Hmmm … so that’s what they were talking about. Donald Trump has flip-flopped on his presidential ambitions following his slice of pizza with Sarah Palin . Trump, who said 2 weeks ago he was choosing Celebrity Apprentice over a White House run , now says he would “absolutely” run as an independent if…
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Health secretary, under pressure over plans outlined in NHS bill, says he accepts case for rethink on certain elements The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has indicated that he is ready to accept “substantial and significant changes” to his health reforms, but warned that the status quo is “not an option”. Lansley – who has been under increasing pressure over the reform plans outlined in the health and social care bill – said he accepted the case for a rethink on certain elements “if they help us improve care for patients”. But in comments that appeared designed to scotch speculation that he is set to either quit or be sacked over his handling of the reforms, Lansley outlined the case for changes that would make the NHS work better and “smarter” and deliver better outcomes for patients by putting them “firmly in the seat”. The bill outlines plans to abolish primary care trusts and strategic health authorities and allow GP-led consortiums to decide to buy treatment either from public or private providers. The health secretary’s first remarks since the end of the government’s listening exercise on the plans, which was ordered by David Cameron two months ago, coincided with a warning from the leading doctors’ union about a “completely unethical” measure outlined in the bill. The British Medical Association urged the government to remove plans to introduce performance-related bonuses because that could undermine patient trust. Dr Laurence Buckman, the chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee, said the trust patients put in their doctor is the “cornerstone” of general practice. “Financially rewarding GPs by directly linking their earnings to their consortium’s financial management, particularly when the NHS is under continuing pressure to reduce budgets, is completely unethical. “GPs are very concerned about the potential conflicts of interest inherent in the health bill.” The latest intervention shows the pressure Lansley will be under to amend his reforms following the publication of the NHS Future Forum report following the listening exercise. In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Lansley sought to allay fears that the plans would lead to privatisation, but said sticking with the status quo was “not an option” because of the twin pressures of an ageing population and rising treatment cost which “paint a compelling picture of why we have to modernise our health service and make it sustainable for the long term”. A failure to act now would “almost certainly mean a crisis tomorrow” which could threaten the NHS as a comprehensive and universal service free at the point of use. “I will not allow that to happen,” he wrote. “We will never privatise our NHS. But if we choose to ignore the pressures on it, the health service will face a financial crisis within a matter of years that will threaten the very values we hold so dear – of a comprehensive health service, available to all, free at the point of use and based on need and not the ability to pay.” The Labour MP John Healey MP accused Lansley of “adding to confusion and uncertainty in the health service” with the Telegraph article. “He makes a case for change, but not the Tory-led government’s top-down reorganisation of the NHS,” Healey said. “As Labour has argued from the outset and, as the chorus of criticism during the ‘pause’ [listening exercise] has underlined, these are the wrong reforms for the NHS. They are being forced through for reasons of political ideology not improved patient care. “The huge upheaval of reorganisation is making it harder, not easier, for the NHS to deal with the financial and efficiency squeeze.” Health policy Andrew Lansley Health NHS GPs Public services policy Doctors Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Greek government understood to have agreed to €6.4bn in austerity measures in return for next tranche of aid The cost of insuring Greek government bonds rose on Thursday after ratings agency Moody’s said there was now a 50% chance of the country defaulting on its debts. The warning came as Moody’s cut Greece’s credit rating to Caa1, almost the lowest rating assigned to any country. The move intensified the pressure on European leaders as negotiations over a second rescue package for Greece continued in Vienna . This “troika review”, involving the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, is also considering what additional measures Greece must take in return for the next instalment of its original bailout plan. Greece is understood to have agreed to €6.4bn (£3.9bn) of fresh austerity measures, including tax increases and accelerated privatisations. The next tranche of Greece’s original aid deal, worth €12bn, is seen as vital by Greek officials to pay public sector wages and pensions. Moody’s justified the downgrade by arguing that Greece will fail to meet the deficit reduction targets that were set as part of its existing bailout deal. The Athens government, though, said Moody’s had failed to appreciate the efforts it is taking to bring its debts under control. “Over five-year investment horizons, around 50% of Caa1-rated sovereigns, non-financial corporate and financial institutions have consistently met their debt-service requirements,” Moody’s said. “Around 50% have defaulted.” It now costs €1.455m to insure €10m of Greek debt until 2016, after traders pushed the five-year Greek credit default swap (CDS) contract up by 25 basis points to 1455, according to data from Markit. In contrast, the Spanish CDS was trading at 252bp. “The downgrade … adds to negative sentiment ahead of the troika review results, which are expected before the weekend,” said Gavan Nolan, director of credit research at Markit. “A bailout is expected to follow by the end of the month. ECB and EC officials still appear to be at odds over the issue of rescheduling debt, though there are signs that the ECB is becoming more flexible.” Bloomberg reported that Greece has “entered the debt rating hall of shame” , with only Ecuador sporting a worse rating. Nolan added that the prices of Greek debt already imply that the country’s credit rating is even lower, at CCC. Prime minister George Papandreou is expected to present details of his new “mid-term fiscal plan” to Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the group of eurozone finance ministers, on Friday. Negotiations over the shape of a second bailout package will continue in the coming weeks, before being definitely decided on at the next EU summit meeting in June. European debt crisis Ratings agencies Bonds Economics Euro IMF Global economy Greece European Union Europe Graeme Wearden Helena Smith guardian.co.uk
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Boats carrying migrants fleeing Libya capsize in rough seas near Kerkennah leaving 250 still missing after 570 rescued About 250 people are missing in the Mediterranean sea after vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty off the Tunisian coast, a Tunisian security official has reported. Tunisian coastguards and military rescued 570 people, but many others went into the water when a stampede to get off the small fishing boats – combined with the effect of rough seas – capsized some of the vessels, the official said. “Search operations are still continuing. About 250 people are missing,” said the official from the southern Tunisian port of Sfax, where survivors were taken. “We haven’t found a single body so far.” “Five hundred and seventy people have been rescued. Most of them are in good health and they are in the military barracks in Sfax and some are in hospital. Among those who were hospitalised, three have died,” he said. “They are all of African nationalities and they were on small fishing boats,” said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. The boats encountered problems on Tuesday about 12 miles (20km) off the Tunisian island of Kerkennah as they headed for Italy, the Tap state news agency said. They were carrying refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya. Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in north Africa have been heading to Italy on rickety boats in recent months, creating an immigration crisis in Lampedusa, an Italian island situated halfway between Tunisia and Sicily. Tunisia Refugees Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Libya Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Boats carrying migrants fleeing Libya capsize in rough seas near Kerkennah leaving 250 still missing after 570 rescued About 250 people are missing in the Mediterranean sea after vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty off the Tunisian coast, a Tunisian security official has reported. Tunisian coastguards and military rescued 570 people, but many others went into the water when a stampede to get off the small fishing boats – combined with the effect of rough seas – capsized some of the vessels, the official said. “Search operations are still continuing. About 250 people are missing,” said the official from the southern Tunisian port of Sfax, where survivors were taken. “We haven’t found a single body so far.” “Five hundred and seventy people have been rescued. Most of them are in good health and they are in the military barracks in Sfax and some are in hospital. Among those who were hospitalised, three have died,” he said. “They are all of African nationalities and they were on small fishing boats,” said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. The boats encountered problems on Tuesday about 12 miles (20km) off the Tunisian island of Kerkennah as they headed for Italy, the Tap state news agency said. They were carrying refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya. Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in north Africa have been heading to Italy on rickety boats in recent months, creating an immigration crisis in Lampedusa, an Italian island situated halfway between Tunisia and Sicily. Tunisia Refugees Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Libya Africa guardian.co.uk
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Yemen death toll rises as explosion hits Libyan rebel-held city of Benghazi 2.40pm: Russia is advising its citizens in Yemen to leave . A foreign ministry spokesman said: “The situation is escalating every hour, the tensions are not easing.” 2.35pm: Reports now from al-Jazeera that Sana’a aiport is closed and flights are being diverted to Aden. CNN correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom tweets that Yemen State TV is quoting official sources denying that there are any changes or delays. 1.50pm: Reuters now report that the airport in Sana’a has re-opened. Thousands of other people are also fleeing fighting in the Yemen capital by car, it said: “It felt as if the artillery shells were flying next to my head… My wife, my daughter were screaming. It was horrible,” resident Sadeq al-Lahbe said before leaving. “There is no electricity, no water and violent strikes shaking the house. Is this life?” 1.32pm: Yemen : The AFP news agency quotes medical staff as saying at least 15 people died overnight in the Al-Hasaba area of Sana’a, Sadiq al-Ahmar’s stronghold, among them a seven-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet. 12.49pm: According to rights campaigners in Syria , quoted by Reuters, security forces have killed 11 people today in the under-siege central town of Rastan. As ever, there is no way to independently verify this. 12.18pm: A brief return to Bahrain : I’ve been passed an email from the rights group Avaaz urging F1 teams to boycott the emirate’s Grand Prix if it is rescheduled following a meeting tomorrow . The race had been due to begin the 2011 season in March, but it was called off amid the quashing of pro-democracy protests. Azaaz said: F1 mustn’t give credibility to a pariah regime that is as brutal as Iran and Zimbabwe. If F1 decides to race in Bahrain, it will be on a par with the sporting tours that chose to play in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. 12.06pm: Francis Matthew of the Gulf News highlights the role of Hamid al-Ahmar , the prominent Yemeni businessman and politician – and brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the tribal leader at the centre of the conflict – who turned against Saleh this week. (Our correspondent Tom Finn wrote about the family last week . The political initiative was seized this week by Hamid al-Ahmar, when he rebelled against Saleh. A businessman and politician, Ahmar holds an important position in the major Hashid confederation. His elder brother Sadiq al-Ahmar is the paramount chief of the Hashid confederation, and they are the sons of the late Shaikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was a major figure in Yemeni politics till his death in 2007, backed by substantial Saudi influence. A third brother, Hussain, commanded the Saudi-backed Hashid militia in the recent fighting in Sa’ada. Hamid al-Ahmar’s challenge will be viewed favourably by Saudi Arabia, which has had a close relationship with his family for decades. The Saudi leadership is the most concerned of all the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states that Yemen does not slip into chaos, and it will naturally back an alternative to Saleh based on northern leaders. And if Ahmar is dismissed as being just a businessman rather than a politician, his relative, General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar is an effective military commander who has already rebelled against Saleh. But Matthew says the intervention of the Ahmar family is not necessarily a win for the pro-democracy opposition, who have rejected the idea of supporting a leadership bid from another member of the power elite They have promised to hold out for a peaceful transfer to a civilian authority. The activists are slowly developing their own management structure and deciding on mechanisms to nominate their leaders, but this was not sufficiently advanced to enable them to send observers to the GCC transition talks. But others who are not yet part of the action are the leaders from the south. When Yemen united in 1990, the president of South Yemen, Ali Salim al-Beidh, became vice-president of the united country. He despaired that Saleh would not listen to his concerns, and resigned to lead a breakaway movement when he declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which only lasted in the south from May to June 1994. Beidh is the leader of Al Harak, a party dedicated to a southern breakaway. The GCC sees Yemen as too important and too close to be allowed to fail. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Saudis ran massive grant programmes which they allowed to wither away after the border settlement in 2000. Now they are leading GCC efforts to find a political solution. They have reopened their links with northern political leaders like al-Ahmar to try and find a way forward. But in the end, any long-term solution in Yemen will also need to take into account southern ambitions, as well as the new demands of the young people on the streets, who have time and demographics on their side, even if they have failed to find a leader to articulate their demands and take part in the talks this time round. 12.02pm: Reuters are reporting a Yemen detail I’d so far missed: Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, has arrived in Saudi Arabia en route for he United Arab Emirates, and is seeking help from both countries to pressure Saleh into stepping down. 11.34am: My colleague Brian Whitaker has the following useful context for the situation in Yemen : Fighting in and around Yemen’s capital seems to be intensifying, and this morning there are reports that Sana’a airport has been closed. Is this the end for President Saleh? Certainly many people are hoping so. With many erstwhile supporters – both civil and military – abandoning him, it’s clear that Saleh can never regain the authority he once had. But there’s still the question of how, exactly, he can be ousted from office. One thing to keep in mind is that armed conflict in Yemen is not unusual; in fact it’s almost routine. The regime has fought an on-off war with Houthi rebels in the north for years, as well as a separatist insurrection in the south which sprang up more recently. Tribal militias have also fought the army often in the past, and sometimes got the better of it. Saleh’s regime, therefore, is well accustomed to sitting-out periods of turmoil, and even military setbacks, without feeling that its survival is challenged to the core. The difference this time is that a lot of the fighting is concentrated in the capital rather than more remote areas where it would be only scantily reported, and that its objective this time is the removal of Saleh himself. The situation now is beginning to resemble that in Ivory Coast earlier this year when Laurent Gbagbo was holed up in his presidential compound and refusing to budge. Saleh has his own well-protected compound and in theory could stay there for ages while the country falls apart all around him. In fact, even if he were to resign, he would technically still be president unless the Yemeni parliament – where his party holds an overwhelming majority – agreed to accept it. 11.03am: We’re going to try and speak to a couple of Yemen experts to see where things might be heading for President Saleh and his country. In the meantime, here’s AP’s latest summary of events: Street battles raged Thursday between the army and opposition tribesmen in Sana’a and dozens of people on both sides were killed and wounded. Elsewhere a thousands-strong force of tribal fighters fought to break through government lines on the northern outskirts of the city. Sana’a airport was closed Wednesday night and remains shut for fear that planes could be hit in the heavy shelling around the city. The Defence Ministry issue a statement claiming the army stopped the tribesmen from entering Sana’a, but an army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military, said the fighting continues. The officer, who spoke on condition he not be named in accordance with opposition force custom, said the fighting was within 10 miles of the northern outskirts of Sana’a. He said the tribesmen had captured but later released 30 soldiers from the elite Republican Guard. Heavy casualties were reported inside the city’s Hassaba neighborhood where resident Talal Hazza said government troops were shelling opposition forces for a second day running. The army is trying to dislodge fighters loyal to pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Amar. The Defence Ministry acknowledge fighting in Hassaba for the first time Thursday. Opposition fighters have taken control of some government buildings in the region. In the southern city of Taiz, three protesters were wounded in the fighting with the army, security men and plain-clothes government enforcers, said activist Mohammed al-Darfi. He said security forces stormed the house of Taiz opposition lawmaker Sultan al-Samie Wednesday night and confiscated his computer and documents. 10.55am: Al-Jazeera has some spectacular footage of the burning car bomb outside Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel, and of the anti-Gaddafi protests which followed. 10.47am: Yet another update from Yemen , where Reuters is reporting that flights have been suspended at Sana’a airport as fighting approaches the area. No news yet on how permanent this could be. The airport closed last week, but only briefly. 10.29am: Some more on Yemen , where the situation does appear to be deteriorating. This from Reuters: Yemeni soldiers have fired at protesters in the southern city of Taiz who are calling for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-rule over the impoverished Arab state, witnesses said on Thursday. There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The U.N. human rights envoy said earlier this week her office was investigating reports that Yemeni soldiers have killed at least 50 protesters in Taiz since Sunday. 10.13am: There has been more overnight violence in Yemen , with “dozens” hurt, according to reports. AP writes: A Yemeni army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s camp says government forces and armed tribesmen who sided with the opposition have fought new street battles overnight in the capital Sanaa, leaving dozens killed and injured. The officer also says that thousands of armed tribesmen have fought the Yemeni army about 10 miles from the city in an effort to push toward Sana’a… A Sana’a resident, Talal Hazza, says government forces continued shelling positions of pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar’s tribesmen in the capital’s Hassaba neighborhood on Thursday. 10.03am: In connection with the above video, Richard Norton-Taylor writes: Spectacular explosions followed the bombing by RAF Tornado and Typhoon jets of ten ammunition storage bunkers and a vehicle at a site near Waddan, in central Libya. The Ministry of Defence has released the video of the bombing on Tuesday of the targets with weapons equipped with satellite and laser guidance systems. Secondary explosions, which can be seen in the video, show that a significant quantity of ammo was stored at the site, the MoD said. Major General John Lorimer, the ministry’s chief military spokesman, said Gaddafi forces had become increasing dependent on Waddan for ammunition. 9.44am: Unicef , the UN children’s organisation, has sent us this blog from one of its staff members in Libya . Rebecca Fordham recounts the impact the conflict has had on two children in particular. It’s worth quoting at some length: June 1st 2011: I witnessed the graphic impact of conflict on children when I boarded a boat coming into Benghazi from Misrata. Two young boys, who had been severely injured by explosive remnants of war (ERW) lay on beds inside the on board field hospital, provided by LibAid, with their fathers standing patiently beside them. Both boys stared out, Ayman, 14, his wrists heavily bandaged and, Mamud, 9, lying quietly in the bed next to him. The boys had been playing close to the Medical Technical College in Misrata, Ayman’s father told me, when his son picked up what he thought was shrapnel from an exploded bomb to take home and show his family. It exploded when he touched it. His father knew there were “cluster bombs” that had been dropped close by, and that they could explode when someone tried to move them but, he didn’t know the exact location and what they looked like. Children are particularly at risk, because their natural curiosity means that they often pick up items that adults are more cautious to touch. In Libya, where some children have been living under extremely challenging and stressful conditions for over three months, they need to understand the dangers of unexploded ordinance and also have safe spaces to play. … The ERW threat in Misrata is particularly grave. Limited surveys of Misrata confirm the use of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines amongst a litany of ERW across the city. It has been reported that 30 ammunition storage areas have been destroyed by air strikes, spreading even more ERW. According to ICRC [Red Cross], in the past six weeks there have been 13 reported casualties from ERW in Misrata. … Both Ayman and Mamud were taken to a Misrata hospital where Ayman had to have both his hands amputated. They are now receiving medical treatment in Benghazi. I have visited the hospital and hope to again soon. 9.38am: Al-Jazeera’s English service has this good round-up of yesterday’s post-martial law clashes in Bahrain, including security forces seemingly aiming live fire at protesters. 9.25am: Behind its paywall the FT has an interesting article about yesterday’s meeting in Turkey during which Syrian opposition activists sought to agree a united front. It’s not an easy task, as the report says: Some activists have questioned what the meeting in Antalya can achieve, given the difficulty of representing an inchoate and still-evolving protest movement inside Syria. There are no high-profile leaders, and the movement is apparently driven by young, non-affiliated people – different from the traditional opposition made up of the Muslim Brotherhood, leftwingers and Kurdish nationalists… Some also voiced distrust of the motives of those outside Syria campaigning for change. “Some are looking to capitalise on the intifada inside the country – this is not acceptable,” one said, arguing that trust was key in a movement where many were putting their lives at risk. A statement released on behalf of some activists within Syria said they had “reservations about the rush to hold such a conference without any pre-consultation with the inside”. 9.19am: Here’s a photo of the debris following last night’s car explosion in Benghazi. Al-Jazeera have their own, slightly more dramatic photos . 9.11am: A Libya update from late last night, via AP : A United Nations panel has said that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people. The UN investigators found evidence that opposition forces also committed “some acts which would constitute war crimes,” the global body said. “The commission is not of the view that the violations committed by the opposition armed forces were part of any ‘widespread or systematic attack’ against a civilian population such as to amount to crimes against humanity,” it added. Their 92-page report was commissioned in February by the UN Human Rights Council, which has now power itself to launch proceedings. 8.54am: A couple of interesting items from today’s Independent: • A 20-year-old female student in Bahrain , who was arrested two months ago for reading a poem at a pro-democracy meeting , is to go on trial, according to her mother. Some earlier reports said Ayat al-Gormezi was bekiueved to have been killed. • On a parallel note, an Amnesty International campaigner for women’s rights argues that self-confident young women are worrying established male authorities in the Middle East. 8.35am: Good morning. Welcome to today’s live updates from the Middle East unrest. Here’s a brief rundown of the latest news: • The crisis in Yemen is escalating , with at least 41 people killed yesterday during clashes between President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s troops and forces loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, the influential tribal leader. Hillary Clinton last night increased US pressure on Saleh to step down , telling reporters that he and his regime should “move out of the way to permit the opposition and civil society to begin a transition to political and economic reform”. • A car has exploded in Benghazi , the de facto capital city for Libya’s rebels. It’s believed a grenade was thrown into the car outside the Tibesti Hotel, where most foreign diplomats and journalists stay in the city, late yesterday. Rebels called it a “cowardly act” carried out by supporters of Muammar Gaddafi. Earlier, it emerged that Gaddafi’s oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, has defected and now backs the rebels. • Bahrain remains tense after yesterday’s renewed clashes between demonstrators and security forces after martial law was lifted. Plus a couple more things from today’s paper and website: • The daughter of a veteran Iranian dissident has died during clashes between mourners and security forces at her father’s funeral in Tehran. • Hosni Mubarak will face trial for alleged corruption and killing protesters from 3 August, an Egyptian court official has said. His two sons will also be tried for corruption . Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Yemen Syria Libya Bashar Al-Assad Bahrain Muammar Gaddafi Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Yemen death toll rises as explosion hits Libyan rebel-held city of Benghazi 2.40pm: Russia is advising its citizens in Yemen to leave . A foreign ministry spokesman said: “The situation is escalating every hour, the tensions are not easing.” 2.35pm: Reports now from al-Jazeera that Sana’a aiport is closed and flights are being diverted to Aden. CNN correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom tweets that Yemen State TV is quoting official sources denying that there are any changes or delays. 1.50pm: Reuters now report that the airport in Sana’a has re-opened. Thousands of other people are also fleeing fighting in the Yemen capital by car, it said: “It felt as if the artillery shells were flying next to my head… My wife, my daughter were screaming. It was horrible,” resident Sadeq al-Lahbe said before leaving. “There is no electricity, no water and violent strikes shaking the house. Is this life?” 1.32pm: Yemen : The AFP news agency quotes medical staff as saying at least 15 people died overnight in the Al-Hasaba area of Sana’a, Sadiq al-Ahmar’s stronghold, among them a seven-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet. 12.49pm: According to rights campaigners in Syria , quoted by Reuters, security forces have killed 11 people today in the under-siege central town of Rastan. As ever, there is no way to independently verify this. 12.18pm: A brief return to Bahrain : I’ve been passed an email from the rights group Avaaz urging F1 teams to boycott the emirate’s Grand Prix if it is rescheduled following a meeting tomorrow . The race had been due to begin the 2011 season in March, but it was called off amid the quashing of pro-democracy protests. Azaaz said: F1 mustn’t give credibility to a pariah regime that is as brutal as Iran and Zimbabwe. If F1 decides to race in Bahrain, it will be on a par with the sporting tours that chose to play in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. 12.06pm: Francis Matthew of the Gulf News highlights the role of Hamid al-Ahmar , the prominent Yemeni businessman and politician – and brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the tribal leader at the centre of the conflict – who turned against Saleh this week. (Our correspondent Tom Finn wrote about the family last week . The political initiative was seized this week by Hamid al-Ahmar, when he rebelled against Saleh. A businessman and politician, Ahmar holds an important position in the major Hashid confederation. His elder brother Sadiq al-Ahmar is the paramount chief of the Hashid confederation, and they are the sons of the late Shaikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was a major figure in Yemeni politics till his death in 2007, backed by substantial Saudi influence. A third brother, Hussain, commanded the Saudi-backed Hashid militia in the recent fighting in Sa’ada. Hamid al-Ahmar’s challenge will be viewed favourably by Saudi Arabia, which has had a close relationship with his family for decades. The Saudi leadership is the most concerned of all the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states that Yemen does not slip into chaos, and it will naturally back an alternative to Saleh based on northern leaders. And if Ahmar is dismissed as being just a businessman rather than a politician, his relative, General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar is an effective military commander who has already rebelled against Saleh. But Matthew says the intervention of the Ahmar family is not necessarily a win for the pro-democracy opposition, who have rejected the idea of supporting a leadership bid from another member of the power elite They have promised to hold out for a peaceful transfer to a civilian authority. The activists are slowly developing their own management structure and deciding on mechanisms to nominate their leaders, but this was not sufficiently advanced to enable them to send observers to the GCC transition talks. But others who are not yet part of the action are the leaders from the south. When Yemen united in 1990, the president of South Yemen, Ali Salim al-Beidh, became vice-president of the united country. He despaired that Saleh would not listen to his concerns, and resigned to lead a breakaway movement when he declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which only lasted in the south from May to June 1994. Beidh is the leader of Al Harak, a party dedicated to a southern breakaway. The GCC sees Yemen as too important and too close to be allowed to fail. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Saudis ran massive grant programmes which they allowed to wither away after the border settlement in 2000. Now they are leading GCC efforts to find a political solution. They have reopened their links with northern political leaders like al-Ahmar to try and find a way forward. But in the end, any long-term solution in Yemen will also need to take into account southern ambitions, as well as the new demands of the young people on the streets, who have time and demographics on their side, even if they have failed to find a leader to articulate their demands and take part in the talks this time round. 12.02pm: Reuters are reporting a Yemen detail I’d so far missed: Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, has arrived in Saudi Arabia en route for he United Arab Emirates, and is seeking help from both countries to pressure Saleh into stepping down. 11.34am: My colleague Brian Whitaker has the following useful context for the situation in Yemen : Fighting in and around Yemen’s capital seems to be intensifying, and this morning there are reports that Sana’a airport has been closed. Is this the end for President Saleh? Certainly many people are hoping so. With many erstwhile supporters – both civil and military – abandoning him, it’s clear that Saleh can never regain the authority he once had. But there’s still the question of how, exactly, he can be ousted from office. One thing to keep in mind is that armed conflict in Yemen is not unusual; in fact it’s almost routine. The regime has fought an on-off war with Houthi rebels in the north for years, as well as a separatist insurrection in the south which sprang up more recently. Tribal militias have also fought the army often in the past, and sometimes got the better of it. Saleh’s regime, therefore, is well accustomed to sitting-out periods of turmoil, and even military setbacks, without feeling that its survival is challenged to the core. The difference this time is that a lot of the fighting is concentrated in the capital rather than more remote areas where it would be only scantily reported, and that its objective this time is the removal of Saleh himself. The situation now is beginning to resemble that in Ivory Coast earlier this year when Laurent Gbagbo was holed up in his presidential compound and refusing to budge. Saleh has his own well-protected compound and in theory could stay there for ages while the country falls apart all around him. In fact, even if he were to resign, he would technically still be president unless the Yemeni parliament – where his party holds an overwhelming majority – agreed to accept it. 11.03am: We’re going to try and speak to a couple of Yemen experts to see where things might be heading for President Saleh and his country. In the meantime, here’s AP’s latest summary of events: Street battles raged Thursday between the army and opposition tribesmen in Sana’a and dozens of people on both sides were killed and wounded. Elsewhere a thousands-strong force of tribal fighters fought to break through government lines on the northern outskirts of the city. Sana’a airport was closed Wednesday night and remains shut for fear that planes could be hit in the heavy shelling around the city. The Defence Ministry issue a statement claiming the army stopped the tribesmen from entering Sana’a, but an army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military, said the fighting continues. The officer, who spoke on condition he not be named in accordance with opposition force custom, said the fighting was within 10 miles of the northern outskirts of Sana’a. He said the tribesmen had captured but later released 30 soldiers from the elite Republican Guard. Heavy casualties were reported inside the city’s Hassaba neighborhood where resident Talal Hazza said government troops were shelling opposition forces for a second day running. The army is trying to dislodge fighters loyal to pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Amar. The Defence Ministry acknowledge fighting in Hassaba for the first time Thursday. Opposition fighters have taken control of some government buildings in the region. In the southern city of Taiz, three protesters were wounded in the fighting with the army, security men and plain-clothes government enforcers, said activist Mohammed al-Darfi. He said security forces stormed the house of Taiz opposition lawmaker Sultan al-Samie Wednesday night and confiscated his computer and documents. 10.55am: Al-Jazeera has some spectacular footage of the burning car bomb outside Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel, and of the anti-Gaddafi protests which followed. 10.47am: Yet another update from Yemen , where Reuters is reporting that flights have been suspended at Sana’a airport as fighting approaches the area. No news yet on how permanent this could be. The airport closed last week, but only briefly. 10.29am: Some more on Yemen , where the situation does appear to be deteriorating. This from Reuters: Yemeni soldiers have fired at protesters in the southern city of Taiz who are calling for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-rule over the impoverished Arab state, witnesses said on Thursday. There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The U.N. human rights envoy said earlier this week her office was investigating reports that Yemeni soldiers have killed at least 50 protesters in Taiz since Sunday. 10.13am: There has been more overnight violence in Yemen , with “dozens” hurt, according to reports. AP writes: A Yemeni army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s camp says government forces and armed tribesmen who sided with the opposition have fought new street battles overnight in the capital Sanaa, leaving dozens killed and injured. The officer also says that thousands of armed tribesmen have fought the Yemeni army about 10 miles from the city in an effort to push toward Sana’a… A Sana’a resident, Talal Hazza, says government forces continued shelling positions of pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar’s tribesmen in the capital’s Hassaba neighborhood on Thursday. 10.03am: In connection with the above video, Richard Norton-Taylor writes: Spectacular explosions followed the bombing by RAF Tornado and Typhoon jets of ten ammunition storage bunkers and a vehicle at a site near Waddan, in central Libya. The Ministry of Defence has released the video of the bombing on Tuesday of the targets with weapons equipped with satellite and laser guidance systems. Secondary explosions, which can be seen in the video, show that a significant quantity of ammo was stored at the site, the MoD said. Major General John Lorimer, the ministry’s chief military spokesman, said Gaddafi forces had become increasing dependent on Waddan for ammunition. 9.44am: Unicef , the UN children’s organisation, has sent us this blog from one of its staff members in Libya . Rebecca Fordham recounts the impact the conflict has had on two children in particular. It’s worth quoting at some length: June 1st 2011: I witnessed the graphic impact of conflict on children when I boarded a boat coming into Benghazi from Misrata. Two young boys, who had been severely injured by explosive remnants of war (ERW) lay on beds inside the on board field hospital, provided by LibAid, with their fathers standing patiently beside them. Both boys stared out, Ayman, 14, his wrists heavily bandaged and, Mamud, 9, lying quietly in the bed next to him. The boys had been playing close to the Medical Technical College in Misrata, Ayman’s father told me, when his son picked up what he thought was shrapnel from an exploded bomb to take home and show his family. It exploded when he touched it. His father knew there were “cluster bombs” that had been dropped close by, and that they could explode when someone tried to move them but, he didn’t know the exact location and what they looked like. Children are particularly at risk, because their natural curiosity means that they often pick up items that adults are more cautious to touch. In Libya, where some children have been living under extremely challenging and stressful conditions for over three months, they need to understand the dangers of unexploded ordinance and also have safe spaces to play. … The ERW threat in Misrata is particularly grave. Limited surveys of Misrata confirm the use of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines amongst a litany of ERW across the city. It has been reported that 30 ammunition storage areas have been destroyed by air strikes, spreading even more ERW. According to ICRC [Red Cross], in the past six weeks there have been 13 reported casualties from ERW in Misrata. … Both Ayman and Mamud were taken to a Misrata hospital where Ayman had to have both his hands amputated. They are now receiving medical treatment in Benghazi. I have visited the hospital and hope to again soon. 9.38am: Al-Jazeera’s English service has this good round-up of yesterday’s post-martial law clashes in Bahrain, including security forces seemingly aiming live fire at protesters. 9.25am: Behind its paywall the FT has an interesting article about yesterday’s meeting in Turkey during which Syrian opposition activists sought to agree a united front. It’s not an easy task, as the report says: Some activists have questioned what the meeting in Antalya can achieve, given the difficulty of representing an inchoate and still-evolving protest movement inside Syria. There are no high-profile leaders, and the movement is apparently driven by young, non-affiliated people – different from the traditional opposition made up of the Muslim Brotherhood, leftwingers and Kurdish nationalists… Some also voiced distrust of the motives of those outside Syria campaigning for change. “Some are looking to capitalise on the intifada inside the country – this is not acceptable,” one said, arguing that trust was key in a movement where many were putting their lives at risk. A statement released on behalf of some activists within Syria said they had “reservations about the rush to hold such a conference without any pre-consultation with the inside”. 9.19am: Here’s a photo of the debris following last night’s car explosion in Benghazi. Al-Jazeera have their own, slightly more dramatic photos . 9.11am: A Libya update from late last night, via AP : A United Nations panel has said that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people. The UN investigators found evidence that opposition forces also committed “some acts which would constitute war crimes,” the global body said. “The commission is not of the view that the violations committed by the opposition armed forces were part of any ‘widespread or systematic attack’ against a civilian population such as to amount to crimes against humanity,” it added. Their 92-page report was commissioned in February by the UN Human Rights Council, which has now power itself to launch proceedings. 8.54am: A couple of interesting items from today’s Independent: • A 20-year-old female student in Bahrain , who was arrested two months ago for reading a poem at a pro-democracy meeting , is to go on trial, according to her mother. Some earlier reports said Ayat al-Gormezi was bekiueved to have been killed. • On a parallel note, an Amnesty International campaigner for women’s rights argues that self-confident young women are worrying established male authorities in the Middle East. 8.35am: Good morning. Welcome to today’s live updates from the Middle East unrest. Here’s a brief rundown of the latest news: • The crisis in Yemen is escalating , with at least 41 people killed yesterday during clashes between President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s troops and forces loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, the influential tribal leader. Hillary Clinton last night increased US pressure on Saleh to step down , telling reporters that he and his regime should “move out of the way to permit the opposition and civil society to begin a transition to political and economic reform”. • A car has exploded in Benghazi , the de facto capital city for Libya’s rebels. It’s believed a grenade was thrown into the car outside the Tibesti Hotel, where most foreign diplomats and journalists stay in the city, late yesterday. Rebels called it a “cowardly act” carried out by supporters of Muammar Gaddafi. Earlier, it emerged that Gaddafi’s oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, has defected and now backs the rebels. • Bahrain remains tense after yesterday’s renewed clashes between demonstrators and security forces after martial law was lifted. Plus a couple more things from today’s paper and website: • The daughter of a veteran Iranian dissident has died during clashes between mourners and security forces at her father’s funeral in Tehran. • Hosni Mubarak will face trial for alleged corruption and killing protesters from 3 August, an Egyptian court official has said. His two sons will also be tried for corruption . Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Yemen Syria Libya Bashar Al-Assad Bahrain Muammar Gaddafi Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Russian man who decided to spend a night buried alive for “good luck” didn’t make it out of the ground alive. The 35-year-old villager dug a hole in a garden and climbed into an improvised coffin with holes for air pipes, bringing a phone and a bottle of water…
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Foreign ministry says hacking attacks are an international issue and claims critics have ulterior motives in blaming Beijing China has rejected Google’s accusations that it is behind a wave of high-level hacking attacks and said its critics had “ulterior motives” in trying to blame the government in Beijing. The rebuttal follows revelations that Chinese hackers have stolen the Gmail login details of hundreds of senior US and South Korean government officials as well as Chinese political activists. Google has warned the victims of the “phishing” scam and made a public statement about the threat. The US company said it could not say for sure who was responsible, but it traced many of the attacks to Jinan, the capital of Shandong province and a suspected centre of cyber espionage. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said it was unacceptable to blame Beijing. “Hacking attacks are an international issue. China is also a victim,” Hong Lei told a regular press conference. “The so-called statement that the Chinese government supports hacking attacks is a total fabrication out of nothing. It has ulterior motives.” This is not the first clash between the world’s biggest search engine and the world’s biggest censor. In January 2010 Google said it would no longer censor its China-based search engine in accordance with government demands, in response to the China-based intrusions into the accounts of human rights activists. The Chinese authorities have since withdrawn the licence for Google’s mainland-based search operations. Late last year diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks revealed that Google had raised its concerns with the US embassy and a “well-placed” contact had said the targeting of Google was “100% political”. The computer security firm McAfee has alleged that China-based attackers made ” co-ordinated, covert and targeted ” intrusions into the systems of five major oil and gas firms to steal proprietary information. Last month the human rights website change.org said it had been repeatedly targeted by hacking attacks from China after launching an online campaign for the release of the artist Ai Weiwei . The perpetrators and motives remain unclear, though Google’s naming of Jinan as the origin is consistent with the assumptions behind previous investigations by security experts. Last year the New York Times named Lanxiang vocational school in Jinan as one of two educational institutions linked to the so-called Aurora attacks against Google . The school, which is about 250 miles south-east of Beijing, offers many technical subjects, including computing. It has repeatedly denied any involvement in the hacking attacks. Contacted on Thursday, the school rejected the latest accusations. “We have nothing to do with this event,” said a woman at the school office who declined to give her name. ” How can we have such high technology or such elite students? It’s impossible.” Chinese computer experts cautioned against drawing quick conclusions. “It is very hard to say this is a problem caused by any one country. China is also sometimes a victim,” said Song Jiaxing, a professor in the computer department of Tsinghua University. “What this certainly shows is that security measures are inadequate. It’s like operating a goldmine without sufficient locks.” China Google Gmail Hacking Data and computer security Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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World Health Organisation says fatal E coli is a mutant blend of two different varieties and has never been seen before A new and more virulent strain of the E coli bacterium caused the outbreak that has killed 17 people and left more than 1,500 ill across Europe, the World Health Organisation has announced. Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the WHO, told the Associated Press it was “a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before … [its characteristics] make it more virulent and toxin-producing”. According to the Health Protection Agency three British nationals have been infected as well as four Germans in the UK. All are believed to have caught it in Germany. Three are believed to have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a rare and severe kidney complication that destroys red blood cells and can affect the central nervous system. The HPA has said it is working with the Food Standards Agency and there is no evidence of suspect produce being distributed in the UK. As the number of cases continues to rise , Russia has extended its ban on imports of raw vegetables from the European Union – a move condemned by Brussels as “disproportionate” – and Spain is threatening legal action over the initial attempt by Germany to blame the outbreak on imported Spanish organic cucumbers. Russia initially banned imports of raw vegetables from Germany and Spain but is extending the ban to all EU countries. Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor, told the Interfax news agency the deaths “demonstrate that the much-praised European sanitary legislation which Russia is being urged to adopt does not work”. “How many more lives of European citizens does it take for European officials to tackle this problem?” he told the RIA Novosti news agency. Exports of all vegetables, including raw vegetables, from the EU to Russia were valued at €594m euros last year, with France, Germany and Poland the biggest exporters. European Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent said health commissioner John Dalli would be writing to Moscow “within hours” warning the ban was disproportionate. Spain is seeking compensation from Germany of its farmers, claiming lost sales are costing €200m a week and could put 70,000 people out of work. In Germany a health official admitted the precise source of the disease may never be traced. Reinhard Burger, head of the Robert Koch Institute, told the BBC: “I think the number of cases will come down, but how long it takes I’m not sure. It could be indeed weeks or months and I’m not sure if we will really find the source.” The RKI reported 365 new cases on Wednesday and said a quarter involved a life-threatening complication. At the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Denis Coulombier, head of surveillance and response, said there was a strong link between the disease and consuming fresh vegetables. “To have such a high number of severe cases means that probably there was a huge contamination at some junction,” he told Reuters. “That could have been anywhere from the farm to the fork – in transport, packaging, cleaning, at wholesalers or retailers – anywhere along that food chain.” In Britain the HPA is urging travellers to Germany to avoid eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers or leafy salad, especially in the north of the country, and anyone returning with symptoms including bloody diarrhoea is being told to seek urgent medical attention. Dr Dilys Morgan, head of the HPA gastrointestinal department, said: “The HPA continues to actively monitor the situation very carefully and we are working with the authorities in Germany and with our counterparts across Europe as to the cause of the outbreak. We have alerted health professionals to the situation and advised them to urgently investigate and report suspected cases with a travel history to Germany.” Professor Hugh Pennington, a microbiologist from the University of Aberdeeen, told the BBC that the oubreak was unusual because it didn’t seem to be affecting young children. “Children under five have had a very hard time with this kind of bug in the past. They seem to be escaping it – maybe just due to the nature of the food that’s causing the problem.” E coli World Health Organisation Russia European Union Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk
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