The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is offering advice to parents and teens about sex education, including assurances that teens may “experiment” with homosexuality as part of
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Seven in 10 people say those convicted of riot-related offences should get tougher sentences than they would normally expect The British public strongly supports tougher sentencing for those involved in rioting, a Guardian/ICM poll has found. Some 70% of respondents believe that those convicted of riot-related offences should receive a tougher sentence than they might ordinarily expect. The severity of sentences has been the focus of much debate after two men were jailed for four years after using Facebook in a failed attempt to incite a riot and a woman jailed for receiving stolen shorts was freed on appeal . The poll also showed that support for the Conservatives in August remained steady at 37%, the same as July and one point ahead of Labour. The Liberal Democrats were up one point to 17%. David Cameron has championed severe punishments for rioters, telling the House of Commons that anyone convicted “should expect to go to jail”, and threw his support behind the sentencing in the Facebook case, saying the court decided “to send a tough message and I think it’s very good that courts are able to do that”. The prime minister has faced criticism for his stance, however, with MPs, lawyers and campaigners warning against “disproportionate” sentencing. The Guardian/ICM poll asked: “Do you think that people convicted of theft or other offences during the recent riots in London and elsewhere should or should not receive a tougher prison sentence than they might ordinarily expect in order to set an example of them?” Of the respondents, 70% believed they should receive a tougher sentence, while 25% believed they should not, with 5% saying they did not know. The survey found those who would vote Conservative were more likely than Labour and Lib Dem voters to favour tougher action (82% versus 65% and 60% respectively), while tougher sentencing is also preferred by more women (74%) than men (66%). The poll showed that those in social group DE were far more likely to think rioters should receive tougher sentencing than those in the higher income AB group. In the DE group 80% of people believed those involved should receive harsher sentences, while in the AB group only 64% were of the same opinion. Last week the leading criminal barrister John Cooper QC warned that judges and magistrates had a duty “not to be influenced by angry Britain”, describing some of the sentences handed down already as “disproportionate and somewhat hysterical”. Senior Liberal Democrats also urged caution, opening up a rift in the coalition. The Lib Dem peer Lord Macdonald, who led the prosecution service in England and Wales for five years, warned that the courts risked being swept up in a “collective loss of proportion” , passing jail terms that lack “humanity or justice”. His fellow peer Lord Carlile, the barrister who was until this year the government’s independent adviser on terrorism strategy, warned against ministerial interference in the judicial process, arguing that “just filling up prisons” would not prevent future problems. The former party leader Sir Menzies Campbell said it was important that “political influence is not directed at the judicial system”. “With all due deference to the prime minister, politicians should not be either cheering or booing in the matter of sentencing,” he said. • ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,004 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 19-21 August 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. UK riots Opinion polls Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
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Seven in 10 people say those convicted of riot-related offences should get tougher sentences than they would normally expect The British public strongly supports tougher sentencing for those involved in rioting, a Guardian/ICM poll has found. Some 70% of respondents believe that those convicted of riot-related offences should receive a tougher sentence than they might ordinarily expect. The severity of sentences has been the focus of much debate after two men were jailed for four years after using Facebook in a failed attempt to incite a riot and a woman jailed for receiving stolen shorts was freed on appeal . The poll also showed that support for the Conservatives in August remained steady at 37%, the same as July and one point ahead of Labour. The Liberal Democrats were up one point to 17%. David Cameron has championed severe punishments for rioters, telling the House of Commons that anyone convicted “should expect to go to jail”, and threw his support behind the sentencing in the Facebook case, saying the court decided “to send a tough message and I think it’s very good that courts are able to do that”. The prime minister has faced criticism for his stance, however, with MPs, lawyers and campaigners warning against “disproportionate” sentencing. The Guardian/ICM poll asked: “Do you think that people convicted of theft or other offences during the recent riots in London and elsewhere should or should not receive a tougher prison sentence than they might ordinarily expect in order to set an example of them?” Of the respondents, 70% believed they should receive a tougher sentence, while 25% believed they should not, with 5% saying they did not know. The survey found those who would vote Conservative were more likely than Labour and Lib Dem voters to favour tougher action (82% versus 65% and 60% respectively), while tougher sentencing is also preferred by more women (74%) than men (66%). The poll showed that those in social group DE were far more likely to think rioters should receive tougher sentencing than those in the higher income AB group. In the DE group 80% of people believed those involved should receive harsher sentences, while in the AB group only 64% were of the same opinion. Last week the leading criminal barrister John Cooper QC warned that judges and magistrates had a duty “not to be influenced by angry Britain”, describing some of the sentences handed down already as “disproportionate and somewhat hysterical”. Senior Liberal Democrats also urged caution, opening up a rift in the coalition. The Lib Dem peer Lord Macdonald, who led the prosecution service in England and Wales for five years, warned that the courts risked being swept up in a “collective loss of proportion” , passing jail terms that lack “humanity or justice”. His fellow peer Lord Carlile, the barrister who was until this year the government’s independent adviser on terrorism strategy, warned against ministerial interference in the judicial process, arguing that “just filling up prisons” would not prevent future problems. The former party leader Sir Menzies Campbell said it was important that “political influence is not directed at the judicial system”. “With all due deference to the prime minister, politicians should not be either cheering or booing in the matter of sentencing,” he said. • ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,004 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 19-21 August 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. UK riots Opinion polls Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
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• UK factory orders in better shape • Eurozone manufacturing starts contracting • German ZEW confidence index plunges • Drop in global demand blamed The eurozone economy slipped closer to stagnation this month as the region’s manufacturing sector contracted for the first time since September 2009. Data released on Tuesday showed that Germany’s private sector grew at its slowest pace in over two years in August, while France’s manufacturing output shrank, dragging the overall eurozone manufacturing sector into reverse. Economists warned that the European economy has slowed sharply in the last few months and may struggle to expand at all this quarter. “The eurozone economy grew only marginally again in August, suggesting that recent months have seen the weakest expansion for two years,” said Chris Williamson of Markit, which compiles the research. “The data raises the prospect that economic growth in the third quarter could be even slower than the disappointing 0.2% rise seen in the three months to June ,” he predicted. UK factories fared better during August, though, with the CBI reporting growth in order books and an increase in the number of manufacturers predicting increased output later this year. Confidence suffers Markit’s monthly healthcheck of the eurozone found that the total activity across the region was flat month-on-month at 51.1, above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction. But French manufacturing output dropped to 49.3, its first contraction since July 2009. The overall eurozone manufacturing sector came in at 49.7. Germany’s manufacturing sector, the powerhouse of Europe, increased its output to 52, but this was marred by a drop in service activity to just 50.4. Williamson said that the eurozone economy had suffered from a drop in global demand, which dampened demand for exports. The ongoing euro debt crisis has also hit business confidence. Seperate data from Germany underlined how the financial crisis has hit sentiment. The ZEW index, which tracks invester confidence, fell sharply this month. Economists said the size of the drop was surprising, and matched the plunge seen after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The ZEW economic expectations index dropped to -37.6 from a reading of -15.1 in July. “The skepticism with regard to future economic growth shown by a growing number of financial market experts during the previous months has increased dramatically,” said Wolfgang Franz, president of the Mannheim-based Center for European Economic Research, or ZEW. Subdued picture Martin van Vliet of ING said that the Markit data was not as bad as feared, but indicated that there was little sign of economic expansion in Europe. “Despite the lack of change from last month, the August flash PMI survey still paints a very subdued picture. With little prospect of a near-term pick-up in external demand and the impact of the recent financial market turbulence yet to fully feed through into activity we cannot be too complacent about the risk of a new eurozone recession,” van Vliet warned. Earlier, HSBC’s preliminary purchasing managers’ index showed that China’s manufacturing sector had contracted for the second month running in August. However there was optimism that the index rose to 49.8 from 49.3, showing that the decline had slowed. HSBC chief economist Qu Hongbin said this showed there was little risk of China’s economy suffering a “hard landing’, after years of strong growth. Europe Europe Manufacturing data Economics Manufacturing sector Global economy Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Critics say advice and information website selling hair removal products to young girls is ‘cynical’ and ‘clearly a marketing tool’ A leading UK manufacturer of major household brands has come under fire for “crass” and “exploitative” marketing of its body hair removal products to young girls barely into puberty. Procter & Gamble’s BeingGirl website, associated with its Tampax and Always brands of sanitary protection, offers advice and information about menstruation to girls who have recently started or are about to start their periods. It is actively promoted to young girls in thousands of schools as part of its parallel education scheme, the About You Personal Wellbeing programme, which provides free information and sample sanitary pads and tampons. But alongside advice it also directs users to features on “hot underwear” advertising press-on pads which can be worn with “sexy strings” and endorses the use of long-term body hair removal products, including epilators made by its own brand Braun. The Mothers’ Union said the website was “clearly a marketing tool” and its advertising should be clearly labelled as such so girls using the site knew they were being sold a product. Rachel Aston, social policy officer for the Mothers’ Union, said she feared the adverts would send the wrong message to girls at a vulnerable phase in their lives. “It’s telling [girls] from the outset that they should be removing hair, so it is reinforcing a particular view of how girls should look. It’s not entirely sensitive bombarding girls with the message that when they’ve got their periods they need to be worrying about their legs as well.” Rebecca Mordan of the London Feminist Network said she was “overwhelmed” by “a completely crass set of exploitative marketing values” expressed on the site. “It’s literally telling them that ‘BeingGirl’ is to be hairless as soon as, if not before, you have your first period – bearing in mind that some children start their periods as young as eight or nine.” Mordan also criticised the images of “hot underwear” and linked it with the “pornification of culture and of childhood”. She added: “This is literally adverts for sexy knickers and hairlessness. Everything about this site is abusive to children and abusive to women. I think it should be buried.” The controversy comes just weeks after the publication of the Bailey report into the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood , which singled out sexualised and gender-stereotyped clothing, products and services for children as the biggest areas of concern for parents, worried their offspring are being encouraged to grow up too soon. The report was published at the end of a six-month review by Reg Bailey, chief executive of the Mothers’ Union. David Cameron has promised a follow-up summit at Downing Street in October, but believes the problems thrown up are best resolved by the self-regulation of retailers, manufacturers and broadcasters. Site defence Well-known for its Gillette and Fairy brands, Procter & Gamble is a major sponsor of the 2012 Olympics, through its “P&G proud sponsor of mums” message and its recently announced Paralympics sponsorship campaign. A spokeswoman for the company defended the site, saying: “BeingGirl is a community website set up for teenage girls to provide advice, support and information throughout this life stage. This is more than just about menstruation – it covers all areas of puberty and development through these formative years, including hair growth and the choices this presents. We are clear on the site that the content is provided by P&G and that we feature our products throughout.” She said its broader personal wellbeing educational scheme was strongly supported by schools. “All the free educational information and materials are provided by P&G, supported by teachers and external category, health and education consultants. This is a programme that is held in very high regard and valued by the schools.” Dr Merran Toerien, a research fellow based at the University of York, who has previously published research on women’s body hair, criticised the website’s “cynical” attitude in advertising to such a young age group. “Obviously, the younger you can catch somebody into an ongoing lifelong cost implication [the better for a company]. “A lot of the women in my study spoke about the fact that removing hair gains you confidence. One of the arguments I put forward is [this] idea depends on a society in which being hairy is problematic; so we have our confidence taken away then get sold the solution to that lack of confidence. I think this website is inducting young women into that right from the word go.” Consumer affairs Children Women Family Feminism Parents and parenting Rebecca Smithers guardian.co.uk
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• Defiant Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appears in Tripoli • Hunt for Muammar Gaddafi continues • UN says more than 2,200 people killed in Syria crackdown 11.19am: Repressive regimes don’t all stick together – Bahrain has declared its recognition of Libya’s National Transitional Council. The kingdom’s state news agency said: In light of recent developments in Libya, the Kingdom of Bahrain reiterates its recognition of Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) as the sole legitimate representative of the brotherly Libyan people, wishes Libya to achieve prosperity, progress and stability, development and reconstruction. 11.08am: Sky News Alex Crawford describes “fierce fighting” outside Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound, in this Audioboo clip. _ 10.55am: The international criminal court now denies that it ever confirmed Saif al-Islam had been arrested. A live blog by the Libyan activists Feb 17, quoted spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah, telling the BBC: What we said yesterday is that we received information about the arrest of Saif al-Islam and we were trying to confirm that by contacting the National Transitional Council in Libya, but Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was not under the custody of the ICC. The media was reporting about his arrest. We tried to contact different persons of the National Transitional Council and there were different opinions and different answers. That’s why we said there was no official confirmation about his arrest. The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Julian Borger tweets: Seif al-Islam episode is enormously embarrassing for the ICC . Still not clear what happened. #ICC #Libya 10.49am: Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the Nato campaign should continue until security full security is established. Speaking at a press conference in Benghazi he also said frozen Libya assets should be release soon to the Libyan opposition, Reuters reports. 10.38am: After chairing a meeting of the government’s National Security Council, Nick Clegg said the reappearance of Saif al-Islam was “not the sign of some great comeback” for the regime. Clegg said it was “only a matter of time” before Gaddafi’s regime in Libya was defeated. He said rebels controlled “much but not all of Tripoli”. The deputy prime minister chaired the meeting as David Cameron resumed his holiday in Cornwall . 10.27am: A boat charted by the International Organisation for Migrants to rescue 300 people stranded in Tripoli can’t dock because of the security situation. In phone interview IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said: “We had been hoping to carry out the evacuation today. Unfortunately it [the boat] no longer has the security and safety guarantee it was given earlier. So as a result we will not dock the boat because it will not be safe for either our staff or the migrant to carry out the operation. What IOM will do however is keep the boat at sea until conditions improve. It is going to be an extremely difficult operation but we remain committed to carrying out.” Pandya said the IOM was keen to avoid _ 10.07am: Sky News’ Tripoli correspondent Alex Crawford confirms Luke’s reports of heavy fighting. Speaking to camera crouched behind a car, she described many casualties arriving at a hospital in central Tripoli. She also said supplies at the hospital were running low. Sky correspondent: Many casualties arriving at hospital in central Tripoli following intense fighting @AlexCrawfordSky Doctors seriously stretched in Tripoli’s only working hospital. Very few staff, piles of rubbish everywhere. 2 young children among wounded Sound of gunfire and shelling continues. Docs appeal for pressure on both sides to stop attacking the hospital. Horrendous conditions here 9.50am: After being interrupted by shelling Luke Harding in Tripoli resumes describing the battle for the city. Since we spoke more than 200 rebel vehicles have made a sedate cavalcade looping round the harbour and the old city, shooting and crying ‘God is great’ [heading] for the coastal road out west. It is not clear this is a retreat or a show of force. It is very hard to make sense of what is going on, but the battle is still going on as you can hear. I’m in the Corinthia hotel and it’s a bit like being in a reverberating amphitheatre. _ 9.28am: “I’ve got a front row stall seat on the battle,” Luke Harding reports above the crump of mortar shells in Tripoli. To my left is the old city which is in rebel hands – the rebels have got the harbour, the corniche, they’ve got Green Square. But to my right, where the fighting is going on, there are a series of tall government buildings where the rebels have taken up positions and they are now duking it out with Gaddafi forces in Bab al-Azizya, which is Gaddafi’s compound and the area where the Rixos hotel is situated. There is just a big battle going on [sound of shelling] that’s a big mortar. It is clear that the city is not in rebel hands, nor is it entirely in government hands. What we are looking at now is a Beirut-style situation. The west of city – the opposition have taken control of that – and the mood there is much calmer. But here in the heart of Tripoli there is this just this almighty fight. On the reappearance of Saif al-Islam, Luke said the it provided a psychological boost to loyalist fighters. But he added: “There isn’t anywhere for them to go from here. I can’t really see them recapturing the city. What I can envisage is them hanging on for some time, they have got a lot of ammunition, they’ve been expecting this, they’ve got heavy weaponry. Plus they’ve got all these captive journalists [in the Rixos hotel] …” At that point Luke had to cut the call short and take cover. _ 8.50am: Welcome to Middle East Live. It was reports of the arrest of Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam on Sunday night, confirmed by the international criminal court, which illustrated how close to collapse the Libyan regime had come. Saif’s defiant reappearance overnight suggests that the battle for Tripoli is far from over. “We are going to win” he said and asked about his indictment for war crimes he said: “Screw the criminal court.” _ Was Saif released as part of some kind of deal or did he escape? Waheed Burshan, a member of the National Transitional Council, told al-Jazeera: “We had confirmation Saif al-Islam was arrested, but we have no idea how he escaped.” Here are the other main developments: Libya • Opposition figure Ibrahim Sahad condemned the handling of another of Gaddafi’s sons, Mohammad, who also escaped on Monday. In an interview with the Australian broadcaster ABC, Sahad said: The way they dealt with Mohammed last night was not adequate… they wanted to show him the civilisation of this revolution. So they left him at home and they put some guards around the house, and the information now that he escaped. I mean this should not be done. It should be everybody from the Gaddafi family should be brought under arrest. • The head of the opposition National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil cautioned that “the real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured” . The Libyan leader’s whereabouts are still unknown, but US officials said they believed he was still in Libya. • Nato jets bombed Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli early on Tuesday, according to reports. Earlier, Nato said pro-Gaddafi forces fired at least three Scud missiles from the city of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace. • Libyan state TV is off the air after its headquarters was stormed by rebels. Rebel forces also claimed to have detained Hala Misrati, the Libyan state TV prestenter who famously vowed to die a martyr for Gaddafi while waving a gun on air on Sunday. • Some international journalists remain trapped in Tripoli’s five-star Rixos hotel, in a part of the city controlled by Gaddafi’s forces. The hotel is subject to frequent power cuts. One of those reporters, the BBC’s Matthew Price, tweets: #Rixos Journos have little Internet access and trying to conserve power/sat phones etc. But all ok, feel safer this am, no power though. • The New York Times provides a detailed account of the rebel offensive on Tripoli which was combined with an uprising of residents. They were aided by steady supplies of weapons, fuel, medicine and food from British, French and Qatari troops and an escalated bombing campaign by NATO jets and American Predator drones. Hundreds of rebels took part in secret military training inside Qatar. Rebel forces even advanced on Tripoli by boat, arranging a flotilla from the town of Misurata in an operation the rebels called Mermaid Dawn … The western offensive by the rebels galvanized opposition fighters in other parts of the country. American and NATO officials described a carefully coordinated three-pronged push on Tripoli, to drive fighters loyal to Colonel Qaddafi on the roads back toward the capital where NATO planes could bomb them. That push, concentrated to the west of Tripoli, was coordinated with the uprising on Saturday within Tripoli itself. • The hard part starts now , Martin Chulov, the Guardian’s former Baghdad correspondent, warns in an analysis of what the various rebels factions do now. The lessons of what becomes of a Middle East state that suddenly loses its strongman are recent and raw. More than eight years after Baghdad fell with the same ignominious haste as Tripoli, it remains a basket case of competing agendas, a disengaged political class and citizens left with the reality that the state neither has the capacity or the will to look after them. • The speed of the collapse of the Gaddafi regime presents serious problems, agues Daniel Serwer from the Johns Hopkins School of Advance International Studies. Speaking on Bloggingheads TV, Serwer said: “Had I been an active diplomat in this I would have worked very hard to try to get a formal turnover of power, because that’s what prevents the kind of stay-behind rebellion that we suffered in Iraq.” Syria • More than 2,200 people have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown on protests , the UN’s human rights commissioner Navi Pillay said as she condemned a shoot-to-kill policy by the regime. While demonstrations have been largely peaceful, the military and security forces have resorted to an apparent “shoot-to-kill” policy. Snipers on rooftops have targeted protesters, bystanders who were trying to help the wounded, and ambulances … As of today, over 2200 people have been killed since mass protests began in mid-March, with more than 350 people reportedly killed across Syria since the beginning of Ramadan. The military and security forces continue to employ excessive force, including heavy artillery, to quell peaceful demonstrations and regain control over the residents of various cities, particularly in Hama, Homs, Latakia and Deir Ezzor. The heavy shelling of al-Ramel Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia last week resulted in at least 4 people killed and the displacement of the 7,500 inhabitants of the camp. Despite assurances from President Assad to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday that military operations had finished, I regret to note that at least five people were killed around the country on Thursday and 34 more on Friday by Syrian military and security forces. • The Syrian government’s attempts to whitewash evidence of a brutal crackdown on the country’s five-month uprising appeared to backfire on Monday after a visiting UN humanitarian delegation was met by protesters waving SOS signs . Hundreds of demonstrators in Homs surrounded the UN car in the central New Clock square, shouting for the overthrow of the regime. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Syria Bashar Al-Assad Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
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Unsuitable housing, pesticide dangers and barriers to union membership catalogued by Human Rights Watch monitors There is no question of its flair for producing a world-class chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon or pinotage at an affordable price. But the provenance of South Africa’s wines is altogether less savoury, an investigation by human rights monitors has revealed . Workers on the country’s wine and fruit farms lead “dismal, dangerous lives,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which found on-site housing unfit for habitation, exposure to pesticides without proper safety equipment, lack of access to toilets or drinking water while working and barriers to union representation. Farm workers contribute millions to South Africa’s economy, with products that are sold in Tesco and other British supermarkets, yet they are among the lowest wage earners in the country, the group’s report says. Daniel Bekele, HRW’s Africa director, said: “The wealth and wellbeing these workers produce should not be rooted in human misery. The government and the industries and farmers themselves need to do a lot more to protect people who live and work on farms.” South Africa is the world’s seventh-biggest wine producer, filling the equivalent of more than 1.2bn bottles a year. The industry, concentrated in Western Cape province, contributes 26.2bn rand (£2.2bn) to the regional economy, according to a 2009 study. Tourists from around the world enjoy tastings, cellar tours and weddings at vineyards amid glorious scenery between well-heeled towns such as Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. South Africa has laws guaranteeing wages, benefits and safe working and housing for workers and other farm dwellers. But the government has largely failed to monitor conditions and enforce the law, HRW says. Its 96-page report, Ripe with Abuse: Human Rights Conditions in South Africa’s Fruit and Wine Industries, alleges: “Despite their critical role in the success of the country’s valuable fruit, wine, and tourism industries, farm workers benefit very little, in large part because they are subject to exploitative conditions and human rights abuses without sufficient protection of their rights.” Housing for some workers is claimed to be uninhabitable. One farm worker showed researchers a former pig stall, without electricity, water or protection from the elements, where he has lived with his wife and children for 10 years. His wife said: “It makes me very unhappy because I can’t guarantee safety of [my] children and can’t provide for [them].” Many workers live on farms with family members as part of their employment arrangement. Their land tenure rights are protected under legislation enacted in 1997. Yet, by civil society estimates, more than 930,000 people were evicted from South African farms between 1994 and 2004. Interviewees described a steady pace of evictions, particularly when labourers were no longer able to work. Evicted workers who spoke to HRW said they had not been given suitable alternative housing or adequate compensation to find new housing. Farmers sometimes resort to illegal tactics to force out farm dwellers, including cutting electricity or water. In one case, farm managers cut electricity for more than a year for a family with two children. Security guards on the farm harassed families in the middle of the night with dogs. HRW also alleges that occupationalhealth and safety conditions on many farms endanger workers. The majority of the current and former farm workers interviewed said they had been exposed to pesticides without adequate safety equipment. In addition, many employers jeopardise workers’ health by not providing them with legally required access to drinking water, hand-washing facilities or toilets. Bekele said: “Given what we know about the effects of pesticide use, it is unconscionable that some of these workers are not provided with appropriate safety equipment, even after they ask for it.” South Africa’s wine farms have a painful history. For centuries, workers were paid partly in alcohol in the so-called “dop” system, with pernicious health and social consequences. HRW found these payments had generally disappeared, although it did document two farms that provide wine as partial compensation. One worker was quoted in the report as saying: “During the week, I am given wine in the afternoon, at 12pm, and at 6pm in the evening. I also get this on Saturdays. On Sundays, we get wine in the morning, afternoon and evening. In the morning, we get it before 7am, at 12pm, and we have to do Sunday prayer and then get more wine at 6.30pm. If you don’t want the wine, then it’s your choice. Everybody is drinking except the children and the guy driving the school bus.” Farm workers are some of the most poorly organised in the country, It is estimated the percentage of workers represented by trade unions in the Western Cape agricultural sector is just 3%, compared with 30% among those with formal employment nationally. HRW found some farmers try to prevent workers from forming unions in spite of South Africa’s constitution and international law. Bekele said: “The answer is not to boycott South African products, because that could be disastrous for farm workers. But we are asking retailers to press their suppliers to ensure that there are decent conditions on the farms that produce the products they buy and sell to their customers.” The report is based on more than 260 interviews with farm workers, farm owners, civil society members, industry representatives, government officials, lawyers, union officials and academic experts. It did not trace the supply chain for the products and does not identify farms in order to reduce the risk of retaliation against workers. Representatives of the South African wine industry challenged the report’s findings. Su Birch, chief executive of Wines of South Africa, said: “Most of the farm workers interviewed were identified by unions and NGOs, who have a vested interest in presenting the worst of cases. The report plays down the significance of the wine industry’s substantial direct financial and indirect contribution to improving working conditions through Wieta [the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association] and fair trade and empowerment schemes. “The report makes only the scantiest reference to the many farm owners who comply with all legislation and go way beyond it. For every poor house on a farm, I can show you loads of good ones and some exceptional ones. Wine farmers are currently providing housing for over 200,000 workers, which represents an investment of billions of rands. Our industry is working hard to correct the wrongs of the past, and we accept that there is much work to be done. Even one case of abuse is one too many. But ‘ripe with abuse’? I don’t think so.” Vineyards have been passed down through generations of white owners. Workers are still invariably black or mixed race, although there are a growing number of black-owned cooperatives and labels . Sikhula Sonke , a women-led union of farm workers, says its members now earn the minimum wage of 1,375 rand (£115.82) a month, although campaigners believe a living wage should begin at 4,000 rand a month. For years, they have urged Tesco to use its multi-billion pound profits to help improve workers’ pay and conditions . Haidee-Laure Giles, international programmes officer at the anti-poverty group War on Want , said: “Britain ranks among the biggest importers of South African fruit and wine. “But retailers are maximising their profits at the expense of workers facing daily violations of their labour rights and from very basic to appalling living conditions. The UK government must establish a watchdog to prevent supermarkets benefiting from abuses against overseas workers.” South Africa Africa Food & drink industry Food & drink Human rights Wine Supermarkets Retail industry David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating agency, which faces an inquiry over subprime mortgages Standard & Poor’s president Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating firm at the end of the year. The decision follows the credit rating agency’s decision to downgrade US debt. S&P also faces an inquiry by the justice department into its ratings of subprime mortgage securities. Company sources said Sharma’s decision predated S&P’s historic downgrade of US debt earlier this month. The cut presaged a worldwide rout on the stock markets as it threatened to increase the US’s cost of borrowing and caused outrage in Washington. The treasury secretary Tim Geithner said the agency’s decision showed “stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal budget math”, and they had “reached absolutely the wrong conclusion”. Sharma, 55, is set to step down on 12 September and will be replaced by Douglas Peterson, 53, currently the chief operating officer of Citibank, the banking unit of Citigroup. Shareholders are currently pressing for a breakup of S&P’s parent company, McGraw-Hill. Sharma will remain with the company until the end of the year to help oversee McGraw-Hill’s review of its businesses. “We are pleased to welcome Doug to the important role of president of Standard & Poor’s as it continues to build on the enhancements of recent years and accelerates global growth,” Harold McGraw III, McGraw-Hill’s chief executive, said in a statement. “As we welcome Doug, I particularly want to thank Deven for his dedicated leadership of S&P.” S&P downgraded US debt from AAA to AA+ earlier this month and issued a report that criticised US debt levels, said not enough was being done to cut costs and raise revenues and slammed the political infighting that accompanied the US’s decision to raise its debt ceiling. The move, a first since S&P began rating the credit-worthiness of railroad bonds in 1860, came as ratings rivals Moody’s and Fitch said they were maintaining the US’s triple-A rating but had put the US on watch. The US attacked S&P after the downgrade, with a treasury officials accusing the firm of making a $2tr error in its calculations. Last week the New York Times reported the justice department was investigating whether the S&P improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis. The investigation reportedly started before the debt downgrade. Ratings agencies United States Financial crisis Global recession Financial sector Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating agency, which faces an inquiry over subprime mortgages Standard & Poor’s president Deven Sharma is to leave the credit rating firm at the end of the year. The decision follows the credit rating agency’s decision to downgrade US debt. S&P also faces an inquiry by the justice department into its ratings of subprime mortgage securities. Company sources said Sharma’s decision predated S&P’s historic downgrade of US debt earlier this month. The cut presaged a worldwide rout on the stock markets as it threatened to increase the US’s cost of borrowing and caused outrage in Washington. The treasury secretary Tim Geithner said the agency’s decision showed “stunning lack of knowledge about basic US fiscal budget math”, and they had “reached absolutely the wrong conclusion”. Sharma, 55, is set to step down on 12 September and will be replaced by Douglas Peterson, 53, currently the chief operating officer of Citibank, the banking unit of Citigroup. Shareholders are currently pressing for a breakup of S&P’s parent company, McGraw-Hill. Sharma will remain with the company until the end of the year to help oversee McGraw-Hill’s review of its businesses. “We are pleased to welcome Doug to the important role of president of Standard & Poor’s as it continues to build on the enhancements of recent years and accelerates global growth,” Harold McGraw III, McGraw-Hill’s chief executive, said in a statement. “As we welcome Doug, I particularly want to thank Deven for his dedicated leadership of S&P.” S&P downgraded US debt from AAA to AA+ earlier this month and issued a report that criticised US debt levels, said not enough was being done to cut costs and raise revenues and slammed the political infighting that accompanied the US’s decision to raise its debt ceiling. The move, a first since S&P began rating the credit-worthiness of railroad bonds in 1860, came as ratings rivals Moody’s and Fitch said they were maintaining the US’s triple-A rating but had put the US on watch. The US attacked S&P after the downgrade, with a treasury officials accusing the firm of making a $2tr error in its calculations. Last week the New York Times reported the justice department was investigating whether the S&P improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis. The investigation reportedly started before the debt downgrade. Ratings agencies United States Financial crisis Global recession Financial sector Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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North Korean leader arrives by armoured train on first visit to Russia in nine years, to discuss natural gas pipeline deal Kim Jong-il has travelled by armoured train to eastern Siberia for a summit with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. The North Korean leader arrived in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal, Russian news agencies reported. Kim’s motorcade left town in the direction of Turka, a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal. The Yonhap news agency said the Medvedev-Kim summit was expected to take place on Wednesday. The talks could focus on a deal for a pipeline that would stream Russian natural gas through the North’s territory to the South. South Korean media said the North could earn up to $100m a year. There were signs that preparations were being made for Kim to visit Turka. The Baikal Daily website quoted residents as saying that a local police officer had been making the rounds to record the names and addresses of all the people in the village. The visit is shrouded in mystery. A few people managed to take photos of Kim at his previous stop on Sunday, but heavy police cordons kept the press in Ulan-Ude out of the train station. Kim’s train crossed into Russia on Saturday morning and passed through Khabarovsk before heading west along a railway running roughly parallel with Russia’s borders with China and Mongolia. It is Kim’s first visit to Russia in nine years. North Korea is also pushing to restart six-nation nuclear disarmament talks in exchange for aid, after more than a year of tension during which it shelled a South Korean border island and allegedly torpedoed a South Korean warship. Russian military officials arrived in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on Monday for a five-day visit. The Russian defence ministry said the talks would focus on the renewal of military co-operation between the countries, possible joint exercises “of a humanitarian nature” and an exchange of friendly visits by Russian and North Korean ships, the Itar-Tass news agency reported. The North, which has long experienced chronic food shortages, has been hit with heavy flooding in recent weeks. The Korea Herald newspaper stated bluntly a strain of thinking in Seoul in an editorial on Tuesday: “It does not take genius to guess why Kim is visiting Russia. [He] desperately needs economic aid.” Kim Jong-il North Korea Russia Dmitry Medvedev Europe guardian.co.uk
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