Mangueira, hideout of one of Rio’s largest drug factions, is also home of one of city’s best-known samba schools Hundreds of Brazilian police and marines have swarmed through a Rio favela renowned as a centre for samba lovers, in the most striking move thus far to “pacify” the city before the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Drunk revellers still packed the streets of the city as a column of armoured vehicles began rolling towards Mangueira, a notorious hideout for one of the city’s largest drug factions. Overhead, Huey helicopters tore through the morning sky; on the ground 750 security operatives, among them marines, filed in past bullet-pocked walls. Home to around 53,000 people, Mangueira is the most symbolic shantytown so far to be occupied by the so-called “pacification forces”. Famed for producing legendary samba artists such as Cartola, Nelson Cavaquinho and Carlos Cachaça, Mangueira is also home to the city’s best-known samba school, the Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Mangueira. On Sunday, the samba school’s doors remained shut as police poured into the favela. Normally welcomed with gunfire, the troops instead found eerily quiet streets and white banners calling for “peace”. The traffickers had fled. “They’ve taken everything,” said one special forces operative, pushing his way into a concrete shack that had been used to distribute cocaine, marijuana and crack. The doors had been bricked up and the drugs had long gone; only two toothbrushes and a broken fridge remained. Next door, Pastor Eduardo Barbosa Marques monitored the police’s arrival from inside his empty church – the Temple of Blessings. “I’m not expecting many people for this morning’s service,” he admitted. “But tonight we’ll all be here to glorify the name of the Lord.” “The government knows what is best and we have to respect that and let the police do their job,” added the 46-year-old preacher. Thirty minutes’ walk across the favela, special-forces found another gang HQ. Inside were three red sofas and an empty wrap of cocaine, featuring a picture of Osama bin Laden. On the wall outside gang members had left a message: “Screw the pacifiers: Shoot Them!” But there was no shooting, only an awkward silence as police moved from house to house, seeking information from residents who didn’t want to talk. “People are still a little scared because this will mean having contact with different people,” said Simões do Nascimento, president of Mangueira’s residents association. “But people are asking for peace and we hope everything goes well.” Silvia Ramos, a social scientist and co-ordinator of Rio’s Centre for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship, warned that while the retaking of Mangueira was an advance, deadly clashes between police and drug traffickers were still commonplace in more distant parts of the city. “It is a turning point for the pacification project. [But] if Rio de Janeiro’s opinion makers and media get comfortable… after this victory… the project will fail. The possibility exists – and it is very worrying – that in pushing the gunfights further away the city will demobilise,” she added. At the foot of the favela, Jorge Bombeiro, a local samba composer, headed out with a ukulele as helicopters circled overhead. Like many he was reluctant to talk. What did he think of the occupation? “All I know about is samba,” he said. Brazil Drugs trade Tom Phillips guardian.co.uk
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Waqar Kiani assaulted by men in police uniforms five days after he publishes story about torture by intelligence agents Five days after he published an account of abduction and torture by suspected Pakistani intelligence agents, a journalist working for the Guardian has been badly beaten by uniformed men who said they wished to “make an example” of him. The assault revived concerns about media freedom in Pakistan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Three weeks ago, another reporter, Saleem Shahzad, was beaten to death after disappearing from the capital. Men wearing police uniforms stopped Waqar Kiani, a 32-year-old local journalist who has worked for the Guardian, as he drove through Islamabad on Saturday night, and ordered him to get out of his car. As he stepped out, four men landed a flurry of blows with fists, wooden batons and a rubber whip. Two others watched from inside the jeep. “They said ‘You want to be a hero? We’ll make you a hero’,” said Kiani, who was recovering from his injuries . “Then they said: ‘We’re going to make an example of you’.” It was the second time Kiani had been targeted. Last Monday the Guardian revealed he had been abducted from central Islamabad in July 2008, blindfolded and taken to a safe house where interrogators beat him viciously and burned him with cigarettes. The ordeal ended 15 hours later when his abductors dumped him 120 miles from Islamabad, warning they would rape his wife “and post the video on YouTube” if he told anyone. Kiani had been working on a story about the illegal detention and torture of Islamist militants by Pakistani intelligence in collaboration with MI5. His research led him to an office of the Intelligence Bureau, the main civilian spy agency. Although his abductors did not identify themselves they displayed detailed knowledge of Kiani’s bank account, movements and contacts with Guardian journalists, leading him to conclude they worked for the government.The Guardian withheld Kiani’s story for three years until last Monday. Kiani later gave a detailed interview about his experience to a local television channel. He believes the coverage triggered Saturday’s vicious assault, which occurred after he went out to buy milk. “There is zero tolerance among our government and military establishment,” he said. “They don’t want us to speak the truth.” The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned the attack, demanding the government ensure security for journalists “at all costs”. Interior minister Rehman Malik ordered a judicial inquiry by a magistrate and a police inquiry. “I have acted without any delay. The investigation is on, without any issue,” he said. The assault comes amid an unprecedented anger over the behaviour of Pakistan’s intelligence and security forces. There was widespread shock earlier this month at video footage of paramilitary soldiers shooting an unarmed 22-year-old man in a Karachi park, then leaving him to bleed to death. Six soldiers and one civilian face murder charges. A similar shooting of five unarmed Chechens, one a pregnant woman, in Quetta last month is also under investigation. The normally voluble media has been shaken by the discovery of the battered body of Shahzad, a specialist in Islamist militancy and the secretive military, in a canal in Punjab three weeks ago. Human Rights Watch said it had credible proof that Shahzad had been abducted by Inter-Services Intelligence, the military’s top spy agency. The army strenuously denied involvement, describing the claims as “unfounded and baseless”. A government investigation into his death has become mired in controversy after a judge nominated to head the probe said he would not participate. With 16 journalists killed in the past 18 months, Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. Reporters die in suicide bombs, political violence and assassination, targeted by both Islamist militants and government agents. Kiani was discharged from hospital on Saturday night after being treated for injuries to his chest and back. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said he was “extremely disturbed” to hear of his maltreatment. “We call on the Pakistani authorities to investigate this latest beating and to give Mr Kiani meaningful protection against further attacks,” he said. Kiani said he had no regrets about going public with his account of torture. “I don’t feel I did anything wrong. Journalists can’t be silent forever in Pakistan,” he said. “If we don’t bring up the facts, then it’s no longer journalism – we become spokesmen of the government.” Pakistan Journalist safety Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Waqar Kiani assaulted by men in police uniforms five days after he publishes story about torture by intelligence agents Five days after he published an account of abduction and torture by suspected Pakistani intelligence agents, a journalist working for the Guardian has been badly beaten by uniformed men who said they wished to “make an example” of him. The assault revived concerns about media freedom in Pakistan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Three weeks ago, another reporter, Saleem Shahzad, was beaten to death after disappearing from the capital. Men wearing police uniforms stopped Waqar Kiani, a 32-year-old local journalist who has worked for the Guardian, as he drove through Islamabad on Saturday night, and ordered him to get out of his car. As he stepped out, four men landed a flurry of blows with fists, wooden batons and a rubber whip. Two others watched from inside the jeep. “They said ‘You want to be a hero? We’ll make you a hero’,” said Kiani, who was recovering from his injuries . “Then they said: ‘We’re going to make an example of you’.” It was the second time Kiani had been targeted. Last Monday the Guardian revealed he had been abducted from central Islamabad in July 2008, blindfolded and taken to a safe house where interrogators beat him viciously and burned him with cigarettes. The ordeal ended 15 hours later when his abductors dumped him 120 miles from Islamabad, warning they would rape his wife “and post the video on YouTube” if he told anyone. Kiani had been working on a story about the illegal detention and torture of Islamist militants by Pakistani intelligence in collaboration with MI5. His research led him to an office of the Intelligence Bureau, the main civilian spy agency. Although his abductors did not identify themselves they displayed detailed knowledge of Kiani’s bank account, movements and contacts with Guardian journalists, leading him to conclude they worked for the government.The Guardian withheld Kiani’s story for three years until last Monday. Kiani later gave a detailed interview about his experience to a local television channel. He believes the coverage triggered Saturday’s vicious assault, which occurred after he went out to buy milk. “There is zero tolerance among our government and military establishment,” he said. “They don’t want us to speak the truth.” The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned the attack, demanding the government ensure security for journalists “at all costs”. Interior minister Rehman Malik ordered a judicial inquiry by a magistrate and a police inquiry. “I have acted without any delay. The investigation is on, without any issue,” he said. The assault comes amid an unprecedented anger over the behaviour of Pakistan’s intelligence and security forces. There was widespread shock earlier this month at video footage of paramilitary soldiers shooting an unarmed 22-year-old man in a Karachi park, then leaving him to bleed to death. Six soldiers and one civilian face murder charges. A similar shooting of five unarmed Chechens, one a pregnant woman, in Quetta last month is also under investigation. The normally voluble media has been shaken by the discovery of the battered body of Shahzad, a specialist in Islamist militancy and the secretive military, in a canal in Punjab three weeks ago. Human Rights Watch said it had credible proof that Shahzad had been abducted by Inter-Services Intelligence, the military’s top spy agency. The army strenuously denied involvement, describing the claims as “unfounded and baseless”. A government investigation into his death has become mired in controversy after a judge nominated to head the probe said he would not participate. With 16 journalists killed in the past 18 months, Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. Reporters die in suicide bombs, political violence and assassination, targeted by both Islamist militants and government agents. Kiani was discharged from hospital on Saturday night after being treated for injuries to his chest and back. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said he was “extremely disturbed” to hear of his maltreatment. “We call on the Pakistani authorities to investigate this latest beating and to give Mr Kiani meaningful protection against further attacks,” he said. Kiani said he had no regrets about going public with his account of torture. “I don’t feel I did anything wrong. Journalists can’t be silent forever in Pakistan,” he said. “If we don’t bring up the facts, then it’s no longer journalism – we become spokesmen of the government.” Pakistan Journalist safety Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Waqar Kiani assaulted by men in police uniforms five days after he publishes story about torture by intelligence agents Five days after he published an account of abduction and torture by suspected Pakistani intelligence agents, a journalist working for the Guardian has been badly beaten by uniformed men who said they wished to “make an example” of him. The assault revived concerns about media freedom in Pakistan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Three weeks ago, another reporter, Saleem Shahzad, was beaten to death after disappearing from the capital. Men wearing police uniforms stopped Waqar Kiani, a 32-year-old local journalist who has worked for the Guardian, as he drove through Islamabad on Saturday night, and ordered him to get out of his car. As he stepped out, four men landed a flurry of blows with fists, wooden batons and a rubber whip. Two others watched from inside the jeep. “They said ‘You want to be a hero? We’ll make you a hero’,” said Kiani, who was recovering from his injuries . “Then they said: ‘We’re going to make an example of you’.” It was the second time Kiani had been targeted. Last Monday the Guardian revealed he had been abducted from central Islamabad in July 2008, blindfolded and taken to a safe house where interrogators beat him viciously and burned him with cigarettes. The ordeal ended 15 hours later when his abductors dumped him 120 miles from Islamabad, warning they would rape his wife “and post the video on YouTube” if he told anyone. Kiani had been working on a story about the illegal detention and torture of Islamist militants by Pakistani intelligence in collaboration with MI5. His research led him to an office of the Intelligence Bureau, the main civilian spy agency. Although his abductors did not identify themselves they displayed detailed knowledge of Kiani’s bank account, movements and contacts with Guardian journalists, leading him to conclude they worked for the government.The Guardian withheld Kiani’s story for three years until last Monday. Kiani later gave a detailed interview about his experience to a local television channel. He believes the coverage triggered Saturday’s vicious assault, which occurred after he went out to buy milk. “There is zero tolerance among our government and military establishment,” he said. “They don’t want us to speak the truth.” The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned the attack, demanding the government ensure security for journalists “at all costs”. Interior minister Rehman Malik ordered a judicial inquiry by a magistrate and a police inquiry. “I have acted without any delay. The investigation is on, without any issue,” he said. The assault comes amid an unprecedented anger over the behaviour of Pakistan’s intelligence and security forces. There was widespread shock earlier this month at video footage of paramilitary soldiers shooting an unarmed 22-year-old man in a Karachi park, then leaving him to bleed to death. Six soldiers and one civilian face murder charges. A similar shooting of five unarmed Chechens, one a pregnant woman, in Quetta last month is also under investigation. The normally voluble media has been shaken by the discovery of the battered body of Shahzad, a specialist in Islamist militancy and the secretive military, in a canal in Punjab three weeks ago. Human Rights Watch said it had credible proof that Shahzad had been abducted by Inter-Services Intelligence, the military’s top spy agency. The army strenuously denied involvement, describing the claims as “unfounded and baseless”. A government investigation into his death has become mired in controversy after a judge nominated to head the probe said he would not participate. With 16 journalists killed in the past 18 months, Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. Reporters die in suicide bombs, political violence and assassination, targeted by both Islamist militants and government agents. Kiani was discharged from hospital on Saturday night after being treated for injuries to his chest and back. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said he was “extremely disturbed” to hear of his maltreatment. “We call on the Pakistani authorities to investigate this latest beating and to give Mr Kiani meaningful protection against further attacks,” he said. Kiani said he had no regrets about going public with his account of torture. “I don’t feel I did anything wrong. Journalists can’t be silent forever in Pakistan,” he said. “If we don’t bring up the facts, then it’s no longer journalism – we become spokesmen of the government.” Pakistan Journalist safety Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Waqar Kiani assaulted by men in police uniforms five days after he publishes story about torture by intelligence agents Five days after he published an account of abduction and torture by suspected Pakistani intelligence agents, a journalist working for the Guardian has been badly beaten by uniformed men who said they wished to “make an example” of him. The assault revived concerns about media freedom in Pakistan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists. Three weeks ago, another reporter, Saleem Shahzad, was beaten to death after disappearing from the capital. Men wearing police uniforms stopped Waqar Kiani, a 32-year-old local journalist who has worked for the Guardian, as he drove through Islamabad on Saturday night, and ordered him to get out of his car. As he stepped out, four men landed a flurry of blows with fists, wooden batons and a rubber whip. Two others watched from inside the jeep. “They said ‘You want to be a hero? We’ll make you a hero’,” said Kiani, who was recovering from his injuries . “Then they said: ‘We’re going to make an example of you’.” It was the second time Kiani had been targeted. Last Monday the Guardian revealed he had been abducted from central Islamabad in July 2008, blindfolded and taken to a safe house where interrogators beat him viciously and burned him with cigarettes. The ordeal ended 15 hours later when his abductors dumped him 120 miles from Islamabad, warning they would rape his wife “and post the video on YouTube” if he told anyone. Kiani had been working on a story about the illegal detention and torture of Islamist militants by Pakistani intelligence in collaboration with MI5. His research led him to an office of the Intelligence Bureau, the main civilian spy agency. Although his abductors did not identify themselves they displayed detailed knowledge of Kiani’s bank account, movements and contacts with Guardian journalists, leading him to conclude they worked for the government.The Guardian withheld Kiani’s story for three years until last Monday. Kiani later gave a detailed interview about his experience to a local television channel. He believes the coverage triggered Saturday’s vicious assault, which occurred after he went out to buy milk. “There is zero tolerance among our government and military establishment,” he said. “They don’t want us to speak the truth.” The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists condemned the attack, demanding the government ensure security for journalists “at all costs”. Interior minister Rehman Malik ordered a judicial inquiry by a magistrate and a police inquiry. “I have acted without any delay. The investigation is on, without any issue,” he said. The assault comes amid an unprecedented anger over the behaviour of Pakistan’s intelligence and security forces. There was widespread shock earlier this month at video footage of paramilitary soldiers shooting an unarmed 22-year-old man in a Karachi park, then leaving him to bleed to death. Six soldiers and one civilian face murder charges. A similar shooting of five unarmed Chechens, one a pregnant woman, in Quetta last month is also under investigation. The normally voluble media has been shaken by the discovery of the battered body of Shahzad, a specialist in Islamist militancy and the secretive military, in a canal in Punjab three weeks ago. Human Rights Watch said it had credible proof that Shahzad had been abducted by Inter-Services Intelligence, the military’s top spy agency. The army strenuously denied involvement, describing the claims as “unfounded and baseless”. A government investigation into his death has become mired in controversy after a judge nominated to head the probe said he would not participate. With 16 journalists killed in the past 18 months, Pakistan is the world’s most dangerous country for journalists. Reporters die in suicide bombs, political violence and assassination, targeted by both Islamist militants and government agents. Kiani was discharged from hospital on Saturday night after being treated for injuries to his chest and back. Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said he was “extremely disturbed” to hear of his maltreatment. “We call on the Pakistani authorities to investigate this latest beating and to give Mr Kiani meaningful protection against further attacks,” he said. Kiani said he had no regrets about going public with his account of torture. “I don’t feel I did anything wrong. Journalists can’t be silent forever in Pakistan,” he said. “If we don’t bring up the facts, then it’s no longer journalism – we become spokesmen of the government.” Pakistan Journalist safety Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …What the Smurf? Everything—and we mean everything —has been painted bright blue in Júzcar, a small town in the south of Spain, as part of Sony’s marketing campaign for the new Smurfs movie, reports the Huffington Post . It took a dozen painters more than 1,000 gallons of blue…
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European Commission estimates energy-intensive sector will have accumulated allowances worth €7-12bn by the end of 2012 Some of Europe’s largest industrial companies gained billions of Euros from the carbon emission rules they lobbied fiercely against, new analysis reveals today. Ten steel and cement companies have amassed 240m carbon pollution permits from generous allocations, found the report by the carbon trading thinktank Sandbag , seen by the Guardian. The free permits, granted to the companies, with a market value of €4bn (£3.5bn) can be sold or kept for future use. The European Commission estimates that the entire energy-intensive sector will have accumulated allowances worth €7-12bn by the end of 2012 . “More and more businesses see that Europe’s future lies in a highly efficient economy with low pollution,” said Baroness Worthington, Sandbag’s founding director. “But a small group of carbon fat cat companies are trying to stop this, in spite of making billions from a windfall of free pollution permits.” Steelmaker ArcelorMittal leads the list of companies in the report, with a current surplus valued at €1.7bn, followed by cement giant Lafarge. Tata Steel, in third place with a surplus valued at €393m, last month announced 1500 job losses at its plants in Lincolnshire and Teesside , blaming emissions regulations as well as the economic downturn. Karl-Ulrich Köhler, chief executive of Tata Steel’s Europe, said at the time: “EU carbon legislation threatens to impose huge additional costs on the steel industry.” Tata Steel declined to comment. The European Union emissions trading scheme (ETS) puts a cap on the carbon pollution emitted by energy and industrial companies. Those reducing their emissions can sell their spare permits to those who do not. But a combination of initial over-allocation by national governments and the economic decline has left the steel, cement, chemical, ceramic and paper sectors with many more permits than they need. The industries have lobbied hard against calls from governments including the UK for the tightening of the ETS and other emissions targets. Eurofer, the lobby group representing all of Europe’s steel makers, said last month: “To remain competitive in the free, global steel markets, European steel needs … legislation that does not harm its competitiveness. But we are gravely concerned that EU Climate Change policy will do precisely that .” Cembureau , which lobbies for the cement industry, takes a similar line, stating : “It would be irresponsible to shift the [emissions] goal posts .” In the UK, the government has proposed incentivising low-carbon innovation by setting a British floor price for carbon from 2013. But this is opposed by the CBI, whose director general John Cridland said : “It risks tipping energy-intensive industries over the edge .” The government made some concessions to energy-hungry businesses, promising to produce plans later in 2011 to compensate them for any competitive disadvantage . However, independent analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance found that the carbon permits held by the steel industry would cover its emissions for the next 12 years. “If the steel sector [on aggregate] did not sell any of its surplus, it would not have a need to purchase emissions until 2023,” said Guy Turner at Bloomberg NEF. The Sandbag report, based on public data, also found that nine of the 10 “carbon fat cats” bought between them 24.4m carbon permits from the cheaper international market, mainly from companies in China and India. These can be used within the EU’s trading scheme, enabling the companies to retain the more valuable EU’s ETS permits. Furthermore, despite the European companies claiming that tougher emissions rules would drive business overseas, some were paying overseas steel and cement companies for their international carbon permits. “Purchasing carbon offsets from foreign competitors would not seem to be the actions of businesses genuinely concerned that the ETS will drive business abroad,” said Worthington. Not all companies are resisting tightening of the EU’s ETS. Five major energy companies, including Britain’s Scottish and Southern Energy, last week called for spare permits to be withdrawn from the ETS , a proposal supported by Sandbag. “Failure to do so could severely hamper business incentives to invest in low-carbon technologies, as the price signal will be skewed in favour of fossil-based solutions,” their statement said. The Guardian contacted all the companies named by Sandbag. Those who responded argued that the surplus permits arose from decreased production and might be needed when the economy recovered. They argued that without protection, steel and cement making would be driven to countries with less CO2-efficient manufacturing practices. Many called for global regulation of emissions. One company gave specific information about how it uses its surplus: “As part of our corporate responsibility strategy, we have decided that any sale of such surplus allowances will be reinvested into projects aimed at the improvement of our energy efficiency footprint, as this will help to reduce our overall CO2 emissions.” said spokesperson for ArcelorMittal . Erwin Schneider, at steelmaker ThyssenKruppe , said: “Companies make decisions based on expected future developments. Any earnings from the past will either have been reinvested already or paid out to shareholders. Therefore it seems to be very misleading to use historic numbers to address our future position.” Emissions trading Manufacturing sector Corus Arcelor Mittal Tata Europe Scottish and Southern Energy Energy industry Carbon emissions Climate change Pollution European Union Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk
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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
Continue reading …A President Obama impersonator at a Republican gathering in New Orleans yesterday was pulled off the stage after making a series of off-color racial and gay jokes, reports the Washington Post . The comedian, Reggie Brown, came out to the music of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” a not-so-subtle jab…
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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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