Both parties can say expected wins are proof that their power-sharing arrangement is working Barring a major upset it now looks like the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin will return to the new Northern Ireland assembly with more or less the same number of seats as the previous one. For both parties the assembly poll has been a success and they would argue proof that their power-sharing arrangement is working. At the time of writing 72 of the 108 Northern Ireland assembly members have now been elected. The DUP has 32 seats, Sinn Féin 19, the SDLP 8 and the Ulster Unionists on 8 while the cross community Alliance party has 4 with 1 independent elected. The vote of confidence their respective electorates gave them is also a clear rebuff to the republican dissidents seeking to destabilise Northern Ireland through their renewed violent campaigns. Some of the results on the Sinn Féin side do put the size and influence of the anti-ceasefire republican groups into some perspective. Take the constituency of Upper Ban for instance where in the towns of Lurgan and Craigavon there is a small but militant band of dissident republicans aligned to the Continuity IRA and Republican Sinn Féin. Yet nationalist and republican voters in that constituency gave Sinn Féin’s John O’Dowd close to 7,000 first preference votes on Thursday electing him, a running mate and almost another party candidate in the once unionist-dominated region. O’Dowd has been a constant critic of ongoing CIRA violence in the North Armagh area over the last few years and to the republican dissidents he has become something of a hate-figure. The support for him however at the ballot box is a clear pointer that the overwhelming number of nationalists living in Northern Ireland continue to support the peace process and don’t want a return to violence. On the DUP’s flank is the Traditional Unionist Voice comprised mainly of former party members bitterly opposed to Ian Paisley’s original decision to enter into government with Sinn Féin. The TUV leader is set to take a seat in the Paisley heartland of North Antrim this weekend but when he goes to Stormont when the new Assembly opens Jim Allister will cut a lonely figure. It seems likely now that he will be the only anti-powersharing unionist elected to the devolved parliament. Although promising to be a “thorn in the side” of the DUP he will barely leave a scratch on the largest of Northern Ireland’s parties. The low turnout this time around may also be a sign that the voters are less fired up by tribal passions than previous elections. Yes, the main parties are still divided on confessional/sectarian lines but the constitutional status of Northern Ireland was not in doubt in this election. Arguably the existential question of which state we are in was more applicable to Scotland given the SNP’s triumph. Unless something catastrophic happens, expect the DUP-Sinn Féin love-in to continue at Stormont with the other parties in the coalition, namely the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists complaining about being cut out of the carve up of ministries, power, influence. From the viewpoint of a healthy democracy though there remains the question of a viable opposition. If the SDLP, UUP and Alliance go back into government with the two larger parties it will mean that the number of opposition assembly members can be counted on the fingers of one hand. In those circumstances would it be better for say the UUP to decline going into the executive and instead taking on the role of official opposition as some of their external advisers have urged them to? Maybe the allure of power is still too tempting for any of the main parties to spurn. Either way the compulsory coalition of post-troubles Northern Ireland is probably going to continue rolling on. Northern Ireland Northern Irish politics AV referendum Alternative vote Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Sinn Féin Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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• Press F5 or auto refresh for the latest news • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk • Click here for live, in-running league tables • Get the latest scores from around Europe 3.38pm “Plugging shamelessly,” begins Jonathan Wilson promisingly. “Dennis Bergkamp talks at great length about his first touch for the winner v Argentina in 1998 in Issue One of The Blizzard. You can order it here .” You can and you bloody well should, too. (The great Barry Davies also talks about his commentary for Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina in Issue Two, if Wilson decides its worthy of inclusion.) 3.37pm: Newcastle 1-0 Birmingham (Ameobi 36 pen) Carl Cort gives Newcastle the lead from the penalty spot. 3.36pm Birmingham’s Liam Ridgewell has been sent off for handball on the line at Newcastle, who also have a penalty. In other news, Notts County have equalised at home to Brighton. With Walsall 2-0 down, Notts County look safe at the moment. 3.36pm “I was never Dunc’s biggest fan,” says Jon Gard. “HOWEVER, watching that United goal and celebration has just made my day. Although you’ve also upset me by reminding me the first album I ever got was Now That’s What I Call Music. The first one.” 3.35pm Southampton 2-0 Walsall, Rochester 2-1 Torquay. 3.34pm It’s all happening in Stevenage, and it’s not every day you read that sentence on the Guardian. Nicholas Ajose has equalised for Bury to make it 2-2, but Stevenage are still in the play-off places. 3.33pm Bristol Rovers needed to win by 15 goals at Colchester to have any chance of avoiding relegation to League Two. They are losing 2-0. 3.32pm Southampton lead Walsall 1-0. It doesn’t mean much at the top – Southampton were effectively promoted anyway – but it does at the bottom. If Walsall lose and Dagenham & Redbridge get an equaliser at Peterborough, Walsall will be down. 3.31pm: Everton 0-1 Manchester City (Toure 30) Yaya Toure puts Manchester City ahead at Goodison Park from David Silva’s pass. City are finishing the season strongly, and if they win today they will be only two points behind Arsenal. 3.30pm These are the latest EPL (sic) scores: Aston Villa 1-1 Wigan Bolton 0-0 Sunderland Everton 0-0 Man City Newcastle 0-0 Birmingham West Ham 0-1 Blackburn 3.29pm Ben Strevens has put Wycombe 2-1 ahead against Southend. If they win they will be promoted regardless of what Shrewsbury do at home to Oxford. It’s currently 0-0 there. 3.28pm “Re: Joy of Six first touches,” says Ryan Dunne. “Good God! That Baggio clip is amazing. Take it you’d have Bergkamp and Berbatov in there too?” A gentleman never tells. 3.27pm It’s Carlisle 0-1 Yeovil. This, my scrambled brain is pleased to report, is of no significance whatsoever. 3.23pm “I think I could tell you what’s going on,” lies Edie Richards, “but it would involve a third email, which makes me look sad, and a disingenuous link to my website, to a piece that’s actually about why clever players fail. In short, no-one would come out a winner from it. I’d like to apologise for sending this * *And for the further link I’ve put in the word ‘this’ ” 3.22pm Wycombe have equalised at home to Southend, so they leap back into the League Two promotion places. I think. What day is this? 3.21pm …Stevenage 2-1 Bury… 3.20pm “David Silva had the touch of the season from a crossfield diagonal ball from Kompany,” says Katie McKeown. “I dare you to find an example of better control this year!” So long as you don’t double-dare me. Actually, I really want to write the Joy of Six: first touches. This is number one . 3.18pm It’s now Stevenage 1-1 Bury, and I had no idea what implications that has for League Two or world peace. Ah, it doesn’t mean anything. Stevenage are still in the play-off places, as are Gillingham. Torquay are not. 3.17pm Anthony Grant has given Southend the lead at Wycombe, which is big news in League Two. And it’s also Aston Villa 1-1 Wigan , with Ashley Young scoring a free-kick. That might be his last goal for Villa. So now West Ham are only four points from safety. 3.16pm “The small town nearest me, Kirkintilloch, has multiple nightclubs!” says Ryan Dunne. “Although this might be because it’s called “The Canal Capital of Scotland” and wags invariably deface the second word’s C on the signs. There must be a lot of disappointed tourists (or not).” 3.14pm: WEST HAM 0-1 BLACKBURN (Roberts 13) Oh my. Blackburn have taken the lead at Upton Park, thanks to Jason Roberts. As things stand, West Ham are six points from safety with two games to go . 3.13pm A few vital goals in various leagues: Rotherham 1-0 Torquay, Notts County 0-1 Brighton, Peterborough 1-0 Dagenham & Redbridge. This is going to be a long afternoon for my poor fingers. 3.11pm Poor old Merse. He probably looked at Newcastle v Birmingham and thought he’d be fine for names. Barton, Ferguson, Bowyer, Foster, Taylor, Simpson. Easy. Bring it on. And then Birmingham brought in Jean Beausejour. But seriously, Merse is great, one of the best pundits on TV. 3.10pm: ASTON VILLA 0-1 WIGAN (N’Zogbia 10) This is a surprise for most of us, if not the statisticians. Wigan have never lost at Villa Park, and they lead thanks to a neat finish from the excellent Charles N’Zogbia. 3.09pm A goal! A net-tickler! And it’s an important one as well: Stevenage lead Bury 1-0 . If it stays like that they will be in the League Two play-offs. 3.08pm There hasn’t been a single goal in the Premier League or the Football League yet. Eight minutes multiplied by 30-odd games equals a lot of minutes. What the hell’s going on? 3.07pm Do they still play slow songs at nightclubs? Who is the Celine Dion of 2011? It wouldn’t be the same anyway, what with mobile phones and all. Gone are the days of sheepishly asking the DJ for a pen and paper so you could get someone’s phone number, then waving it around like a moron in front of your mates outside the nightclub, then watching in horror as one of your friends decides to grab the paper and eat it. 3.06pm: SECURITY! Department “Better still, I’ve decided, as everyone I know (two and a half people) has gone out without inviting or even telling me, I’m with you all the way this afternoon,” says Ethan Dean-Richards. “I narrowly missed my foot with a knife a minute ago – who knows where this could take us?* *I suspect I do .” 3.04pm Want to know more about the last day’s inaction in the Championship? Then you know what you have to do . 3.04pm QPR have been fined £865,000 for that funny business everyone has been talking about. They probably won’t care less, as they have been promoted as are currently bathing in crisp £5 notes. 3.03pm On Sky Sports, Phil Thompson is growling about a missed chance for Blackburn at Upton Park, with Morten Gamst Pedersen’s shot deflected wide. 3.02pm “I am working today so have given up my season ticket to Everton and as such am missing the return of Duncan Ferguson to Goodison for the first time since he retired,” says Joe Daly. “I also missed his last ever game where he scored in the last minute. Despite his somewhat erratic behaviour on and off the pitch he was my hero from age nine until 20. So if you can report a few Everton goals and maybe a Lescott sending off I’d appreciate it. I’m hoping they just play this on the big screens when he comes on to the pitch.” Or this , or this , or, best of all, this – which, coincidentally, was an unpopular manoeuvre in certain small-town nightclubs in 1994-95. 3pm It’s all kicking off! 2.58pm “Is it the ultimate put down for the Championship that you’ve linked to the Premier League table, there, Rob, or just something Freudian?” asks Ethan Dean-Richards. “Tee and hee.” Yes, hilarity prevails all right. 2.54pm “Jesus,” says Niall Mullen. “I tuned in to get an update on today’s play and all I got was a belly full of 17-year-old shame to the soundtrack of Celine Dion’s ‘Think Twice’ . You weren’t, er, watching me in 1994-95 were you?” I was slow-dancing with you. You don’t even remember? I can’t believe it meant so little to you. Actually, 1994-95 wasn’t the worst time to have a nine-month nightclub-based aberration. There was some wonderfully naff music around back then. And you haven’t known true romance until you’ve slow danced to this . 2.51pm The Championship season has finished. This is the final table , and the play-off semi-finals will be Swansea v Forest and Cardiff v Reading. You don’t need to have been on Eggheads to work out who North London police will be supporting. Bolton v Sunderland team news Bolton Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Elmander, Muamba, Taylor, Kevin Davies, Sturridge. Subs: Bogdan, Petrov, Gardner, Klasnic, Moreno, Cohen, Wheater. Sunderland Mignolet, Elmohamady, Onuoha, Ferdinand, Bardsley, Henderson, Colback, Mensah, Malbranque, Zenden, Sessegnon. Subs: Carson, Muntari, Riveros, Knott, Noble, Adams, Lynch. Referee Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) Aston Villa v Wigan team news Aston Villa Friedel, Walker, Collins, Dunne, Luke Young, Downing, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Ashley Young, Bent, Heskey. Subs: Marshall, Pires, Albrighton, Bradley, Delfouneso, Delph, Cuellar. Wigan Al Habsi, Alcaraz, Boyce, Gary Caldwell, Figueroa, Cleverley, McCarthy, Watson, N’Zogbia, Moses, Rodallega. Subs: Kirkland, Gohouri, Thomas, Di Santo, Gomez, McArthur, Sammon. Referee Mike Jones (Cheshire) West Ham v Blackburn team news West Ham Green, Jacobsen, da Costa, Gabbidon, Bridge, Spector, Hitzlsperger, Boa Morte, Sears, Cole, Ba. Subs: Boffin, Tomkins, Collison, Kovac, Hines, Piquionne, Keane. Blackburn Robinson, Emerton, Samba, Givet, Olsson, Nzonzi, Jermaine Jones, Diouf, Pedersen, Hoilett, Roberts. Subs: Bunn, Formica, Andrews, Santa Cruz, Rochina, Mwaruwari, Hanley. Referee Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) 2.26pm A storming goal from David McGoldrick has made it Palace 0-3 Forest . Newcastle v Birmingham team news Newcastle Krul, Simpson, Steven Taylor, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Lovenkrands, Ameobi. Subs: Harper, Ryan Taylor, Ranger, Ferguson, Donaldson, Tavernier, Kuqi. Birmingham Foster, Carr, Jiranek, Johnson, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Fahey, Bowyer, Beausejour, Jerome. Subs: Doyle, Phillips, Bentley, Derbyshire, Parnaby, Hleb, Davies. Referee Chris Foy (Merseyside) 2.24pm “As I’m sure many other people will be telling you, today is also the day of the Highland League decider, with the noble Buckie Thistle playing at home to retain their title against their fiercest rivals, Deveronvale,” says Mike Cormack. “I’ll keep you posted…” I love Scottish football . Everton v Man City team news Everton Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Arteta, Heitinga, Neville, Osman, Rodwell, Anichebe. Subs: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Beckford, Cahill, Gueye, Coleman, Vellios. Man City Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, De Jong, Vieira, Milner, Toure, Silva, Dzeko. Subs: Given, Wright-Phillips, Adam Johnson, Jo, Boyata, Balotelli, McGivern. Referee Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 2.16pm Leeds’ last 0.00000000000001 per cent of hope has disappeared: Marcus Tudgay has just headed Nottingham Forest into a 2-0 lead at Crystal Palace. Somewhere upstairs, Brian Clough has a big dumb grin on his face. Forest are going into the play-offs where, as things stand, they will face Swansea. 2.15pm Admirable stuff from Leeds, if ultimately futile: they now lead 2-1 at QPR thanks to Ross McCormack’s deflected shot. 2.13pm A token video of Arsene Wenger way back when, when he didn’t look like Jeff Stelling circa 1999. 2.05pm Nothing to see in the Championship. It’s still QPR 1-1 Leeds and Palace 0-1 Forest. These are the other scores . Token mention of Jimmy Glass, what with this being the last day of the season and anything being possible department Jeff Stelling looks a bit like Arsene Wenger in that video. When did Soccer Saturday start? Around 1997? It was certainly an improvement on Sports Saturday . 1.53pm In Scotland, Rangers are predictably mauling Hearts: it’s 3-0, with Hearts down to 10 men. Ten men? Pah! 1.51pm “McGugan,” says Philippa Booth, doing her best drunken-Jack-Black-in-High-Fidelity impression. “Crivens, have just seen that free kick. Have switched to Palace v Forest.” 1.50pm You’ll probably be wanting some permutations for the rest of the Football League, then. League One Brighton and Southampton are promoted (effectively if not mathematically in Southampton’s case) Huddersfield, Peterborough, MK Dons and Bournemouth are in the play offs Swindon, Plymouth and Bristol Rovers are down (effectively if not etc in Bristol Rovers’ case) That means one of Dagenham & Redbridge (47 pts), Walsall (48 pts) and Notts County (49) are going down. All three are playing sides in the top four League Two Chesterfield and Bury are promoted, while the final automatic place will go to either Wycombe (77 pts) and Shrewsbury (76) Wycombe or Shrewsbury and Accrington Stanley will be in the play offs. The final two places are between three sides on 68 points: Torquay (goal difference +23), Stevenage (+17) and Gillingham (+12) Stockport are down, and the other relegation place will be taken by either Barney (45 pts) or Lincoln (47). Barnet’s goal difference is superior, so if they win and Lincoln fail to win, Lincoln will go down Confused? Splendid. Now if you’d just like to lie down on the couch… 1.26pm Leeds are at least going down with a fight at QPR, where Max Gradel has made it 1-1. 1.11pm Talking of Lewis McGugan, this is surely the free-kick of the season. [Cliche] If Cristiano Ronaldo had scored it… [/cliche] 1.10pm We already know who has been automatically promoted (QPR, Norwich) and relegated (Sheffield United, Scunthorpe, Phil Brown FC) from the Championship. We also know that Cardiff, Swansea and Reading are in the play-offs. The remaining play-off place is between Nottingham Forest and Leeds, who are three points and six goals behind Forest. In other words, Leeds need snookers, a miracle, another miracle, and a six-goal swing. It’s not going to happen: they trail 1-0 at the champions QPR , thanks to a goal from Heidar Helguson, while Lewis McGugan has put Forest 1-0 up at 10-man Crystal Palace . So Leeds now need an eight-goal swing. They are facing an eighth consecutive season outside the top flight, which equals their worst run since the 1950s. You can get all the latest scores from the Championship, and the rest of Europe, by clicking here . Preamble Hello. You don’t need to have spent your teenage years in small-town nightclubs – waiting for the slow songs* and then, at 1.44am on a Sunday morning, roaming wild-eyed across sticky flooring as U Sure Do by Strike morphs awkwardly into Celine Dion’s Think Twice – to know what blind panic feels like. Just take a look at the bottom of the Premier League every April and May, when the search for points, any points, becomes all-consuming. Nothing else matters. Not performances, style of play, dignity, or even the fact you apparently want to slow dance to Celine Dion with someone picked entirely at random through rendered eyes across a dimly lit dancefloor. That is certainly the case for West Ham, Wigan, Blackburn and Birmingham today. The only relegation head-to-head (please don’t call it a six-pointer, or you’ll stir the pedant in me. And, as the poster for all Hulk films would say in an ideal world, you wouldn’t like me when I’m pedantic) is between West Ham (32 points) and Blackburn (38). It’s not quite a must-win for West Ham, as they have two winnable games still to come (Wigan away and Sunderland at home), but if they fail today they will be under all sorts of pressure. Time, then, for their manager’s most Churchillian oratory. Avram? Hello? Even his most Duncan Smithian oratory would be an improvement. Anyway, these are today’s fixtures in the Premier League: Aston Villa v Wigan Bolton v Sunderland Everton v Man City Newcastle v Birmingham Tottenham v Blackpool (5.30pm) West Ham v Blackburn We’ll also keep an eye on the last day of the season in the Football League. The Championship matches kicked off at 12.45pm, although there is basically nothing to play for save that most overrated of emotions, pride. * Do they still play slow songs in small-town nightclubs? Do nightclubs still exist in small towns? JJs in Sittingbourne was shut down. Life has never been the same since really. Premier League Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
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Libyan rebels say city will be starved of fuel after light aircraft drop bombs on oil tanks Libyan government forces have bombed four large oil tanks in Misrata, destroying the city’s only source of fuel, according to rebels. Light aircraft normally used for spraying pesticides were deployed for the overnight attack in Qasr Ahmed, close to the port, rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said today. Bombs were dropped on four large storage tanks, destroying them and sparking a huge blaze that spread to four more, he said. “We cannot extinguish it because we do not have the right tools,” Hassan told Reuters. “Now the city will face a major problem. Those were the only source of fuel for the city. “These tanks could have kept the city for three months with enough fuel.” Nato was notified by the rebels about the planes before the attack but did not respond, said Hassan. Misrata, the last remaining city in the east held by the rebels, has been under siege by Gaddafi’s forces for more than two months. It has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting between loyalists and rebels. Government forces last month flew at least one helicopter reconnaissance mission over the city, according to the rebels. Arab and Middle East unrest Libya Middle East Muammar Gaddafi Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk
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Lib Dem business secretary says coalition can continue, but warns of ‘major issue’ arising over NHS reforms Vince Cable has lashed out at the Conservatives for being “ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal”, after the Lib Dems’ massive defeats in Thursday’s elections and the AV referendum. However, the business secretary said the coalition can still continue in a “businesslike” fashion. “Some of us never had many illusions about the Conservatives, but they have emerged as ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal,” Cable said. “But that doesn’t mean to say we can’t work with them. I think they have always been that way, but you have to be businesslike and professional and you have to work with people who aren’t your natural bedfellows and that is being grownup in politics.” The referendum on changing how Britain elects its MPs was a major concession secured by the Lib Dems when they formed the coalition with the Tories last year. But in Thursday’s poll it was rejected by 13,013,123 votes to 6,152,607. During the campaign there was much animosity between the “yes” and “no” camps. Speaking on the BBC today, Cable conceded that the main purpose of the coalition was to sort out the “economic mess”, and not bring about electoral reform. But he made it clear that the Lib Dems would not accept future policies which go beyond last year’s agreement with their coalition partners, including proposals on NHS reform. “We have a coalition agreement, which is a very good agreement and which is balanced and which we have to deliver, and that is the text around which we should operate in future while not losing sight of the central purpose of the coalition, which is to sort out this economic mess,” he said. “The health service reforms went some way beyond what was in the coalition agreement and that is going to be a major issue as we go forward.” Alternative vote Electoral reform Vince Cable Liberal-Conservative coalition Liberal Democrats Conservatives Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Attack on Tafawa Balewa linked to earlier violence following the re-election of Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan At least 16 people have been killed in northern Nigeria in what appears to be more sectarian violence following April’s presidential election. The attack on the town of Tafawa Balewa, in Bauchi state, was in revenge for earlier killings in the area, according to residents. Houses were also reportedly set alight. “Sixteen people have been confirmed killed by unidentified attackers,” said Bauchi police commissioner John Aba Kasanga. The attack comes after at least 500 people were killed last month in protests following the re-election of incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan. A Christian from the south, Goodluck defeated Muhammadu Buhari, a former army ruler who is popular in the Muslim north. Bauchi neighbours Plateau state in Nigeria’s “middle belt”, where the Muslim north meets the predominantly Christian south, leading to tension over the control of fertile farmlands and economic and political power. There have been frequent clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in villages around Jos, the capital of Plateau. Earlier this year hundreds of people died in attacks there. But the worst violence has taken place in the southern part of Kaduna state, which also borders Plateau. It shares the ethnic and religious diversity of the remaining middle belt. Jonathan, who has widespread support in the south but also gained millions of northern votes, has promised an “all-inclusive” government to heal the rifts. Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) party says it has evidence that electoral commission computers were rigged and that the vote count was manipulated in Jonathan’s favour. It has vowed to contest the outcome in court. The party has asked a tribunal to compel the electoral commission to preserve all the ballot boxes and data capture machines used in the polls for forensic examination. It wants access to the new biometric voter register so that it can cross-check thumbprints on ballot papers. Nigeria Protest Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Passenger plane crashes into sea near West Papua after flying into bad weather At least 15 people are believed to be dead after a plane crashed into the sea off Indonesia’s West Papua province. The passenger plane was travelling from the coastal city of Sorong to the small port town of Kaimana when it came down on Saturday afternoon. It is believed that poor weather was to blame. According to Indonesian media, airport officials said the MA60 plane, operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines, crashed 500 metres short of the runway. There were reportedly 27 people on board. Fifteen bodies have been recovered so far. “We’re still checking on the passengers’ situation,” said Bambang Ervan, a transport ministry spokesman. “We also don’t know what caused the accident, but the weather was pretty bad at the time.” Many of Indonesia’s small domestic carriers have poor safety records. In the past few years there have been a number of commercial airline crashes in the country. Kaimana has among the worst infrastructure in the archipelago of over 17,000 islands. The European commission had barred all Indonesian airlines from its airspace. It lifted a ban in 2009 on Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia after it improved safety standards. Indonesia Plane crashes Amy Fallon guardian.co.uk
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The president has good reason to be thankful to the assault team – the raid has silenced his critics and reshaped his image Barack Obama flew to Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border on Friday to thank in person the assault team who stormed Osama bin Laden’s hideout. He has good reason to do so: the raid has transformed the way Americans view their president, changing him overnight from dithering nerd-in-chief to decisive action man. At emotional meetings, held behind closed doors to protect their anonymity, he awarded the units involved the highest honours available to him and heard their first-hand accounts of what happened inside the Abbottabad compound. Afterwards, at an open meeting at the base with other troops, there were cheers when Obama spoke of these “quiet professionals” who had ensured that the terrorist behind the 9/11 attacks “will never threaten America again”. He had told them: “Job well done.” The president spoke to a hangar full of cheering soldiers after meeting privately with the full assault team, army helicopter pilots and navy seal commandos who executed the dangerous raid on Bin Laden’s compound and killed the al-Qaida leader in Pakistan early on Monday. “Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals … the terrorist leader that struck our nation on 9/11 will never threaten America again,” Obama said, speaking at an army post whose troops have sustained heavy losses in a war in Afghanistan, losses that have grown on his watch. A US official said that material retrieved from Bin Laden’s compound shows he was in touch with senior al-Qaida figures and was able to plot future attacks on US targets from his suburban Pakistani hideout. The official said the trove of documents and computer material also includes new video of Bin Laden, both unreleased propaganda tapes and more candid shots like home videos. Obama owes a large debt to the special forces. Since he began campaigning for the presidency in 2007, he has faced criticism that he was not up to the job. First, the Hillary Clinton campaign implied that he was too inexperienced, that he could not handle the 3am crisis call. More followed from John McCain and Sarah Palin. Then came the rightwing commentators Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and the Tea Party movement. He was too detached, too academic. His patriotism was questioned as was his religion. Stephen Hess, one of America’s most respected commentators on the White House, acknowledged Obama’s changed status since the death of Bin Laden. “His image, fair or unfair, is that he is an intellectual, which he is and which is unusual in a president. Obama thinks about things and takes his time in making decisions, which I think is a good thing.” But Hess, a political scientist at the Brookings Institution, saw the Abbottabad decision as “gutsy, tough, made quickly” and responsible for changing the dynamics of American politics. “It is going to be very hard for Republicans to use any more that label of weak and indecisive,” he said. Helping to reshape the image are those pictures of Obama in the situation room looking grave, grim and anxious as the raid is taking place. He was risking not only the special forces he had sent in but his own presidency, with the danger of a Jimmy Carter-style Iranian hostage rescue debacle that could have finished any hopes of a second White House term. Richard Wolffe, the author of two books on Obama, acknowledged that the perception had changed but insisted the view of the president as weak and naive was always wrong. “If he was as cautious as people said, he could have flattened the building with a bombing raid,” he said. “He makes a few big gambles, but cautiously. He will make the gutsy move, but gets there more slowly. It is a weird combination because we are used to someone who shoots from the hip like Bush or someone more hesitant like Kerry or Clinton. But we have someone who is a combination of the two, someone who is cautious but who makes the calls.” There is a hard core that will never be convinced that Obama is truly patriotic and will continue to insist he was not born in the US, that he is a secret Muslim. But their numbers have dwindled fast because of the combination of his release of his birth certificate a fortnight ago (and his ridiculing of Donald Trump at the White House correspondents’ dinner) and the Abbottabad raid. Beck, Limbaugh and former members of the Bush administration joined in the praise. David Frum, who as an assistant to Bush wrote the “axis of evil” speech, deplored the vilification of Obama as some dark-skinned alien. “So we had this situation where he was not an American, a Muslim, not a patriot. I do not think it [the Bin Laden killing] ends the paranoia but it shoves it back from the centre to the margins. He has shown he understands that the nation has enemies and that force is sometimes the only remedy,” Frum said. The White House and Pentagon almost threw away their advantage with its poor handling of the aftermath, offering exaggerated accounts of what happened and then having to recant. Obama’s meeting with the 9/11 relatives on Thursday and his trip to see the troops at Fort Campbell have undone some of that damage. Within minutes of Obama announcing last Sunday that Bin Laden was dead, US commentators were tweeting that the president had the 2012 election in the bag. That is grossly premature. Obama has not enjoyed the kind of spectacular jump in approval ratings that he might have expected. He has not soared into the 80s, instead seeing relatively modest rises that take him from the mid-40s to the mid-50s. That is mainly because of the sluggish economy. Democratic strategists, speaking anonymously, reluctant to sound negative in a week of good news for the president, are far from convinced he is invincible and are nervous about the slowness of the economic turnaround. Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon polling, agrees. “There is no reason for Democrats to say it is over. I think Republicans thought the same thing in 1991.” George Bush Sr had seen the Berlin Wall fall on his watch and had high approval ratings for his handling of the Gulf war, but still lost. “There is plenty of time for Obama’s shine to fade. Now you have all this stuff surrounding the release of these photos. Not wanting to put them out feeds into the old Obama image, not wanting to offend Muslims. We are a tabloid country. We want to see pictures of Bin Laden,” Coker said, predicting that Obama’s modest boost in the polls would last only a week before being halved. Obama came to power with some of the highest approval ratings in US political history. Millions turned out for his victory night party and inauguration. He has managed to get some of his programme through, delivering on his promise to introduce near-universal healthcare, due to begin in 2014. He has had other gains too, on gay rights, a US-Russian arms reduction deal and preventing the shutdown of government. But there is a lot left to do, including closing Guantánamo, reforming immigration laws and ending tax breaks for the wealthy. These failures have brought criticism from the left. Clarence Jones, a former lawyer and adviser to Martin Luther King, writes regular commentaries calling on the left to mobilise and press Obama to do more. While pleased that it went well in Abbottabad, he would like to see the president “apply the same careful, premeditated, calculating weighing of options about major domestic issues as he did in determining which course of action to pursue to get Bin Laden”. Jones, who helped draft King’s “I have a dream” speech, believes there was an undercurrent of racism behind many of the jibes about the president not being up to the job. “Yes, his academic professorial background was used by his critics to portray Obama as some ivory tower intellectual incapable of taking decisive action. Regrettably there was a racial undercurrent in the suggestions he was not up to the job.” Jones does not believe that the removal of Bin Laden has exorcised that. Politics will return to normal in Washington next week. The Republicans will resume their confrontation with the White House over the size of the national debt. Catching Bin Laden has given Obama an edge in those negotiations and an edge in the longer term. National security is usually a point of weakness for Democrats. But next year, if any Republican rival questions his credentials, the president will have an easy, one-word answer: “Osama”. Barack Obama Osama bin Laden United States US politics Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
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• Official website confirms golfer died at 2.10am Saturday • Five-time major winner was 54 Seve Ballesteros, the legendary five-time major winning golfer, has died after losing his fight against cancer. The news was confirmed by a statement on the golfer’s official website which said: “Today, at 2.10am Spanish time, Seve Ballesteros passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home in Pedreña. “The Ballesteros family is very grateful for all the support and gestures of love that have been received since Seve was diagnosed with a brain tumour on 5th October 2008 at Madrid Hospital la Paz. “At this time the family asks for respect and privacy at such a painful time. Thank you very much. Ballesteros, 54, a five-time major winner, had been recuperating at his home in northern Spain after a series of operations since being diagnosed with two malignant brain tumours in 2008. His condition worsened on Wednesday, at which point he was admitted to hospital; rumours had swept Spain last week that Ballesteros’s situation had taken a rapid downturn. On Friday, Ballesteros was under heavy sedation, with his family and friends understood to be preparing for the worst. In an unfortunate coincidence, the Spanish Open – the last competition Ballesteros won as a professional in 1995 – is currently taking place in Barcelona. José María Olazábal, the golfer closest to Ballesteros and inspired by him since childhood, was too emotional to speak to the media in the aftermath of his Friday round in Barcelona. “I can’t talk,” Olazábal said. “I can only wait, and cry.” Another Spanish golfer and Olazábal’s playing partner, Miguel Angel Jiménez, was in tears upon completion of his second round. Olazábal, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, recently stated his dream that Ballesteros could be alongside him for the meeting with the United States in Chicago next autumn. The pair met a fortnight ago, at which point Ballesteros was in a wheelchair. Olazábal’s manager, Sergio Gómez, reported that Ballesteros’s daughter had passed on details of her father’s condition on Thursday. “Seve’s physical condition was not good when José María went to see him, but they talked about golf and everything,” Gómez said. “Then came the call yesterday to tell him that Seve was in a critical condition.” Ballesteros’s illness initially came to light after he collapsed at Madrid airport in October 2008; during the intervening period, he has rarely been seen in public. Since his first surgery, which lasted 12 hours, he has undergone almost continuous chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In 2009, after his fourth chemotherapy course, Ballesteros labelled it “a miracle” he was still alive. In 2010, during his last television interview with the BBC, Ballesteros spoke of fighting cancer. “You can’t have it all in life,” he said. “One day you feel fantastic, the next you never know what is going to happen. You just take a look at how many days of glory I had before. It has been a fantastic life and this, what has happened to me, is what I will call destiny; one test that God is putting on me.” Ballesteros, who retired from professional golf in 2007, was earlier regarded as a pioneer for the European game overseas. He had turned professional at the age of 16, in 1974, finishing second to Jack Nicklaus in the Open at Birkdale only two years later. He was the first from this continent to claim a Masters title, in 1980, a feat he repeated at Augusta three years later. Ballesteros was the winner of the Open in 1979, 1984 and 1988. Besides winning a total of 87 titles in his career, Ballesteros played in eight Ryder Cups, claiming 20 points from 37 matches. He also captained a successful European team, fittingly on his home soil in Valderrama, 14 years ago. Ballesteros had not been deemed well enough to make a planned trip to St Andrews to say a farewell to British fans at the time of last year’s Open. At the Masters last month, Phil Mickelson dedicated a Spanish-themed champions’ dinner to the absent Ballesteros, the man he credits with his own decision to start playing golf. Seve Ballesteros Golf Ewan Murray guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Robin Quivers is considering a media career without her tall sidekick of the past 30 years. The Howard Stern cohort tells Radar : “I love to do radio and television and I’ve always wanted my own television show, so I’ve been putting out feelers for those kinds of things.” Quivers has…
Continue reading …Had Osama bin Laden somehow managed to elude the Navy SEALs, he would have escaped wearing pajamas that reportedly had two phone numbers and 500 euros sewn into them . So how far could he have gotten with that much cash? Jeremy Singer-Vine tackles the $725 question for Slate’s Explainer column…
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