Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Islamist faction makes demand as part of Palestine unity pact with Fatah, set to be signed in Cairo next week Hamas has insisted on the departure of Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister favoured by Israel and the west, under a deal agreed with its rival faction Fatah for a unity government, according to sources in Gaza. The Islamist organisation also said it would keep control of the Gaza Strip under the accord, which is expected to be formally signed by leaders of the two factions in Cairo next week. The plan drew further criticism on Thursday from Israel, which has said it would not deal with a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas. However, the interim Hamas-Fatah government will have no involvement in negotiations with Israel. Talks will still be conducted by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, headed by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas said a caretaker government would feature technocrats and exclude Hamas members. “The people will be independents, technocrats, not affiliated with any factions,” he said. He said it was “too early to tell” whether Fayyad, an independent and non-elected prime minister, would continue in post. Under the reconciliation deal, presidential and legislative elections will be held next year. Egypt said it would send a security team to Gaza. “An Egyptian security delegation will head to Gaza to help settle and organise the internal security situation there, now that the reconciliation agreement is finally in place,” an Egyptian security source told Reuters. Egyptian negotiators, who brokered the deal in a series of secret meetings, persuaded Hamas to accept a non-political cabinet, which will not deter foreign donors, and convinced Fatah to allow Hamas to maintain its security control of Gaza, sources told the Guardian. But Hamas insisted on the removal of Fayyad as prime minister. Although his stewardship of the Palestinian Authority and success in reforming its institutions has been praised by the international community, Fayyad is seen as anti-Hamas and his continued premiership would seem like a defeat for the Islamist faction. Abbas will appoint the new prime minister. The most popular candidate is Munib al Masri, a US-educated businessman respected by both factions. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders continued to criticise the agreement. President Shimon Peres called it a “fatal mistake that will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will sabotage chances of peace and stability in the region … the world cannot support the establishment of a state that part of its regime is a terror organisation”. Israel’s hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the Army Radio station: “Hundreds of terrorists will flood the West Bank and therefore we need to prepare for a different situation.” The opposition leader, Tzipi Livni, urged the international community to put pressure on the Palestinians to ensure the new government renounced violence and recognised Israel’s right to exist. The two factions were persuaded by “friends in the Arab World and the European Union that it was time to finish the split”, said Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah legislator in the Gaza Strip. But some expressed scepticism about the extent of reconciliation. Mkhaimar Abusada, a professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, described the agreement as “a very vague format which will allow Palestinians to speak with one voice but, at a practical level, there will remain two separate entities in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of security. “Hamas will be able to maintain its militias and its rhetoric of resistance to Israel. There will not be many changes on the ground. Each one will be in charge of their territory,” he said. Hamas officials indicated that the organisation understood the unity agreement could be jeopardised by any militant operations. “We have to be careful of how we respond to Israel because they will do everything to dismantle the agreement,” said Ghazi Hamed, Hamas’s deputy foreign minister. “It is clear that Israel does not like us. They want to divide us because it gives them more power. I expect they will try to provoke us and create chaos to put pressure on Mahmoud Abbas. All sides admit that the agreement is the first step of a complicated process. Hamed said: ” The challenge will be to implement the agreement. If we succeed in choosing a strong PM and a strong minister of interior, we stand a better chance of success.” Abu Shahla said one consequence of the agreement would be that Fatah would be able to operate openly in Gaza for the first time since 2007 and Hamas would be able to do the same in the West Bank. Following the signing of the deal, Abbas may make his first visit to Gaza in more than four years. Palestinian territories Middle East Israel Hamas Fatah Gaza Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
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Shoppers boast they have claimed back hundreds of pounds from Asda comparison scheme “Every Little Helps” is Tesco’s motto but it turns out the supermarket doesn’t like it when its customers take the phrase too literally. The retail group, which announced annual profits of £3.8bn last week, has been forced to make another humiliating change to its Price Check promotional campaign after shoppers hijacked the deal and started “recycling” £20 refund coupons “just to make money”. Tesco styles itself as a consumer champion and the marketing push was supposed to demonstrate that its groceries were cheaper than Asda’s. Instead the campaign has proved something of an own goal with the promotion taking on a life of its own as savvy shoppers started boasting on internet forums that they had claimed back hundreds of pounds under the scheme. The original promotion, launched at the beginning of March, was to check the price of comparable groceries bought at Asda against its own and then refund “double the difference” to shoppers if Tesco was found to be more expensive. However, in one example, a customer shopping for MoneySavingExpert.com found that some alcohol, laundry products and pet food were far cheaper at Asda; he spent £126 at Tesco on a shop that would have cost £81 at Asda, and claimed a £90 voucher. Three weeks into the campaign Tesco started capping refunds at £20 and on Thursday the grocer watered down the benefits again. It said the promotion had unintentionally spawned a “cottage industry” of profit-seekers. Defending the decision to further dilute the terms of the deal, a Tesco spokesman said that while the vast majority of shoppers had used the scheme to check their “normal” shopping others were using it as a money-making venture: “Price Check and ‘double the difference’ have given rise to a cottage industry of savvy and determined people. We commend their ingenuity and determination, but that wasn’t why we set up Price Check.” Tesco, which rings up £1 in every £7 spent on the high street, said it would now only refund the difference between the two shops rather than twice the amount. The fiasco is an embarrassment for both Philip Clarke, the new Tesco chief executive, and UK head Richard Brasher who was promoted to the new post this year. This week industry data from Kantar Worldpanel showed that despite its leadership position, with a market share of 30.4%, it had lost sales to rivals including Waitrose and discount chains . At his maiden annual results last week Clarke broke with tradition by serving up some self-criticism . He admitted there had been a “loss of form”, but said it would fight back with more product innovation and by “sharpening up” the way its speaks to consumers. Other blunders Hoover free flights Hoover’s disastrous free flights offer has gone down in history as one of the biggest promotional blunders of all time. The company’s generous offer of two flight tickets to New York to every customer purchasing a vacuum cleaner over £100 led to its being inundated with disgruntled customers when the figures failed to add up. The blunder cost Hoover £48m and resulted in six years of court cases. Tesco bananas In 1997, Tesco’s offer of 25 clubcard points worth £1.25 for bananas costing £1.17 led one customer to buy nearly 1,000lbs of the fruit. But when Phil Calcott, a physicist, went back to the shop for more staff told him they would not take any more bulk orders. He made a profit of £25.12 on the bananas which he then gave away to passers-by. Pepsi in the Philippines Pepsi retracted a promotional offer of 1m pesos to anyone who found a bottletop with the number 349 printed on it in the Philippines, after it emerged that half a million winning bottle tops had been produced. Even after reducing their prize money to $19, Pepsi paid out a total of £13m to customers who thought they were rightful winners and sparked thousands of lawsuits as well as riots and attacks on bottle plants. Domino’s Pizza Dominos were forced to give away 11,000 free pizzas in the US after someone stumbled upon a trial online promotional code that had been scrapped. News of the code had spread to thousands online before Domino’s withdrew the code. Katie Loweth Tesco Asda Supermarkets Retail industry Consumer spending Zoe Wood guardian.co.uk
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Death toll exceeds 240 after severe storm batters south, with authorities warning of more to come The hilltop town of Rainsville, Alabama, bills itself as a peaceful area surrounded by beautiful ridges, valleys and lakes. By Thursday morning, after a mile-wide tornado had torn through six southern US states, killing at least 247 people, it almost seemed to have been erased from existence. “It looks like something just washed parts of the town off the map,” said Israel Partridge, a volunteer search and rescue worker. “Whole subdivisions, where there were 20 or 30 houses, there is nothing left. It is just totally gone. All that is left are the concrete steps leading up to rubble. It is not just that the houses have severe damage. They are gone.” By 3am on Thursday, when workers finally paused to rest, there were 35-45 bodies laid out at the fire department of a town with a population of 5,000, Partridge said. Rainsville, north-east of Birmingham, ranked among the towns worst hit by the dozens of tornadoes unleashed on the south. By midday, 230 people were confirmed dead across six states, with state officials warning the toll could rise. Barack Obama is due to visit the area on Friday. The national weather service said more than 100 tornadoes had a part in the destruction, the deadliest since a 1974 storm killed 315 people. The authorities were warning that further storms were on their way. “We are going to see more tornadoes and more severe weather across much of the south-east and into the north-east,” said Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Service, in a video posted on the official website. The national weather service has issued a number of short-lived tornado warnings, stretching into areas as far north as New York and south as far as Florida. There were flash flood warnings for parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Georgia. Severe thunderstorms were forecast for parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. But the weather service said further storms were unlikely to match the severity of Wednesday’s events. At least 162 people were killed in Alabama alone. Mississippi reported 32 dead, Tennessee 30. The governor of Alabama declared a state of emergency and mobilised the state’s 1,400 members of the national guard. Authorities reported that downed power lines and communications and blocked roads prevented them from gaining a full measure of the destruction. The tornadoes also forced a temporary shutdown at an Alabama nuclear plant, but the nuclear regulatory commission said there was no danger. Among the other towns reporting heavy casualties and damage was the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which reported 36 killed. “I don’t know how anyone survived,” the city’s mayor, Walter Maddox, told reporters. “We’re used to tornadoes here in Tuscaloosa. It’s part of growing up. But when you look at the path of destruction that’s likely five to seven miles long in an area half a mile to a mile wide… it’s an amazing scene. There’s parts of the city I don’t recognise.” Similar scenes unfolded across the south, with television images of heavily damaged churches and government buildings. In many instances, houses were lifted clear off their concrete foundations, and slammed back down, crushing those seeking shelter. From his home on Lookout Mountain, about a 10-minute drive from Rainsville, Partridge said: “By the grace of God, where I was it just missed us. You could see it coming towards us and it dumped us with debris, but it took a turn and missed us.” But Rainsville absorbed the full force of the storm system. Landmarks such as the sports Coliseum were reduced to twisted rubble. An entire trailer park, which had housed 73 mobile homes, was destroyed. “Even the houses that made it suffered severe damage,” said Partridge. And still it was difficult to get a full measure of the destruction, with roads blocked by debris, tree trunks and downed power lines, and telephone lines and electricity still not fully restored. Meterologists are already ranking the storm as the worst since 1974. More disturbing, it seemed that America’s traditional “tornado alley” in the midwest had been undergoing a slow migration, with the danger zone now extending into the south-east. US weather forecasters had been warning for days of a powerful storm coming up out of the south-east. Schools were shut and many took a day off work. But a number of survivors said that they had not grasped the gravity of the situation. Some said that the warnings had been cut short by power failures, or that they had been caught off guard when cellphone towers went down. Others admitted that they had grown inured to severe weather warnings. “I believe it caught most people by surprise, or they believed that most portions of their homes would be secure enough when, in fact, most of their homes are completely gone,” Partridge said. United States Alabama Natural disasters and extreme weather Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk
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Excitement builds among the ‘real mixture of people’ travelling to the capital by coach for the big day, discovers Adam Gabbatt Marjorie Williams and her sister, Vera Ogden, became firm friends with Margaret Thompson 16 years ago through a shared passion for dancing. “First ballroom, then sequence, and now line dancing too,” Williams said . The group travel to London together around three times a year on “girly trips”, but this is special. They are here for the royal wedding, and they have come prepared with a wide range of union flag-emblazoned apparel. “I’ve got my little flags, and my full one I’m wearing as a cape, and my hat, and I’ve got a purple feather I’m going to stick in it,” Williams, from Salford, said as she displayed the items. “I’ve told me family: ‘You won’t see me but you’ll see me hat.’ I’ve even remembered my knicker elastic to keep my hat on.” Willams, 71, and Thompson, 74, from Irlam, near Warrington, boarded a coach to London in central Manchester at 7.30am on Thursday morning. They were joined by Ogden, 72, in Stockport, one of several pick-up points on a trip they booked within days of William and Kate announcing their betrothal. “I rang Marge to ask her about booking to come down,” said Thompson. “And she’d booked this trip already. “We’ve left the men at home,” she added. “Well, they moan too much,” Williams said. “They only walk a couple of miles then they get tired.” The group were travelling on a National Holidays coach trip, which included travel to the capital, four nights’ stay at the Europa hotel near Gatwick airport, and travel into Victoria, close to Buckingham Palace, on the morning of the wedding. Martin Lock, commercial director at National Holidays, said there was a “real mixture” of people who had signed up to the six royal wedding trips the company was running. “There are some families, there’s more mature clients but there’s younger clients as well.” He said one enthusiastic young monarchist had booked the trip to celebrate their 21st birthday, although the crowd on the Manchester to London voyage on Thursday was distinctly more mature. The driver, Roger Morgan, revealed a recent disappointment to the Guardian at the first pick-up point in Manchester. It turned out that his efforts to decorate the coach in regal garb had been thwarted by his wife’s over-exuberance. “I sent her out to get us some bunting,” Morgan lamented in a thick Sunderland accent. “But she came back with two huge flags.” He shook his head. “They were just too big.” Mrs Morgan’s flags may have failed to make the trip to London, but she needn’t have worried about the coach looking bare. In Stockport, telephone engineer Darren Berry clambered on board, and promptly affixed a union flag tea towel, customised with a black marker pen to read “Royal Wedding 2011″, to the back window. He agreed to share his double-sided sticky tape with Williams, Thompson and Ogden, but at a price. “What’s it worth?” Berry said. “Do I get a kiss?” No kisses were forthcoming, but perhaps it was for the best given Berry was travelling with his wife, Elena Berry, and her best friend, Ulyana Martysemko. “These two are both from the Ukraine,” he said. “To have the excitement of saying we’ve been to the royal wedding – we’re all just really excited.” Berry (at 37, one of the younger travellers on the coach), said he could remember two big state events in his lifetime: the 1977 silver jubilee and Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981. “And this is like that,” he said, adding: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.” A staunch monarchist, he said the royals “did a really good job for their country. All of them work, even Charles works. I don’t think people appreciate that.” A stop at motorway services just south of Birmingham provided further opportunity for coach decoration, most of the back half becoming adorned with flags fixed to the windows. With refreshments passed round, the talk turned to family history. Sisters Anne Harrey, 61, and Margaret Houghton, 64, who live in Glossop and Preston respectively, have London roots, and were keen to return to them. “Our family lived in Stratford, and our nana ran a pub in Hackney and knew the Krays,” Harrey said. “I’m really excited. I wanted to be there and now we’re almost there.” As one might expect from a royal wedding coach trip, the support for the monarchy was unflinching across the board. “I’m old fashioned, I like the royal family, but my sons don’t feel the same,” Harrey said as she tucked into a blackcurrant and liquorice boiled sweet. “They said: ‘What you going there for, they’re not even royal any more’.” Harrey said her attempts to involve her partner, David Smith, in royal wedding festivities had been ignored. “He didn’t want to know, so I thought: ‘Right, I’ll go with my sister.’” Houghton, ears perhaps burning, broke off from a chat about musical tastes (“I used to tell my husband I’d leave him for Cliff Richard”) to support her sibling. “She (Kate) looks lovely though, doesn’t she?” she added. “I think it’s good these two have had a normal life, they’ve been out to pubs and everything.” After a singsong – Rule Britannia, led by Williams – and a widespread nap, the conversation inevitably turned to Princess Diana. As the coach approached London, Jacqueline Coldrick, who was travelling with her 76-year-old mother, Hazel Oakley, joined the discussion with a comment that won general approval. “She [Diana] would have been beside herself, she would have been so happy,” Coldrick, 55, said to nods, respectful flag-waving and murmurs of agreement. “She would have been like a big sister to [Kate]. She would have been so proud.” Oakley broke the introspective moment that followed. “They stand a better chance than Charles and Di though,” she said quietly. “It’s a love match, that’s for sure. And she’ll be watching from up there.” Royal wedding Monarchy Weddings Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
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GP Howard Stoate, who stood down at last election, says claim that he supported NHS reforms was ‘entirely misleading’ Howard Stoate, the former Labour MP who left parliament to return to work as a GP, has attacked David Cameron for citing his support for the government’s controversial health bill. The claim was made during heated exchanges on Wednesday that saw Cameron tell a female shadow cabinet member to “calm down, dear”. Stoate, the former MP for Dartford, writes in the Guardian that doctors do not “glibly accept every aspect of the health bill; it clearly has many inherent problems”. He says Cameron “should stop using the health service as a political football and allow GPs to get on with the job of improving health services”. “I [had] said many GPs were enthusiastic about the chance to help shape services for patients,” he writes. “I was referring to GPs in my own borough of Bexley, south London, and qualified this by saying GPs in the borough had a head start, building on their experience of commissioning over the last four years. Taken out of context, and interspersed with condescending comments to backbench MPs, Cameron’s quote is entirely misleading.” With senior Labour figures claiming that the the prime minister lost his cool because he has lost “the argument over the NHS”, the intervention by Stoate – the only practising GP to serve in parliament when he stood down at the general election – robs Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, of a line of attack: that the government reforms had high-profile defenders in the medical profession. Writing on his blog , Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former director of communications and strategy, said that Cameron was rattled over the dispatch box because of the unpopularity of the coalition’s health reforms. “On the NHS, the government’s reform plans are not thought through, not popular with those who run the NHS or those who use it, and politically toxic, not least because they have no mandate for them,” says Campbell. Read Howard Stoate’s article David Cameron NHS Labour Conservatives Health Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …After President Obama released his long-form birth certificate yesterday, the media went ballistic over the “bombshell.” But, noted Jon Stewart last night , “Wouldn’t the bombshell have been him not being from America? Isn’t this more of a non-shell?” Stewart was particularly interested in Donald Trump’s reaction: “Trump’s made Obama’s citizenship…
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