Two suspects in custody and police say killers wanted to extort money from victim’s children in UK The decapitated remains of a British woman have been recovered by Indian police who claim she was murdered after a bungled attempt to extort money from her children in the UK. The head and body of Surjit Kaur, who is believed to have been in her 60s, were found separately this week. Two local men, one a relative of the victim, have been arrested and police said they had confessed to the killing. Kaur, who is said by police to have been a widow with three children, arrived in Punjab from Britain in early February. She disappeared 10 days ago and was reported missing by the caretaker at her home in the village of Shekhwali, in Kapurthala district, 220 miles north-west of the capital, Delhi. A neighbour told police she had seen Kaur in the vehicle of the two detained men, who were traced using mobile phone records. Sandip Sharma, the deputy superintendent of Phagwara police, who is investigating the murder, told the Guardian the attack took place after the two suspects lured her away under false pretences. “They drove her to Saharanpur, Uttar Pradhesh. At first they wanted money from her children, but changed their minds,” Sharma said. He said they strangled Kaur, cut off her head and threw it into a river. Her body was dismembered and scattered in nearby fields, he added. Police sub-inspector Harmel Singh said Kaur had previously lent money to her alleged killers. He could not confirm local press reports that the sum amounted to more than £2,500. “She wanted it back. They took her in their car with the intention of frightening her but instead they ended up killing her,” said Singh. The two suspects were remanded in custody by a local judge on Friday. A substantial proportion of the Indian community in the UK has links to Punjab. Tens of thousands of students travel from the state to the UK every year. There are many weddings between British citizens and local men and women. The village where Kaur lived is part of the so-called NRI belt of the state’s Doaba region, where many Britons of Indian origin – or non-residential Indians – have either retired or maintain holiday homes. The Foreign Office confirmed it was aware of the death of a British national in India. “Staff have been in touch with next of kin and are providing consular assistance,” a spokeswoman said. “We will not speculate on the circumstances surrounding the British national’s death.” India Crime Rajeev Syal Jason Burke guardian.co.uk
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John Lewis reveals sales plunge in stores at Bluewater and Cribbs Causeway, in contrast to traditional shops Soaring petrol prices are hitting sales at out-of-town shopping centres as cash-strapped consumers think twice about making long journeys to retail destinations such as Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and the Metrocentre in Gateshead. As the price of oil breached $124 a barrel for the first time in two and a half years – and is now at a record in sterling terms, as a result of the weaker pound – John Lewis revealed big sales declines at its shops in key out-of-town malls, including Bluewater in Kent and Cribbs Causeway. Takings at the retailer’s Bluewater department store are down more than 9% since the end of January, with the decline accelerating to more than 12% in the most recent week. At the John Lewis store in Cribbs Causeway mall sales have tumbled more than 11% so far this year and were down more than 14% last week. City retail analyst Freddie George, at brokers Seymour Pierce, said: “With the petrol price so high, we knew this was coming and these John Lewis figures provide the first significant evidence.” The dismal sales at John Lewis’ out-of-town centres are in sharp contrast to its more traditional city centre branches and internet site. Retail research group Synovate, which monitors the number of shoppers visiting retail centres nationwide, said it had also detected a move for shoppers to stay local. The number of shoppers going through the doors of out-of-town centres fell nearly 12% in March, compared with last year, and compared with a 7% decline across all shops. With the price of oil predicted to hit $130 later this year, the cost of petrol is likely to climb even higher. Over the past year it has leaped by some 21p to its current level of around 134p a litre. Analysts say further increases will accelerate the move away from out-of-town centres as shoppers baulk at rising petrol costs. Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Synovate Retail Performance, said: “If petrol prices remain high, there is likely to be some kind of structural shift, with people going to out-of-town centres less frequently and spending more time there when they do. We would expect more promotion from the out-of-town centres, possibly by providing free bus services to customers, rather than expecting them to come in under their own steam.” The average shopper turning up at a regional mall like Meadowhall or Bluewater has driven around 32 miles, according to CACI, another retail research group. A shopper who decides to stay local instead will therefore save about £12 in petrol costs for the round trip. Jonathan De Mello, of property agents CB Richard Ellis, said history showed small out-of-town centres tend to suffer from rising petrol prices but that the larger ones actually benefit as shoppers ensure they visit a site “where everything is under one roof”. John Lewis played down the impact of rising petrol prices, arguing that the weather and timing of bank holidays were more significant. Nat Wakely, director of selling operations at John Lewis, said the equivalent period for last year included Good Friday, a day when city centre workers tend to avoid high street outlets in favour of a day out at an out-of-town mall. Motorists are cutting back on journeys in order to save money, according to an AA poll in January. Edmund King, the AA president, said short car journeys are less fuel-efficient because they involve stop-start driving and trips to shopping centres could fall victim to a domestic cost squeeze. “If the journey to the out-of-town shopping centre is on average five or six miles that is a particularly inefficient journey in terms of fuel use. So if people can avoid that, they will.” Although John Lewis’s more central stores tended to perform better than its out-of-town sites, the latest data from the group showed times remain tough on the high street. Reporting at the end of a week that saw Halfords and Carpetright becoming the latest retailers to issue profits warnings, John Lewis revealed that it too was suffering from British consumers’ dwindling confidence and purchasing power. The John Lewis department stores recorded year-on-year sales growth of just 1.1%, including the benefit of the January VAT rise, well down on the near-10% increase seen in the previous six months. Retail industry Petrol prices John Lewis Motoring Consumer spending Oil Tom Bawden Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
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Comedian hails pundit’s ‘transition off’ from Fox News with extended skit, mocking him for comparing himself to Paul Revere Jon Stewart had his own take on the reason for Glenn Beck’s “transition off” from Fox News in his Comedy Central Daily Show on Thursday: “Glenn Beck still had the third highest show in cable news … Maybe Fox News thought it would be useful to pick some random talk radio host rehashing all same tired old John Birch Society conspiracy theories to seed ultra-conservative viewpoints into the news cycle, while making the rest of the network seem centrist by comparison. But, he then began to believe his own messianic delusions and became a giant pain in the ass. So they dropped his ass.” For his farewell to Beck, Stewart once again adopted his trademark glasses and chalk boards for an extended spoof, including a clip of the Fox News presenter explaining his departure from the network by way of a comparison with Paul Revere. Stewart wasn’t going to let that pass without comment: “Glenn could’ve likened himself to any character from the American revolution … But he decided to go with the first and loudest character. And the only real difference between Glenn and Paul Revere is that when Paul Revere told you the British were coming, they were in fact coming.” Stewart himself must be at least a teeny bit sad that Beck is leaving Fox News, given how much material he has provided over the past couple of years. Perhaps most memorably, in March 2010 the first half of the Daily Show was given over to a 15-minute spoof by Stewart of Beck’s presenting style and conspiracy theories. . Glenn Beck Jon Stewart Fox News Fox TV news Television industry US television industry US television Television United States Jason Deans guardian.co.uk
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Collective whitewashed 65-metre penis on drawbridge in St Petersburg Voina, the scatological Russian art collective supported by the British street artist Banksy , has won a state-backed art prize for painting a 65-metre penis on a drawbridge. Members of Voina (the war) – two of whom are awaiting trial on hooliganism charges – whitewashed the decoration on a bridge in St Petersburg last June. When the bridge was raised the erect phallus faced the local headquarters of the FSB, the successor to the KGB. The work, entitled A Dick Held Prisoner at the FSB, was awarded the 400,000 rouble (£8,700) 2010 Innovation prize by the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Moscow on Thursday evening. The graffito was scrubbed off the bridge by authorities after a few hours but pictures of it became an internet sensation. The prize, which is supported by the ministry of culture, was awarded after weeks of wrangling, during which Voina’s entry was excluded, then reinstated. Andrei Yerofeyev, the curator who announced the winner, described the phallus as an outstanding work which stemmed from a Russian tradition of “socially engaging art”. No representatives of Voina were at the glitzy ceremony at an art gallery run by Roman Abramovich’s partner, Dasha Zhukova. However, the collective issued a statement saying it would donate the prize money to political prisoners. Two members of the group, Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolayev, are awaiting trial in relation to a guerrilla performance in September called Palace Revolution, when the group turned over several police cars in St Petersburg. The pair were arrested in November but released on bail in February. They face up to seven years in jail if convicted. Banksy donated £80,000 from a print sale to Voina after hearing about the prosecution. Vorotnikov suggested that the prize jury had defeated bureaucrats who tried to deny the group the prize. “They are professionals after all, and some of them are brave people,” he told the Sol website. Other members of Voina said it should have won the prize for a different “action” – when a woman in the group was filmed stealing a chicken from a grocery store by inserting it into her vagina. “Now that was something,” said Vorotnikov. Russia Banksy Awards and prizes Tom Parfitt guardian.co.uk
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Military the target of Egyptian demonstrations as people demand more prosecutions against Hosni Mubarak-era ministers Protesters have packed Cairo’s Tahrir Square, piling pressure on the ruling military council to meet demands including the prosecution of Hosni Mubarak in one of the biggest demonstrations since he was ousted. By early afternoon the protest had swollen to more than 100,000. Thousands waved red, white and black Egyptian flags in scenes reminiscent of the height of the protests that toppled Mubarak and helped ignite revolts in other Arab countries. “Oh field marshal, we’ve been very patient!” chanted some of the protesters, gathered in the square that was the hub of protests that toppled Mubarak from the presidency and left the army, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, in charge. “Tantawi, Tantawi get your act together or do you want a pool of blood?” chanted some of the protesters. The military has enjoyed broad support since it took control of the country on 11 February but frustrations have grown over the pace of reform. Attention is now focused on the perceived tardiness of legal steps against Mubarak and his entourage. Mubarak and his family have been living in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since he left Cairo on 11 February. The public prosecutor, who has filed charges against some but not all of the Mubarak-era officials, was also the focus of anger during a demonstration which one activist group declared “The Friday of Purification and Accountability”. A military helicopter hovered over the city centre as protesters poured into the square after Friday prayers to support demands including the removal of remaining Mubarak-era officials, such as the powerful provincial governors. Banners included economic demands, such as the imposition of minimum and maximum wages. “The revolution is continuing until democracy is achieved,” read one banner. “It’s a strong message that the revolution is not over yet and is still going on and will not quieten down before its goals are realised,” said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science and a prominent figure in the reform movement. Street action remained “the real guarantee to the success of the revolution,” a coalition of youth activists said in a statement. “There has to be continued pressure for the quick and effective realisation of the demands of the revolution,” it said. “Oh field marshal, oh field marshal, we are staying in Tahrir,” read one of the banners directed at Tantawi, who served as defence minister in Mubarak’s administration from 1991 until he was ousted from the presidency. The military has scheduled a parliamentary election for September. It has said a presidential election will be held in either October or November, until when the army will hold presidential powers. At one point eight young men in military uniform appeared on stage, calling for Tantawi’s removal. It was not possible to verify whether they were serving in the military. “The people want the field marshal to fall,” one shouted over loudspeakers. Some in the crowd applauded and repeated the refrain. Others declared them imposters seeking to create trouble between the army and the reform movement and urged them to get off the stage. “We are calling on the field marshal to meet the demands of the people,” said Ibrahim Ahmed, a 20-year old student. “Enough collusion in not carrying out prosecutions,” he said. The interim government installed by the military council has set up a new committee to uncover corruption from Mubarak’s 30-year rule. The illicit gains panel is set to question Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, next week. “If Mubarak is not prosecuted, we will go to Sharm el-Sheikh,” read another banner held aloft by the protesters. The military has said the 82-year-old president, himself a former military officer, is banned from leaving the country. The campaign against Mubarak-era figures has resulted in the arrest of once untouchable figures including the former interior minister and other ministers who held economic portfolios and are accused of corruption. Zakaria Azmi, a leading Mubarak aide, was the latest high-profile figure to be arrested. He was detained on Thursday on accusations of illegal gains. Reformists questioned why it had taken so long. “There is a feeling that the military council faces many restrictions,” Nafaa, the political science professor, said. “The aim of the protest isn’t to criticise or revolt, but to express a sense of frustration because of the tardiness in bringing to trial those responsible for corruption,” he said. Egypt Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Hosni Mubarak guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Lawrence O’Donnell Lays Into Rep. Tom Graves For Being Willing to Shut Down the Government to Defund Planned Parenthood
April 8, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Despite the fact that the funding for Planned Parenthood only accounts for a tiny portion of the budget, Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) insisted to MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that this assault on women’s reproductive rights and health care was somehow about getting our deficit under control. I’m not sure how someone like this guy sleeps at night because given the smirk on his face as O’Donnell laid into him for playing politics with women’s health care, he thinks this is some kind of a game. It’s a deadly game they’re playing and one where they obviously don’t care how many lives might be lost in the process of either threatening to or actually shutting down the government, or as a result of their extremist ideology. And as far as his claim that the Republicans are somehow doing “the will of the American people”, well here are some polls to the contrary : Two new public polls released today show majority support for Planned Parenthood, and clear opposition to efforts to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds for preventive health care such as lifesaving cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control, and STD testing and treatment, including HIV testing. A Quinnipiac University poll released today found that a majority of voters (53 percent) opposed “cutting off federal government funding to Planned Parenthood.” The margin was 53 percent to 43 percent. The poll also found that 50 percent of Independent voters — as well as 66 percent of voters aged 18–34 and 60 percent of “moderate” voters — opposed “cutting off federal government funding to Planned Parenthood.” Read the full poll HERE . An NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll also released today found that 53 percent of Americans found it “mostly or totally unacceptable” to “eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning and preventive health services.” Among women overall, 56% found it “mostly or totally unacceptable” to “eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning and preventive health services.” Among women 18–49, 60% found it “mostly or totally unacceptable” to “eliminate funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning and preventive health services.” Read the full poll HERE . (Planned Parenthood question on page 16). Below, please find a statement by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on the two new public polls: “It’s clear that Americans understand that the proposal to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funds for preventive health care such as lifesaving cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control, and STD and HIV testing, would have a devastating impact on women’s health, lead to more unintended pregnancies and more women detecting cancers at a later and less treatable stage. Americans know this to be true, because one in five women has been cared for by a Planned Parenthood health center at some point in her lifetime. O’Donnell also tore into Graves for his support of their ridiculous and unconstitutional bill titled the “Government Shutdown Prevention Act.” O’Donnell slammed Minority Leader Eric Cantor for his defense of that bill last week — Lawrence O’Donnell Slams Eric Cantor For Not Knowing How a Bill Becomes a Law .
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Nicki Durbin’s son Luke disappeared in 2006. What more can be done to help her and others left behind by missing people? It was one of the shortest but most poignant messages posted by old friends of Becky Godden-Edwards on an online tribute page: “I love u Becky. Why did u lose contact?” The discovery of Godden-Edwards’s remains in a farmer’s field in Gloucestershire by police investigating the murder of the Swindon nightclubber Sian O’Callaghan has prompted many to ask the same sort of question. Why do so many people – at least 200,000 a year in Britain – simply vanish, and can more be done to try to find them and to support people they leave behind? Nicki Durbin’s son, Luke , a bright, sociable 19-year-old, disappeared in May 2006 after going out clubbing with friends in Ipswich. “I know families always say that not one day goes by without them thinking about their loved one. But if I’m very honest there’s not an hour goes by without me thinking about Luke,” she says. “Certain times are very difficult. Anniversaries, or when the season changes. It’s another spring or winter that he’s not here. I hope I’ll see him again but I know it’s not a very realistic hope. I can be working and hear a song in the background and I’m thinking of Luke and I have to keep functioning somehow.” Durbin, a charity fundraiser, says she finds herself glued to the television when a big missing persons story is in the news. She feels relief when a newly found body turns out to be a woman’s – then something like envy that at least the family knows what happened to their loved one. She says her confidence in the police has been eroded over the years. At times she has felt they were not listening to her and Luke’s friends. She has had to “basically scream” to get her son’s case taken on by Suffolk’s major investigation team. According to the National Police Improvement Agency, which runs the national Missing Persons Bureau , police in Britain record about 1,000 missing reports every day, although some refer to the same person. It estimates that 200,000 people went missing in 2009/10. Most return or are found quickly but almost 2,000 people a year remain outstanding and around 20 people a week are found dead after being reported missing. The numbers could be bigger; the NPIA accepts that its data is not complete, partly because not all forces (including Wiltshire, the force investigating the deaths of Godden-Edwards and O’Callaghan) handed in their figures. A study by researchers at the University of York estimated that two thirds of those who go missing decide to go. A fifth “drift” away. Most of the rest are unintentionally absent – for example, they have mental health problems – and 1% are “forced”. The charity Missing People is campaigning for legislation to enshrine the rights of those who have vanished and those left behind. It is calling for every region to have a local missing persons co-ordinator who will hold local services to account, and for every family to have a single point of contact in the police force dealing with their case. It also wants a network of counsellors to be developed to help people whose loved ones have gone missing. Martin Houghton-Brown, chief executive of Missing People, said: “It is incredible that in England and Wales we have no legislation relating to missing people. It is an issue that has been hidden for a long time. We are so far behind places like the US.” Missing People wants families of people who have disappeared to be given the same rights as victims of crime. “If your DVD player is stolen from your house, you’ll get a letter from the police detailing all the help you can get. If your child goes missing you may get nothing,” Houghton-Brown said. Rachel Elias, the sister of the Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards who vanished in 1995, said there was a lack of sympathy and understanding when it came to missing adults. “I think it’s because of the sheer number of adults who go missing,” she said. “There’s also the feeling that many people choose to go missing and should be allowed to.” There was also a lack of consistency over how missing people cases are handled, Elias said. “I think there should be a single contact with the police. We didn’t have that. Different forces seem to do it all in different ways, which is frustrating.” Peter Lawrence, the father of the chef Claudia Lawrence who went missing from York in 2009, said he was “totally amazed” at the problems facing families of missing people. “If you’re the subject of a minor crime, even a minor theft, the state gives you victim support, all sorts of things. If someone goes missing there’s absolutely nothing there at all.” It remains unclear what contact the family of Godden-Edwards – who went missing from Swindon in about 2003 when she was in her early 20s after struggling with drug addiction – had with the police and other agencies. Initially, well-placed sources said that when police broke the news to them that her body had been found, her family said they had reported her missing to officers. But the police have been unable to find any such record and are continuing to investigate whether such a report was made. Her family’s wait for news is over. Not so for Nicki Durbin, who accepts it is likely Luke is dead. “If that is the case, please let it have been an accident. If someone else is involved it’s just too horrifying,” she says. The best scenario for her is that Luke went off and is living a “fantastic life” somewhere. “And if he ever comes home he’ll get the biggest slap of his life – and then the biggest hug.” Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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NoW publisher admits liability for hacking into phones of eight public figures and offers to set up compensation fund News International is to apologise and offer to pay damages to eight News of the World phone-hacking victims who are currently suing the paper, including actor Sienna Miller, former culture secretary Tessa Jowell and ex Sky Sports commentator Andy Gray. In one of the most dramatic apologies in the history of Fleet Street, Rupert Murdoch’s News International said its previous inquiries into phone-hacking were “not sufficiently robust” and issued an “unreserved apology” for the fact hacking took place at the News of the World. The others who will be offered apologies and damages are Jowell’s former husband David Mills, football agent Sky Andrew, publicist Nicola Phillips, Joan Hammell, an former aide to former deputy prime minister John Prescott, and interior designer Kelly Hoppen. News International will offer to pay damages and legal fees. In the Hoppen case, News International is admitting her phone was hacked into on several occasions from 2004 to 2006. It still contests her claim that her phone was hacked in 2009. News International is likely to offer to settle more cases. A total of 24 people have begun legal actions but the company believes that in many of the cases too little evidence has so far been produced to judge whether or not it was culpable. Others taking legal action including actors Steve Coogan and Leslie Ash. It will propose next week to Justice Vos, the high court judge in charge of all the hacking cases, that all the cases should be heard together. The publisher said: “Following an extensive internal investigation and disclosures through civil legal cases, News International has decided to approach some civil litigants with an unreserved apology and an admission of liability in cases meeting specific criteria. “We have also asked our lawyers to establish a compensation scheme with a view to dealing with justifiable claims fairly and efficiently.” It added: “We will, however, continue to contest cases that we believe are without merit or where we are not responsible.” No executives are expected to resign as a result of the apology. The Guardian revealed in July 2009 that News International had made secret payments totalling £1m to settle cases involving three people including Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the PFA. News International claimed hacking at the paper was carried out by a “rogue reporter”, former royal editor Clive Goodman. He was jailed in January 2007 along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for illegally intercepting voicemail messages left on mobile phones belonging to members of the royal household. Andrew Neil, a former Murdoch executive and former Sunday Times editor, told BBC News: “I don’t think NI had anywhere else to go. The evidence was piling up against them. It may cost them a lot more than they think. There are plenty of other people involved. They are trying to close it down with their chequebook but I don’t think they’re going to succeed.” He added that settling civil actions would have no bearing on the criminal investigation currently being carried out by the Metropolitan police. • 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 James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rep. Slaughter, Who Wanted to ‘Police’ Speech After Tucson, Says GOP Wants to ‘Kill Women’; Media Mum
April 8, 2011 No Comment
“In '94 people were elected simply to come here toy kill the National Endowment for the Arts,” claimed senior Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter at a pro-choice rally on the National Mall Wednesday. ” Now they're here to kill women .” Slaughter, the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, went on to compare proposed GOP proposals on abortion, bizarrely, to “show-me-your-papers” policies in the Third Reich. It's been two days since Slaughter made these incendiary and baseless remarks, yet there has been a virtual media blackout. So once again we have to ask, as did the Washington Examiner's David Freddoso , what if a Tea Partier had said it? The story was initially reported by NewsBusters sister site CNSNews.com, and aside from the Examiner, no other news organization has reported on Slaughter's absurd statement thus far. It's safe to assume that if a conservative Republican had made similar remarks, coverage would be significantly greater (check out the video of Slaughter's remarks below the break). CNSNews.com's Dan Joseph reported Thursday: Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress “to kill women.” She also likened Republican efforts to prohibit federal funding of abortion except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother is endangered to actions taken by Nazis. “This is probably one of the worst times we’ve seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus,” Slaughter said. “In ’94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now they’re here to kill women.”… Although the text of the bill makes no reference to people needing a “receipt” to prove their abortion was for one of the excepted categories if they try to deduct the abortion fee they paid from their federal taxes, Slaughter suggested that under the bill, if enacted, people would need receipts for their abortions in such circumstances. She then equated that perceived need to the sort of requirement that would be imposed by Nazis. “You are allowed to have an abortion if you have been raped or it’s a matter of incest,” said Slaughter. “However, you have to keep a receipt. Did you know that? It’s sort of like an old German Nazi movie. Show me your papers!” Interestingly, after January's shooting in Tucson, Slaughter said “she would look at ways to better police language on the airwaves,” according to The Hill . The implication was that “language” had something to do with the shooting spree that hospitalized Rep. Gabby Giffords and 12 others, and killed six. It seems that accusing one's political opponents of wishing death on women generally and comparing their policies to those of the Nazis would fall within the bounds of speech Slaughter apparently felt had somehow led to that shooting. Neither the absurdity of Slaughter's remarks nor her rank hypocrisy in making them, however, have seemed to satisfy the media's standards for newsworthiness.
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Hopes fade of a deal in Durban later this year as deep divisions continue over the fate of the Kyoto protocol The deep divisions apparently bridged by last December’s climate deal in Cancún were reopened this week at UN talks in Bangkok , undermining the chance of any agreement on the shape of a broader pact by the end of this year. The talks, being held in the Thai capital from 3-8 April, stalled on disagreement over an agenda for negotiations through the year ahead of a late November meeting in Durban, South Africa. Developing nations in Bangkok pushed for a sharper focus on the fate of the Kyoto protocol – rich nations’ pledges to cut emissions and climate finance for the poor – issues that Cancún did not fully address. The United States and others wanted to focus only on the less contentious Cancún agreements. Christiana Figueres, head of the UN talks, said that while constructive, the meeting had also highlighted continuing divisions between governments, with a central issue being future of Kyoto, the world’s main climate change treaty . “Echoes of previous battles have come back to haunt us but a lot of countries do want to see progress and there are some positive signals,” said Tim Gore, climate change policy adviser for Oxfam. A series of agreements reached at Cancún included a fund to channel $100bn a year to poor nations by 2020, a scheme to transfer clean energy technology and to hold a rise in global average temperatures below 2C. These steps and others were widely seen as saving the UN climate process from collapse. But in Bangkok differences emerged on how to move ahead and tackle harder issues, particularly the fate of Kyoto. “There’s a bit of buyers’ regret going on here by developing nations. Except this time there’s no refund,” a rich nation delegate told Reuters, referring to the view that some poorer nations felt they had conceded too much in Cancún. Kyoto legally binds about 40 industrialised nations to emissions cuts during its 2008-12 first phase. Poorer nations only have to take voluntary steps and are keen to keep this formulation in future, saying hard targets could harm their economic development. The pact was originally meant to be extended into a second period from 2013 with deeper emissions cuts from rich nations. But no successor to Kyoto or another broader pact that binds all major economies is in sight. Agreement in the debate is critical to stepping up the fight against climate change by limiting the rise in global temperatures and reducing the risk of more extreme weather, crop failures and rising seas levels. A tougher climate pact is also crucial in shaping global energy policies and giving investors in low-carbon infrastructure more certainty. It would additionally fuel growth in carbon markets now worth more than $120bn. Many rich nations say Kyoto no longer reflects the reality that developing nations are now the largest, and rapidly growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. They must be brought into a broader pact. Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States, which never ratified Kyoto, are all firmly opposed to extending Kyoto and want a new agreement. India, China and other developing nations disagree, saying Kyoto must remain and that rich nations need to do more to cut emissions. “A second commitment period and the Kyoto protocol is a must. There is no room to make any compromise from my side,” senior Chinese delegate Huang Huikang said on Thursday. Analysts saw the fight over Kyoto as far from over. “Emerging economies do not appear close to abandoning Kyoto and any that backs away from the protocol risks a backlash from the rest of the group, reducing the likelihood that any individual country would unilaterally shift its position,” said Divya Reddy of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. Some nations say any backsliding from Kyoto endangered the climate fight. “We haven’t got an alternative and an alternative isn’t going to happen quick enough. We have to accept that the Kyoto protocol, at least for the next commitment period, is a bridge towards a broader agreement,” Ian Fry, the lead delegate from the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, told Reuters. The United States has been accused of being a roadblock in the talks because of its failure to pass a climate bill and a resurgent Republican party means it cannot boost its pledge to cut carbon by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020. Global climate talks Climate change Kyoto protocol Thailand United Nations guardian.co.uk
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