The unusually heavy barrage suggests the US has no intention of halting its drone programme despite tensions with Pakistan Three suspected US missile strikes in north-western Pakistan in less than 12 hours have killed at least 38 alleged militants, an unusually heavy barrage at a time when relations between the two countries are badly strained, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strikes follow the Obama administration’s announcement that it is suspending more than one-third of US military aid to Pakistan until disagreements are worked out. The attacks indicate the White House has no intention of stopping the unmanned drone programme even though the attacks have increasingly caused tension with Pakistan. In the latest strike, suspected US missiles hit a house in Dremala village in the South Waziristan tribal area early on Tuesday, killing at least eight alleged militants, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll from the strike at 13. The village is located close to the border with North Waziristan. Before dawn on Tuesday, suspected US missiles hit a house in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing 10 alleged militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials. Late on Monday, suspected US missiles hit a house in Gorvak village in North Waziristan, killing at least 20 alleged militants, said two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll at 23. The village is located very close to the Afghan border and is often used as a route for militants to cross into Afghanistan. The US refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone programme in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaida officials. Pakistan is widely believed to have supported the strikes in the past, even though officials often criticise them publicly as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. But that support has become less certain in recent months, especially following the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Pakistan Unmanned drones United States guardian.co.uk
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The unusually heavy barrage suggests the US has no intention of halting its drone programme despite tensions with Pakistan Three suspected US missile strikes in north-western Pakistan in less than 12 hours have killed at least 38 alleged militants, an unusually heavy barrage at a time when relations between the two countries are badly strained, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The strikes follow the Obama administration’s announcement that it is suspending more than one-third of US military aid to Pakistan until disagreements are worked out. The attacks indicate the White House has no intention of stopping the unmanned drone programme even though the attacks have increasingly caused tension with Pakistan. In the latest strike, suspected US missiles hit a house in Dremala village in the South Waziristan tribal area early on Tuesday, killing at least eight alleged militants, according to two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll from the strike at 13. The village is located close to the border with North Waziristan. Before dawn on Tuesday, suspected US missiles hit a house in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing 10 alleged militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials. Late on Monday, suspected US missiles hit a house in Gorvak village in North Waziristan, killing at least 20 alleged militants, said two Pakistani intelligence officials. Two other Pakistani intelligence officials put the death toll at 23. The village is located very close to the Afghan border and is often used as a route for militants to cross into Afghanistan. The US refuses to publicly acknowledge the covert CIA drone programme in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the strikes have killed senior Taliban and al-Qaida officials. Pakistan is widely believed to have supported the strikes in the past, even though officials often criticise them publicly as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. But that support has become less certain in recent months, especially following the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Pakistan Unmanned drones United States guardian.co.uk
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• Discounts on electronic goods behind fall • News eases pressure for interest rate rise • Inflation on RPI measure drops to 5% Prospects of higher interest rates faded on Tuesday as official figures showed deep price cuts by hard-pressed retailers dragged the annual inflation rate down from 4.5% to 4.2% last month. The Office for National Statistics said bargain offers on electronic goods helped drag inflation lower in June and pulled the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living back towards its 2% target. City analysts had been expecting inflation, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, to remain unchanged last month, but the first drop in prices in a June for eight years brought some welcome news for the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee. The ONS said there had been big price cuts in consumer games, consoles and other electronic goods last month as retailers sought to persuade cautious consumers to spend. Rising food prices continued to put upward pressure on inflation last month but the impact of higher supermarket bills was more than offset by the reductions on offer elsewhere in the high street. Core inflation – which strips out the impact of food and energy – dropped from 3.3% to 2.8% last month. Meanwhile, inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index – the benchmark for many pay deals – fell to 5%. CPI inflation has been above target for the past 18 months, forcing Mervyn King, the Bank’s governor, to write a series of explanatory letters to George Osborne. A majority of the MPC’s members have been voting in recent months to keep interest rates at 0.5% in the belief that inflation will start to fall back towards its target once the one-off effects of higher taxes and the surge in commodity prices have ceased to affect the cost of living. Hetal Mehta, UK economist at Daiwa, said: “The fall in headline CPI inflation is completely unexpected, and the drop, particularly reflected in the core measure, points to the underlying weakness in the economy.” She added: “And with no signs of a particularly marked acceleration likely in the coming quarters, we now cannot see the Bank of England increasing interest rates for a long time to come – not just this year, but even next year for that matter.” While the inflation figures were better than expected, there was less good news for the government from the May trade figures, also released by the ONS on Tuesday. These showed Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world increased from £7.6bn to £8.5bn – its highest level since last December. Inflation Interest rates Economics Economic growth (GDP) Consumer spending Retail industry Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was killed at home by a security guard, was accused of being a key figure in the illegal opium trade Ahmad Wali Karzai, the powerful half brother of the Afghan president, Hamid Kazai, has been killed by one of his security guards inside his own house in Kandahar, according to the local chief of border police. “Ahmed Wali Karzai was killed at about 11.30am. He was killed by his bodyguard inside his house,” said General Abdul Razaq. Razaq said an investigation into the assassination was under way. A tribal elder in Kandahar province also confirmed the death of Ahmad Wali Karzai. Haji Padsha, an elder of the Alikozai tribe, said that Ahmad Wali Karzai had been shot on his return from a meeting with foreigners at the former house of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the fugitive leader of the Afghan Taliban. Ahmad Wali Karzai had come under criticism in the past from local Afghans for renting the property to international officials. Ahmad Wali Karzai was a powerful figure in Afghan politics and said to be a key figure in the illegal Afghan opium trade. He was also reported to be on the payroll of the CIA. He denied both allegations. He said that international forces used these charges to deflect their own failings in Afghanistan. Ahmad Wali Karzai was the head of the provincial council in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second biggest city, and had been the target of previous assassination attempts. In 2009, four suicide bombers stormed the provincial council office in Kandahar, killing 13 people. Ahmad Wali Karzai claimed he was the target of the attack. The Government Media and Information Centre in Kandahar sent out a message via Twitter confirming the death of Ahmad Wali Karzai. Hamid Karzai Afghanistan guardian.co.uk
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Former PM ‘genuinely shocked’ to discover journalists tried to access his voicemail and obtained information from his bank account and son’s medical records Follow all the latest developments in the phone-hacking scandal on our live blog The former prime minister Gordon Brown has condemned “the most disgusting work” of News International journalists for using known criminals to invade the privacy and feelings of ordinary people, and accused the company of abusing its power for political gain. Brown was reacting to revelations that News International journalists had attempted to access his voicemail and had obtained information from his bank account, his legal file and his family’s medical records . “I’m genuinely shocked to find that this happened. If I – with all the protection and all the defences that a chancellor or a prime minister has – can be so vulnerable to unscrupulous and unlawful tactics, what about the ordinary citizen? “I find it quite incredible that a supposedly reputable organisation makes its money at the expense of ordinary people.” In an interview with the BBC and the Guardian, Brown confirmed that shortly after the birth of his son, Fraser, in October 2006, Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the Sun, telephoned his wife Sarah to say the paper had obtained details from the boy’s medical records, revealing that he was suspected to be suffering from cystic fibrosis. Brown said he had never wanted his children’s lives to be the subject of publicity. “I have never talked publicly about Fraser’s condition. Obviously we wanted to keep that private. As a parent, you want to do your best by your children.” Asked how he and his wife had reacted to the call, he said: “In tears. Your son is going to be broadcast across the media. Sarah and I were incredibly upset.” Brown said he had no idea how the Sun had obtained the information and questioned the paper’s claim last night that this had been done legitimately. “They will have to explain themselves. I can’t think of any way that the medical condition of a child can be put into the public domain legitimately unless the doctor makes a public statement or the family make a statement. “I don’t know how it appeared. The fact is that it did appear. It appeared in the Sun.” He said he had known at the time that his bank account had been penetrated by the Sunday Times but had not understood that News International had relied on the help of criminals. “I had my bank account broken into. I had my legal files effectively broken into. My tax returns went missing at one point. Medical records were broken into. I don’t know how this happened. “I do know that in two instances there is absolute proof that News International hired people to do this and the people who are doing this are criminals, known criminals in some cases with records of violence and fraud.” The Guardian previously has disclosed: • That the News of the World hired a private investigator, Jonathan Rees , who had a history of corrupt dealings with police officers and who had been jailed for plotting to plant cocaine on a woman so that she would lose custody of her children. • That the Sunday Times “blagged” – obtained private information illegally, normally by impersonating someone on the phone – Brown’s details from a London law firm ] by using the skills of a conman named Barry Beardall, who was subsequently jailed for fraud. • And that the Sunday Times repeatedly hired a former actor, John Ford, who specialised in blagging information from confidential databases, potentially in breach of the Data Protection Act. Brown said he had complained to the editor of the Sunday Times, John Witherow, when he discovered in January 2000 that the paper had blagged information from his bank account, but Witherow had not taken sufficient action. “There was no support going to come from the editor of the Sunday Times in dealing with the indiscipline among his reporters. This was a culture in the Sunday Times and other newspapers in News International, where they really exploited people.” Brown said that as prime minister he had wanted to set up a judicial inquiry. “I came to the conclusion that the evidence was becoming so overwhelming about the underhand tactics of News International using these private investigators to trawl through people’s lives, particularly the lives of people who were completely defenceless, I thought we had to have a judicial inquiry.” Senior officials, however, had blocked the plan. He said News International had attempted to interfere in his government’s policy on the BBC, on the media regulator Ofcom and generally in pursuit of their commercial interests. “We stood up to News International and refused to support their commercial ambitions when we thought they were against the public interest.” He suggested this was part of the reason why its newspapers had attacked his government. “News International pursued an incredibly aggressive agenda in the last year. News International were distorting the news in a way that was designed to pursue a particular political cause. This was an abuse of their power for political gain. “The record will show that some people at News International abused their power. There is absolutely no doubt that News International were trying to influence policy. This is an issue about the abuse of political power as well as the abuse of civil liberties.” Phone hacking Gordon Brown Newspapers & magazines National newspapers News International Newspapers The Sun Sunday Times John Witherow Rebekah Brooks Nick Davies guardian.co.uk
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After savage fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, parts of Lebanon thrive, while parliament is still a site of struggle On an ancient hillside in southern Lebanon, a giant digger scrapes through slate and stone to prepare foundations for yet another new home. Across the valley, in the biblical town of Qana, dozens of houses are also under construction, and many hundreds more stand fresh and stark against the midsummer sky. Since the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel, which began five years ago today, the place where Jesus purportedly turned water into wine has witnessed a near-miraculous transformation itself. Qana is now one of the most thriving enclaves in Lebanon’s south, a place that shows little sign of the ravages of a war that reduced it to a rubble-strewn wasteland after 34 days of intense fighting. Towns and villages either side, from the Litani river to the north to the Israeli border 10km south, have helped consolidate a revival that has crept through the country since 2006 — and reshaped more than just the natural landscape. The national political power base, thrown out of kilter in the chaos of 2006, has been slowly re-orientating – away from the western-backed 14 March alliance into the orbit of the Iranian and Syrian-supported Hezbollah, which now has a whip-hand in Lebanon’s affairs. Signs of a changing Lebanon are all around. Banners of a smiling benefactor, the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamanei are peppered throughout Qana and all other Shia towns in the south. Other, less frequent posters show the two Lebanese Shia leaders, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, and a lesser light, Nabil Berri, who controls a second political party-cum-militia, Amal. Iran has used both to dispense hundreds of millions in cash to Lebanese who were caught up in the war. The war that the two arch foes fought was their most intense and savage since Hezbollah’s inception in 1982. It erupted early on July 12 2006 after Hezbollah members crossed into Israel and ambushed a border patrol, killing two soldiers and abducting two more. The Israeli response quickly escalated into daily bombings for the next five weeks, mostly in the south. Less visible than the reconstruction project – but far more instructive – has been the power struggle for Lebanon, fought not in the country’s parliament, but in the sitting rooms of its feudal lords and in the corridors of power of its neighbours. “Hezbollah, Iran and Syria have had the pro-western bloc in a vice for the past three years,” said one senior western diplomat in Beirut. “And they have finally got them. “The past six months has been a profound shift here. No-one who backs the March 14 project can seriously say that the western agenda hasn’t been set back.” After ousting the government of Saad Hariri in January, Hezbollah now has enough numbers within the parliament – through the support of roughly half the country’s Christian and Druze minorities, as well as Amal lawmakers – to set the political and legislative agenda. Hezbollah has vowed not to use its influence to railroad the parliament and claims that the country’s new prime minister, Najib Miqati – a Sunni from northern Lebanon – is not beholden to it. Yet on one key issue – perhaps the most significant since 2006 for the country’s deeply divided blocs, it is proving immovable. The party’s lawmakers and its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, have demanded that the parliament disavow a UN-backed tribunal set up to place on trial the killers of former statesman, Rafiq Hariri, who was killed on Valentine’s Day 2005 in the most contentious and far-reaching assassination in the country for several decades. The tribunal earlier this month alleged that four members of Hezbollah had played direct roles in Mr Hariri’s death – an assertion that if proven would pose a grave threat to the group’s legitimacy as a patriotic body. Mr Miqati is so far struggling to find a position that satisfies both the 14 March forces, who see him as a turncoat and the Hezbollah-led government, whose trust he needs to survive as leader. In the streets of Dahiya, however, the jury has already returned. “The Israelis killed Hariri and everyone knows it,” said Ahmed Badredine, a motor mechanic. “Their intent towards Lebanon was there for the world to see in 2006. And when there is another war we will beat them again.” Summer has often been fighting season in the south. And in the densely wooded lands around the Litani, preparations have been made for the next war ever since the guns fell silent last time. Hezbollah knows it has a legend to protect after battling the powerful Israeli military to a stand-still in 2006. Israel, meanwhile, has a score to settle after believing its deterrent factor – an important part of it’s armoury – was dented by its enemy’s ability to fire rockets seemingly at will, despite a never-ending blitz of return fire.” “It will come soon,” said a second Dahiya man, Haithem Kissos. “The resistance is stronger than ever and the Zionists cannot let that reality stand.” Lebanon Israel Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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At least seven officers were injured in the riot where up to 200 nationalist youths were hurling petrol bombs and masonry in west Belfast Police have used water canons to try to quell a riot after coming under attack by around 100-200 nationalist youths hurling petrol bombs and masonry in west Belfast. During the violence, in which at least seven officers were injured, a bus was hijacked on the nationalist Falls Road then set alight and driven towards a police cordon separating the area from the loyalist district close to the M1 motorway. The Northern Ireland police service said the vehicle crashed a short distance away. The violent crowd was trying to get close to a loyalist bonfire near the motorway, said the force. Petrol was thrown at officers in North Queens Street where around 40 people have gathered, it added. Meanwhile in north Belfast there are unconfirmed reports of shots being fired close to the Ardoyne district. Police are advising motorists to avoid using the motorway near the Falls Road, Donegall Road and Broadway. Northern Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Glenn Beck spoke before an adoring crowd at the Israeli parliament today, telling them to forcefully state their case in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “In America, the media is so skewed on Israel,” Beck said, according to CNN . “Honestly, I thought you can only cook your food over a burning bus….
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Akira Suemori Members of the media gather outside News International’s office in London, Monday, July 11, 2011. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on Monday urged Rupert Murdoch to reconsider his bid for broadcaster BSkyB, citing an outpouring of revulsion that followed the phone hacking scandal that hit the tabloid News of the World. “factbox” –> More News As investors punished News Corp.’s stock again on Monday, questions arose anew about the leadership of its chief executive, Rupert Murdoch. The phone hacking scandal in Britain now threatens to engulf top executives and has hobbled the company’s stock, which has stagnated for a decade. If News Corp. operated like many corporations in the…
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As much as liberal media members pushing for tax hikes don't understand the fiscal and economic reasons for not doing so, they've been deceitfully ignoring the political ramifications for Republicans caving on this issue. On Monday's “Hardball,” National Journal's Major Garrett explained to Chris Matthews that if the President didn't raise taxes high enough for his liking when the Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress for two years, it's absurd to expect the GOP to do it for him now (video follows with transcript and commentary): MAJOR GARRETT, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Boehner and McConnell don't want to default, okay. They’ve said so publicly. They're in negotiations to avoid a default… CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Right. GARRETT: … and they’re going to try to drive the hardest bargain. What they're telling the President is, “Look at the political realities: you didn't raise taxes in a lame duck session when you had 59 Democrats in the Senate and almost 260 in the House. Don't expect Republicans to raise taxes we own the House of Representatives and have six more it Senate seats. MATTHEWS: Yeah. GARRETT: Operationally, as a matter of politics, that doesn't work. Exactly. Obama had two years of complete legislative control of this country – including months of a filibuster-proof Senate – to get whatever tax increases he wanted on the books. Now that the Republicans control the House, and have a stronger position in the Senate, it's politically untenable for them to go along with any tax hikes no matter how small, especially coming so soon after their victory in the midterms and with another major election less than seventeen months away. Doing so would be political suicide, and could result in a repeat of the shellacking Republicans took after President George H.W. Bush went back on his “Read My Lips – No New Taxes” pledge. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh on Monday said this is likely Obama's strategy: John Boehner is Obama's lifeline to reelection. That's all Boehner is to Obama, nothing else. He not a golf buddy. He's nothing other than that. If he can get Boehner to ultimately cave, Obama's reelected. That's what he knows…He sees, “If I can force this guy to cave, I don't care what the House vote is. I don't care if I lose the vote. If I can get this guy to cave and put my tax increase for a vote, even if it loses, I win. And I get reelected.” That's what Obama thinks, because if Boehner caves, it's bye-bye GOP. That's the thing that everybody must understand. If Boehner caves, it's bye-bye GOP and nothing to do with the policy changes that might happen. If Boehner caves and takes a tax increase, folks, to the House and it loses, Obama still wins because the Republican base is so ticked off at that. Exactly. What Obama and his media minions are trying to do is create a repeat of 1990 when the Democrats and their press surrogates hammered Bush 41 until he finally agreed to raise taxes against his campaign pledge. Despite the media supporting this move at the time, they were all over him once the 1992 presidential campaign began, and assisted in fomenting conservative as well as moderate anger that led so many to vote for Ross Perot it gave Bill Clinton the victory with far less than 50 percent of the votes. Those that have been paying attention know that the press have been ridiculing Bush for this disastrous flip-flop ever since. Now, almost 20 years later, the Democrats and the press are trying to do the exact same thing claiming that the world is going to end if taxes aren't raised hoping to force Boehner and Company to cave. Once that happens, after initially congratulating the GOP for being willing to compromise for the sake of the nation, they'll attack every Republican during next year's campaign season – including Boehner – for their flip-flop hoping that they will not only get their beloved Obama re-elected but also give the House back to the Democrats. With this in mind, Garrett and Limbaugh are 100 percent right: if the Republicans want to be successful at the polls next November, they can't cave on this tax issue no matter what pressure they get from media members to do so. Intelligent people are supposed to learn from history not repeat it.
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