The deputy prime minister says data collected will enable the government to see if policies are working The government is to introduce an annual “report card” to assess whether it is improving people’s life chances, drawing together seven indicators starting with babies’ body weight and going all the way through life to success in adulthood to see whether it is breaking the link between social class and achievement. Nick Clegg will publish the social mobility strategy, which will include the new quantitative measures for people’s performance at different stages in their life, on Tuesday. The new sets of numbers will give governments an indicator of whether a given policy decision is working or not, and – monitored by an independent adviser, the former Labour minister Alan Milburn – would see the government come under pressure to discard those policies having adverse effects. The deputy prime minister said the indicators would be acted on if they appeared to be highlighting a problem. He said: “Yes, it will trigger a reaction – it’s a series of dials and if one of the dials shifts the wrong way, indicators are meaningless unless you act.” Clegg described meeting resistance from Whitehall as he put together the new indicators. He was told it would create a rod for his own back. A government source drew a parallel with giving responsibility for monetary policy to the Bank of England in 1997 and the more recent transfer of analysis of the economy to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The source said: “With this, we’ll know which ones we’re failing on and see which policies are working. It will take a bit of time but year-on-year we’ll see if something is getting worse.” Clegg said: “You won’t really be able to prove you’re making a difference immediately; it will go way beyond this parliament.” The new self-assessment regime for the government has been crafted in a cabinet committee led by Clegg, and although it largely draws on data already compiled, such as babies’ birth weight and the numbers taking free school meals, some tests will need new metrics drawn up. The government has already set aside £30m to undertake an entirely new cohort study. Clegg and the universities minister, David Willetts, were in Washington on Wednesday for meetings with the US vice-president, Joe Biden. Their officials have been working together on the issue for months and their teams took part in a seminar on social mobility from school to higher education. This government, as Labour before it, is grappling with research showing that the prospect of someone born in the 1970s doing better than their parents has decreased from the same metric in the 1950s. Only one in five young people from the poorest families achieve five good GCSEs compared with three-quarters from rich families. En route to Washington, Willetts said people in their 30s still appeared to have their earnings dictated by what their parents did. Now the government want to build up a more granular picture. A government source said: “Academic measures of social mobility generally compare the income and/or social class of children during their 30s and 40s with that of their parents. They won’t tell us about the impact of current policy for at least 40 years.” Brushing off charges that the new data set would merely inquire into people’s lives without being able to do anything about it, Clegg said he believed changes brought in by the coalition government would be picked up on the indicators, though it would take longer than the course of one parliament since a policy they believe the key to increasing social mobility – the pupil premium – doesn’t come into force until 2015. Clegg pointed to changes he believed would also help: increasing the income tax free threshold; changes to welfare that will see “work pay; the new requirement that those universities charging the full £9,000 tuition fee would only be able to do so if they could show how they were opening up access to less advantaged students. Willetts also said he believed those universities will be favoured who adopt the model of universities such as Texas who reserve 10% of their places for some of the state’s poorer students. The new index will be remarkable for seeking to collect data on those already grown up as the government now believes social mobility in adults is something the state can and should monitor. Another nuance will be an attempt to make the social mobility agenda relevant to the ” squeezed middle ” by making it clear that the metrics include “aspirational measures”, measuring the life chances of those in the middle classes compared with the most advantaged, alongside a major push on the opportunities for bright but poor children. While some of the indicators suggested that only the widening or narrowing gap between the most affluent and the least affluent would be picked up, particularly ones relying on free school meals as a measure of deprivation, Clegg said others in the data set would also include grades within. He also pointed to the pupil premium, saying that in improving school discipline and so learning, it would become a greater social good for those of all social backgrounds in a class. Willetts said: “We want to improve social mobility all the way up. There are lots of people in the middle who are not doing well either. My critique of what happened under Labour would be people at the very top did well and some at the very bottom did well, but the middle did badly. This is about the aspiring member of the middle classes who wants to become a doctor or a journalist but hasn’t the connections nor been to an expensive school. Your chances to do that declined significantly under Labour.” Key Whitehall departments will be held accountable for ensuring the social mobility indicators that fall within their department, with the obvious onus on them that they help drive them down. David Willetts pointed to evidence he had showing that while poor bright kids fall behind their less intelligent more affluent fellow pupils when very young, they can make that up at university and later. “University may be the first stage of the process where educational attainment, as determined by class, can actually reverse and poorer students can excel.” The new indicators will not be legislated for, meaning they can’t bind the hand of future governments – germane given the use of the indicators will only truly be felt over years – but it would be difficult for a future government to jettison the exercise. The government is at pains to point out that the drive for greater social mobility includes an attempt to improve the life chances of not just the absolutely poorest but also those on median incomes. In Washington on Wednesday David Willetts joint-chaired a session with Biden’s director of economics, Jared Bernstein, to look at what has happened as living standards have either flattened or declined. The British politicians are also impressed by mechanisms American universities have used to increase the number of poor children going on to university with the University of Texas reserving 10% of its places for the state’s brightest but poorest. Willetts praised the scheme but said that because the government did not control the admissions process of British universities it couldn’t be replicated. Instead, he pointed to similar schemes being launched around the country where Russell group universities are identifying kids doing well at GCSEs from state schools and offering them places on condition they commit and engage to extra work in the meantime. Willetts said they were to be encouraged. He did however say that as a principle it should not be one the right is afraid of: “The [Texas] programme suggests the caricature of leftwing social engineering but I don’t regard Texas to be a hotbed of leftwing socialism.” The day before, when taking part in a Q&A in Mexico City with students, in Spanish, Nick Clegg was heckled by a student Jesus Romo over his role in increasing tuition fees in the UK. University challenge Nick Clegg hoped for a break 6,000 miles away from Westminster, where his name is synonymous with increasing tuition fees, but even in a country with no fees there was no respite. No sooner had he embarked on a question and answer session with students in Mexico City than he was challenged over the government’s plan to treble tuition fees to £9,000 a year. Jesus Romo, 18, told Clegg he wanted to study in Britain next year but now had misgivings. “Given that your government seems to be saying that you cannot afford to educate your own population, do you really think it is going to be appropriate for us Mexicans to be taking up places in your universities?” he asked . Clegg told Romo his question was “not a particularly objective” one. The student told reporters that the government would not have got away with such a policy in Mexico. He said: “It is insane to think people are going to be able to pay back those sums. If he really wants more people from poorer backgrounds to go to university then those students should not have to worry about paying out huge sums.Otherwise they will not come.” After talks with Clegg the Mexican president, Felipe Calderón, suggested that British students unable to afford UK universities should come to Mexico. “We hope young British men and women will come here to take advantage of our universities,” he said. Nick Clegg David Willetts Education policy Social mobility Equality United States Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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NPR's Wade Goodwyn noticeably minimized the presence of anti-illegal immigration conservatives from Texas on Tuesday's All Things Considered. Goodwyn tilted towards so-called ” welcoming ” and ” tolerant ” Republicans in the state by a three to one margin, and gushed over the ” thousands of illegal immigrants building neighborhoods ” during the ” Hispanic-friendly ” term of then-Governor George W. Bush. Host Michelle Norris set the biased tone in her introduction for the correspondent's report: “In Texas, the Republican Party is changing tack on illegal immigration. The relatively welcoming, tolerant attitude embraced by George W. Bush when he was governor is waning. It's been overtaken by a flood of Arizona-style get-tough measures . Nearly 100 immigration bills have been written or filed in the current legislative session.” Goodwyn trumpeted how ” Texas is now more than ever in the nation's conservative vanguard, and among its most conservative leaders is House Representative Leo Berman from northeast Texas, around Tyler.” He continued by acting as if distance from the border mattered in the illegal immigration debate: “Though Berman's district is about as far from the Mexican border as you can get and still be in Texas, he's leading the charge on immigration.” After playing two sound bites from Rep. Berman and noting some of the other anti-illegal immigration proposals in the Texas state legislature, the NPR reporter gave his positive spin about Bush's years as governor: GOODWYN: This is a significant change in strategy for the Texas GOP. In the mid-'90s, Texas Republicans watched as their party in California went on an anti-illegal immigration crusade and lost control of the state. But in Texas, the economy was booming ; the suburbs of Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio were exploding; and thousands of illegal immigrants sat astride 2-by-4s, nail guns in hand, building those neighborhoods . (audio clip of radio ad in Spanish) So, Governor Bush and his man Karl Rove crafted a different strategy from their California colleagues: Hispanic-friendly . UNIDENTIFIED MAN 1 (from political ad for then-Governor George W. Bush): Used to be, I just pulled the lever Democrats. These days, I look for the person with a good record who believes what I believe: hard work, family, responsibility: George Bush. GEORGE W. BUSH: I appreciate that and I agree. That's why I'm working hard to make sure all our children can succeed, and I need your vote to continue. GOODWYN: The result? In 1998, George W. Bush crushed his Democratic opponent, getting nearly half the Hispanic vote, a triumph that placed him on the path to the presidency one year later. The young governors of Texas and Florida learned their early political style at their father's knee. Not only was he a former president of the United States, he was a Texas oilman, and for generations, those independent oil producers, along with farmers and Texas ranchers, have employed i nexpensive, hard-working Mexican laborers . Goodwyn followed this turn to the past with three sound bites from one of the current advocates for illegal immigration in Texas, playing up his Republican credentials, all the while hinting that much of the state GOP has become extreme: GOODWYN: … In the halls of the Texas Capitol in 2011, Bush's approach is considered insufficiently conservative by most Republicans . The one powerful interest group that still thinks Bush had it right is the Texas Association of Business. BILL HAMMOND, TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS: In Texas, if suddenly, all of the undocumented workers were simply to go back to their home of origin, it would be disastrous for the Texas economy. GOODWYN: Bill Hammond is the president of the Texas Association of Business. It is no exaggeration to say his membership supplies the Texas Republican Party a large measure of its fiscal lifeblood . He has lots of friends here. On behalf of his clients, the thousands of big and small-business owners in Texas, Hammond is roaming the Capitol, trying to impart a bit of reality about the Lone Star State's economy . HAMMOND: The impact on this Texas state economy of immigrant labor is about $17 billion a year. That's an enormous segment of our economy, and we simply would not be able to function without these people. GOODWYN: Until this year, Hammond and his Republican allies in the Texas legislature have been able to kill most immigration bills in committee. Hammond would like to expand the immigration pipeline, to allow more workers to legally enter the state. That proposal currently has zero chance. HAMMOND: Today, 56 percent of Texans under the age of 25 are minorities. The growth in the population has been largely Hispanic over the last 10 years. I believe the Republican Party is throwing away their future. As if these three clips weren't enough, the correspondent turned to one of Rep. Berman's pro-illegal immigration colleagues in the Texas House, a Latino Republican whose district borders Mexico: TEXAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE AARON PENA: The tone of the debate is basically saying, we don't want you. This is a war over our culture. These people bring diseases into our country. GOODWYN: House Representative Aaron Pena is a Republican who represents Hidalgo, on the border. There are six Hispanic Republicans in the Texas House, and Pena says they've been trying to convince some of their colleagues to tone down the anti-Hispanic rhetori c. PENA: Many times, you won't see our handiwork out in public. It's done behind the scenes. GOODWYN: Pena says there are plenty of Texas Republicans who quietly share his concerns about the tone of the debate and its long-term effect on Hispanic voters. At the end of his report, Goodwyn played one more sound bite from Rep. Berman, and all but suggested that the issue of illegal immigration was just a side issue: BERMAN: Most Hispanics right now do vote Democrat. There's no question about it. So, what vote are we going after? We're going after a vote that doesn't vote Republican anyway. GOODWYN: It's too early to tell how many of the 100 bills will become law. If the Texas House is hot for immigration bills, the Texas Senate seems less so. It's distracted by a $27 billion budget deficit that's threatening to gut the state . On March 18, NPR's Mara Liasson completely omitted conservatives who are opposed to “comprehensive” immigration reform” during her report on Utah's “milder” immigration measures. While one might credit Goodwyn for at least finding one anti-illegal immigration conservative for his report, both his and Liasson's report perpetuate their taxpayer-funded network's reputation for liberal bias. — Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here .
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Jennifer Garner, 38, has been cast as the elderly Agatha Christie sleuth for a new Disney series. But Miss Marple is not the only TV character who has got younger . . . Personally, I have no problem with Jennifer Garner, the voluptuous 38-year-old American actress who portrayed a glamorous, basque-clad ninja assassin in the 2005 film Elektra, playing Agatha Christie’s dowdy, aged sleuth Jane Marple . But a few traditionalists have made predictable points about her not being quite right for the part, and they are also exercised by the havoc Twin Peaks writer Mark Frost may wreak on Miss Marple’s sleepy home village of St Mary Mead when he transplants it to small-town America. Christie does appear to have imagined her creation as elderly, describing her as “rather like some of my grandmother’s cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl”. Margaret Rutherford was 70 when she defined the role on screen in the 1960s; Joan Hickson, generally reckoned to be the definitive Miss Marple, was in her mid-80s when she made the last of her TV adaptations. But it’s that word “definitive” that may explain why Disney, which has bought the rights to Christie’s novels, feels it has to re-imagine the character. No one can out-Marple Hickson. If that’s your idea of Miss Marple – birdlike, tweedy, superficially faltering but in reality razor-sharp – buy the set on DVD. Screen incarnations of well-known figures, real and imagined, generally seem to be getting younger. Think of Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s recent TV portrayal of Henry VIII not as a fat bloke with a taste for capons, but as a sexy young man who would be perfectly at home in a boy band. Or the way the ageing, beak-nosed, pipe-smoking Sherlock Holmes of Basil Rathbone has given way to the whizzy Benedict Cumberbatch. And of course the evolution of Doctor Who from professorial ancient to floppy-haired art student. Some will suggest this recasting is simply a matter of our cult of youth. But ignore those siren voices, often older actors moaning about their lack of job opportunities. A time lord, by definition, can be any age; Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes started solving crimes straight after university; Henry VIII was young and virile once (albeit briefly); and even Miss Marple aged in the 40 years during which the books appeared, though there is admittedly little evidence that she ever spent time in Washington State. I like to believe the re-moulders of these much-loved characters are motivated by art, not money, by a ceaseless quest to give new meanings to our collective mythos . And I do think Jennifer Garner could look very good in a felt hat. Television Doctor Who Stephen Moss guardian.co.uk
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As justice secretary Ken Clarke prepares to announce winning bids to run jails, prison officers consider industrial action Up to 3,000 troops have been put on standby to run any prison hit by industrial action as a result of an imminent decision on whether to privatise some of Britain’s biggest jails . The justice secretary, Ken Clarke, is pressing Downing Street for approval to announce the winning bidders to run HMP Birmingham, HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale, and a new “super-sized jail” on a site next to HMP Featherstone in Wolverhampton. The announcement is due before the end of the week. The Prison Officers Association, which has a two-year-old mandate to take industrial action, up to and including strike action, in the event of any prison being privatised, is urging prison staff to hold gate meetings at the start of their shift the day after any such announcement, to discuss a strict work to rule. Feelings are particularly strong at the 1,450-capacity Birmingham prison, which Jack Straw ordered to be market-tested when he was justice secretary after it was branded a “failing jail”. Staff say they feel they worked hard to bring it up to a higher standard and don’t want to see a private company profit from their hard work. Colin Moses, POA chairman, said more than 500 prison officers went on the weekend’s TUC anti-cuts march in London: “That is a massive contingent for us. It was the first time that we have marched alongside other trade unions.” Ministers got the agreement of the Ministry of Defence to train 2,000 to 3,000 regular soldiers in formal jailcraft earlier this year after studying the first national strike by the POA in 2007 when 90% of prison officers walked out for 12 hours. A reserve power to ban prison strikes was reintroduced the next year. The army used to train its soldiers in staffing a jail as a matter of routine during the 1980s and 1990s but withdrew from the agreement 10 years ago in the face of the pressures of Iraq and other campaigns. The prisons minister, Crispin Blunt, a former army captain, got MoD approval a few months ago for up to 3,000 servicemen and women to be trained in prison craft such as how to lock down a wing, moving inmates around the prison safely, and understanding fire risks. The numbers of soldiers who have been trained means that they could not provide cover for walkouts at more than a handful of prisons. It is understood those involved are drawn mainly from the army’s only prison, the military corrective training centre at Colchester, and elements of the RAF Regiment, which guards air force bases. Although the prison service has also been talking to the police about contingency plans it is reluctant to get involved. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our aim is to avoid any form of industrial action and we will continue to talk to the unions to do everything possible to achieve this. However, given the risks and complexities involved in running prisons it is sensible and appropriate to review our contingency plans for dealing with widespread industrial action.” She added that they were to ensure their contingency plans were “as strong as possible”. Bids from the public and private sectors were invited for the three prisons. It is believed that Serco and G4S, the largest UK private security companies, are involved in the bids. Buckley Hall was one of the first jails to be privatised in 1994 but was taken back into the public sector in 2000. Featherstone 2 was initially earmarked as a Titan prison holding 2,500 inmates but has been scaled back to a “super-sized” 1,600 capacity. Prisons and probation Military Kenneth Clarke Jack Straw Alan Travis Eric Allison guardian.co.uk
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Observers predict further trouble after Friday prayers as Assad’s TV broadcast, which detailed no reforms, angers the nation Syrians reacted with anger and disappointment after their president, Bashar al-Assad, failed to deliver any decisive reforms in his first public appearance since the street uprising that has threatened his regime. In homes and cafes around Damascus Assad was castigated for a speech which seemed tailored to send a message of strength to protesters demanding an overhaul of the Baathist old guard which has ruled Syria for 40 years. However, demonstrators had demanded much more and are unlikely to be appeased by Assad’s main message that foreign conspirators were largely responsible for the unprecedented scenes across the country during the past fortnight. “This is what happened in Egypt and Tunisia on repeat,” said one young pro-change Syrian. “Excuses and arrogance.” Assad has the reputation of being a crowd-pleaser and many had anticipated a surprise announcement. His key adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, had foreshadowed decisive reforms, including lifting an emergency law that bans public dissent. However, Assad’s speech offered no substantive concessions. He said satellite television and propaganda had incited demonstrators, although he also said that “not all demonstrators were conspirators”. He added that the chaos in Syria had an Israeli agenda, but did not elaborate. “This is the end of Syria,” said one young engineer from the capital, Damascus. “There was no apology and no promise of reform. This only makes us angrier. He could have at least expressed sorrow for those who have died.” Residents of the southern city of Deraa, where at least 55 people have been killed during clashes with security forces, told the Guardian that the speech had been met with significant anger. Assad expressed grief for the deaths of “fathers and brothers” in Deraa and acknowledged that security forces had “made mistakes” during the clashes. However, he also said residents had a responsibility to stop the protests themselves. “The speech was nonsense and has given security forces the green light to continue its oppression of our people,” said a man who declined to be named, speaking by telephone from Deraa . Even Assad’s supporters seemed at a loss after the address, which was regularly interrupted by choreographed bursts of poetry from the floor. “Many Baathists were congratulating me today on the removal of emergency law,” said one Christian businessman. “But now they are empty-handed as they face the Syrian people.” For a core of supporters, however, the speech may have made little difference. Some said he was received as honest for admitting to the need to fight corruption, and interpreted the speech as reiterating that reforms were needed. Before the address one Syrian diplomat had said Assad was intent on striking a dignified tone. “The west needs to know that we are not their valet, their entry point to the region,” the diplomat said. “And he will not be seen as capitulating to the protesters.” Analysts in Damascus said Assad had been strengthened by external support in recent days. In giving little by way of concession, he managed to adopt a more consistent narrative absolving the regime of blame. “Reform was placed within the context of ongoing plans, meaning he can downplay the idea that he is reacting to discontent while at the same time saying it doesn’t exist,” said one. Syria is of key strategic significance in the Middle East and a full-blown revolution would have widespread effects. Assad is aligned to an anti-western orbit, headed by Iran. However, he has attempted to broker improved relations with the United States over the past year and also to reach out to Europe. Assad’s regime is led by members of the minority Alawite sect, loosely aligned with Shia Islam. He has been a strong backer of Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah and has so far resisted US attempts to prise him free from them. The US did not immediately react to the speech. However, across the Syrian border in Lebanon there was celebratory gunfire in the Shia heartland areas of the Bekaa Valley and the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, which is a Hezbollah heartland. Some observers in Damascus said the speech would add weight to calls for further protests across the country on Friday. The scenes of recent clashes were quiet amid a large security presence, which is expected to be reinforced on Friday — a day of prayers that has seen a rise in violence for the past two weeks. Katherine Marsh is a pseudonym for a journalist living in Damascus Syria Middle East Bashar Al-Assad Protest Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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Embattled Italian PM also offers tax breaks to island’s residents as critics accuse him of using diversionary tactics Facing fierce criticism over his handling of a wave of north Africans landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa, Silvio Berlusconi has put on a vintage display of showmanship, claiming he would empty the island of immigrants within 60 hours, nominate locals for a Nobel peace prize and buy a holiday home there. So far this year 18,000 north African migrants have sailed to the island, which has only 5,000 native inhabitants. During a lightning visit to Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, Berlusconi told cheering locals that six chartered ferries were arriving to pick up the remaining 6,000 migrants, mainly young Tunisian men, who have made the sea crossing since the collapse of the Tunisian government in January and the suspension of coastal patrols. The migrants will join other north Africans who have already been transferred to centres and camps on the mainland after paying out thousands of euros to make the often perilous crossing. “In 48 to 60 hours, Lampedusa will be inhabited only by Lampedusans,” said Berlusconi. Locals have protested against the nightly arrivals by using fishing boats to block the harbour entrance as the island’s immigrant centre was overwhelmed, food supplies ran short and migrants bivouacked on a rubbish-strewn hill overlooking the port. To frequent applause, Berlusconi told residents he would give them tax breaks and propose they receive the Nobel peace prize for their patience, later telling a press conference he would push for the construction of a casino and a golf course. “We are buying up the fishing boats so that they cannot be used for the crossings,” he said. “That way when I am out of politics I will use them to set up a fresh fish business.” The prime minister also said he would use his private TV channels to promote the relaunch of tourism in Lampedusa. While surfing the internet before his visit, he added, he had purchased a beach house on Lampedusa, which he visited before leaving the island. A local couple living next door to the €2m house said they had been woken on Tuesday night by noises from the house. “I thought it was the Tunisians,” said Rosina Licciardi, “but it was the gardener and his wife cleaning things up.” Berlusconi said he would also ask the mayor to plant a few more trees on the island and paint the houses brighter colours. Opposition members alleged Berlusconi’s appearance was a diversionary tactic as his supporters in parliament worked on a measure trimming the statute of limitations for first-time offenders, a measure they claimed is designed to cancel the prime minister’s ongoing trial for bribing British lawyer David Mills. “Over there he bought a house, while here he bought himself safe conduct,” said Pier Luigi Bersani, the head of the opposition Democratic Party. Berlusconi is now seeking to convince Italy’s regional governors to put up the migrants brought ashore. Over 3,000 who have already escaped from makeshift camps have travelled to Ventimiglia seeking to cross into France, where many have relatives. Interior minister Roberto Maroni has told parliament that a deal was underway with the Tunisian government to take the migrants back. “If they are economic migrants, and most of them are, then Italy can repatriate,” said Laura Boldrini, a UN spokeswoman, “Many come from villages on the coast and worked in the tourism industry but now fear job cuts.” Italy will need to identify each migrant and serve an expulsion order, which can be appealed against, added Boldrini. Maroni has warned that the Tunisians may be just a warm up for 50,000 migrants fleeing the war in Libya. Boldrini said 1,500 people had crossed to Italy so far from Libya, mainly Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis. Silvio Berlusconi Italy David Mills Europe Tom Kington guardian.co.uk
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Girl shot in chest is believed to be London’s youngest gun crime victim A five-year-old girl is in a critical condition after she and another passerby were shot during an apparent gang-related attack in a shop in south London. The girl, believed to be London’s youngest gun crime victim, was injured in the chest, and a 35-year-old man was shot in the face. The incident took place at around 9pm on Tuesday at the Stockwell Food and Wine shop in Stockwell Road, Brixton. Police have confirmed that the two victims were not the intended targets of the shooting, which is believed to be connected to local gangs. Just before the shots were fired, witnesses saw two black youths coming from nearby Broomgrove Road, being chased by three other black youths on bicycles. It is understood that the three youths on bikes approached the shop, but did not enter. DCI Tony Boughton from the Met’s Trident taskforce said: “The assumption is at the moment is that the firearm is fired through the open door because there is no damage on the outside.” The shop worker and child were hit as two black youths hid in the store from the other three youths who had been chasing them. As the pair hid inside, the gunman stopped at the door and opened fire indiscriminately. The three attackers, who are thought to be aged between 14 and 17, fled as their intended targets chased them on foot from the Stockwell Road shop along Broomgrove Road and into Stockwell Park Estate. Mareh Silva, age 34, was leaving the Stockwell Food and Wine shop with friends at around 9pm. She said she saw three black youths aged between 14 and 17 drop their bikes outside. She explained how the boys’ faces were covered with black scarves and balaclavas and she could only see their eyes as they ran into the shop. “I looked in and saw a lot of blood on the floor but I didn’t want to look at what had happened, and I was very scared,” she said. DCI Boughton would not confirm if the groups were from rival gangs. He said: “I’m treating it as three young lads chasing two other young lads – we don’t know any affiliations and the assumption is that they are from the local area.” The 35-year-old victim was a worker in the shop, and was not related to the five-year-old, who was at the shop visiting other relatives. The names of the two victims have not been released, but it is understood that both are of Sri Lankan origin. They were taken to King’s College hospital, where they are now in a stable but serious condition. Barny Stutter, 45, co-owner of nearby Brixton Cycles, said workers in the area’s fastfood shops often had similar trouble. “We are absolutely disgusted with what’s happened,” he said. Peter Robbins, one of three Lambeth councillors who represent the area, said, “It is incredibly shocking, I think the whole community at the moment is numb and horrified. “There is a fairly well-known problem with gangs and guns in Lambeth, it is something that the council and the police are working together incredibly hard to solve. There is always more you can do and incidents like this really bring that home.” Rachel Heywood, Lambeth’s cabinet member for community safety, said she found the crime “hugely shocking”. “Tackling serious violence is a major priority for this council. We will of course do everything in our power to assist the police with their investigation. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families at what must be an extremely distressing time.” Anyone with information is asked to call the Metropolitan police on 0300 123 1212 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 Gun crime Crime London Camilla Turner guardian.co.uk
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Paul Allen uses memoir to portray Bill Gates as a bully who sought to deprive him of his share in Microsoft fortune Bill Gates betrayed his ailing business partner and tried to deprive him of his share of the Microsoft fortune, according to a scathing memoir from Paul Allen , the company’s billionaire co-founder. Allen portrays the Microsoft mogul as a sarcastic bully who tried to force his founding partner out of the firm and to cut his share in the company as he was recovering from cancer. The book, Idea Man: a Memoir by the co-founder of Microsoft, is set to go on sale on 17 April, and an extract appears in May’s Vanity Fair magazine and has been released online . Despite Gates’s moves Allen held on to his Microsoft stake – a stake that contributed to the lion’s share of what Forbes magazine’s estimates to be a $13bn (£8.1bn) fortune. The two were once inseparable and met at Lakeside high school in Seattle where Allen paints a picture of the couple as the original nerds. Allen didn’t fit in amid the golfers and tennis players “who carried their rackets wherever they went”. Then in 1968 he met Gates, another gawky kid who was also spending all his free time hunkered over the school’s first computer, a ASR-33 Teletype model . “His blond hair went all over the place. You could tell three things about Bill Gates pretty quickly. He was really smart. He was really competitive; he wanted to show you how smart he was. And he was really, really persistent.” At the age of 13 Gates was already pouring over Fortune magazine and planning on building a company. When Gates went to Harvard, Allen followed him and the two spent their spare time working on ideas for a software firm. “I’d assumed that our partnership would be a 50-50 proposition. But Bill had another idea,” Allen writes. Gates had put in more work than Allen, and eventually after some quibbling from Gates, Allen agreed to a 64-36 split. Allen writes that when the relationship soured he wondered again about that split. “I’d been taught that a deal was a deal and your word was your bond. Bill was more flexible,” he writes. Gates pushed deals “as hard and as far as he could”. Relations worsened as Microsoft took off. Gates would prowl the car park to see who came in on the weekend. He thrived on conflict and sarcasm. Allen and Gates would argue for hours at a stretch. Then Gates brought in Steve Ballmer , the firm’s current boss, to help manage the company. Gates offered Ballmer 8.75% of the firm, angering other employees and Allen, who had agreed to a far smaller percentage. In 1982 Allen contracted Hodgkin’s lymphoma. When he returned to work relations with Gates and Ballmer hit a new low. Allen claims the pair undermined him and he overheard them discussing ways of diluting his stake in the firm. “Unable to stand it any longer, I burst in on them and shouted, ‘This is unbelievable! It shows your true character, once and for all,’” he writes. Ballmer and Gates later apologised but the partnership was over. Allen resigned and Gates tried to buy him out for $5 a share, Allen refused and said he wouldn’t discuss less than $10. Gates balked at the price and Allen left with what was to become an enormous fortune. Shares are trading at more than $25 and the company is now worth more than $214bn. “While my recollection of many of these events may differ from Paul’s, I value his friendship and the important contributions he made to the world of technology and at Microsoft,” Gates said in a written statement given to the Wall Street Journal. Microsoft Bill Gates Computing United States Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Government tank and artillery fire forces opposition fighters to abandon ground won since Nato air strikes began Troops loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, have retaken Brega, forcing rebel fighters into a chaotic retreat under a barrage of tank and artillery fire to their stronghold of Benghazi. With Gaddafi’s forces advancing on the town of Ajdabiya, rebels are fleeing back to the position they held before Nato air strikes began, on Saturday. Nato planes continued to bombard the regime troops, but their outgunned opponents were forced back from positions taken earlier in the week, when they advanced to within 60 miles of Sirte, Gaddafi’s home city. Meanwhile, as debate within the anti-Gaddafi international coalition over the legality of arming the rebellion continued, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said it would be possible to supply weapons under certain circumstances. Earlier, David Cameron told the Commons no decision had been made but he “would not necessarily rule out the protection of civilians in certain circumstances”. The rebels’ rapid withdrawal came just days after they raced westwards following the destruction of government tanks and artillery in five days of aerial bombardment in Ajdabiya. Ragtag opposition fighters have repeatedly been forced to retreat after fierce bombardments by the more disciplined government troops. “Gaddafi hit us with huge rockets. He has entered Ras Lanuf,” one rebel fighter, Faraj Muftah, told Reuters after pulling out of the oil port. “We were at the western gate in Ras Lanuf and we were bombarded,” said a second fighter, Hisham. Scores of rebel four-wheel pickups raced east, away from Ras Lanuf. Later, pro-government forces moved through Ras Lanuf into Brega, sending rebels fleeing once more. Speaking to the Commons, Hague revealed that five Libyan diplomats had been expelled from the regime’s London embassy because they represented a potential security risk. Hague said that while the current arms embargo prevented weapons being provided to the whole of Libya, UN resolution 1973 allowed “for all necessary measures to protect civilians” to be taken. The British government’s view, which was not necessarily shared internationally, was that this meant rebels protecting civilians could be armed, although ministers had “not yet taken a decision”, he said. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday she believed arming rebels was legal under the UN security council resolution , which sanctioned the no-fly zone and air operations. But experts in international law have questioned this interpretation , which they say would breach the arms embargo on Libya agreed last month. There also remain questions about who is represented in the interim national council (INC) guiding the uprising. In Washington, Admiral James Stavridis, Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe, told the Senate intelligence reports had suggested “flickers” of al-Qaida or Hezbollah presence within the rebel movement. A UK diplomat, Christopher Prentice, the ambassador in Rome, met rebel leaders in their stronghold of Benghazi on Monday and Tuesday, the Foreign Office said. Cameron told the Commons during prime minister’s questions: “In terms of the situation on the ground, it is an extremely fluid situation, but there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the ceasefire is still being breached and it is absolutely right for us to keep up our pressure under UN security council resolution 1973.” Asked by the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, whether the terms of the resolution that authorised “all necessary measures” to protect Libyan civilians, overrode the arms embargo, Cameron said: “I have said before in the house that we must do everything to comply with both the security council resolutions. “The arms embargo applies to the whole of the territory of Libya, but at the same time UN security council resolution 1973 allows all necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian-populated areas. “Our view is that this would not necessarily rule out the provision of assistance to those protecting civilians in certain circumstances. We do not rule it out but we have not taken the decision to do so.” Cameron said coalition forces had “taken action yesterday against regime forces harassing civilian vessels trying to get into Misrata”, the rebel-held town in the west of Libya, under siege from Gaddafi’s troops for several days. The RAF had flown 24 sorties over Libya on Tuesday night and Wednesday. “Tornado aircraft destroyed artillery and an armoured fighting vehicle near Sirte,” he told MPs. He also revealed that in his talks with the INC’s special envoy at Tuesday’s international conference on the Libya crisis he had been “reassured” the group wanted its role to be transitional. “They are democrats. They are not tribal, and they want to see a future for the whole of Libya where the people have a choice over how they are governed.” Hague told the Commons afterwards: “To underline our grave concern at the regime’s behaviour, I can announce to the house that we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache. The government also judged that were these individuals to remain in Britain, they could pose a threat to our security.” Libya Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest David Cameron United States Nato Hillary Clinton William Hague Chris McGreal James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media The US Chamber of Commerce strikes again. Ed laid out Caterpillar’s extortion of the state of Illinois in this clip. It seems that the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., Doug Oberhelman, is bothered by the recent personal and corporate sales tax increases the Illinois legislature passed to balance their budget. Oberhelman has recently been courted by Nebraska, Texas, South Dakota and Virginia , all states with very low to no taxes. So how does the US Chamber factor in? Well, the Group President of Caterpillar, Inc. is Gerald L. Shaheen , past chair of the US Chamber of Commerce and a current director of the National Chamber Foundation. The National Chamber Foundation recently issued a “study” entitled ” Enterprising States “, citing those states with the perfect environment for job creation. Unsurprisingly, the states mentioned were states with little to no state taxes, or states which recently cut tax rates — Texas, North Dakota, Indiana, and Nebraska among them. This isn’t the first time Caterpillar has led the corporate charge against any policy which might actually benefit the middle class either. Last year they were at the front of the charge against health care reform , claiming it would cost them $100 million for retiree health care, which they took pains to write down immediately (along with AT&T and a few other Chamber bigwigs) so that they could show the hit on their balance sheets now for a charge that won’t take effect until 2014. That move was intended to anger investors and others who might otherwise have remained neutral on the Affordable Care Act. It’s also no coincidence that Mr. Oberhelman sent his letter in just enough time for it to make the news and generate some buzz ahead of Wednesday’s US Chamber-sponsored Capital Markets Summit , where I’m sure the main topic of discussion will be which states should be strafed by conservatives next as corporations strive to end the middle class entirely. Other news bites from Caterpillar in the past week or so include this gem of a press release about how they’re “in a hurry to increase production” — in Asia. No jobs for the United States, nope, no way. But in Asia, they just can’t wait to ramp up the production lines. Or this more specific one : “By 2015, we will have made $5 billion in investments to increase production capacity at existing and new Caterpillar facilities to support customers in every region of the world, including plans to nearly triple machine capacity across our operations in Asia,” said Oberhelman. “This is in addition to more than $10 billion in investments announced in 2010 for three significant acquisitions—Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., Motoren-Werke Mannheim Holding GmbH (MWM) and Bucyrus International, Inc. Together, these moves represent Caterpillar’s commitment to leadership in support of our growing base of customers and to expand our products and services,” Oberhelman added. See, here’s how they did that. They sat on their cash after getting a bunch of federal stimulus money, then went on an acquisition spree with the billions in the coffers and built some new facilities around the world. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, they’re whining about having to pay state income tax in Illinois. Aww. Poor, hungry Caterpillar. If it isn’t obvious to everyone by now that these corporations think they’re running the country, it ought to be after this. They poured money into state-level elections in 2010 and now they expect a return on their investment. Isn’t it time we started talking about de-funding THEM instead of letting them de-fund everything else?
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