Heavy rain and thick cloud hamper relief effort after more than 100,000 homes in India, Nepal and Tibet were damaged Rescuers trying to reach villages cut off by mudslides after a powerful earthquake killed at least 63 people and damaged more than 100,000 homes in India, Nepal and Tibet are battling heavy rain and thick cloud. Thousands of soldiers and rescue workers continued to pull victims from rubble as the number of deaths climbed to 35 in the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim, site of the epicentre of the 6.9-magnitude quake that rattled through the Himalayas on Sunday night. Thick cloud prevented helicopters from flying over parts of the affected areas, but some mountain passes blocked by landslides were reopened, police said. “The earthquake has loosened the hill faces, and when it rains, it causes landslides. So the situation is still very dangerous,” said Deepak Pandey, a spokesman for the Indo-Tibetan border police. More than 400 people had been rescued overnight, he said, including some in the worst-hit area of Pegong in the north. Although it may take days for the final number of fatalities to be confirmed, border police said they did not think the death toll would rise significantly. More than 6,000 troops have been drafted in to clear concrete slabs, bricks and mud and reach scores of people trapped under collapsed houses. India’s home secretary, Raj Kumar Singh, said that airforce helicopters had dropped food to villages, airlifted a medical team, evacuated the injured and conducted damage assessments. Heavy construction equipment had also been used to clear some of the blocked roads. “The rescue and relief operations are in full swing, though they were hampered … by poor weather,” he said, “[but] there may still be villages where people are trapped under collapsed houses that we have not been able to reach.” Singh said that at least 10 of those who died in Sikkim worked for the same hydroelectric project. At least 13 other people were killed in the neighbouring Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, he added. Eight people died in Nepal, and China’s official Xinhua news agency reported seven deaths in Tibet. Most of the deaths occurred when houses already weakened from recent monsoon rains collapsed because of the force of the quake. By midday on Monday, workers had managed to clear landslides from one lane of the main highway connecting Sikkim with the rest of India, and an initial convoy of 75 paramilitaries had started moving toward Mangan, the village closest to the quake’s epicentre, officials said. In Gangtok, Sikkim’s capital, 42 miles south-east of the epicentre, police said they had cordoned off the office of the state’s top elected official after the building was severely damaged. TV footage showed buckled buildings, cracked pavements and two major roads collapsed. Shops, businesses and offices were closed in the town and neighbouring settlements, and many areas remained without electricity. Water supplies were scarce because of burst pipes and telephone communication was patchy. Nepal’s government said at least eight people died there, including two men and a child who were killed when part of the perimeter wall of the British embassy compound in Kathmandu collapsed. A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office confirmed the incident, adding that it “deeply regrets” the death of the three Nepali citizens and the injuries to others. “The ambassador met with and offered his condolences to the local community on Sunday evening and met with relatives of the victims on Monday[yesterday] morning,” he said. “The embassy will continue to do everything possible to help the local community and the government of Nepal.” In West Bengal, utility workers toiled through the night to restore power to a large swath of the state which plunged into darkness after power lines were snapped. The earthquake, which was followed by several aftershocks, was felt as far away as the Indian capital. An official from the UN’s disaster management team in New Delhi said that humanitarian assistance would still be needed even if casualties turned out to be low, as people who lost their homes would need food and shelter. The region has been hit by major earthquakes in the past, including in 1950 and 1897. Natural disasters and extreme weather China India Nepal Tibet Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) isn’t a fan of President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act, but he does like the idea of allowing people who are receiving unemployment benefits to work for free . The plan is based on a program called Georgia Works which matches job seekers with employers. Under the plan, employers agree to provide up to eight weeks of on-the-job training. Workers, who can only work for 24 hours a week, continue to receive unemployment benefits instead of getting paid. “The Georgia plan sounds pretty interesting,” Ryan told Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday. “I think that’s something we are looking at, which is unemployment reform.” Ryan’s remarks echo House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) support of the idea. “We stand ready to work with [President Obama] if there is interest in implementing a similar program on the federal level,” Cantor said. According to data the Georgia Department of Labor provided to The Huffington Post’s Arthur Delaney , the program isn’t very successful. Between 2003 and 2010, only 16.4 percent of people that participated in the program found work, about the same rate as those who were not participating. As of late August, there were only 19 trainees enrolled in Georgia Works. The top weekly unemployment benefit in Georgia is about $330.
Continue reading …Obama sets out ‘balanced’ deficit plan and asks top earners to pay fair share
September 19, 2011 No Comment
Obama says half of $3tn deficit reduction will come from tax increases, but stresses: ‘It’s not class warfare – it’s math’ President Barack Obama came out swinging in a tough speech defending his plans to increase taxes on the rich as part of his plan to cut the US deficit, saying: “This is not class warfare – it’s math.” In the speech in the White House’s Rose Garden, the president set out plans to cut more than $3tn from the deficit over the next 10 years. Almost half of that money would come from tax increases. “Washington has to live within its means,” said the president. “For us to solve this problem, everybody … has to pay their fair share.” Over the weekend, Obama’s Republican critics blasted his plans to increase taxes on those earning over $1m – the so-called “Buffett tax” named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, a frequent critic of the low taxes paid by the rich. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House of Representatives budget committee, called the plan “class warfare.” Obama is proposing to set a minimum tax on people making $1m or more in income. The measure would prevent millionaires and billionaires taking advantage of lower tax rates on investment earnings than the rates middle-income taxpayers pay on their wages. “Those who have done well, including me, should pay our fair share,” Obama said. “I reject the idea that asking a hedge fund manager to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or teacher is class warfare.” Obama called on Congress to approve a “balanced” approach to budget cuts, including tax hikes for the rich and corporations as well as savings from defence cuts and other spending cuts. The plan also includes modest changes to Medicare and Medicaid, the US social insurance programmes Republicans have targeted for larger overhauls. Obama said he would veto any bill that makes changes to Medicare without tax increases on the wealthy. “Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we’re going to have to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can’t afford to do both,” he said. The plan is the administration’s latest move in the long-running power struggle with Republican opposition over deficit reduction. While Democrats have called for tax increases to be part of any deficit reduction effort, Republicans have rejected the idea of any tax increases. Obama’s proposal has no chance of passing Republican Congress, but is aimed at influencing a cross-party “super-committee” that is currently working on a savings plan that Congress could approve by the end of the year. If the committee can not reach an agreement, draconian cuts could be imposed across government agencies. Obama’s plan would raise $1.5tn in taxes, primarily on the wealthy and big corporations. The proposal also includes $580bn in adjustments to Medicare and Medicaid – but the president has ruled out an increase in the Medicare eligibility age. The speech met with instant condemnation from senior Republicans. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: “Veto threats, a massive tax hike, phantom savings, and punting on entitlement reform is not a recipe for economic or job growth – or even meaningful deficit reduction.” House Speaker John Boehner said: “This administration’s insistence on raising taxes on job creators, and its reluctance to take the steps necessary to strengthen our entitlement programs, are the reasons the president and I were not able to reach an agreement previously – and it is evident today that these barriers remain.” But Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said the president was proposing “modest reforms” of the US tax code that would make the system “more fair” and help tackle the budget deficit. Geithner told reporters: “If you do it sensibly through tax reform you’ll strengthen investment centres, you’ll make growth in the US stronger, you’ll make people more confident in the future, more likely to invest here. “That’s something we should all be working toward.” Barack Obama Obama administration US taxation United States US economy Warren Buffett Republicans US politics Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Talks with News of the World publisher understood to be ongoing over payout that would include sizeable donation to charity Milly Dowler’s family have been offered a multimillion-pound settlement by Rupert Murdoch’s News International, in an attempt to settle the phone-hacking case that led to closure of the News of the World and the resignation of the company’s chief executive, Rebekah Brooks. It is understood that News International has made a settlement offer estimated by sources at more than £2m, a figure that includes a donation to charity. But the publisher and media group has not reached agreement with the Dowler family, whose lawyers were thought to be seeking a settlement figure of closer to £3.5m. The seven-figure sums under negotiation are far larger than other phone-hacking settlements reached, reflecting the fact that the phone-hacking case affected a family who were victims of crime. Thirteen-year-old Milly Dowler went missing in March 2002 and was later found murdered. It emerged in July that Milly Dowler’s mobile phone had been hacked after her death. Voicemails were accessed on behalf of the News of the World, and messages left for her were deleted to make room for more recordings. This gave the family false hope that she was still alive, because messages were disappearing. On Monday afternoon there was growing speculation that a deal is close, although other sources familiar with the negotiations indicated that there are still enough matters unresolved to mean that an agreement in principle had not yet been reached behind the scenes. Sienna Miller accepted £100,000 from News International after the publisher accepted unconditional liability for her phone-hacking and other privacy and harassment claims in May. A month later Andy Gray accepted £20,000 in damages plus undisclosed costs. Other lawyers bringing phone-hacking cases are privately indicated that they would be advising many of those bringing actions to try and reach a settlement rather than take their cases to lengthy and expensive trials. A handful of cases have been taken forward as lead actions by Mr Justice Vos, to establish a benchmark for settlements in future lawsuits. Murdoch met with the Dowler family in July, shortly after the original story about hacking into her phone broke, making what the family’s lawyer, Mark Lewis, said was a “full and humble” apology . The News Corporation chairman and chief executive “held his head in his hands” and repeatedly told the family he was “very, very sorry”. •
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Norway’s self-confessed mass murderer to remain in solitary confinement for four of eight weeks while indictment is prepared The confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has been ordered to remain in custody for a further eight weeks during a closed court hearing, according to the judge The 32-year-old has confessed to setting off a bomb in Oslo and shooting dead 69 at an island youth camp outside the city , killing 77 people in total on 22 July. Oslo district court on Monday approved a police request to keep Breivik in custody on terror charges for another eight weeks – four of them in solitary confinement – as prosecutors prepare a formal indictment. The judge, Anne Margrethe Lund, said she stopped Breivik “on a few occasions” when he tried to make statements during the hearing, his third since being arrested following the murders on Utøya island and in Oslo. “He wanted to communicate something to the court. It wasn’t relevant for the decision that was to be made today and therefore he wasn’t allowed to say anything further,” Lund told reporters after the hearing. Breivik’s lawyer, Geir Lippestad, also told reporters that his client tried to address the court but Lippestad would not reveal the details, citing a gagging order. The ruling means that Breivik will remain in custody until 14 November, when a new detention hearing will be held. However, police can only hold him in isolation until 17 October because decisions on solitary confinement must be reviewed every four weeks. The district court initially ordered an open hearing, but a higher court overruled that decision after an appeal by police. Some of the survivors, more than 600 of them, were represented by lawyers at that hearing. Breivik has confessed to the attacks but denies criminal guilt. He claims to be in a state of war and believes the murders were necessary to save Norway and Europe from being overrun by Muslim immigrants. In a 1,500-page manifesto posted online before the killings he called for a revolution to purge Europe of Muslims and for politicians who have embraced multiculturalism to be punished. Lippestad said his client has not expressed any remorse about his actions. Anders Behring Breivik Global terrorism Norway Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Norway’s self-confessed mass murderer to remain in solitary confinement for four of eight weeks while indictment is prepared The confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has been ordered to remain in custody for a further eight weeks during a closed court hearing, according to the judge The 32-year-old has confessed to setting off a bomb in Oslo and shooting dead 69 at an island youth camp outside the city , killing 77 people in total on 22 July. Oslo district court on Monday approved a police request to keep Breivik in custody on terror charges for another eight weeks – four of them in solitary confinement – as prosecutors prepare a formal indictment. The judge, Anne Margrethe Lund, said she stopped Breivik “on a few occasions” when he tried to make statements during the hearing, his third since being arrested following the murders on Utøya island and in Oslo. “He wanted to communicate something to the court. It wasn’t relevant for the decision that was to be made today and therefore he wasn’t allowed to say anything further,” Lund told reporters after the hearing. Breivik’s lawyer, Geir Lippestad, also told reporters that his client tried to address the court but Lippestad would not reveal the details, citing a gagging order. The ruling means that Breivik will remain in custody until 14 November, when a new detention hearing will be held. However, police can only hold him in isolation until 17 October because decisions on solitary confinement must be reviewed every four weeks. The district court initially ordered an open hearing, but a higher court overruled that decision after an appeal by police. Some of the survivors, more than 600 of them, were represented by lawyers at that hearing. Breivik has confessed to the attacks but denies criminal guilt. He claims to be in a state of war and believes the murders were necessary to save Norway and Europe from being overrun by Muslim immigrants. In a 1,500-page manifesto posted online before the killings he called for a revolution to purge Europe of Muslims and for politicians who have embraced multiculturalism to be punished. Lippestad said his client has not expressed any remorse about his actions. Anders Behring Breivik Global terrorism Norway Europe guardian.co.uk
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In keynote speech at Lib Dem conference, business secretary says reduction in inequality is needed to turn economy around as UK faces ‘economic equivalent of war’ Follow all the latest news from the conference on our live blog Vince Cable, the business secretary, has warned that reducing the country’s “appalling inequalities of income and wealth” is essential to turn the British economy around. The Lib Dem cabinet minister said he would “tell it as I see it” as he delivered a gloomy economic forecast, predicting “difficult times” ahead. In a speech that compared the country’s economic crisis to a war situation, Cable said the only way the public would accept continuing austerity was if it is “seen to be fair”. He defended the government’s “tough approach” to deficit reduction as “unavoidable”, but said stability was just one part of getting the economy back on its feet. Stimulus to support growth and “solidarity” to give people a sense of shared society, by reducing the pay and wealth gap and creating “responsible capitalism”, were also needed, he said. “The public will only accept continuing austerity if it is seen to be fair,” he told delegates. “Yet there is currently a great sense of grievance that workers and pensioners are paying the penalty for a crisis they did not create. I want a real sense of solidarity. That does not mean that we go round in blue boiler suits carrying little red books, though I suspect that some on the right believe that is my agenda. It does mean a narrowing of inequalities.” He hailed the party’s commitment to lift low and average earners out of tax, and rounded on those who criticised the Lib Dems’ proposed “mansion tax” – a tax on properties worth over £2m – as an attack on “ordinary middle-class owners”, saying: “You wonder what part of the solar system they live in.” The Lib Dem minister unveiled plans to “call time on payouts for failure” with the launch of a consultation document that outlines plans for greater transparency on boardroom pay and shareholders having a bigger say. “People accept capitalism, but they want responsible capitalism,” he said. “It is hard to explain why shareholders can vote to cut top pay but the managers can ignore the vote. “And surely pay should be transparent, not hidden from shareholders and the public. I want to call time on payouts for failure.” Cable also used his speech to express his “regret” at the government’s failure to secure tighter control on bank pay and bonuses. “A bad message was sent: that unrestrained greed is acceptable. We know where that leads,” he said. But he went on to claim a list of achievements by the Lib Dems in power, including the expansion of apprenticeships and the green investment bank, to reassure those who, like him, had had “mixed feelings” about joining the Conservatives in coalition. Cable harked back to previous coalitions created during the war years to say the crisis facing Britain now was “the economic equivalent of war”. It had been “hard to withstand tribalism”, he said, but insisted that working in partnership during a period of crisis was not treachery but “progress”. He countered critics of the government’s deficit reduction plan by saying financial discipline was not “ideological or rightwing” but a necessary precondition for effective government. Most people understood this, he said, but some on the left and right didn’t. “This is childish fantasy,” he said. Cable also turned on tax exiles and on Conservatives calling for the 50p top rate of tax to be scrapped. “Some believe that if taxes on the wealthy are cut, new revenue will miraculously appear,” he said. “I think their reasoning is this: all those British billionaires who demonstrate their patriotism by hiding from the taxman in Monaco or some Caribbean bolt hole will rush back to pay more tax but at a lower rate. Pull the other one.” He said the Liberal Democrats understood that economic recovery had to go hand in hand with fairness. “The truth is that there are difficult times ahead, that Britain’s postwar pattern of ever-rising living standards has been broken by the financial collapse,” he said. “But we can turn the economy around. In the coalition agreement we promised to put fairness at the heart of all we do as we rebuild our broken economy from the rubble. Liberal Democrats know that you can’t do one without the other.” Cable’s comments on executive pay received a cool reaction from the Institute of Directors. Miles Templeman, IoD director general, said the business secretary should use his speeches to promote the competitiveness of British business, rather than dwelling “for political reasons” on executive pay. “We welcome that the business secretary sees the importance to economic growth of improving the planning regime. We also agree that it is right that the pay of business leaders is aligned to business performance. “Indeed, there may well be some practical improvements that can be made to the way pay levels are set in big companies by improving the performance of remuneration committees. However, it is important that ministers do not politicise a subject that is best approached in a cool, dispassionate way.” Liberal Democrat conference 2011 Vince Cable Economic policy Economic growth (GDP) Economics Equality Executive pay and bonuses Liberal Democrat conference Liberal Democrats Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Dominic Grieve and CPS would assess whether Official Secrets Act case would be in public interest before it went ahead The attorney general’s office has said he would rule on whether a prosecution of the Guardian under the Official Secrets Act was in the public interest before a case could proceed. A spokesman said on Monday that Dominic Grieve would liaise with the Crown Prosecution Service to assess whether there is sufficient evidence that the act had been breached and whether such a step would be in the public interest. “It is a matter for the police to decide how best to carry out any investigation,” he said. “If the police provide evidence that would support a charge under section 5 of the Official Secrets Act the attorney general’s consent would be required. “If that stage is reached, the attorney general, with the DPP, will consider whether there is sufficient evidence and whether the public interest is in favour of bringing a prosecution.” Scotland Yard’s decision to use the act as part of its bid to force Guardian journalists including Nick Davies and Amelia Hill, who revealed that Milly Dowler had her phone targeted by the News of the World, to reveal their sources has been condemned by rival newspapers and senior politicians. Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, has said the paper will resist the attempt by the Metropolitan police to reveal its sources “to the utmost”. Scotland Yard applied for a production order last week against the Guardian “in order to seek evidence of offences connected to potential breaches relating to misconduct in public office and the Official Secrets Act”. A senior investigating officer applied for the production order under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, citing potential breaches of the Official Secrets Act, the force said. Actor Hugh Grant, who has become one of the most high-profile figures to campaign against phone hacking and media intrusion of privacy, on Sunday condemned police efforts to force journalists to disclose confidential sources, saying Scotland Yard’s decision was “worrying and deeply mysterious” . Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster, the party’s culture spokesman, also on Sunday said Grieve should use his discretion to rule that invoking the Official Secrets Act was not in the public interest . “I understand the attorney general has the opportunity to use this power,” Foster told the Guardian. “He should use it and say this is not in the public interest.” •
Continue reading …Yemeni forces kill at least 23 protesters after fresh anti-regime protests
September 19, 2011 No Comment
Sniper and artillery fire from pro-Saleh soldiers lifts number of protesters who have died in past two days to 50 At least 23 people have been killed by Yemeni pro-regime forces – including snipers – in a second day of clashes shaking the country’s capital, Sana’a, medical and security officials said. Almost 50 people have died in the two days of fighting. It is the most serious outbreak of violence in months, as frustration again builds over the president’s refusal to step down after 33 years in power. Thousands of protesters armed with sticks reportedly overran a camp belonging to the presidential guards in Sana’a. Others were said to be headed toward the headquarters of the elite force led by President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s son Ahmed in the south of the city. About 20 of those killed on Monday were on the central Hayel Street in the capital. They included a child and at least three soldiers who had defected to join the protesters. Mortar shells thought to have been fired by pro-regime forces killed at least two other people in Sana’a, said officials speaking on condition of anonymity. On Sunday, at least 26 people were killed when pro-regime snipers opened fire on tens of thousands of people who demonstrated in Sana’a to demand that Saleh step down. Apart from those killed, scores of protesters suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to hospitals, according to Mohammed al-Maqtari, a doctor at a field hospital set up by the protesters. The wounded included soldiers from Yemen’s 1st armoured division, which, along with its commander, joined the protesters more than six months ago. Witnesses said the soldiers were involved in skirmishes with the presidential guards. In the southern city of Taiz, at least one protester was killed and 15 others were wounded on Monday in clashes between anti-regime demonstrators and security forces, according to witnesses. And in the southern port city of Aden, three protesters were wounded in clashes with government forces, witnesses there said. Yemen’s protest movement has stepped up demonstrations in the past week. The rebels have been angered after Saleh deputised the vice-president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, last week to negotiate further on a Gulf-mediated, US-backed deal under which the president would step down in return for immunity from prosecution. Saleh has already backed away three times from signing the deal. Many believe the move is the latest of many delaying tactics. Saleh has resisted calls to resign. The US once saw Saleh as a key ally in the battle against a Yemen-based al-Qaida branch, which has taken over southern parts of the country under cover of the political turmoil. The US withdrew its support of Saleh as the protests gained strength. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Protest Middle East al-Qaida guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media It’s ironic that the CEO who is expected to defend his company against anti-trust allegations this week is the only person on the Sunday shows being honest about how to get Americans working again. AMANPOUR: But you say significant stimulus. Obviously, this is a political environment where the only real conversation is about cutting. Do you see any expectation or possibility of a climate for more stimulus? SCHMIDT: Well, that’s a political question, but the current strategy is ludicrous. You have a situation where the private sector sees essentially no growth in demand. The classic solution is to have the government step in and, with short-term initiatives, help stimulate that demand. If they do it right, they’ll invest in income and growth-producing things like highways and bridges and schools, new opportunities for the private sector to go then build businesses. Today not only is there no demand coming out of the government, but because of the housing crisis, nobody sees any improvement in their own liquidity, so nobody’s buying anything. AMANPOUR: So this is a pretty dark picture that you’re painting. Add to that no confidence from the consumers and businesses sitting on something like $2 trillion worth of profits which they’re not going to spend, apparently. Is the president — does he have a material problem with the business community right now? SCHMIDT: The real problem is not the business community. The real problem is the Democrats and the Republicans fight for one point or another in a political sphere while the rest of us are waiting for the government to do something concrete and predictable. What business needs is predictable, long-term plans. We need to know, where is government spending going to be; what are the government programs going to be, and off we go. Business can create enormous numbers of new jobs in America. All we need to see is more demand. What’s happening right now is businesses are very well-run; they have a lot of cash; they’re waiting for more demand. At the moment, business efficiency allows them to grow at 1 percent or 2 percent, which is what we’re seeing today. They don’t have to hire more people. And until we solve that problem, people are going to sit idle, and it’s real tragedy. Wait, what’s that? Businesses are not holding jobs hostage because they’re waiting for more tax cuts? It’s because there’s not enough demand for products and services to justify hiring new workers? Why, that’s dirty liberal talk! You know, Republicans are absolutely right that uncertainty is keeping corporations from hiring. But they have it 100 percent back asswards as to why. It’s not because they fear taxation. Hell, most corporations effectively pay no taxes at all . It’s because THERE’S NO DEMAND FROM CONSUMERS . These perennially wrong supply-siders are missing that this uncertainty is stemming from the demand side: People don’t know if they’ll be employed next year. People are living with upside down mortgages. Their real wages have remained stagnant, unlike these CEOs and hedge fund managers. In short, consumers are nervous and unwilling to spend money they think they might need for the rainy days ahead. And the Republicans in Congress, with their obstructions and filibusters and holding the country and economy hostage for partisan gain, THEY’RE the ones creating the uncertainty. But we’re not going to see that truth on the Sunday shows.
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