US defence secretary confirms US is in talks with the Taliban, but said it could take months to broker a peace deal The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, has confirmed that America is in direct talks with the Taliban, but said it could be months before efforts to broker a peace deal in the country bear fruit. Gates, who steps down at the end of the month, said there had been contacts between United States and the Taliban in recent weeks, headed by the State Department. “There’s been outreach on the part of a number of countries, including the United States. I would say that these contacts are very preliminary at this point,” he told the CNN program “State of the Union”. The comments from the outgoing U.S. defence chief were aired a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the United States was in contact with the Taliban, a striking public acknowledgment of a peace initiative that has been cloaked with secrecy. Karzai said an Afghan push toward peace talks, after nearly a decade of war, had not yet reached a stage where the government and insurgents were meeting, but their representatives had been in touch. “Peace talks are going on with the Taliban. The foreign military and especially the United States itself is going ahead with these negotiations,” Karzai said in a speech in Kabul. The comments come as President Barack Obama prepares to announce the size and nature of the initial U.S. drawdown from Afghanistan nearly 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. Obama, who has increased the size of the U.S. force by about 65,000 soldiers since he took office in early 2009, is hoping to move definitively toward ending the war as he faces sharp fiscal pressures and eyes his 2012 re-election campaign. But Gates cautioned the peace initiative would be fraught with challenges, including locating members of the Taliban who could credibly speak for its Pakistan-based leadership. “Who really represents the Taliban?” Gates said. “… We don’t want to end up having a conversation at some point with somebody who is basically a freelancer.” Gates added, “My own view is that real reconciliation talks are not likely to be able to make any substantive headway until at least this winter.” “I think that the Taliban have to feel themselves under military pressure, and begin to believe that they can’t win before they’re willing to have a serious conversation.” U.S. commanders are hailing success in pushing the Taliban out of key parts of southern Afghanistan, but violence has surged and the insurgency has become even more fierce along Afghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan. Western military leaders say they have weakened the Taliban but predict more intense fighting ahead just as Afghan forces start to take over from the Nato-led force in some areas. The Obama administration, which is reassessing its role in Afghanistan after a raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, believes the Afghan war cannot be concluded without a political settlement, as distasteful as it may be to negotiate with a group it has been battling for years. Gates said al-Qaida has been “significantly weakened” but the United States still worries about the militant group’s central organisation and branches in places like Yemen and North Africa. Gates noted that Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri has taken the helm of al-Qaida after bin Laden’s death. “The question is whether Zawahiri, the new leader taking bin Laden’s place, can hold these groups together in some kind of a cohesive movement, or whether it begins to splinter, and they become essentially regional terrorist groups that are more focused on regional targets,” Gates said. Afghanistan Taliban US foreign policy United States Ayman al-Zawahiri guardian.co.uk
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Critics say the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s adoption of David Cameron slogan represents political interference Academics are co-ordinating a mass resignation from one of Britain’s biggest university funding councils in protest over plans to fund research into David Cameron’s “big society”. Organisers of the protest have told the Guardian that more than 30 professors will resign from their posts as peer reviewers for the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the next fortnight because the AHRC’s chief executive has refused to back down over plans to promote the big society as a topic for humanities research. Critics of the AHRC’s decision say adopting the Tory slogan represents political interference, making the funding body an “arm of the Department for Education”. With a budget of £102m, the AHRC is the biggest funder of humanities work in universities in England and Wales and is sponsored by the business department. Under the long-standing Haldane principle, research funds are meant to be free from political interference . Since the publication of the AHRC strategy last December, which refers to the big society six times, thousands of academics, 30 representative bodies of academic disciplines, and UCU, the main college lecturers’ union, have signed petitions and passed motions objecting to the plans. The AHRC’s chief executive, Prof Rick Rylance, denied there had been any government interference in the decision, but told the Guardian he would have to go back to the business department before removing the big society references. AHRC peer reviewer and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, professor Leslie Green, said: “It is just impossible to do the job of a peer reviewer when the chief executive is determined to make us an arm of the [education] department. If Professor Rylance thinks it’s over and done with, he’s wrong.” There are 1,280 members of the AHRC’s peer review college who oversee the allocation of funding grants. Those who are appointed to the unpaid positions are considered experts in their field. Two professors, Bob Brecher from Brighton University and Manucha Lisboa from St John’s College, Cambridge, have already resigned and the Guardian has spoken to another half a dozen academics who confirmed they intend to resign. Ritchie Robertson, Taylor professor of German at the faculty of modern languages at Oxford University, described the references to the big society as gratuitous and said that he was also prepared to resign from the peer review college. “I share the widespread regret that the AHRC included gratuitous references to the big society in its delivery document, and I’m not persuaded by Rick Rylance’s assertions that big society is now a technical term independent of its political origins,” Robertson said. “If the references to the big society are not withdrawn, I shall resign from the peer review college,” he added. Thom Brooks, a philosophy professor at Newcastle University and one of the organisers of the protest, said that mass resignations had been “a last option”. “We wanted to explore all the other options first and I think that has now happened. The only option left is to resign.” Brooks also referred to a recent Times Higher article by higher education minister David Willetts in which he warned of the “hazards” of research councils referring to “political slogans”. “The union is in opposition, over 30 learned societies and thousands of academics are in opposition. Even the minister seems to be opposed to this. It seems that the only people in favour are Rylance and his small team.” Rylance agreed with critics that the big society was “a government policy” but said that it included “a range of activities” from health to the arts which left room for many different projects and angles for research. “People have said this is about promoting the big society. It is categorically not about that. It is indicating an area of research which will fund individuals who may well come up and be critical of it. We don’t forecast outcomes of these things,” Rylance said. However Rylance said that removing all six references to the big society from the AHRC’s strategy would have to involve a renegotiation with government. “That is the document they [the Department for Business] also published. They are our funders and they fund us as against a delivery plan. So we’d have to look at ways with government of revising [it] … but this is not an intention.” Rylance also said that he’d be willing to meet with those who resigned. The current chairman of the AHRC, Sir Alan Wilson, said that he didn’t understand why people were getting “quite worked up about it” and warned against taking “a small group of people too seriously and as being representative of our community”. Research funding Higher education Research David Cameron Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
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Legal advice says gay candidates should be considered as long as they have not been sexually active while in the priesthood The Church of England is set to approve the appointment of openly gay bishops, providing that they are celibate. In an attempt to clarify its policy following years of controversy and debate, the church is to publish its legal advice on the issue on Monday. The document, Choosing Bishops – The Equality Act 2010 , summarises points which those involved in the nomination process “need to keep in mind” when considering candidates in order to avoid breaking the law. It reiterates there is no bar to the promotion of gay clergy to a bishopric as long as they are not sexually active and never have been during their time in the priesthood. However, the document says a selection committee could veto a gay candidate if “the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question”. The document reads: “A person’s sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry” but the Equality Act “allows churches and religious organisations to impose a requirement that someone should not be in a civil partnership or impose a requirement related to sexual orientation … to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”. “It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans… believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage. “It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the church requires them to remain sexually abstinent.” The guidance, to be presented to the General Synod in York in July, comes after damaging revelations about the Church of England hierarchy refusing to accept the reality of gay clergy. Documents obtained by the Guardian showed the House of Bishops unable to agree on whether gay clergy should ever be appointed to the episcopate and that meetings about candidates descended into shouting matches, leaving some of those present in tears. Much of the debate has centred on Jeffrey John, a celibate priest who is in a longstanding civil partnership with another cleric. He was forced by the archbishop of Canterbury to stand down after being appointed suffragan bishop of Reading eight years ago after conservative evangelicals objected. Last year, the archbishops of Canterbury and York prevented John from becoming the bishop of Southwark, to the dismay of his supporters. The guidance says the criteria when considering a gay cleric for the bishopric are “whether the candidate had always complied with the church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity; whether he was in a civil partnership; whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex sexual relationship; whether he had expressed repentance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.” The guidelines have angered those campaigning for greater inclusion in the Church of England. General Synod member Christina Rees said: “Nobody other than Jeffrey John has been honest about their sexuality. It is distasteful that gay clerics are asked about their sex lives. There is no parity between them and straight clerics.” Rees warned that the guidance was “too open” for people to exploit as they could argue that the appointment of a gay bishop could prove divisive at home or overseas. The Anglican communion remains at odds over the issue of gay bishops, even though the Episcopal Church in the US has made two such appointments in the last decade. Anglicanism Religion Christianity Gay rights Rowan Williams Equality Act 2010 Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Legal advice says gay candidates should be considered as long as they have not been sexually active while in the priesthood The Church of England is set to approve the appointment of openly gay bishops, providing that they are celibate. In an attempt to clarify its policy following years of controversy and debate, the church is to publish its legal advice on the issue on Monday. The document, Choosing Bishops – The Equality Act 2010 , summarises points which those involved in the nomination process “need to keep in mind” when considering candidates in order to avoid breaking the law. It reiterates there is no bar to the promotion of gay clergy to a bishopric as long as they are not sexually active and never have been during their time in the priesthood. However, the document says a selection committee could veto a gay candidate if “the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question”. The document reads: “A person’s sexual orientation is in itself irrelevant to their suitability for episcopal office or indeed ordained ministry” but the Equality Act “allows churches and religious organisations to impose a requirement that someone should not be in a civil partnership or impose a requirement related to sexual orientation … to avoid conflicting with the strongly held religious convictions of a significant number of the religion’s followers”. “It is clearly the case that a significant number of Anglicans… believe that a Christian leader should not enter into a civil partnership, even if celibate, because it involves forming an exclusive, lifelong bond with someone of the same sex, creates family ties and is generally viewed in wider society as akin to same-sex marriage. “It is equally clear that many other Anglicans believe that it is appropriate that clergy who are gay by orientation enter into civil partnerships, even though the discipline of the church requires them to remain sexually abstinent.” The guidance, to be presented to the General Synod in York in July, comes after damaging revelations about the Church of England hierarchy refusing to accept the reality of gay clergy. Documents obtained by the Guardian showed the House of Bishops unable to agree on whether gay clergy should ever be appointed to the episcopate and that meetings about candidates descended into shouting matches, leaving some of those present in tears. Much of the debate has centred on Jeffrey John, a celibate priest who is in a longstanding civil partnership with another cleric. He was forced by the archbishop of Canterbury to stand down after being appointed suffragan bishop of Reading eight years ago after conservative evangelicals objected. Last year, the archbishops of Canterbury and York prevented John from becoming the bishop of Southwark, to the dismay of his supporters. The guidance says the criteria when considering a gay cleric for the bishopric are “whether the candidate had always complied with the church’s teachings on same-sex sexual activity; whether he was in a civil partnership; whether he was in a continuing civil partnership with a person with whom he had had an earlier same-sex sexual relationship; whether he had expressed repentance for any previous same-sex sexual activity; and whether (and to what extent) the appointment of the candidate would cause division and disunity within the diocese in question, the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion.” The guidelines have angered those campaigning for greater inclusion in the Church of England. General Synod member Christina Rees said: “Nobody other than Jeffrey John has been honest about their sexuality. It is distasteful that gay clerics are asked about their sex lives. There is no parity between them and straight clerics.” Rees warned that the guidance was “too open” for people to exploit as they could argue that the appointment of a gay bishop could prove divisive at home or overseas. The Anglican communion remains at odds over the issue of gay bishops, even though the Episcopal Church in the US has made two such appointments in the last decade. Anglicanism Religion Christianity Gay rights Rowan Williams Equality Act 2010 Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
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Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Northern League’s Umberto Bossi makes life difficult for Italian PM with demand that could generate new eurozone crisis The threat of a new crisis on the eurozone’s southern flank loomed on Sunday as a crucial ally of Silvio Berlusconi demanded that the government cut taxes, despite the serious implications that this would have on Italy’s public finances. Umberto Bossi, the Northern League leader and arbiter of the prime minister’s fate, brushed aside concerns that Italy could go the way of Greece when he told cheering supporters in Pontida that the tax burden in Italy had gone “beyond all limits”. Bossi, Berlusconi’s partner in Italy’s rightwing coalition government, has been under huge pressure from his party’s rank and file since local elections last month showed a sharp fall in the league’s support. Tax cuts would offer both men the promise of regaining their lost popularity, but could widen the budget deficit of a country that has the eurozone’s biggest public debt. On Friday, the rating agency Moody’s warned it could downgrade Italy’s credit ratings because of concerns that the crisis in Greece could increase eurozone interest rates and derail Italy’s already precarious economic recovery. The finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, has been urging prudence on his cabinet colleagues and was reported by La Repubblica to be planning a mini-budget that would include deficit reduction measures totalling €40m (£35m). But Bossi told his supporters: “Tremonti says that we risk ending up like Greece. But, whatever, something has to be done to bring down taxes.” He stopped well short of threatening to bring down the government in a confidence vote on Wednesday because that would force a general election “at a moment favourable to the left”. But he said Berlusconi’s leadership of the Italian right would be at stake after the next general election in 2013 “if he does not do certain things”. Largely thanks to Tremonti’s insistence on fiscal rigour, Italy has remained comparatively unscathed by the financial hurricane blowing through southern Europe. Italy’s budget deficit this year is expected to be a modest 4% and investors demand a return of less than 5% for 10-year loans to the Italian treasury; in Greece, the rate is above 17%. But Italy’s public debt is expected to top 120% of GDP by the end of the year, so any increase in the cost of borrowing could swiftly make it impossible for the Rome government to contain its budget deficit, especially as Italy’s low economic growth is holding down tax revenues. Tremonti has tried to square the circle by rooting out tax evasion, but the clampdown is among the chief grouses of Bossi’s mainly lower middle-class following of small business owners and self-employed workers. A poll on Saturday indicated 55% of the league’s voters disapproved of the government’s performance. Many would like to see Bossi withdraw from the coalition and some would like him to lead the north out of Italy. Seven times during his speech, he was interrupted by chants of “Secession. Secession.” Bossi told them Tremonti had done “shameful things” and repeated a demand for some government ministries to be moved to the north. “The industry ministry shouldn’t be in Rome. It ought to be in the north, where the factories are,” he said, adding that he and another Northern League minister had signed decrees for the transfer of their departments to Monza “but then Berlusconi shat on it”. The League’s plan could yet cause the government serious problems. The regional governor of Campania in the south promptly demanded the transfer of an equivalent number of ministries to Naples. His counterpart in Lazio, the region around Rome, announced a petition to keep the government in the capital. And the mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, warned of a “hard, serious” tussle. Italy Europe European debt crisis Europe Euro Silvio Berlusconi European Union Euro Currencies John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Chris Wallace says he just doesn’t understand the difference between Fox News’ activism and the type of material presented by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart. Stewart tried to spell out the differences Sunday when he appeared on the conservative network but Wallace just didn’t seem to get it. Wallace accused Stewart of playing politics by comparing a video for former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s bus tour to a herpes medication ad. “You’re insane,” Stewart charged. “Here is the difference between you and I. I’m a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background. No question about that. The thing that you will never understand and things that conservative activists will never understand is Hollywood, yeah, they’re liberal. But that’s not their primary motivating force. I’m not an activist. I’m a comedian.” “Honestly, I think you want to be a political player,” Wallace insisted. “You can’t understand because of world you live in that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to affect partisan change. Because that’s the soup you swim in. I appreciate that. I understand that. It reminds me of, you know, you know, ideological regimes. They can’t understand that there is free media other places. Because they receive marching orders.” “I don’t think the viewers are the least bit disappointed with us,” Wallace said. “Our viewers think finally we’re getting somebody to tell the other side of the story.” “Who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers?” Stewart asked. “The most consistently misinformed? Fox viewers. Consistently. Every poll.” “I’m just trying to understand you,” Wallace claimed. “Is that really true? Here is the thing that surprises me about that. I’ve existed in this country forever. There have been people like this who satirized the political process,” Stewart explained. “I’m sitting here talking to Jon Stewart. I’m trying to get it. Understand you and what I believe to be true: there is as much bias on the other side as you subscribe to Fox and why you go easy on that.” “I think there is, probably a liberal bias that exists in the media because of the medium in which it exists. The majority of people working in it probably hold liberal view points, but I don’t think they are as relentlessly activist as the conservative movement that has risen up over the last 40 years,” Stewart said. “Do you get me?” “Well, you know what? When you come back we can explore this some more,” Wallace concluded.
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Click here to view this media Chris Wallace says he just doesn’t understand the difference between Fox News’ activism and the type of material presented by Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart. Stewart tried to spell out the differences Sunday when he appeared on the conservative network but Wallace just didn’t seem to get it. Wallace accused Stewart of playing politics by comparing a video for former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s bus tour to a herpes medication ad. “You’re insane,” Stewart charged. “Here is the difference between you and I. I’m a comedian first. My comedy is informed by an ideological background. No question about that. The thing that you will never understand and things that conservative activists will never understand is Hollywood, yeah, they’re liberal. But that’s not their primary motivating force. I’m not an activist. I’m a comedian.” “Honestly, I think you want to be a political player,” Wallace insisted. “You can’t understand because of world you live in that there is not a designed ideological agenda on my part to affect partisan change. Because that’s the soup you swim in. I appreciate that. I understand that. It reminds me of, you know, you know, ideological regimes. They can’t understand that there is free media other places. Because they receive marching orders.” “I don’t think the viewers are the least bit disappointed with us,” Wallace said. “Our viewers think finally we’re getting somebody to tell the other side of the story.” “Who are the most consistently misinformed media viewers?” Stewart asked. “The most consistently misinformed? Fox viewers. Consistently. Every poll.” “I’m just trying to understand you,” Wallace claimed. “Is that really true? Here is the thing that surprises me about that. I’ve existed in this country forever. There have been people like this who satirized the political process,” Stewart explained. “I’m sitting here talking to Jon Stewart. I’m trying to get it. Understand you and what I believe to be true: there is as much bias on the other side as you subscribe to Fox and why you go easy on that.” “I think there is, probably a liberal bias that exists in the media because of the medium in which it exists. The majority of people working in it probably hold liberal view points, but I don’t think they are as relentlessly activist as the conservative movement that has risen up over the last 40 years,” Stewart said. “Do you get me?” “Well, you know what? When you come back we can explore this some more,” Wallace concluded.
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Finance ministers to throw Greece a €12bn lifeline but meeting marked by pessimism over fate of euro Europe’s single currency governments are expected to throw Greece a summer lifeline, agreeing to disburse €12bn by next month to keep the debt-stricken country from going broke and triggering an international crisis. But the meeting in Luxembourg of finance ministers from the 17 eurozone countries also faced the much bigger challenge of trying to structure a new three-year bailout for Greece in a way that would persuade European banks, pension funds and other private creditors to roll over the country’s ballooning debt. The Eurogroup meeting took place amid a mood of growing futility over Greece and pessimism over the fate of the euro. “We wouldn’t be able to control an insolvency,” warned the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. “We all lived through Lehman Brothers. I don’t want another such threat to emanate from Europe.” Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who heads the Eurogroup, said that Italy and Belgium, rather than Spain, could be at risk if the new bailout being negotiated for Greece involved losses for creditors and the financial markets then declared Greece to be in default. On Friday in Berlin, Merkel admitted defeat in a fight with the European Central Bank, dropping German insistence that the international banks should take part in the proposed bailout by swapping existing bonds for new paper with a seven-year maturity, giving Greece time to try to recover. At the weekend she reiterated that private creditor involvement should be “substantial”, but admitted there was no way of ensuring this. Germany is the biggest player in bailing out Greece, but the commitment of taxpayers’ money is deeply unpopular. Merkel’s volte-face on Friday earned her biting criticism in the weekend media. After a year in which Greece has already received €53bn in bailout funds, only to see the crisis worsen, doubts are growing over whether the embattled Greek government will be able to deliver the savage spending cuts being demanded as the price of rescue. Amid a sense of deepening panic and gloom, leading European industrialists are to take out full-page adverts in the French and German press on Tuesday pleading for intervention to save the euro. “A return to a stable financial situation will cost many billions of euros, but the European Union and our common currency are worth every effort,” says the advert. Top German economists lined up at the weekend to accuse Merkel and other EU leaders of “political failure”. The Greek government was also a target. “It is disappointing that the Greeks are not grateful for the help from Germany and the EU,” Hans-Werner Sinn, head of Munich’s IFO Institute, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. The cover story in Monday’s edition of the influential Hamburg weekly Der Spiegel, is “an obituary for the common currency.” Britain, meanwhile, stressed that it wanted no part of any new Greek rescue, except through its participation in the International Monetary Fund. “It’s the eurozone that is taking forward discussions now about the next stage of dealing with Greece’s substantial problems,” the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, told Sky News. “There’s simply no proposition on the table for the UK to contribute beyond IMF involvement and I don’t expect there to be one.” That could change if the EU decides to use an emergency bailout fund administered by the European commission for the rescue. Britain is liable for a share of this and any decision would be taken by qualified majority vote, meaning the Cameron government would not be able to wield a veto. European debt crisis Greece European banks Europe European Central Bank Euro European Union Euro Angela Merkel Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
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