Disorganisation and splits within activists’ ranks said to deter others from joining movement Syria’s anti-government protesters are battling against internal divisions and growing frustration as the movement against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, now in its third month, appears to have reached a stalemate. Unlike Egypt and Tunisia, where the leaders took their leave in a relatively swift and peaceful manner, protesters are realising that Syria’s regime, willing to shoot dead hundreds and lock up thousands to hang on to power, is a harder nut to crack. With the known death toll approaching 900 after 76 people were killed at the weekend, protesters are starting to reflect on what more they can do. “We want to regain our dignity and liberty, and be able to choose our government freely. Other than that there is little agreement,” said Waleed al-Bunni, a doctor and dissident currently in hiding. There is disagreement about whether or not to negotiate with the government, what tactics to adopt for the street protests, and even whether the demonstrations began too soon. “Maybe we should have waited and got better organised before we took to the streets,” said one protester in his 20s in the central city of Homs. A middle-aged woman whose son is out protesting said she offered to send him to Egypt to learn from activists but “he and his friends were so enthused by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia they couldn’t wait”. But others said they had to take the opportunity presented by the initial victories of the Arab spring. Many in urban centres are disconnected from a mainly rural uprising, and tribal groups have their own specific codes, requiring revenge for bloodshed, said a diplomat in Damascus. When on 13 May the government said it would open a national dialogue – a pledge that looks increasingly insincere – opposition figures took different stances. Older veteran figures such as Louay Hussein, an Alawite writer who met presidential emissaries, advocated negotiations. But others, such as Razan Zeitouneh, a 35-year-old lawyer and activist, rejected any form of contact. “I am adamantly opposed to dialogue before all violence is stopped and all political prisoners are released,” she said. This disorganisation has alienated some of those who would have joined the protest movement. Two months of action have polarised Syrians. Those advocating change encompass all ages, levels of education and religions but predominantly young men are taking to the streets. “I fear people see young men in tracksuits or look at people coming out in rural areas and don’t see it as a movement that they relate to,” said the middle-aged woman. A university graduate and young professional in the capital said she would like change but “these people don’t know what they want”. What started as disparate demands – outrage at the torture of a group of children in Deraa and corruption of the governor in Homs – crystallised as protesters became united in anger at violence meted out by the regime. But more recently, the lack of a common strategy is becoming more evident. Nidaa Hassan is a pseudonym for a journalist in Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad Syria Middle East Protest Nidaa Hassan guardian.co.uk
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Northern Irish solicitor murdered by paramilitaries was, however, threatened by police before she was killed by car bomb The security forces did not collude directly with loyalist paramilitaries who murdered the Northern Ireland solicitor Rosemary Nelson, a public inquiry has concluded. But the 40-year-old lawyer was abused and threatened by Royal Ulster Constabulary officers before she was killed by a bomb under her car at her home in Lurgan in 1999, the inquiry found. The conclusion of the long-running inquiry was welcomed by the Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Patterson, as proof there had been no “conspiracy”. The report’s damaging passages, however, highlight concerns raised by human rights groups during the Troubles. Lurgan, in mid-Ulster, has been a centre of sectarian conflict. It is now the centre of resurgent dissident republicanism. Nelson, who represented clients in many terrorism cases, became identified in the eyes of local loyalists with republican clients. That perception was, at the very least, reinforced by the police, the report said. An assault on Nelson by officers in Portadown two years before her death “had the effect of legitimising her as a target” in the eyes of loyalists, it noted. RUC intelligence about her had also leaked out into the community. “There is no evidence of any act by or within any of the state agencies [RUC, Northern Ireland Office (NIO), the army or MI5] which directly facilitated Rosemary Nelson’s murder,” the inquiry concluded. “But we cannot exclude the possibility of a rogue member or members of the RUC or the army in some way assisting the murderers to target [her].” It added: “Some members of the RUC made abusive and/or threatening remarks about Rosemary Nelson to her clients. This became publicly known.” There was also negligence by state agencies which failed to protect her. Instead they rendered her “more at risk and more vulnerable,” the inquiry found. The local RUC – apart from “negligently” failing to stop officers from threatening and abusing her – failed to follow though on promises to pay special attention to her home and offices, it said. “There was a corporate failure by the RUC to warn Rosemary Nelson of her vulnerability and offer her security advice.” RUC Special Branch is criticised for providing “incomplete” cooperation. They are said to have been “over-possessive” about their intelligence. The NIO is blamed for dealing with warnings about the threat to her safety from human rights groups in a “mechanistic way” and for failing to get involved “proactively”. Presenting the report to the House of Commons, Patterson said: “I am profoundly sorry that omissions by the state rendered Rosemary Nelson more at risk and more vulnerable.” “It is clear that just as Lord Saville found no evidence of a conspiracy by the British state; just as Lord Maclean found no evidence of state collusion in the murder of [the loyalist] Billy Wright; so this panel finds no evidence of any act by the state which directly facilitated Rosemary Nelson’s murder.” Margaret Ritchie, leader of the Social Democrat and Labour party, said: “I am very disturbed at some of the findings of the inquiry into the murder of Rosemary Nelson. It is quite clear the report raises serious issues and identifies major failings. “Rosemary Nelson made it her duty to uphold law, order and justice on behalf of society and its citizens. It is clear that the authorities failed to uphold their duty of care towards her as a citizen and offer reasonable protection. “If these failings are not tantamount to collusion then exactly what do they amount to? “To this day no one has been charged with Rosemary Nelson’s murder – all efforts must be redoubled in order to bring those responsible to justice.” The RUC has since been reformed as the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Police Crime Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Lansley admits the bill may need ‘recommittal’ for more scrutiny after changes, delaying its passage through the Commons The changes to the government’s flagship NHS bill could be so substantial that it has to undergo fresh scrutiny by MPs – delaying its passage through the Commons, the health secretary said on Monday. The bill has already passed through the committee stage, where it was scrutinised line by line by MPs, but the proposals have been paused for a “listening exercise” with NHS staff and the public. A panel of experts, known as the Future Forum, was tasked with hearing concerns about the bill – a process that ends next week. In an online question and answer session with Guardian readers , the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, answered a post about “recommitting” the bill to the house. “We won’t decide that until we have received the NHS Future Forum report and have responded to that. I told the House of Commons on 4 April that we would ensure proper scrutiny of the bill – we have done that so far and we will continue to do so,” he wrote. Nick Parrott, a public policy consultant who posed the question, emailed to say the last time anything close to it happened was 2003 “on the hunting bill when the house voted to fundamentally change the bill at report stage – banning fox hunting rather than licensing it. But that was very different, not least because it was a free rather than whipped vote.” Parrott said that before 2003, legislation was recommitted in 1951 with the mineral workings bill and two years earlier with a criminal justice (Scotland) bill. Lansley appeared at ease on the Guardian’s NHS live blog – posting 17 times in an hour in a wide-ranging discussion. He told readers he had never used private healthcare: “I always use the NHS.” He acknowledged that the duty of the health regulator, Monitor, should be to “promote the best interests of patients” rather than to promote competition as originally proposed – conceding ground to the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg. The health secretary said that although GPs were a good starting point for commissioning, they might need help from others – signalling another retreat. “When it comes to designing specific services, they will need to work with others who have the right expertise, like specialist nurses and hospital doctors,” he said. He explicitly ruled out suggestions that his bill was about privatisation and said it would “not allow any new charges”. He acknowledged there had been “failures” and that there was “misinformation and misunderstanding” surrounding the bill. He defended his plans to end the secretary of state’s duty to “provide” a comprehensive health service – a flashpoint with critics who claim he wants to wash his hands of the NHS. He said his expert committee were looking to see if the bill could be made “stronger”. “It didn’t say the secretary of state should ‘provide’, because the bill intends that the secretary of state should delegate the responsibility and provision of this duty to the NHS Commissioning Board. This is one area I know the NHS Future Forum are looking at to see if the legislation can be stronger,” he said. NHS Health policy Andrew Lansley Health Public services policy Rowenna Davis Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk
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Penny Johnson sued Dr Le Roux Fourie after cosmetic procedures caused nerve damage and left her unable to work A businesswoman has been awarded nearly £6.2m in damages over a botched facelift after suing a plastic surgeon who she said had decided to “play God” with her life by carrying out experimental surgery. Penny Johnson, 49, took legal action against Dr Le Roux Fourie after a procedure in 2003 left her with nerve damage and what she described as a “monster eye” following the operation at Bupa Methley Park hospital in Leeds. Johnson, an IT and financial consultant from Godstone, Surrey, said she was unable to work and lost about £54m when her business went bankrupt. At the high court in February, Johnson asked Mr Justice Owen to award her a proportion of the £54m which she said was her potential loss, as a 50% shareholder, when Bishop Cavanagh failed in 2009. The judge gave his ruling in the case, in which Fourie admitted liability, and awarded her £6,190,884.92 for lost earnings. During the hearing Johnson said: “My face is constantly contracting, I don’t sleep and I have a permanent buzzing around my eye which can be so intense that I can’t think about anything.” Alain Choo Choy QC, for Fourie, who put the potential business loss at only £9m, did not accept the surgery was experimental. He said the claim that Johnson’s company lost out on a series of lucrative contracts was unrealistic and deluded. It was accepted that her injuries restricted her ability to work to some extent but the business had failed for unrelated commercial and economic reasons. During her absence, the company was managed by her husband, Peter, a businessman with whom she now owns another business, BC Direct, and other senior colleagues. The bulk of the award related to lost earnings, both past and future. In his ruling, the judge said that Johnson had been a confident, happy and outstandingly successful woman with a full and rewarding family and social life but the negligent surgery had had serious consequences – both physical and psychological – and resulted in a prolonged adjustment disorder with features of anxiety and depression. As he observed during the trial, the facial twitching she suffered was “virtually constant”. It was also clear that the injuries from the facelift and from the replacement of pre-existing breast implants, which was carried out at the same time, imposed very considerable stress upon her relationship with her husband. “Their marriage has survived; but the claimant said in evidence that she is no longer a wife to her husband. “He says that she is now a completely different person and that their marriage is not what it used to be. “They no longer go out together as they used regularly to do, and have become detached from the close knit group of friends whose company they used to enjoy.” He awarded a total of £80,000 damages for the facial disfigurement, the asymmetry and pain caused by the breast surgery and the psychological consequences of the injuries. Assessing Johnson’s claim for loss of earnings, the judge said that her projections were the product of her intense disappointment at the “devastating” consequences so far as the business of Bishop Cavanagh was concerned. “She has understandably become preoccupied by what might have been, which has affected her judgment as to what could and would in reality have been achieved.” It was clear to him that she had persuaded herself that its prospects were far better than could realistically be justified. As to residual earning capacity, it was clear that Johnson functioned intellectually at a very high level and continued to have the potential to deploy her outstanding abilities in the business context. But account had to be taken of the uncertain prognosis for her psychiatric symptoms. “Unless she makes a full recovery, and unless she recovers some vestige of her former self confidence, the prospect of engagement in business activities that involve face-to-face contact with others is limited.” Crime Plastic surgery Health & wellbeing Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Let’s pick up where we left on Friday. Judgment Day is coming for the Senate Republicans this week, and man, they are squirming. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell went on “Fox News Sunday” over the weekend and once again could not muster up the courage to fully embrace Paul Ryan’s disastrous budget plan . McConnell was so scared of supporting the Ryan plan to gut Medicare that he could not even say whether he supported all of the provisions of this budget plan. Meanwhile Senator Scott Brown has completed his flippity flop – known in the press world as “ a walk back ” – by now coming out against the Ryan plan. Uh, whatever you say Senator. As the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee noted, “Barn Coat” Brown is a “little light on straight talk” (via email): “Scott Brown has lost his barn coat sheen. He talks like a D.C. politician who is trying to have it both ways and hide his own extreme positions,” said Matt Canter, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Brown’s op-ed today was certainly a tantalizing read, but there is still so much that Brown is refusing to tell his constituents about where he stands when it comes to Medicare and protecting seniors.” So the Republicans are clearly scared . Their anxiety is only going to intensify if they manage to choke away what should have been an easy win an upcoming special election tomorrow in New York’s 26th District. Any loss there for the Republican candidate would be nothing short of an epic disaster and could become foreshadowing of how House Republicans will remain haunted by their vote to end Medicare as we know it. I mean even the Politico – the inside-the-Beltway house organ for the GOP – is now calling the Ryan’s budget plan to gut Medicare a “political time bomb” for the Republican party (HT Benen ): “It might be a political time bomb — that’s what GOP pollsters warned as House Republicans prepared for the April 15 vote on Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget, with its plan to dramatically remake Medicare. No matter how favorably pollsters with the Tarrance Group or other firms spun the bill in their pitch — casting it as the only path to saving the beloved health entitlement for seniors — the Ryan budget’s approval rating barely budged above the high-30s or its disapproval below 50 percent, according to a Republican operative familiar with the presentation. The poll numbers on the plan were so toxic — nearly as bad as those of President Barack Obama’s health reform bill at the nadir of its unpopularity — that staffers with the National Republican Congressional Committee warned leadership, “You might not want to go there” in a series of tense pre-vote meetings. Ouch. No wonder Senator McConnell went to Fox to desperately try out lines like this : “Let’s just stipulate that nobody is trying to throw Grandma off the cliff,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on “Fox News Sunday.” It’s not that easy, Senator McConnell. If you and your colleagues in the Republican conference do not want to throw Grandma off the cliff , then you will need to come out and vote against the Ryan budget plan. We know, it’s a lose-lose proposition for the Republican Senators who are now part of a party dominated by extreme, nutty ideologues. That is their problem though. They either have to take a stand against the Ryan plan or show their support for it. They cannot have it both ways, just like “Barn Coat” Brown.
Continue reading …Too good to not share. Video available from Irish news agency RTE . Read more here .
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Click here to view this media Click here to view this media Roger Ailes has been a brilliant TV man who has turned Fox News into a right-wing ratings winner on cable TV. However, some of the choices he’s made haven’t panned out in the long run for the GOP and he’s been turning on the people he helped create. First Glenn Beck, and now, Momma Bear Palin. Or so we’re told in a great piece in the NY Mag: All the 2012 candidates know that Ailes is a crucial constituency. “You can’t run for the Republican nomination without talking to Roger,” one GOPer told me. “Every single candidate has consulted with Roger.” But he hasn’t found any of them, including the adults in the room—Jon Huntsman, Mitch Daniels, Mitt Romney—compelling. “He finds flaws in every one,” says a person familiar with his thinking. “He thinks things are going in a bad direction,” another Republican close to Ailes told me. “Roger is worried about the future of the country. He thinks the election of Obama is a disaster. He thinks Palin is an idiot. He thinks she’s stupid. He helped boost her up. People like Sarah Palin haven’t elevated the conservative movement.” In the aftermath of the Tucson rampage, the national mood seemed to pivot. Ailes recognized that a Fox brand defined by Palin could be politically vulnerable. Two days after the shooting, he gave an interview to Russell Simmons and told him both sides needed to lower the temperature. “I told all of our guys, ‘Shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually.’ ” “Roger thinks Palin is an idiot. People like her haven’t elevated the conservative movement.” For Ailes, Tucson was a turning point, suggesting an end to the silly season that had lasted most of Obama’s term as president and that Ailes had promoted and profited from. While Sean Hannity and other Fox pundits continue to hammer away at Obama, Ailes is hedging his bets. The network is pushing to make news anchor Bret Baier a bigger star. Shepard Smith’s newscast has flashes of outright liberalism. And last month, Ailes encouraged Bill O’Reilly—who seemed to be fading at the height of Beck’s power but now has been recast as the right’s reasonable man, Jon Stewart’s comic foil—to shoot down the “birther” conspiracy and other assorted right-wing myths that have dogged Obama since his election. It’s a long piece and well worth the read. Ailes was successful in reigniting the right-wing base and helping them to take back the House, so I’m not celebrating this story as much as some people are. Transmitting John Birch Society and Ayn Rand beliefs on a massive scale has only damaged America and the working class that helps make him as rich as he is.
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Results seen as protest vote against Spain’s José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s handling of economy since 2008 The PSOE socialist party of Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is licking its wounds after defeat by the conservative opposition People’s party (PP) in municipal and regional elections. In what was widely seen as a protest vote against Zapatero himself and his handling of Spain’s economy, his party lost control of key city halls in places such as Barcelona and Seville while the PP took control of most of the country’s powerful regional governments. The central Castilla La Mancha region, Aragon and the Balearic islands all ejected socialist administrations. “We are aware of the situation that had distanced people from our party and caused them to criticise us with their vote or abstention,” party spokesman José Blanco said. The socialist drubbing came just 10 months before a general election and appeared to clear the way for PP leader Mariano Rajoy to take possession of the prime minister’s Moncloa Palace residence on his third attempt. The voting coincided with the eruption of numerous popular protests against established politics across Spain, with demonstrators camping out in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and in dozens of other cities. A backdrop of 21% unemployment and sluggish growth has spread pessimism throughout Spain as the country struggles to find its feet after the global 2008 financial crash. The socialists lost one in five voters on Sunday, compared with the municipal elections of 2007. Not all those votes were picked up by other mainstream parties, however, and the number of spoilt ballots doubled. But overall turnout was a high 66%. Zapatero is blamed by some for mismanaging a debt crisis that saw Spain on the edge of disaster last year. Others dislike the austerity measures he has since imposed in order to avoid a Portuguese- or Greek-style debacle in Spain. His popularity has plunged since a U-turn last year saw him bring in a strict deficit-cutting plan, which he has pledged to stick to, along with labour and pensions reforms. Markets reacted nervously to the poll result on Monday, pushing up the price of Spanish bonds and pushing down Spanish share prices. The PP urged Zapatero to call a snap general election. “Zapatero and the whole socialist party must reflect on what has happened. Spain cannot waste another year like this,” said the party’s general secretary María Dolores de Cospedal. The one socialist leader to have survived Sunday’s debacle, the head of the Extramadura regional government Guillermo Fernández, also suggested that an early general election might be considered. Zapatero is not standing for re-election so the socialists must first choose a new leader to take them into the 2012 poll, with deputy prime minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and defence minister Carme Chacón regarded as favourites. Party officials said that a timetable for electing the new leader would be set on Saturday. With a general election due in Portugal on 5 June, and with opinion polls showing that socialist prime minister José Sócrates will struggle to hang on to power, the rolling back of leftwing politics that has already taken place in northern Europe now appears to have moved south. Spain José Luis Zapatero Europe Global recession Protest Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Results seen as protest vote against Spain’s José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s handling of economy since 2008 The PSOE socialist party of Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is licking its wounds after defeat by the conservative opposition People’s party (PP) in municipal and regional elections. In what was widely seen as a protest vote against Zapatero himself and his handling of Spain’s economy, his party lost control of key city halls in places such as Barcelona and Seville while the PP took control of most of the country’s powerful regional governments. The central Castilla La Mancha region, Aragon and the Balearic islands all ejected socialist administrations. “We are aware of the situation that had distanced people from our party and caused them to criticise us with their vote or abstention,” party spokesman José Blanco said. The socialist drubbing came just 10 months before a general election and appeared to clear the way for PP leader Mariano Rajoy to take possession of the prime minister’s Moncloa Palace residence on his third attempt. The voting coincided with the eruption of numerous popular protests against established politics across Spain, with demonstrators camping out in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and in dozens of other cities. A backdrop of 21% unemployment and sluggish growth has spread pessimism throughout Spain as the country struggles to find its feet after the global 2008 financial crash. The socialists lost one in five voters on Sunday, compared with the municipal elections of 2007. Not all those votes were picked up by other mainstream parties, however, and the number of spoilt ballots doubled. But overall turnout was a high 66%. Zapatero is blamed by some for mismanaging a debt crisis that saw Spain on the edge of disaster last year. Others dislike the austerity measures he has since imposed in order to avoid a Portuguese- or Greek-style debacle in Spain. His popularity has plunged since a U-turn last year saw him bring in a strict deficit-cutting plan, which he has pledged to stick to, along with labour and pensions reforms. Markets reacted nervously to the poll result on Monday, pushing up the price of Spanish bonds and pushing down Spanish share prices. The PP urged Zapatero to call a snap general election. “Zapatero and the whole socialist party must reflect on what has happened. Spain cannot waste another year like this,” said the party’s general secretary María Dolores de Cospedal. The one socialist leader to have survived Sunday’s debacle, the head of the Extramadura regional government Guillermo Fernández, also suggested that an early general election might be considered. Zapatero is not standing for re-election so the socialists must first choose a new leader to take them into the 2012 poll, with deputy prime minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and defence minister Carme Chacón regarded as favourites. Party officials said that a timetable for electing the new leader would be set on Saturday. With a general election due in Portugal on 5 June, and with opinion polls showing that socialist prime minister José Sócrates will struggle to hang on to power, the rolling back of leftwing politics that has already taken place in northern Europe now appears to have moved south. Spain José Luis Zapatero Europe Global recession Protest Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Results seen as protest vote against Spain’s José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s handling of economy since 2008 The PSOE socialist party of Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is licking its wounds after defeat by the conservative opposition People’s party (PP) in municipal and regional elections. In what was widely seen as a protest vote against Zapatero himself and his handling of Spain’s economy, his party lost control of key city halls in places such as Barcelona and Seville while the PP took control of most of the country’s powerful regional governments. The central Castilla La Mancha region, Aragon and the Balearic islands all ejected socialist administrations. “We are aware of the situation that had distanced people from our party and caused them to criticise us with their vote or abstention,” party spokesman José Blanco said. The socialist drubbing came just 10 months before a general election and appeared to clear the way for PP leader Mariano Rajoy to take possession of the prime minister’s Moncloa Palace residence on his third attempt. The voting coincided with the eruption of numerous popular protests against established politics across Spain, with demonstrators camping out in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and in dozens of other cities. A backdrop of 21% unemployment and sluggish growth has spread pessimism throughout Spain as the country struggles to find its feet after the global 2008 financial crash. The socialists lost one in five voters on Sunday, compared with the municipal elections of 2007. Not all those votes were picked up by other mainstream parties, however, and the number of spoilt ballots doubled. But overall turnout was a high 66%. Zapatero is blamed by some for mismanaging a debt crisis that saw Spain on the edge of disaster last year. Others dislike the austerity measures he has since imposed in order to avoid a Portuguese- or Greek-style debacle in Spain. His popularity has plunged since a U-turn last year saw him bring in a strict deficit-cutting plan, which he has pledged to stick to, along with labour and pensions reforms. Markets reacted nervously to the poll result on Monday, pushing up the price of Spanish bonds and pushing down Spanish share prices. The PP urged Zapatero to call a snap general election. “Zapatero and the whole socialist party must reflect on what has happened. Spain cannot waste another year like this,” said the party’s general secretary María Dolores de Cospedal. The one socialist leader to have survived Sunday’s debacle, the head of the Extramadura regional government Guillermo Fernández, also suggested that an early general election might be considered. Zapatero is not standing for re-election so the socialists must first choose a new leader to take them into the 2012 poll, with deputy prime minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and defence minister Carme Chacón regarded as favourites. Party officials said that a timetable for electing the new leader would be set on Saturday. With a general election due in Portugal on 5 June, and with opinion polls showing that socialist prime minister José Sócrates will struggle to hang on to power, the rolling back of leftwing politics that has already taken place in northern Europe now appears to have moved south. Spain José Luis Zapatero Europe Global recession Protest Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk
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