and to think people may believe it to be true, was, and still is, deeply upsetting."I have been portrayed as a man whom people should fear; this affects my relationships with everyone who is not already a close personal friend."In his judgment today, the judge, Mr Justice Eady, said: "I can say unequivocally that there is no evidence before me that Mr Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr Litvinenko. Nor, for that matter, do I see any basis for reasonable grounds to suspect him of it."Berezovsky, who has an estimated wealth of $1bn (£667m) according to Forbes magazine, told the court that Litvinenko was a dear and loyal friend who had saved his life "on more than one occasion" – chiefly by refusing to assassinate him in 1998 when Litvinenko was an agent of the FSB, the security bureau that descended from the KGB.The grateful Berezovsky then became Litvinenko's benefactor, arranging his family's escape to the UK. Once in London he gave Litvinenko a house and thousands of pounds a month in "research grants".To back up his case, Berezovsky enlisted a roster of high-profile witnesses including Litvinenko's widow, Marina.After Litvinenko fell ill in 2006 after ingesting a radioactive isotope in a London sushi bar, Berezovsky told British journalists that his friend had been poisoned because he was an enemy of the then Russian president, Vladimir Putin.The two-week trial was almost anarchic at times as officials from the Russian prosecutors' office repeatedly intervened despite not being party to proceedings. So obvious was their intention that when one of their mobile phones went off in court one day, Browne quipped: "That must be Mr Putin on the line."At least three Russian prosecutors were in court each day to assist Vladimir Terluk, the man accused of giving the contentious interview about Berezovsky's bogus asylum claim. They whispered in Terluk's ear, passed him notes and smirked or laughed as the evidence was heard.At one point they asked for the opportunity to cross-examine Berezovsky. "I thought that a step too far," said Eady in his judgment.Terluk, a Kazakh who came to the UK to seek asylum in 1999, had been left to defend the libel action alone and without a lawyer after the Russian Television and Radio Company refused to take part.He denied being "Pyotr", the man in the offending broadcast, yet maintained that everything Pyotr said was true, including "that [Berezovsky's] associates tried to organised the falsification of the assassination plot with the purpose of obtaining refugee status by Mr Berezovsky and his associates … and the late Mr Litvinenko himself was the one who was trying actively to implement that falsification".In his judgment, Eady said: "I have no doubt that Pyotr was indeed Mr Terluk and that he must have known he was being filmed." But Terluk did not himself accuse Berezovsky of murdering Litvinenko, which was, Eady said, "the overall message conveyed by the programme".Moscow has made no secret of its desire to extradite Berezovsky, who has been an outspoken critic of the Kremlin since he fell out with Putin in 2000.In April 2009 Russian prosecutors charged Berezovsky with "knowingly false denunciation of a involvement in a serious crime" – a charge peculiar to Russian law that relates to the allegedly fabricated evidence in support of his 2003 asylum claim.One of the Russian prosecutors admitted to the Guardian he hoped Berezovsky would lose the case so his asylum status would be called into question by the Home Office and he would be returned to Russia to face trial.They were also intent, Eady ruled, on blackening Litinvenko's character. "He was portrayed as something of a wild man. It was said that he was an unreliable fantasist who was prone to emotional outbursts." The purpose of this "wholesale attack", said Eady, was to undermine the credibility of evidence Litvinenko gave in support of Berezovsky's asylum claim.Speaking after the judgment, Berezovsky said: "I have no doubt that, in making this programme the purpose of RTR and the Russian authorities was to undermine my asylum status in the UK and to put the investigation of Sasha Litvinenko's murder on the wrong track. I am pleased that the court, through its judgment, has unequivocally demolished RTR's claims. I trust the conclusions of the British investigators that the trail leads to Russia and I hope that one day justice will prevail."He was not optimistic about the prospect of recovering the £150,000 damages but said: "This was never about money." Mr justice Eady said in his judgment that "the quanitification of the damages may be academic in the sense that there are likely to be formidable obstacles in recovering the money".Berezovsky is no stranger to London's law courts. In 1997 he sued the US magazine Forbes after it printed an article that asked: "Is he the Godfather of the Kremlin?" He won despite only 2,000 copies of the 785,000 sold worldwide having been purchased in the UK.That case is often cited as an example of libel tourism – foreigners taking advantage of England's libel laws, which tend to favour the claimant by putting the burden of proof on the defendant.In 2008 he began a £2bn legal tussle with another London-based oligarch, Roman Abramovich, over allegations Berezovsky was forced to sell shares in a string of huge Russian state companies. He is currently fighting the widow of his friend and business partner Badri Patarkatsishvili for half of the dead man's fortune. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
10 Mar 2010 President: Bali bombing mastermind dead
The suspected mastermind behind the deadly Bali bombings in 2002 has been killed by Indonesian police, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday.
10 Mar 2010 Castro TV series documents 638 murder plots
He Who Must Live documents Cuban leader's escapes from bacteria-infected hankie, exploding cigar and poisoned wetsuitIllness has forced him from public view but Fidel Castro is back in Cuban living rooms via a lavish television series that celebrates his escape from 638 assassination plots.The eight-part series, He Who Must Live is an extravagant departure from Cuban TV's typically low-budget fare: more than 1,000 actors and extras are used in a mix of CSI-type fiction, docu-drama and archive material.The interior ministry, institute of police sciences and state-sanctioned film-makers teamed up to tell the story of how the CIA spent decades trying to murder the US's tropical communist foe."As a historical series we turn to a mix of genres to help us and give the viewers more information about the facts," the director, Rafael Ruiz Benítez, told officials before the first 70-minute instalment aired last Sunday.The prime time show, unprecedented in its glossiness, is to run over eight weeks, each episode focusing on a different period. It marks an unexpected starring role for a leader who relinquished power and vanished from public view four years ago after serious intestinal problems.Dan Erikson, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank and author of The Cuba Wars, said: "Fidel Castro may be leaving the stage but it's already clear that he has no plans to go quietly. By commissioning a major television series about how Fidel Castro outwitted and outlasted his foes in the United States over the past 50 years, the Cuban government is reviving one of its favourite story lines and burnishing the mythology that swirls around Cuba's revolutionary leader."The series took three years, 243 actors, 800 extras and a possibly significant chunk of Cuban TV's spartan film-making budget.The inaugural programme focuses on efforts to kill Castro when he was a young revolutionary in Mexico in 1956 preparing to lead several dozen guerrillas on a mission to overthrow Cuba's US-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista.Later instalments feature the CIA's notorious and much derided efforts to kill the Soviet ally after his insurgency triumphed and he established a communist state 90 miles off Florida.Some are well known: the exploding cigar, the ballpoint hypodermic syringe, the gift of a poisoned wetsuit. Others less so: a bacteria-infected hankie, an aerosol can filled with LSD.Cuban security services counted 638 assassination plots by the CIA or their many proxies. A retired agent, Fabián Escalante, wrote about them in his book, 638 Ways to Kill Castro. His colleague, Xavier Solado, wrote a pamphlet of the same name. There was also a 2006 Channel 4 documentary of the same name.Cuba's TV series features actors playing Batista, the CIA director Allen Dulles and, it is thought, presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Richard Nixon, who authorised the murder attempts. A thaw after Barack Obama's election has ended with Washington and Havana trading insults but the US has forsworn killing Castro.The series airs at a difficult time for the revolution. Raúl Castro has tinkered with the centrally planned economy he inherited from his big brother, but with little success. The state is struggling to pay international creditors and ordinary Cubans are suffering food shortages, electricity rationing and meagre wages."The gigantic paternalistic state can no longer be, because there is no longer any way to maintain it," the economy minister, Marino Murillo, said in a recent video shown to communist party cadres, according to Reuters.With gloom widespread, the TV series may not set pulses racing, said Erikson. "While some older Cubans may be intrigued by this trip down memory lane, the reappearance of Fidel as a telenovela star will likely prompt younger generations of Cubans to reach for their remote controls." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
08 Mar 2010 Gates in Afghanistan on visit
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan on Monday morning on an unannounced visit, as NATO-led coalition forces are pressing an offensive in the nation's south.