Avalanche on western slope of Croix de Tsousse kills five and leaves five injured BERN, Switzerland (AP) Rescuers called off their search Sunday for the last member of a group of 11 French snowshoers and cross-country skiers swept off the slopes of a Swiss peak by an avalanche, bringing the death toll to five. Rescue guides, helicopters, sniffer dogs and police halted their two-day search for the missing woman due to safety concerns and because they were unable to safely keep probing the snow that had packed like concrete and was some 20 meters (65 feet) thick in places, according to police in the canton (state) of Valais. “For this reason and to ensure the safety of rescuers, the search was called off,” the police said in a statement. Three victims were found dead at the scene of the avalanche, while a fourth died in a hospital after the slide struck Saturday on the western slope of the 2,800-meter (9,000-foot) Croix de Tsousse peak, near the Swiss-Italian border. Five others were injured, three seriously, and remained hospitalized Sunday. One woman escaped uninjured and was able to seek help. The group nine snowshoers and two cross-country skiers were part of a mountaineering club from the Cluses region of France on a moderate day’s outing to the Pennine Alps. They did not have a guide, but did carry avalanche beacons, police said. Swiss police said the victims recovered at the scene were two women and a man aged between 57 and 65. No details have been released on the man who died in the hospital or the missing woman. The injured were four men and one woman aged between 39 and 62. Switzerland’s National Avalanche Center had warned of a “considerable” risk of snowslides in the region. In January 2010, six people died in an avalanche in another Swiss region, Diemtigtal, and a doctor who went to help was swept away in a second avalanche. Switzerland France Europe guardian.co.uk
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Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan challenges western direct action and says prolonged conflict could lead to a ‘second Iraq’ The Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signalled that Turkey is ready to act as a mediator to broker an early ceasefire in Libya, as he warned that a drawn-out conflict risked turning the country into a “second Iraq” or “another Afghanistan” with devastating repercussions both for Libya and the Nato states leading the intervention. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Erdogan said that talks were still under way with Muammar Gaddafi’s government and the Transitional National Council. He also revealed that Turkey is about to take over the running of the rebel-held Benghazi harbour and airport to facilitate humanitarian aid, in agreement with Nato. Speaking in Istanbul at the weekend, Erdogan said Gaddafi had to “provide some confidence to Nato forces right now” on the ground if there was to be progress towards the ceasefire the Libyan leader wanted and an “end to the blood being spilled in Libya”. His comments came as Nato leaders met in Brussels to finalise arrangements for the alliance – with Turkey’s participation – to take over the enforcement of the UN no-fly zone from Tuesday, as well as for the more controversial air strikes against Gaddafi’s ground forces. Meanwhile, rebel forces completed their weekend take-over of a string of government-held oil towns, including Brega, Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad, with the help of heavy coalition air strikes on pro-Gaddafi forces. By Sunday night their Their rapid advance westwards is heading for the Libyan leader’s home town and stronghold, Sirte, where two loud explosions were heard. The Turkish government, which is playing an increasingly important regional role and has the second largest armed forces within Nato, has been at the centre of the argument within the alliance over Libya, publicly clashing with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Turkey opposed any outside military involvement before it began – Erdogan described the idea of Nato intervention as a “nonsense” — but has now agreed to participate in a non-combat role in the wake of the UN security resolutions and Arab League appeal. His public challenge to US, British and French direct military intervention is likely to deepen Nato dissension and alarm western leaders who hoped Turkey had now acquiesced in the thrust of the Libya mission. “We have been opposed to any unilateral action and we could never accept appeals such as that by the French minister for a new crusade,” Erdogan told the Guardian, in a reference to comments made by France’s interior minister, Claude Guéant. His government would carry out its obligations under UN resolutions. “But for Turkey, it’s out of the question to shoot at Libyan people or drop bombs on the Libyan people,” Erdogan said in reference to the emerging “no-drive zone” policy. “Turkey’s role will be to withdraw from Libya as soon as possible” and “restore the unity and integrity of the country based on the democratic demands of the people”, he added. It was vital, Erdogan said, that “this deployment should not be carried out for Libya’s oil. Of course there will be a price for these actions and no one can guarantee that Libya won’t have to pay a price.” Repeatedly drawing parallels with Iraq and Afghanistan – which senior Turkish officials regard as a serious risk if there is a military stalemate – Erdogan said Iraq was “still paying a price” 20 years after the Gulf war of 1991. “I’m afraid we could see another Afghanistan or a second Iraq emerging. When western forces entered Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago, people were talking of it being over in days, and people said the same in Iraq. But a million have died and a civilisation has as good as collapsed. We don’t want to see a similar picture in Libya.” If the conflict was prolonged, the Turkish prime minister warned of a backlash against countries now carrying out air strikes. “It will be devastating for the entire Libyan people, and the repercussions will not be restricted to Libya, but will have a direct impact on those countries that have intervened.” Erdogan added: “There is a civil war in Libya and we have to bring that to an end.” He had spoken to Gaddafi repeatedly before the air strikes and to the Libyan prime minister since, while Turkey’s foreign minister was in close touch with the Benghazi-based opposition. It was crucial that contacts were maintained with both sides, he said. “Gaddafi wants a ceasefire, this came up when I was talking to the prime minister, but it’s important for those circumstances to mature. It wouldn’t be consistent to keep shooting while demanding a ceasefire.” If the two parties to the conflict requested Turkey to play the role of mediator, the Turkish prime minister said “we will take steps to do that” within the framework of Nato, the Arab League and African Union. “We can never ignore the democratic rights and liberties called for by the people of Libya, and change and transformation can never be delayed or postponed,” Erdogan said, adding that a leader such as Gaddafi, with no formal position, should be able to “lay the foundation for such a transformation”. Erdogan’s AKP party and its programme of Islamic democratisation and greater national independence is widely admired in the Arab world, and Erdogan widened his warning to autocratic governments facing popular uprisings throughout the region: “Leaders who are resistant to change and their people’s demands may find that brings an end to their being a leader.” Erdogan was also fiercely critical of European governments he said had misunderstood Turkey’s embrace of “Islam and democracy simultaneously”. In its negotiations to join the EU, Turkey had faced “obstacles that no country had ever witnessed before,” adding: “Never mind, we will do what we will do.” He was at pains to rebut criticism in the western media over the jailing of journalists caught up in the long-running investigation into an attempted military coup and claims that the government has used the case to intimidate sections of the press. “These criticisms upset us very much,” he said, adding that a total of 27 journalists had been convicted and jailed for crimes, including membership of terrorist organisations, coup plotting and sexual harassment. “Would that be accepted as normal in your country?” None of these cases had been brought to court at the initiative of the government which, he said, had taken action to increase the independence of judges and prosecutors, and the efficiency and speed of the judicial process. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Turkey Europe Nato Seumas Milne guardian.co.uk
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• Plans based on average of £7,500, not top-rate fees • Cost to government may hit education spending The government could be forced to spend almost £1bn more than expected over the next four years to cover the cost of tuition fees, as a growing number of universities set out plans to charge the maximum of £9,000 a year. From autumn next year, universities will be allowed to almost treble the amount they now charge, as part of a reform of the funding of higher education. The initial charge is borne by the government, which pays the fee for each student in the form of a loan before recovering its money once the student has graduated and finds a job that pays more than £21,000. Critics fear that the government will claw back the initial outlay from other higher education spending, potentially leading to fewer university places or cuts in research budgets. David Willetts, the universities minister, had anticipated that a market would develop, with institutions charging a wide range of fees, but a picture is emerging of the majority of institutions charging the top rate. Of the 16 universities that have so far stated how much they intend to charge, 13 want the maximum – University College London, Birmingham and Lancaster being the latest to do so. Willetts predicted that the average across the whole of higher education would be £7,500. It now looks much higher, but the Treasury has used the £7,500 average to determine how much universities should receive for research, teaching and building grants, among other things. Figures from the House of Commons library show that if the average is £8,600, the government will have to spend £960m more in the next four years. If it is only slightly higher, at £7,900, it is £340m extra. But if the average is £8,900, the government will have to pay out an extra £1.23bn. The funds could be deducted from universities’ budgets and could mean fewer places on degree courses or a cut to the research or teaching grant. A total of £940m has already been cut from English universities’ budgets for teaching, research and site renovation for the next academic year, a 12.6% reduction. However, last week’s budget awarded an extra £100m to research. Gareth Thomas, the shadow universities minister, said either universities would have their funds cut or the government would have to reconsider altogether. He said: “The government repeatedly promised that fees over £6,000 would be the exception, but it is increasingly clear that they are powerless to stop most universities charging closer to £9,000. This will push up average fees beyond the £7,500 estimate on which the government’s spending plans are based, requiring deeper cuts elsewhere in the higher education budget.” Other universities seeking the £9,000 maximum are Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, Exeter, Essex, Aston, Manchester, Warwick and Durham. St Mary’s University College, Twickenham has said it plans to charge £8,000. Universities that charge more than £6,000 must set out a plan, or access agreement, to widen their pool of students beyond white, middle-class teenagers, and this must be approved as adequate by the government’s access watchdog, the Office for Fair Access. Institutions have until 19 April to submit their access agreements to Offa, which will give its verdicts in July. Tuition fees Higher education Students Liberal-Conservative coalition Education policy Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
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Union leaders condemn actions of several hundred not associated with main rally who caused damage and clashed with police in parts of central London More than 200 protesters are in police custody and a clean-up operation is under way after anti-cuts activists smashed shop windows in London’s West End and clashed with riot police following Saturday’s peaceful TUC Hyde Park rally. Union leaders condemned the actions of several hundred people not associated with the main rally who wreaked havoc along Oxford Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly, targeting shops and banks, cracking windows, throwing paint and hurling missiles including, said police, lightbulbs filled with ammonia. At least 84 people were injured, including 31 officers, 12 of whom required hospital treatment for “relatively minor injuries”. The day ended with late-night confrontations between police and around 300 demonstrators, who converged on Trafalgar Square where they were contained until the early hours. The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said he “bitterly regretted” the violence that occurred away from the main march and rally, which had been attended by “between 250,000 and 500,000″ and was hailed a “fantastic success”. Organisers hoped the actions of a small number of activists would not detract from the massive anti-cuts protest and the powerful message “middle Britain” had sent to the government. Senior Labour figures have mounted a co-ordinated defence of the demonstration, condemning the violence but demanding that the government answer the charge made by thousands of peaceful marchers. Shadow ministers were also forced to defend Miliband’s decision to attend the event, after Tory accusations that he had aligned himself with unions against all deficit reduction. Michael Fallon, the deputy chairman of the Conservative party, accused Labour of “breathtaking levels of deceit over the economy” and Miliband personally of “insulting” the suffragettes and anti-Apartheid movement by comparing their struggle to opposition to government cuts in his address to the rally. Vince Cable, the business secretary, insisted that the government was listening to citizens who were lawfully demonstrating against its programme of cuts, but said it would not alter its course. “Certainly we’re listening, and I talk regularly to the trade union movement. I think [it's] important we have a dialogue with them, but we’re not going to change the basic economic strategy,” he said. Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, condemned a “tiny minority of violent, parasitic, unrepresentative hooligans who are trying to destroy” the right to peaceful protest. “He [Miliband] said he acknowledged there was a need for tough choices and some cuts, and it seems that on the one hand you’ve got the government who are saying that all of these cuts are necessary and on the other you have a minority of demonstrators who say none of the cuts are necessary,” he told the BBC’s Politics Show. Miliband told the crowds on Saturday: “We come in the traditions that have marched in peaceful but powerful protest for justice, fairness and political change. “The suffragettes who fought for votes for women and won. The civil rights movement in America that fought against racism and won. The anti-Apartheid movement that fought the horror of that system and won.” Murphy said his comments reflected the scale of public feeling against the cuts, but Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, said: “For Ed Miliband to compare himself to the anti-Apartheid campaigners fighting for equal rights for blacks, or to the suffragettes’ struggle for votes for women, just beggars belief. His self-important comments are an insult to those who risked and gave their lives in the fight for equality.” Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said “violent thugs and criminals” who took part in the clashes should face the full force of the law. “I do hope that the government listens to that strength of feeling, there were people from all walks of life there… and there was this very strong message that people do think that the government has got this wrong.” The Metropolitan police confirmed 201 people had been arrested and were being held in 21 police stations across the capital. Detectives have begun examining CCTV footage from the stores and buildings in the streets affected. Commander Bob Broadhurst, in charge of the Met operation, claimed officers had had to deal with “mindless yobs” around Trafalgar Square. “We’ve had a number of – I hestitate to call them protesters – a bunch of people that ended up in Trafalgar Square.” A group of between 100 and 150 people ran off, ripping open litter bins and throwing bricks and flares, he said. “This is just mindless vandalism, hooliganism, it’s nothing to do with protest”, said Broadhurst, adding the force would never have enough officers to protect every building in central London. There was criticism of the police operation, with accusations that officers should have been better prepared. Former Met deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick said there were not enough officers “in the right place at the right time”. He added: “There was a lot more I think they could have done”. But London’s deputy mayor, Kit Malthouse, said criticisms of alleged intelligence failings by the Met were “unfair” and that officers had carried out “a huge amount of work” in preparation for the march. Malthouse, who chairs the Metropolitan police authority, condemned perpetrators of the violence as “fascist agitators” and a “nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs”. In Trafalgar Square, where demonstrators had scrawled graffiti on Nelson’s Column and on one of its four bronze lions, street cleaners were busy jet-hosing the paving stones as part of a clean-up operation likely to cost tens of thousands of pounds. Red paint still remained on the 2012 Olympic clock, and a placard reading “Kill the Cuts” hung from the bronze statue of Saint Vincent. Cleaning teams were also in force outside Topshop’s flagship store in Oxford Circus, targeted by protesters who threw paint, fireworks and smoke grenades in protest over allegations of tax avoidance by big businesses. The store was open for business by 11am on Sunday. At luxury grocery store Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, which the campaign group UK Uncut claimed was occupied by around 200 of its supporters, paint was being scrubbed from brickwork. Meanwhile, workmen boarded up nine windows which had been smashed on the front facade of the Ritz hotel nearby. Guests had been moved to a private dining area at the rear of the hotel during the disturbances. Emergency glaziers were replacing smashed windows with boards at Santander and Lloyds TSB branches in Piccadilly. Unions are planning fresh campaigns in the coming days against cuts in the NHS, as well as considering co-ordinated industrial action. Public sector cuts Liberal-Conservative coalition TUC Trade unions Economic policy Labour Ed Miliband Yvette Cooper London Police Caroline Davies Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk
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Adam Posen calls for another round of quantitative easing and insists the Bank should not raise interest rates The Bank of England’s leading dove has predicted that inflation will tumble to 1.5% by the middle of next year as George Osborne’s austerity drive and the underlying weakness of the economy stifle consumer spending. In an interview with the Guardian, Adam Posen admitted he had sleepless nights over his call for more money to be pumped into the economy and said he would not seek re-election to Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee if his view turned out to be wrong. Posen said: “If I have made the wrong call, not only will I switch my vote, I would not pursue a second term. They should have somebody who gets it right and not me. I am accountable for my performance. I’m holding my nerve because it is the right thing to do.” The American academic said he would be profoundly affected if it was proved that he had erred in voting repeatedly for bank rate to be pegged at 0.5% and for more money to be pumped into the economy through quantitative easing. “It would not just be terrible that I had messed up for other people but it is also my fundamental world view that I have been testing. “I would take it deeply and personally, which is why I have laid awake at night thinking about it.” But Posen said recent trends in the economy had left him convinced that inflation would fall back below the government’s 2% target in the second half of next year, as the temporary factors pushing up prices washed out of the system and the economy slowed down. This analysis, he said, chimed with the views expressed in recent speeches by the Bank’s governor, Mervyn King, and Charlie Bean, one of the two deputy governors. Three members of the MPC – Andrew Sentance, Martin Weale and Spencer Dale – voted for higher interest rates this month, but Posen challenged their view on four separate counts. He said so-called “core inflation”, which strips out the effects of fuel, food costs and taxes such as VAT, did not suggest that the economy was overheating; the recent strength in manufacturing only affected 13% of the UK’s total output and was not replicated in other parts of the economy; it was too simplistic to say that the economy was overheating if inflation was high; and it would only be costly to take a wait-and-see approach to raising interest rates if there was a risk of an inflationary spiral. “We could get inflation back to target really fast if we put the economy through the wringer,” he said. Posen added that the real debate inside the MPC was whether the increase in inflation to 4.4% would lead to consumers and businesses believing that there had been a permanent upward shift, and thus have knock-on effects on wages and prices. “I don’t see that as a material risk given all else that is going on, which is why I have been leaning the way I have.” He echoed King in calling a small increase in bank rate futile, as any rise would have to be reversed, damaging the Bank’s credibility. Posen said that whatever the merits of the government’s austerity plans, higher taxes and reductions in public spending would have a “meaningful” dampening effect on consumer spending and overall demand in the economy. “Household consumption is going to be pretty darn weak. It may even contract a little”. Consumers, he said, were unlikely to run down their savings in an attempt to maintain spending patterns, while the weakness of trade unions meant it would be hard for wage bargainers to push up pay settlements in response to higher inflation. “Wages will be the dog that doesn’t bark,” he said. Posen said he disliked the idea that interest rates had to be brought back to a more normal level after being cut to 0.5% in early 2009, the lowest level since the Bank was founded in 1694. “If I am a firefighter fighting a fire I don’t say I have pumped more water than I have ever pumped in my life so I must have pumped too much. You stop pumping when the fire is out.” Posen was also sceptical about some economists’ suggestion that the government’s deficit reduction plan could help growth by boosting confidence in financial markets, leading to a fall in long-term interest rates and higher investment. Inflation Bank of England Consumer spending Interest rates Economics Economic policy George Osborne Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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Business secretary in agreement with the chancellor over tax rate, but says the wealthy have to ‘pay their share’ The business secretary, Vince Cable, has confirmed the 50p rate on tax will be abolished – and revealed the government would consider bringing in a ‘mansions tax’ to ensure the wealthiest pay their way. The chancellor, George Osborne, ordered a review of tax on top earners in the budget last week, restating that the 50p rate on those who earn above £150,000 was only temporary, and triggering speculation that the rate could be wound down as soon as 2013. Cable in two interviews raised the issue of the rate and alternatives to it. The move would leave the government exposed to accusations that it is softening taxes for the rich, amid intense public anxiety about the fairness of the cuts. The business secretary’s intervention comes just a day after up to 500,000 people took to the streets to demonstrate against the government’s economic plans. Labour pointed out that the coalition would be reducing the tax for the richest while forcing the poorest to lose the largest proportion of their pay packets through the VAT hike. Cable, who argued in opposition for a 0.5% levy on properties worth more than £1m, told the BBC’s Politics Show: “I and George Osborne agree that we have to move away from extremely high marginal rates of tax on income, including that [the 50p rate of tax].” He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It moved up to 50p in an emergency because we had to have a sense of solidarity that everybody was bearing some of the pain, and the chancellor said in the budget that we’re going to have to move away from that. I agree with him. The Liberal Democrats agree with him. “But it needs to be a change which is fair overall and does take account of the fact that the wealthy have got to pay their share. The emphasis may well have to shift from high marginal rates of tax on income which are undesirable, to taxation of wealth, including property, and the chancellor said that, as much as that, in his budget.” Asked if he was advocating a mansion tax, he said: “Well, there is a very strong argument … that you need to have a proper base for taxing property and I’m sure that’s one of the things we’re going to have to look at as we change away from these very high marginal rates.” Labour originally introduced the tax rate last year, and the Tories promised to keep it temporarily. Osborne said at the budget: “I am clear that the 50p tax rate would do lasting damage to our economy if it were to become permanent. That is why I regard it as a temporary measure.” The Treasury expressed concern about how much revenue the higher rate was bringing in. The Office for Budget Responsibility later revealed that it expected £2bn of the revenue to go uncollected amid evidence that companies had paid large bonuses prior to its introduction to avoid paying part of the costs. A Treasury spokesman said last week’s budget set out all existing tax plans. Treasury sources also distanced it from Cable’s proposals, saying there was “no detailed planning” on taxes for top earners currently being developed by officials. Cable has raised the possibility of a new mansion tax amid increasing nervousness in the coalition over the AV referendum in May. The issue will prove the biggest test for the coalition, as a totemic policy for the Lib Dems and a test of David Cameron’s leadership to his backbenchers, all of whom oppose AV. If the Lib Dems lose, the leadership will need to prove to the rank and file that it is making serious gains elsewhere. A mansions tax would appeal to the disillusioned left of the party. Asked about the effect the referendum could have on the coalition, Cable said he was “pretty sure” the government would survive it, even if the Lib Dems fail to secure AV: “I am pretty sure it would [survive]. But there is a lot at stake and that is why we are fighting hard for it.” He added: “We are a grown-up party, we have not thrown our toys out of the pram because things happen we disagree with. I think you will find the approach to this whole thing is a very mature one.” The competing campaigns for the referendum step up a gear on Monday when the No to AV group launch a national advertising campaign appealing to people to keep the one person one vote system. Matthew Elliott, director of the No campaign, said: “One person, one vote is the cornerstone of our democracy. It represents our most profound political belief. It is a statement that when it comes to electing those who lead us, we each have an equal say and an equal voice. That is why we are clear in our aim: Keep One Person, One Vote and stop supporters of extremist, fringe parties getting more than one vote.” The Yes to Fairer Votes campaign Monday publishes the names of all its funders, demanding that the No campaign does the same. It has received £951,000 from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, £909,517 from the Electoral Reform Society and £114,000 from the Electoral Commission. Vince Cable George Osborne Tax and spending Economic policy Liberal Democrats AV Electoral reform Tax Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Reports in Spanish media say man’s throat was slashed with broken bottle after argument broke out on cricket tour A British tourist has been killed in the Spanish island resort of Magaluf in what was reported to be a bar brawl. Gary Vigors reportedly got into an argument with a fellow Briton with whom he was on a cricket tour. His throat was slashed with a broken bottle and he bled to death following the fracas, according to reports in the Spanish press. The Spanish authorities are investigating the incident. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the death of a British national in Magaluf, in Spain. Consular staff are in contact with the next of kin and providing consular assistance.” Spain Europe Crime guardian.co.uk
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Revolutionary forces move more west along Libya’s coastal road, seizing several towns without resistance, as they get closer to Sirte Libyan rebels are advancing on Muammar Gaddafi’s home town, Sirte, after retaking all the ground lost in earlier fighting as government forces broke and fled under western air strikes. Revolutionary forces rapidly moved more than 150 miles west along Libya’s coastal road, seizing several towns without resistance, as the first witness accounts emerged of the devastating effect on Gaddafi’s army and militia of the aerial bombardment that broke their resistance at Ajdabiya on Saturday. A doctor treating wounded government soldiers described hundreds of deaths, terrible injuries and collapsing morale. Today, rebels retook the important oil towns of Brega, Ras Lanuf and Ben Jawad, and continued on the open desert road toward Sirte, about 95 miles away. But they are likely to face a challenge in seizing the town, which holds political significance as Gaddafi’s birthplace and is seen as important to his defence of Tripoli, the capital, which is now less than 300 miles from the rebels’ front line. However, control of the oil terminals at Brega and Ras Lanuf is in itself a major gain for the rebels because it could bring in significant amounts of revenue from exports for their administration if production resumes after the uprising and conflict shut much of it down. Rebels moved unchallenged along a road littered with evidence of the air campaign and the speed of their enemies’ retreat. The blackened carcasses of destroyed tanks, armoured vehicles and military trucks were pushed to the side of the tarmac. In their hurried retreat from Ras Lanuf, government forces abandoned piles of ammunition. They included grey wooden boxes containing rockets but stamped as holding “parts of bulldozer” manufactured in North Korea. In Ben Jawad, residents said a destroyed municipal building had been hit by an air strike. The rebels forced captured Gaddafi fighters on to buses and drove them to Benghazi. As the insurgents seized control of towns that had been under Gaddafi’s military occupation for nearly a fortnight, witnesses described the bombing’s devastating effects on his forces. A doctor at the hospital in Ras Lanuf, which handled most of the government soldiers wounded in the coalition air raids on Ajdabiya and the road from Benghazi, described the raids as causing hundreds of casualties, breaking morale and leaving many soldiers faking injuries to escape the assault. The doctor – who wished to be identified only by his first name, Abdullah – had responded to a call from Gaddafi’s government for medical personnel to go to the front two weeks ago. Today, he accidentally found himself on the rebel side of the line. “The first days, Gaddafi’s forces had very high morale and they came in large numbers, thousands. There were the army soldiers and then the volunteers in the militia,” he said. “They were fighting the rebels, no problem, and winning. But then came the bombing [by coalition air strikes]. The first day we had 56 seriously wounded. To the head, the brain, lost arms and legs. Soldiers with a lot of shrapnel in them. It was like that every day after.” Abdullah said all the wounded were fighters for Gaddafi, with about two-thirds injured in the bombing of Ajdabiya where there were days of fighting as government forces blocked the rebel advance. The doctor said he did not know how many soldiers were killed in the air strikes because the bodies were taken from the battlefield for burial. “The soldiers who came to the hospital told me there were 150 dead just on the first day of the bombing. After that, there were fewer because they hid,” he said. “It started to have a big effect on their morale. They said they could fight the rebels but not the planes. In recent days, many of the soldiers were trying to find excuses to leave the front. Ten to 20 a day came to the hospital pretending they were injured, asking for a medical certificate. They didn’t have any physical injuries, but I gave it [a certificate] to them.” Abdullah was sceptical about rebel accusations that many of those fighting for government forces were foreign mercenaries. He said he did not see any among the wounded, but added it was possible that some of the soldiers were not Libyan. But he did say that Gaddafi’s forces had systematically maltreated the civilian population, particularly those suspected of coming from the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi and other towns in the east of the country under the revolutionaries’ control. “There was bad treatment of the civilians. One patient came here who had been trying to escape Ajdabiya with his family. The government army shot him in the leg,” he added. “The idea I got from civilians who came to the hospital is that things were very bad for them. They were beaten. Some said their family members had disappeared. They didn’t know if they were killed.” Some of Gaddafi’s forces were billeted in the el-Adeel hotel, in Ras Lanuf, which they comprehensively looted as they fled, taking mattresses and televisions and levering open cash machines in the lobby. On walls across the town they sprayed in green paint three words: “God, Gaddafi, Libya.” Beyond Sirte lies the large town of Misrata, most of which is in rebel hands after an attempt by Gaddafi to retake it was driven off by air strikes. Government forces kept up their shelling of the town, although residents said it was considerably less intense than a week ago after 12 hours of aerial bombardment by western planes destroyed more than 20 tanks and drove Gaddafi’s forces to the edge of the town. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
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Scream: The Inside Story -Airdate Twista ft Chris Brown – Make A Movie with Lyrics 4/4 – Empire – Hollywood and the war machine (2010) 'Limitless' tops box office with $19M ‘Limitless’ tops box office with M CHICAGO (AP) – There was no stopping “Limitless” at the box office . The science-fiction thriller opened at No. 1 this weekend with $ 19 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. … Justin Bieber passes Michael Jackson at box office (Reuters) | Justin Bieber passes Michael Jackson at box office (Reuters). Posted on March 27, 2011 by admin · Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs on stage during the German TV game show Reuters – The Biebs hasn’t disappointed on the big screen. … Justin Bieber Passes Michael Jackson's Box-Office Record | The … ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ has outgrossed MJ’s ‘This Is It’ in U.S.By Gil Kaufman Justin Bieber in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Photo: Paramount. Friday Box Office Results: Sucker Punch the Wimpy Kid! – Get The … Still, insiders say it is going to be Wimpy Kid that pulls the upset and wins the box office weekend crown when it’s all said and done. I apologize, but we missed out on doing our “fearless forecast” this week so I’m not going to play … bettyblue88 – Thriller “Limitless” tops lackluster box office … Thriller “Limitless” tops lackluster box office (Reuters). [info] bettyblue88: March 27th, 8:47. [Error: Irreparable invalid markup (' ’) in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.] … conoro says: Possible alternative to my HDVP-2 Media Player – Patriot Box Office 1080p http://post.ly/1oBsp
Continue reading …Business secretary Vince Cable says huge turnout at TUC march in London will not knock government’s cuts strategy off-course Labour has defended Ed Miliband’s part in Saturday’s peaceful TUC march and rally in London against government spending cuts as the cleanup continued of symbols of wealth damaged by a minority of anarchists. Senior opposition figures condemned the “unrepresentative hooligans” whose behaviour threatened to overshadow the protests of hundreds of thousands of others. Michael Fallon, the deputy Conservative party chairman, accused Labour of “the laughable fiction” that it had “left the country some sort of golden economic legacy” while the business secretary, Vince Cable, told the BBC that while the government was listening to the trade unions, it would not change its strategy because of yesterday’s march. Just over 200 people were arrested and 84 people injured, including 31 police officers, as trouble flared in Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadily and Trafalgar Square, with banks, the Ritz Hotel and upmarket food store Fortnum and Mason among the targets. Attempts were made to damage the Olympic clock in the square and police said they were attacked by missiles including water bottles, coins and lightbulbs filled with ammonia. Alleged offences included criminal damage, aggravated trespass and violent disorder. Eleven police officers required hospital treatment. Injuries were said to be relatively minor, including cuts and bruises, suspected whiplash and a possible broken collar bone. London’s deputy mayor Kit Malthouse condemned those involved in the violence as “fascist agitators”. Miliband told the crowds on Saturday: “We come in the traditions that have marched in peaceful but powerful protest for justice, fairness and political change. “The suffragettes who fought for votes for women and won. The civil rights movement in America that fought against racism and won. The anti-apartheid movement that fought the horror of that system and won.” Speaking on the BBC’s The Politics Show, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy condemned those involved in the separate clashes in the West End as a “tiny minority of violent, parasitic unrepresentative hooligans”. Asked if Miliband should have associated himself with the rally, he said: “You can’t get to a point where a prominent politician, the leader of the Labour party, isn’t able to go on a demonstration against government cuts.” Pressed over the language surrounding apartheid and the civil rights movement, Murphy said: “Ed has said these were different causes at different times. The size of the demonstration yesterday was enormous and it was a reflection of the comparison of scale.” Tory deputy chairman Fallon claimed Labour had “once again” shown “breathtaking levels of deceit over the economy” and that the party’s plans would mean “spending reductions of just over £2bn less than the coalition’s in the financial year starting in just over a week”. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the march – the biggest union-organised protest in a generation – exceeded expectations. “It now looks like close to half a million people came to London to express their peaceful but powerful opposition to the government’s deep, rapid and unfair spending cuts. “We are proud of the way that we organised our march and the way that our stewards helped ensure a good-natured and friendly event. Of course we condemn the small numbers who came looking for violence but we will not allow their actions away from our event to detract from our campaign. “With the budget a damp squib, the economy faltering and the NHS reforms becoming more unpopular each and every day, marchers will have returned home determined to step up their democratic campaign against policies that neither government party put before the electorate at the last election.” Malthouse, who chairs the Metropolitan Police Authority, said the police had a “difficult balance” to strike, claiming anarchists – “a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs” – were intent on “rampaging” around London’s West End. He told BBC Radio 4′s The World this Weekend: “We should all be angry that what was a peaceful and legitimate protest was hijacked by about 250 criminals, many of whom I am pleased to say have now been arrested, for violent insurrection means.” Asked about criticisms over police intelligence, Malthouse said: “I think that would be unfair. I realise in these situations that the armchair generals tend to come out but the truth is the police did a huge amount of work with businesses in the West End, and indeed preparing for the event. We put 4,500 police officers out there … but it was a very, very fast-moving afternoon. “I counted these anarchists myself. They were a nasty bunch of black-shirted thugs on Piccadilly and it was pretty obvious that they were intent on rampaging around and would be very difficult to control. “In the end they were contained … there is a difficult balance because they were intermingling with, and were in amongst, getting on for 400,000 TUC protesters. “Without disrupting the march it would have been very difficult to isolate them and take them out. The truth is the police had to respond to when criminal damage was done and they did so.” He added: “We need to learn the lessons to make sure it doesn’t happen again but also recognise that when you get a group of fascist agitators who want a fight there is not a lot you can do about it other than confront them.” Public sector cuts Protest Public services policy Public finance London TUC Trade unions Ed Miliband Labour James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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