More nations support than oppose UN recognition of Palestine at a state, with 49% of those surveyed in 19 countries supporting the proposal and 21% opposed, according to a poll of 20,466 people conducted in July and August by the BBC (and GlobeScan). About 11% think their country should…
Continue reading …Kenya kidnap: former resort employee in court over murder and abduction
September 19, 2011 No Comment
Kenyan says he went to police after gang made him co-operate at gunpoint in attack on British tourists David and Judith Tebbutt A Kenyan man has been charged in connection with the attack in which a British tourist was shot dead and his wife kidnapped. David Tebbutt, 58, and his 56-year-old wife, Judith, were staying at the remote Kiwayu Safari Village resort on the Kenyan coast near the border with Somalia when their beach hut was stormed by gunmen early on 11 September . Tebbutt, finance director at the publisher Faber & Faber, was shot and his wife was bundled into a waiting speedboat. She has not been seen or heard from since. On Monday a former employee of the Kiwayu resort appeared in court on the nearby island of Lamu to plead not guilty to charges of kidnapping and robbery. Ali Babitu Kololo, 25, told the packed courtroom that he had been forced to co-operate with the gang at gunpoint, adding that he had voluntarily gone to police the next day to report the crime. A second man, Issa Sheck Saadi, is expected to appear in court later. The Tebbutts, from Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, had arrived at the Kiwayu after visiting the Masai Mara game reserve and were the resort’s only guests. A team of Metropolitan police officers has travelled to Kenya to help local authorities with their investigations, while the Foreign Office has deployed a team to the area from the high commission in Nairobi. David Cameron said last week that the government was doing everything possible to resolve the kidnapping. The Foreign Office , which has asked the media not to speculate on Judith Tebbutt’s whereabouts or the identity of her captors for fear of endangering her, is continuing to call for her release. Kenya Africa Kenya Africa Somalia Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Angry actor Alec Baldwin backed out of an appearance on the Emmy Awards show last night after Fox axed a joke of his about the phone hacking scandal at newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., Fox’s parent company. Baldwin demanded his entire videotaped appearance at the beginning of the…
Continue reading …Details are emerging in President Obama’s new debt-reduction plan to be unveiled this morning—and it’s not a pretty sight for the rich. The president will likely outline a plan to cut the federal debt by $3 trillion over the next decade, with half of that coming from an increase…
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Dominic Grieve and CPS would assess whether Official Secrets Act case would be in public interest before it went ahead The attorney general’s office has said he would rule on whether a prosecution of the Guardian under the Official Secrets Act was in the public interest before a case could proceed. A spokesman said on Monday that Dominic Grieve would liaise with the Crown Prosecution Service to assess whether there is sufficient evidence that the act had been breached and whether such a step would be in the public interest. “It is a matter for the police to decide how best to carry out any investigation,” he said. “If the police provide evidence that would support a charge under section 5 of the Official Secrets Act the attorney general’s consent would be required. “If that stage is reached, the attorney general, with the DPP, will consider whether there is sufficient evidence and whether the public interest is in favour of bringing a prosecution.” Scotland Yard’s decision to use the act as part of its bid to force Guardian journalists including Nick Davies and Amelia Hill, who revealed that Milly Dowler had her phone targeted by the News of the World, to reveal their sources has been condemned by rival newspapers and senior politicians. Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, has said the paper will resist the attempt by the Metropolitan police to reveal its sources “to the utmost”. Scotland Yard applied for a production order last week against the Guardian “in order to seek evidence of offences connected to potential breaches relating to misconduct in public office and the Official Secrets Act”. A senior investigating officer applied for the production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, citing potential breaches of the Official Secrets Act, the force said. Actor Hugh Grant, who has become one of the most high-profile figures to campaign against phone hacking and media intrusion of privacy, on Sunday condemned police efforts to force journalists to disclose confidential sources, saying Scotland Yard’s decision was “worrying and deeply mysterious” . Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster, the party’s culture spokesman, also on Sunday said Grieve should use his discretion to rule that invoking the Official Secrets Act was not in the public interest . “I understand the attorney general has the opportunity to use this power,” Foster told the Guardian. “He should use it and say this is not in the public interest.” •
Continue reading …Yemeni forces kill at least 23 protesters after fresh anti-regime protests
September 19, 2011 No Comment
Sniper and artillery fire from pro-Saleh soldiers lifts number of protesters who have died in past two days to 50 At least 23 people have been killed by Yemeni pro-regime forces – including snipers – in a second day of clashes shaking the country’s capital, Sana’a, medical and security officials said. Almost 50 people have died in the two days of fighting. It is the most serious outbreak of violence in months, as frustration again builds over the president’s refusal to step down after 33 years in power. Thousands of protesters armed with sticks reportedly overran a camp belonging to the presidential guards in Sana’a. Others were said to be headed toward the headquarters of the elite force led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son Ahmed in the south of the city. About 20 of those killed on Monday were on the central Hayel Street in the capital. They included a child and at least three soldiers who had defected to join the protesters. Mortar shells thought to have been fired by pro-regime forces killed at least two other people in Sana’a, said officials speaking on condition of anonymity. On Sunday, at least 26 people were killed when pro-regime snipers opened fire on tens of thousands of people who demonstrated in Sana’a to demand that Saleh step down. Apart from those killed, scores of protesters suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to hospitals, according to Mohammed al-Maqtari, a doctor at a field hospital set up by the protesters. The wounded included soldiers from Yemen’s 1st armoured division, which, along with its commander, joined the protesters more than six months ago. Witnesses said the soldiers were involved in skirmishes with the presidential guards. In the southern city of Taiz, at least one protester was killed and 15 others were wounded on Monday in clashes between anti-regime demonstrators and security forces, according to witnesses. And in the southern port city of Aden, three protesters were wounded in clashes with government forces, witnesses there said. Yemen’s protest movement has stepped up demonstrations in the past week. The rebels have been angered after Saleh deputised the vice-president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, last week to negotiate further on a Gulf-mediated, US-backed deal under which the president would step down in return for immunity from prosecution. Saleh has already backed away three times from signing the deal. Many believe the move is the latest of many delaying tactics. Saleh has resisted calls to resign. The US once saw Saleh as a key ally in the battle against a Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, which has taken over southern parts of the country under cover of the political turmoil. The US withdrew its support of Saleh as the protests gained strength. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Middle East al-Qaida guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A tenth of teachers who began teaching in 2007 or 2008 only lasted one year before they quit, according to a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics. Teachers who worked under the supervision of a mentor or who made salaries of more than $40,000 were less likely to drop out over the
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Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan admits killing Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux aboard HMS Astute A Royal Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to shooting dead an officer and the attempted murder of three other crew onboard the nuclear submarine HMS Astute. Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan, 23, of Dartford, Kent, admitted shooting Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux, 36, with an SA80 rifle while the sub was docked in Southampton on 8 April this year. He also admitted the attempted murders of Petty Officer Christopher Brown, 36, Chief Petty Officer David McCoy, 37, and Lieutenant Commander Christopher Hodge, 45, during a goodwill visit to the city. Donovan fired the SA80 six times in the control room of the sub, aiming at the four named victims and killing Molyneux. It is believed Donovan was on sentry duty and the shooting happened during a weapons changeover between shifts. Hodge was also shot in the incident but he survived his injuries. The shootings took place as local dignitaries, including the city council’s mayor, chief executive and leader Royston Smith, were being given a tour of the submarine while it was berthed at the Eastern Docks on a five-day official visit to the Hampshire city. Smith wrestled Donovan to the ground soon after he started firing at around noon. Describing his dramatic involvement, he told the BBC: “Two shots were fired, straight after he entered the control room again and began shooting again. “I ran towards him, I pushed him against the wall, we wrestled to take the gun from him. “He fired again, I wrestled again to get the weapon from him. I pushed him to another wall, I wrestled him to the ground and managed to take the weapon away from him then others came to help to restrain him.” Molyneux’s widow, Gillian, described the father-of-four, from Wigan, as “utterly devoted to his family”. She added: “Everything he did was for us. He was very proud to be an officer in the Royal Navy submarine service.” Military Crime guardian.co.uk
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As Travellers and protesters block site to keep out bailiffs, UN official reveals attempt to broker ‘less dramatic solution’ The government has blocked attempts by the United Nations to help negotiate a deal between Travellers at the Dale Farm site in Essex and Basildon council, which is set to send in bailiffs to evict 86 families from their homes, the Guardian has learned. As an estimated 200 protesters and Travellers blocked the site’s entrance at Dale Farm on Monday to prevent bailiffs from entering, it emerged that the government had refused offers of help from the UN high commissioner for human rights in Brussels. Jan Jarab, Europe representative of the commissioner, said the government had unofficially made it understood that the UN commission would not be welcome at the Dale Farm site. Basildon council was understood to be in 11th-hour talks with the Travellers on Monday morning. A council spokesman said fresh talks were “likely”. He added: “We are happy to have a meeting to agree how to carry out this operation in a safe and peaceful manner, but talks about the legality of the eviction or to try and delay the operation are not on the table.” Jarab said: “We offered to be part of a negotiation to try and arrive at a less dramatic solution at Dale Farm. There was communication between the British government and our headquarters but it was made clear to us that we would receive a letter that that offer was rejected. “It is terribly sad and I am disappointed. A forced eviction is a dramatic event for the people concerned.” The proposed evictions would send the wrong signal to other councils in the UK and other countries in Europe, he added. “It is actually very symbolic: this is the largest Irish Traveller site in the UK and it sends the message across the UK and also across the European Union that the government is putting its weight behind an eviction-based approach.” At the site, several protesters had chained themselves to cars and concrete blocks to prevent the evictions, which they say will make 400 people homeless. Some residents have already pulled their homes off the site, many over the weekend, with a large number parked on the legal site adjacent to the unauthorised plot. Wearing a blue boiler suit and resting on an old sofa cushion, a protester called Jessica, who did not want to give her surname, said campaigners were “showing physical support and physical solidarity”. She said: “Four hundred people are being made homeless. What are we doing throwing these people into destitution? Do we want more poverty in this country? “The people here are losing everything: their homes, their land, the money they’ve spent on this land and their whole community. If they can’t live in a scrapyard, where can they live? It is prejudice and discrimination and that’s why we are here.” By mid-morning there was no sign of bailiffs attempting to enter the site, but a helicopter circling overhead was a constant presence. Dale Farm resident Kathleen McCarthy, from just behind the barricade, made a plea to Basildon council and David Cameron to stop the eviction. “If you are human beings this could still be stopped. I would plead and beg to stop this,” she said. “We’ll go anywhere. You can have this scrapyard; we don’t want it. We just want somewhere to go.” Dale Farm Roma, Gypsies and Travellers United Nations Human rights Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
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Watch an exclusive trailer of Andrea Arnold’s interpretation of Emily Brontë’s classic
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