Derry’s UK City of Culture office also targeted by dissident republican group The Real IRA has admitted bombing two banks in Northern Ireland as well as the UK City of Culture office in Derry, and has warned that it will continue to target economic interests. In a statement to the Guardian laced with anti-capitalist rhetoric, the Real IRA said the bombings and future targeting of the banking system were its response to bankers’ “greed” and were meant “to send out the message that while the Irish national and class struggles are distinct, they are not separate”. The attacks and the language used in attempting to justify them appeared designed to tap into the widespread public loathing of the banks on both sides of the Irish border. The republican dissident group was unapologetic about bombing the office of the UK City of Culture 2013 in Derry last week. It said the office was a symbolic target because the City of Culture award to Derry underpinned British rule. In its most bellicose warning yet to the banks on both sides of the Irish Sea and the border, the Real IRA said: “The IRA has recently carried out a number of bomb attacks on the banking establishment. “Such attacks are an integral part of our strategy of targeting the financial infrastructure that supports the British government’s capitalist colonial system in Ireland. The impetus to carry out this type of attack is directly linked to pressure from working-class communities in Ireland as a whole. “At a grassroots level, working-class communities are suffering most from the effects of cuts to essential services and poverty is now endemic. Families who have lost income as a result of the financial crisis – caused by the bankers – are being intimidated and some are being evicted from their homes.” The organisation added that “the ruling class of bankers and politicians are disconnected from the consequences of their disastrous policies and decisions”. In May, masked men threw a holdall containing a device into Santander’s branch in Derry city centre. In August, a bomb was thrown into Santander in Hill Street, Newry. A Real IRA bomb caused major damage to a branch of the Ulster Bank in Derry last year. The terror group attempted to link the banks to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. “In the six counties, the effective power of the system is vested in heavily armed PSNI units who, ultimately, enforce bank repossessions of homes, vehicles, etc,” it said. “The PSNI is not a police force, it is a political militia and a social control tool designed to protect the interests of the British establishment whether financial or political.” In September last year, the Real IRA had issued a warning that banks and bankers could be targeted . As well as the attack in Derry’s Guildhall Square last week, a bomb was left there on 12 October last year. The organisation predicted such incidents in the runup to Derry becoming a City of Culture in 15 months’ time. The Real IRA statement said: “The IRA has also carried out bombing operations against the so-called UK City of Culture offices in Derry city centre. It should be obvious that our objection is focused on the political exploitation of Derry’s name and culture. Republicans view this charade as an elaboration of the well-choreographed ‘peace process’ which resulted in former IRA personnel serving as British ministers. “This time, the whole nationalist community is expected to join in celebrations of their place within the United Kingdom and thereby realise the Thatcherite policy of regarding the six counties as being ‘as British as Finchley’. Expressions of Irish identity within the context of 2013 will be effectively ‘licensed’ by the organisers under the banner UK City of Culture.” The group added: “The timing of the UK City of Culture is linked to the economic crisis: cash-strapped businesses naturally follow the carrot of increased revenue in 2013, politicians under pressure to produce jobs are totally compliant, anyone who objects is smeared or labelled a ‘dissident’. The goodwill of our communities is being held to ransom, critical thinking is seen as dangerous, whole communities are being encouraged to adopt a herd mentality. The IRA will continue to challenge this; resistance will continue.” The bombing of the City of Culture office caused outrage throughout Derry and beyond, with hundreds demonstrating against the attack. A Real IRA representative also told the Guardian that the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, was under no physical threat. McGuinness, a candidate for the Irish presidency, has claimed his life has been under threat from republican dissidents in recent years. “Why would we turn him into a so-called martyr?” the Real IRA representative said. Real IRA Northern Ireland Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Debris from the massive tsunami that struck Japan in March is on its way: Up to 20 million tons of trash, like “confetti soup,” is slowly drifting across the Pacific Ocean and heading toward the United States, reports the LA Times . Already garbage has been found 2,000 miles from…
Continue reading …Bangkok is slowly being flooded by waters seeping into the Thai capital from the waterlogged center of the country on their way to the Gulf of Thailand. The flooding, the worst the city has seen in at least 70 years, has severed road and rail links and forced the government…
Continue reading …Moammar Gadhafi’s final journey was from a meat locker in Misrata to a grave in a secret desert location. A National Transitional Council spokesman says the bodies of the dictator, his son Mutassim, and his former defense minister “were buried at dawn in a secret place with proper respects paid,…
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One campaigner said the announcement was a public relations exercise akin to ‘putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank’ Alleged victims of sexual abuse have reacted coolly to the news of a Vatican investigation into a London abbey, and have called for inquiries into other Roman Catholic institutions where children are claimed to have been mistreated. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome has ordered an “apostolic visitation” to uncover the scale of abuse at Ealing abbey, where monks and lay teachers have been accused of mistreating children at a neighbouring school, St Benedict’s, over decades. It is the first inquiry of its kind into sexual abuse in Britain. Father David Pearce, a priest at Ealing abbey, was jailed in 2009. Groups supporting alleged victims have questioned the effectiveness and integrity of an internal inquiry, especially given that its findings will remain secret. The abuse is alleged to have dated from the 1960s to 2009. Pete Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said it was a public relations exercise and akin to “putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank”. Anne Lawrence of Ministry and Clerical Sexual Abuse Survivors , said although the Ealing inquiry showed the Catholic hierarchy was beginning to understand the concept of institutional responsibility, there were other schools and other places that warranted investigation. There were, she alleged, “more than 20 schools where there was systematic abuse and we would like to see inquiries into all of them”. Relations between the church and survivor groups are already under strain. Earlier this month the Guardian revealed that victim support groups had pulled out of discussions led by the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) and the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS). They described them as shambolic, toothless and unlikely to achieve anything by May 2012, when the pope’s deadline for a progress report expires. The talks were intended to come up with a care package for survivors of clerical sexual abuse. Graham Wilmer, who heads the Lantern Project and says he was abused by a Catholic priest as a teenager, said: “We were prepared to talk to [the institution] that had harmed us, even though it was uncomfortable … [But] we can’t trust them. What has effectively has happened is nothing.” The Catholic church in England and Wales has not suffered the same fate as those in Ireland and the US, which have been left reeling by abuse allegations. It has defended its child protection procedures, describing them as robust, and has apologised for past behaviour. But there is evidence to suggest that for all its commitment to healing and contrition, old attitudes prevail. Two civil cases show the church continuing to engage in a war of attrition with victims who were abused as children. It has denied responsibility for the alleged sexual abuse of a Portsmouth woman by one of its priests, saying the cleric was not an employee. Should the church win, it will avoid having to pay compensation to victims in the future. In another case, involving more than 150 former pupils suing for an estimated £8m for sexual and physical abuse they claim to have suffered at St William’s boys home in Market Weighton, Yorkshire, the diocese of Middlesbrough is contesting a court ruling that it is jointly liable with the De La Salle Brotherhood, a Catholic order of lay teachers, for the alleged abuse. St William’s was owned by the diocese but many of the staff were members of the Brotherhood. Claims were first launched in 2004 when the home’s former principal, Brother James Carragher, was jailed for 14 years for abusing boys. The appeal will be heard next July in the supreme court. Catholicism Religion Christianity Vatican Child protection London Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …One campaigner said the announcement was a public relations exercise akin to ‘putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank’ Alleged victims of sexual abuse have reacted coolly to the news of a Vatican investigation into a London abbey, and have called for inquiries into other Roman Catholic institutions where children are claimed to have been mistreated. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome has ordered an “apostolic visitation” to uncover the scale of abuse at Ealing abbey, where monks and lay teachers have been accused of mistreating children at a neighbouring school, St Benedict’s, over decades. It is the first inquiry of its kind into sexual abuse in Britain. Father David Pearce, a priest at Ealing abbey, was jailed in 2009. Groups supporting alleged victims have questioned the effectiveness and integrity of an internal inquiry, especially given that its findings will remain secret. The abuse is alleged to have dated from the 1960s to 2009. Pete Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said it was a public relations exercise and akin to “putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank”. Anne Lawrence of Ministry and Clerical Sexual Abuse Survivors , said although the Ealing inquiry showed the Catholic hierarchy was beginning to understand the concept of institutional responsibility, there were other schools and other places that warranted investigation. There were, she alleged, “more than 20 schools where there was systematic abuse and we would like to see inquiries into all of them”. Relations between the church and survivor groups are already under strain. Earlier this month the Guardian revealed that victim support groups had pulled out of discussions led by the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission (NCSC) and the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS). They described them as shambolic, toothless and unlikely to achieve anything by May 2012, when the pope’s deadline for a progress report expires. The talks were intended to come up with a care package for survivors of clerical sexual abuse. Graham Wilmer, who heads the Lantern Project and says he was abused by a Catholic priest as a teenager, said: “We were prepared to talk to [the institution] that had harmed us, even though it was uncomfortable … [But] we can’t trust them. What has effectively has happened is nothing.” The Catholic church in England and Wales has not suffered the same fate as those in Ireland and the US, which have been left reeling by abuse allegations. It has defended its child protection procedures, describing them as robust, and has apologised for past behaviour. But there is evidence to suggest that for all its commitment to healing and contrition, old attitudes prevail. Two civil cases show the church continuing to engage in a war of attrition with victims who were abused as children. It has denied responsibility for the alleged sexual abuse of a Portsmouth woman by one of its priests, saying the cleric was not an employee. Should the church win, it will avoid having to pay compensation to victims in the future. In another case, involving more than 150 former pupils suing for an estimated £8m for sexual and physical abuse they claim to have suffered at St William’s boys home in Market Weighton, Yorkshire, the diocese of Middlesbrough is contesting a court ruling that it is jointly liable with the De La Salle Brotherhood, a Catholic order of lay teachers, for the alleged abuse. St William’s was owned by the diocese but many of the staff were members of the Brotherhood. Claims were first launched in 2004 when the home’s former principal, Brother James Carragher, was jailed for 14 years for abusing boys. The appeal will be heard next July in the supreme court. Catholicism Religion Christianity Vatican Child protection London Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
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Perry outlines “cut, balance and grow” plan that would lower the corporate rate and let Americans pay a flat income tax Republican Rick Perry outlined a broad economic proposal on Monday to let Americans pay a flat 20% income tax rate and allow corporations to bring profits home from abroad at a discount. The Texas governor is to lay out the “cut, balance and grow” plan on Tuesday in a speech in a Greenville suburb, part of an effort to recapture the imagination of conservatives still looking for an alternative to Republican front-runner Mitt Romney to challenge President Barack Obama in next year’s presidential election. Perry laid out his plan in a Wall Street Journal opinion article. The aim is to generate the economic growth to create jobs and reduce America’s 9.1% unemployment rate. That is the key issue in the 2012 campaign and the reason why Democrat Obama is considered beatable. Perry would give Americans a choice: pay a 20% flat tax or keep their current rate. To blunt criticism that a flat tax would cut taxes on the wealthy and increase them on the middle-class, he offered some sweeteners. His proposal would preserve popular tax deductions for home mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 a year. Perry is proposing the plan after consultations with Steve Forbes, the Republican who offered a flat tax plan in 1996 when he ran a losing race for the party’s presidential nomination. Forbes endorsed Perry on Monday. Perry would lower the corporate tax rate to 20% from from 35%. He would give U.S. corporations that have $1.4tn in profits parked overseas the opportunity to pay a discounted tax rate of 5.25% temporarily to encourage swift repatriation of the money. Companies have been lobbying Congress hard for legislation to create a repatriation “tax holiday.” Its fate may have been hurt by recent studies finding that an earlier tax holiday failed to create new US jobs, as had been promised. Perry said he would move the United States to a “‘territorial tax system” – as in Hong Kong and France, for example – that only taxes in-country income.’” Perry, whose campaign has been sagging after several shaky debate performances, is laying out his plan in South Carolina, a key state for any conservative seeking the White House. He said he would eliminate the tax on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains to “free up the billions of dollars Americans are sitting on to avoid taxes on the gain.” To help older Americans, he would eliminate a tax on Social Security retirement benefits and help those who see their benefits taxed if they continue to work and earn income in addition to Social Security earnings. Perry said he would also establish a goal of balancing the federal budget by 2020 but admitted it would be hard given the tax cuts he says are needed to re-energize economic growth. “It will be an extremely difficult task exacerbated by the current economic crisis and our need for significant tax cuts to spur growth. But that growth is what will get us to balance, if we are willing to make the hard decisions of cutting,” he said. Perry said US government spending is out of control and he would start moving toward fiscal responsibility by capping federal spending at 18% of US gross domestic product, banning future bailouts and passing a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution. Republican presidential nomination 2012 Rick Perry US politics United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Perry outlines “cut, balance and grow” plan that would lower the corporate rate and let Americans pay a flat income tax Republican Rick Perry outlined a broad economic proposal on Monday to let Americans pay a flat 20% income tax rate and allow corporations to bring profits home from abroad at a discount. The Texas governor is to lay out the “cut, balance and grow” plan on Tuesday in a speech in a Greenville suburb, part of an effort to recapture the imagination of conservatives still looking for an alternative to Republican front-runner Mitt Romney to challenge President Barack Obama in next year’s presidential election. Perry laid out his plan in a Wall Street Journal opinion article. The aim is to generate the economic growth to create jobs and reduce America’s 9.1% unemployment rate. That is the key issue in the 2012 campaign and the reason why Democrat Obama is considered beatable. Perry would give Americans a choice: pay a 20% flat tax or keep their current rate. To blunt criticism that a flat tax would cut taxes on the wealthy and increase them on the middle-class, he offered some sweeteners. His proposal would preserve popular tax deductions for home mortgage interest, charitable donations and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 a year. Perry is proposing the plan after consultations with Steve Forbes, the Republican who offered a flat tax plan in 1996 when he ran a losing race for the party’s presidential nomination. Forbes endorsed Perry on Monday. Perry would lower the corporate tax rate to 20% from from 35%. He would give U.S. corporations that have $1.4tn in profits parked overseas the opportunity to pay a discounted tax rate of 5.25% temporarily to encourage swift repatriation of the money. Companies have been lobbying Congress hard for legislation to create a repatriation “tax holiday.” Its fate may have been hurt by recent studies finding that an earlier tax holiday failed to create new US jobs, as had been promised. Perry said he would move the United States to a “‘territorial tax system” – as in Hong Kong and France, for example – that only taxes in-country income.’” Perry, whose campaign has been sagging after several shaky debate performances, is laying out his plan in South Carolina, a key state for any conservative seeking the White House. He said he would eliminate the tax on qualified dividends and long-term capital gains to “free up the billions of dollars Americans are sitting on to avoid taxes on the gain.” To help older Americans, he would eliminate a tax on Social Security retirement benefits and help those who see their benefits taxed if they continue to work and earn income in addition to Social Security earnings. Perry said he would also establish a goal of balancing the federal budget by 2020 but admitted it would be hard given the tax cuts he says are needed to re-energize economic growth. “It will be an extremely difficult task exacerbated by the current economic crisis and our need for significant tax cuts to spur growth. But that growth is what will get us to balance, if we are willing to make the hard decisions of cutting,” he said. Perry said US government spending is out of control and he would start moving toward fiscal responsibility by capping federal spending at 18% of US gross domestic product, banning future bailouts and passing a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution. Republican presidential nomination 2012 Rick Perry US politics United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rick Perry has rolled out a flat tax plan to rival Herman Cain’s “9-9-9″ plan. The Texan’s “20-20″ plan—or, as he calls it, “Cut, Balance and Grow”—cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% and allows individuals to choose between paying either 20% or their current income…
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Use of two commentators to cover live football matches described as an ‘anachronism’ in climate of cost cutting The BBC is to end the historic mismatch between its TV and radio football coverage by axing the second commentator’s role on Radio 5 Live. It has long been a quirk of the BBC that it sends two commentators to cover a game on Radio 5 Live but only one when it is being broadcast on TV. The changes will begin next season and all live matches will have a single commentator by the 2014 season as part of plans to save almost £5m from Radio 5 Live’s budget. Radio 5 Live insiders described the use of two commentators as an “anachronism”. But it remains to be seen how the change will be greeted by the station’s lineup of big name commentators including Alan Green, John Murray and Conor McNamara. “There is no reason why one person cannot commentate for the whole game,” said a Radio 5 Live source. “It’s a historic thing – the way the BBC has always done it – but it is also expensive, especially if the game is coming from Moscow.” Radio 5 Live has used two commentators – they currently swap over in the middle of each half alongside a summariser who covers the entire match – since it began broadcasting in 1990. Dual commentators were also used before that when the BBC’s live football coverage was broadcast on Radio 2. Previous BBC management attempts to axe the second commentator’s role met with resistance from inside the corporation, but the scale of the latest round of cost cutting meant change has become inevitable. An extra commentator was thought to add extra texture and objectivity to its coverage but has come to be regarded as an expensive indulgence. The cutbacks are part of BBC director general Mark Thompson’s Delivering Quality First (DQF) proposals to save £700m a year . As part of the savings being made across the corporation, Radio 5 Live is having to cut its content budget by 7.5% – or £4.7m – over the next five years. The DQF proposals, published earlier this month, said Radio 5 Live would maintain sport output at “approximately current levels” but would “reduce the cost of sports presentation including using smaller teams at many events”. The corporation will also have less money to spend on sports rights. Radio 5 Live already broadcasts fewer live football matches than it once did, having lost a third of its live Premier League commentaries to rival stations TalkSport and Absolute Radio. Radio 5 Live also broadcasts live Uefa Champions League and Europa League games, as well as England internationals and the European Championships and World Cup. Both TalkSport and Absolute Radio use only one commentator, alongside a match summariser. Radio 5 Live is currently in the process of moving from its London home to the BBC’s new northern headquarters in Salford . A number of programmes, including Richard Bacon’s afternoon show and drivetime, already broadcast from BBC North. The breakfast programme is due to switch next month. A Radio 5 Live spokesman said: “Radio 5 Live plans to phase out the use of two football commentators on football matches as part of its Delivering Quality First savings. The changes will begin next season and be fully implemented by 2014. “The use of two commentators has for long been something which has helped define BBC radio’s football coverage but we believe the savings achieved by making this change will enable us to continue to offer the high quality coverage 5 Live listeners expect, using an outstanding team of commentators and pundits.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Radio 5 Live BBC Radio industry John Plunkett guardian.co.uk
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