Mahmoud Abbas says he will go ahead with request to UN security council to recognise independence despite US warnings The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he will go ahead with a request to the United Nations security council to recognise what amounts to a unilateral declaration of independence despite warnings from the US that it will raise “dangerous” false hopes and set back real self-determination. Abbas said in a televised address the Palestinians will see recognition next week of an independent Palestinian state on the basis of the borders of 4 June 1967 with East Jerusalem as the capital. He noted that the US president, Barack Obama, said a year ago he hoped to see an independent Palestine join the UN at this time. “Obama himself said he wanted to see a Palestinian state by September,” said Abbas. He said he would not bow to foreign pressure and what he called attempts to “buy off” the Palestinians. “We are going to the security council,” he said. “The world is sympathising with the aspirations of the Palestinian people.” Abbas’s defiant speech came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by the US, EU and Tony Blair in Jerusalem and Ramallah aimed at trying to avoid a showdown next week at the UN security council, where the Americans say they will veto a Palestinian request for recognition of statehood. The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said the Palestinians had “miscalculated” if they believed the move will bring them closer to independence. Rice warned that even if the Palestinians were to win a vote in favour of statehood it will not change the situation on the ground. “There’s no shortcut, there’s no magic wand that can be waved in New York and make everything right. In fact, there’s a risk in that because if you’re an average person in the Palestinian territories and your hopes have been raised that by some action here in New York something will be different, the reality is that nothing is going to change. “There won’t be any more sovereignty, there won’t be any more food on the table. And this gap between expectation and reality is in itself quite dangerous,” Rice told the BBC. “The miscalculation here on the part of the Palestinians is that by coming to the United Nations they will be in a better position to negotiate … As tough as it is today to bring the parties to the table, it will be much much tougher after action here in New York. If the aim is to isolate and confront Israel, which is the effect of this action potentially in New York, then that is not going to encourage Israel to come back to the negotiating table any sooner.” Abbas rejected the assertion that the UN vote will jeopardise talks. “We will come back to negotiations on other issues. But we need full membership of the UN,” he said. “Over the past year we have expressed our readiness to take part in serious negotiations. Israel has wasted time and imposed facts on the ground [by expanding Jewish settlements].” Israel, he said, had nothing to fear from the move. “Israel is there, no one can deprive it of its legal status, it is a recognised country.” But, he added, Palestinian statehood would mean Israel could no longer claim it was colonising “disputed territory. This is occupied territory.” On Thursday, Rice met Jewish American leaders in New York to assure them the Obama administration will do it all it can to derail the Palestinian move at the UN. But she conceded that Washington was unlikely to be able to prevent the Palestinians from taking a request for recognition of full statehood to the security council, or alternatively turn to the general assembly, which can offer only enhanced observer status. Washington is instead concentrating on garnering support against the move. It is targeting non-permanent members of the security council, such as Colombia, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the hope of ensuring they at least abstain if they are not prepared to vote against a Palestinian state, and so lessen the impact of a US veto. The US is also pressing Britain to back its position. The UK, which has one eye on its standing in the Middle East particularly as it is heavily involved in Libya, says it is undecided and is waiting to see the wording of the Palestinian request. However, Britain has suggested it is prepared to consider supporting a watered down request in the general assembly where the Palestinians can in any case expected to win with a comfortable margin. In the Middle East, the Europeans and Tony Blair – envoy of the quartet of the US, UN, EU and Russia – were attempting to engineer a compromise to head off the need for a US veto in the security council. One effort is to divert the whole issue to the general assembly. Another is for Abbas to submit his request for statehood but for it then to be put on hold while peace talks are revived. The request would then be activated if negotiations fail to reach an agreement within a year. The Palestinians are resistant to the idea in part because they do not believe the Israelis are serious about talks but also because it would not require a freeze on construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – an issue that has become a major obstacle to fresh negotiations. There were reports in Israel that the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is prepared to consider an upgrade in the Palestinian status at the UN through a vote in the general assembly so long as it falls short of full membership. An Israeli official refused to confirm the reports but he did say that intensive efforts were continuing to find a compromise. “The goal is to avoid a diplomatic train wreck,” he said. “There are various ideas on the table to find a formula to allow us back to talks.” According to the Israeli official, there was a “greater understanding on the Palestinian side that the train wreck needs to be avoided”. But there was no certainty a deal could be reached. “The Palestinians climb up a tree, kick the ladder away, and then say help me get down the tree. It’s not always possible,” he said. However, there is no public indication the Palestinians are looking for a way to backtrack. Their team continues to insist they will demand full membership of the UN at the security council and will only seek a lesser status at the general assembly following a US veto. Netanyahu will address the general assembly next Friday hours after Abbas delivers his speech. Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian territories United Nations Israel Obama administration Tony Blair Binyamin Netanyahu Chris McGreal Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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Sinn Féin to announce deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and former IRA chief of staff Martin McGuinness’ bid to become head of state in Irish Republic Martin McGuinness, the former IRA chief-of-staff who is now deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, is to run for the Irish presidency. Sinn Féin will announce his bid to succeed fellow northerner Mary McAleese as head of state in the Irish Republic later tonight. The Sinn Féin MP who admitted he was the Provisional IRA’s second-in-command in Derry during Bloody Sunday will hold a press conference on Sunday explaining why he is standing for president. But senior sources in Belfast were stressing that McGuinness’ decision to stand in the presidential race south of the border would not destabilise the power-sharing executive back at Stormont. McGuinness has built up a close personal relationship with Peter Robinson, the Democratic Unionist first minister in the five-party coalition in Northern Ireland. Although McGuinness will have to step down temporarily from the post as deputy first minister during the three-week long presidential campaign sources said that would be “mess but not a crisis” for the power-sharing government in Belfast. Whilst he is likely to increase Sinn Féin’s national share of the vote in the Republic above the 9% it gained in this year’s general election McGuinness is not expected to win the presidential contest. In the intervening three weeks before polling day in the Republic McGuinness may well be temporarily replaced as deputy first minister by another Sinn Féin figure possibly the Newry and Armagh MP, and former IRA prisoner Conor Murphy. The Derry-born former IRA commander’s entry into the presidential election will inevitably raise questions about his past inside the Provisionals. The Guardian revealed earlier this week in documents it had obtained containing evidence from a former military intelligence officer Ian Hurst alleging that McGuinness was aware of the murder plot against two top police officers in 1989. Hurt’s testimony to the Smithwick Inquiry into alleged Garda-IRA collusion includes claims that British state agent Freddie Scappaticci was centrally involved in the plot and reported directly to McGuinness who was then on the IRA’s council. If McGuinness were to be elected as head of state it would mark a career during which he had been chief of staff of AN organisation outlawed in both Northern Ireland and the Republic and ends up being chief of staff of the officially recognised Irish Defence Forces. Martin McGuinness Ireland Northern Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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From high-street purchases to vintage finds to family heirlooms, here’s what the punters have on today Sara Ilyas
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Rescuers hope remaining man of four trapped at least 300 metres from entrance to Gleision mine can be found alive A third body has been found at the Gleision colliery in south Wales, which was flooded in an accident on Thursday, police have confirmed. A second body had been discovered earlier on Friday afternoon. Rescuers hope the remaining man of four who were trapped at least 300 metres from the entrance to the colliery can be found alive. Chris Margetts, of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service had earlier said the first dead miner was found at the bottom of the main shaft and had evidently been trying to escape. The second was found where he had been working. The families of the men have been told, although their names have not yet been made public. There had been hopes that the men may have found an air pocket when the tunnels were flooded. Margetts described how difficult the search had been. “The water and oxygen levels are very good, but the issue now is debris,” he said. “We’re using seismic listening devices so that any noises are investigated.” He explained the progress the search and rescue teams had made, saying they had cleared the blockage to get to the main shaft. However, he warned that it was a slow process to search the “myriad” tunnels. “Access has been gained into the main shaft at the bottom,” he said. “We’ve cleared the blockage and we’ve got rescue crews that are able to enter and start searching the myriad tunnels and offshoots of the main shaft. “It’s slow progress – they have to dig through silt as they’re going because a lot of debris has been washed through the mine shaft. After the second body was found, the Neath MP, Peter Hain, said the events of the past few hours had made the “living hell” of the miners’ families even worse. He added: “This terrible situation has just got worse. However, the emergency services are doing a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances. “Their efforts are to be commended. There is a ray of hope in that there is no methane in the mine, and that air is circulating.” The Welsh secretary, Cheryl Gillan, expressed her sadness at hearing of the second death. Earlier on Friday, she had met the families of the miners who were trapped. “This is a distressing day for all involved, and I am extremely saddened to hear the news that a second death has been confirmed,” she said. “This tragedy has touched everyone in what is a very tight-knit community. Having just met the families, I know they take great comfort in the messages of support they have received from not only the UK but across the world. Our thoughts are with the families at this extremely difficult time.” Three men escaped from the mine after the accident, which happened when blasting work caused water to flow in the tunnels. Two were on the side of the blast closest to the main mine exit, while the third managed to crawl out through old mine workings. The four men who were trapped have been named as Phillip Hill, 45, from Neath, Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, and 39-year-old Garry Jenkins, all from the Swansea Valley. Police said emergency services were continuing a multi-agency rescue operation, while the men’s families were being supported by family liaison officers. Fresh rescue teams have been brought in to relieve crews that had worked for at least 12 consecutive hours. One of the miners who escaped is critically ill in hospital, while the two others who got out were largely unharmed and are helping with the rescue operation. The alarm was raised at the pit at around 9.20am on Thursday. An emergency centre has been set up within the community hall in the nearby village of Rhos to cater for the families of the miners. The Red Cross has delivered blankets and pillows to the centre. Wales Steven Morris Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
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Symphony orchestras from both Koreas reach agreement to play joint concerts in Pyongyang and Seoul A renowned South Korean conductor hopes one of the country’s leading orchestras can make sweet music with its counterpart from the north, despite the lengthy period of discord on the peninsula. Myung-whun Chung said symphony orchestras from the two Koreas were poised to hold performances in both capitals. “We reached an agreement to hold a joint concert in Pyongyang and Seoul at around December,” he said. “The rest is up to the politicians which I have no say or control over, but hopefully our plan will be realised.” Chung, director of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, said he conducted rehearsals and auditions with local musicians during a four-day trip to Pyongyang, as well as meeting cultural officials. “I don’t realistically hope that this might bring any changes to the North Korean system, though I did make some genuine, individual connections through our shared love for music,” he added. “We’ll see where that takes us from here in terms of progress, but as musicians, politics plays no part in what we do.” A government official in Seoul said it had yet to discuss the issue. South Koreans require state approval to travel to the north. If the trips go ahead they will not be Pyongyang’s first attempt at musical diplomacy. The New York Philharmonic visited North Korea in 2008. North Korea South Korea Classical music Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Unprecedented move sees Scotland Yard use the Official Secrets Act to demand the paper hands over information The Metropolitan police are seeking a court order under the Official Secrets Act to make Guardian reporters disclose their confidential sources about the phone-hacking scandal. In an unprecedented legal attack on journalists’ sources, Scotland Yard officers claim the act, which has special powers usually aimed at espionage, could have been breached in July when reporters Amelia Hill and Nick Davies revealed the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone. They are demanding source information be handed over. The Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbridger, said on Friday: “We shall resist this extraordinary demand to the utmost”. Tom Watson, the former Labour minister who has been prominent in exposing hacking by the News of the World, said: “It is an outrageous abuse and completely unacceptable that, having failed to investigate serious wrongdoing at the News of the World for more than a decade, the police should now be trying to move against the Guardian. It was the Guardian who first exposed this scandal.” The NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, said: “This is a very serious threat to journalists and the NUJ will fight off this vicious attempt to use the Official Secrets Act … Journalists have investigated the hacking story and told the truth to the public. They should be congratulated rather than being hounded and criminalised by the state. “The protection of sources is an essential principle which has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the European court of human rights as the cornerstone of press freedom. The NUJ shall defend it. In 2007 a judge made it clear that journalists and their sources are protected under article 10 of the Human Rights Act and it applies to leaked material. The use of the Official Secrets Act is a disgraceful attempt to get round this existing judgment.” The paper’s revelation in July that police had never properly pursued the News of the World for hacking the phone of the missing murdered girl caused a wave of public revulsion worldwide. The ensuing uproar over police inadequacy and alleged collusion with the Murdoch media empire swept away the top officers at Scotland Yard. It also brought about the closure of the News of the World itself, the withdrawal of the Murdoch takeover bid for Sky, and the launch of a major judicial inquiry into the entire scandal. Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and assistant commissioner John Yates both resigned. David Cameron’s former PR chief Andy Coulson is among those who have subsequently been arrested for questioning, along with former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks. Police now intend to go before a judge at the Old Bailey in London on 23 September, in an attempt to force the handover of documents relating to the source of information for a number of articles, including the article published by Hill and Davies on 4 July disclosing “the interception of the telephone of Milly Dowler”. Documents written by both reporters about the Milly Dowler story are covered by the terms of the production order police are now demanding. The application, authorised by Detective-Superintendent Mark Mitchell of Scotland Yard’s professional standards unit, claims that the published article could have disclosed information in breach of the 1989 Official Secrets Act. It is claimed Hill could have incited police working on the then Operation Weeting hacking inquiry into leaking information, both about Milly Dowler and about the identity of Coulson, Rebekah Brooks and other arrested newspaper executives. A police officer is also being investigated, Scotland Yard say, for breaching the Official Secrets Act, as well as alleged misconduct in public office, for which the maximum sentence is life imprisonment. An obscure clause – section 5 – of the 1989 Official Secrets Act, highly controversial at the time of its passing, allows individuals to be prosecuted for passing on “damaging” information leaked to them by government officials in breach of section 4 of the same act. This includes police information “likely to impede … the prosecution of suspected offenders”. The clause is aimed at those who deliberately derail investigations by, for example, tipping off a suspect about an impending police raid. But it is being used in this case in an unprecedented way, against individual journalists for publishing a news article. The Guardian’s reporters did not pay any police officers. Police claim their work might be undermined by the alleged leaks. The head of Operation Weeting, deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers, is on record deploring that some details of inquiries have apparently leaked to the Guardian. Some of the arrestees are reported to be already claiming that media publicity will prevent them getting a fair trial. Scotland Yard says it has not officially released any of the arrestees’ names, none of whom has as yet been charged with any offence. But they do not assert that anyone was “tipped off” by the arrest disclosures in the Guardian or other papers. Most of those questioned were arrested by appointment. The only previous attempt to use the 1989 Official Secrets Act against a journalist collapsed 11 years ago after a public outcry. Lieutenant Colonel Wylde, a former military intelligence officer, and author Tony Geraghty were arrested in December 1998 by defence ministry police after early morning raids at their homes. Both had computers and documents seized. This followed the publication of Geraghty’s book The Irish War, which describes two British army computer databases in Northern Ireland used to identify vehicles and suspects. Expert reports were produced by the defence showing the information was not damaging. After consultations with Labour attorney general Lord Williams of Mostyn, both cases were finally dropped in November 2000. Wylde’s lawyer, John Wadham, then of Liberty, said: “This case should never have got off the ground … This case is another nail in the coffin of the Official Secrets Act. The act is fundamentally flawed and needs to be reformed.” In the same year, police failed in a similar attempt to get a production order for journalistic material from the Guardian and the Observer, over correspondence with renegade MI5 officer David Shayler. The appeal court, led by Lord Justice Judge, ruled: “Unless there are compelling reasons of national security, the public is entitled to know the facts, and as the eyes and ears of the public, journalists are entitled to investigate and report the facts … Inconvenient or embarrassing revelations, whether for the security services, or for public authorities, should not be suppressed. “Legal proceedings directed towards the seizure of the working papers of an individual journalist, or the premises of the newspaper … tend to inhibit discussion … Compelling evidence would normally be needed to demonstrate that the public interest would be served by such proceedings. “Otherwise, to the public disadvantage, legitimate inquiry and discussion, and ‘the safety valve of effective investigative journalism’ … would be discouraged, perhaps stifled.” In 2009 the police threatened to prosecute Conservative MP Damian Green for “aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office”. The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, intervened in that case, saying he did not consider that the damage caused by the leaked information outweighed the importance of the freedom of the press. Only last week the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told MPs: “There is an important difference between off-the-record briefing and the payment of money by or to the police in return for information. “Journalists must operate within the law, but … we must be careful not to overreact in a way that would undermine the foundations of a free society.” At a speech at the Royal Television Society this week, Hunt praised the Guardian’s coverage of the hacking scandal, describing it as “investigative journalism of the highest quality”. The former Met commissioner Stephenson admitted to MPs that he had tried to talk the Guardian out of its phone-hacking campaign in December 2009. He added that “we should be grateful” to the Guardian for ignoring his advice and continuing its campaign. Phone hacking The Guardian Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Metropolitan police London Police Official Secrets Act David Leigh guardian.co.uk
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Trader was charged after more than 24 hours in Bishopsgate Police Station following his arrest at 3.30am on Thursday morning Kweku Adoboli, the 31-year-old one-time star trader at UBS, has been charged with fraud by abuse of position and false accounting barely 24 hours after the Swiss bank warned his alleged “unauthorised trading” could cause a $2bn (£1.3bn) loss. The City of London police said that Adoboli, British educated and of Ghanaian descent, remains in custody at Bishopsgate police station and will appear at City of London magistrates court later on Friday. “At 12.56hrs the Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charging of Kweku Adoboli, from Bethnal Green. City of London police has since charged the 31-year-old with fraud by abuse of position and false accounting. He remains in police custody and is due to appear at City of London magistrates this afternoon,” the police said. The forced added that the investigation is ongoing and officers continue to work in “close collaboration” with the Financial Services Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the CPS. He is understood to have hired Kingsley Napley, the firm of lawyers that represented Nick Leeson when his £800m rogue trading caused the collapse of Barings in 1995. There was no immediate response from the firm of lawyers. Adoboli was charged after more than 24 hours in Bishopsgate Police Station following his arrest at 3.30am on Thursday morning. His employers tipped off the police at 1am on Thursday after learning about his trading activities on the so-called Delta One desk in the heart of the third floor dealing room in UBS’s headquarters in Liverpool Street. The Swiss bank is expected to reveal more information about this alleged activities later on Friday. His registration with the Financial Services Authority was switched to “inactive” on Friday at the request of UBS, indicating that he is no longer working in that role. There are now expectations that the Swiss bank will scale back its investment banking operation in the City , potentially causing thousands of job cuts among the 6,000 City-based workforce. Kweku Adoboli UBS Banking Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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In this Sept. 2, 2011 photo Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen comme… Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos announces to the media the new… WROCLAW, Poland (AP) – Finland’s finance minister said she doesn’t expect the eurozone to resolve a dispute over her country’s demand for collateral for loans to Greece at a meeting Friday—adding to concerns over the currency union’s ability to stamp out its crippling debt crisis. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner joined the meeting in Wroclaw, Poland—the first time that a U.S. finance chief has attended such a gathering—in a sign of how the U.S. is getting increasingly concerned over the global impact of the…
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Amnesty International describes security move as biggest threat to human rights since January revolution Egyptians have returned to Tahrir Square to rally against the military junta’s reactivation of Mubarak-era emergency laws, and Amnesty International has described the move as the biggest threat to human rights in the country since the revolution of 25 January. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has ruled Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak earlier this year and has promised to hand over to an elected civilian government in November, announced that it was broadening the application of emergency law following clashes at the Israeli embassy in Cairo last Friday. The suspension of normal civilian rights and the existence of special “security courts” were a hallmark of the Mubarak regime, which maintained a permanent emergency law throughout the former dictator’s reign. Mubarak said last year that emergency laws would only be applied to those suspected of drug-related or terrorism offences, as public opposition to the virtually unlimited powers granted to the security forces began to grow. Following the ousting of Mubarak in February, SCAF promised to end emergency law as soon “as soon as current circumstances end”, but the military council has now chosen instead to widen the laws in order to combat what it says are acts of terrorism and anarchy. “These changes are a major threat to the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and the right to strike,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and north Africa. “We are looking at the most serious erosion of human rights in Egypt since Mubarak stepped down. The military authorities have essentially taken Egypt’s laws back to the bad old days. ” Activists fear the legal clampdown will be used to further stifle popular dissent against military rule. The new military decree extends emergency law to cover a glut of vaguely defined transgressions that could easily be applied to legitimate protest, including “infringing on others’ right to work”, “impeding the flow of traffic”, and “spreading false information in the media”. In the seven months since SCAF assumed power, several peaceful demonstrations have been violently broken up by soldiers, while media outlets and bloggers seen as critical of the junta have been taken off air or arrested. Meanwhile, an Egyptian steel magnate who rose to become one of the country’s most influential men under the old regime has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption. For many Egyptians, Ahmed Ezz, the owner of Ezz Steel and Egypt’s most important political power broker under Mubarak, came to symbolise everything that was wrong with the former president’s Egypt – a bastion of crony capitalism where the lines dividing the political and business elite became increasingly blurred. Calls to bring Ezz to justice have been one of the central demands of the revolution. Two other Mubarak-era figures were also handed jail sentences in the same court: Rachid Mohamed Rachid, the country’s former trade and industry minister, was given 15 years in absentia; and Amr Assal, an ex industrial chief, received 10 years. The three defendants were also ordered to pay fines totalling $335m (£212m) between them. Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Hosni Mubarak Middle East Africa Amnesty International Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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