A 3-year-old boy apparently managed to slip out from under a safety bar on a roller coaster and plunged to his death at a Chicago amusement park. Jayson Dansby was riding with his twin brother when he wriggled from his seat on the child-sized Python Pit roller coaster, stood up,…
Continue reading …An IRA bomb that killed a young police officer in Northern Ireland may be linked to plastic explosives obtained from Moammar Gadhafi’s regime, according to investigators. The IRA purchased a large quantity of the explosive, Semtex, from Libya in the 1980s, reports the Telegraph . Former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa…
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India’s northern Rajasthan state is testing olive cultivation in a $3m pilot project to boost agriculture and the local economy Rajasthan, India’s popular tourist state, is famous for its sprawling palaces, historic forts, vast tracts of desert and celebrity weddings. Olives may be added to the list. The state is trying to grow the fruit on a large scale in India for the first time, in its deserts and semi-arid areas, and there are signs of success. Not only would olive cultivation introduce struggling farmers in the state’s ailing and neglected agricultural sector to a lucrative cash crop and boost the local economy. It would also satisfy the growing domestic demand for healthy olive oil in the country, which has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the world . The $3m pilot project, testing olive cultivation across seven agro-climatic regions, is in its third year and on track to deliver olives this year and next. About 112,000, saplings were brought from Israel three years ago and planted across 182 hectares. “Four farms in the north of the state, in the desert areas, have shown positive signs of flowering and olives will follow shortly. A semi-commercial yield is expected this year. We are certain it will be a success,” says Surinder Singh Shekhawat, head of the project under Rajasthan Olive Cultivation Ltd, a three-way collaboration between the state government, an Israeli firm and an Indian firm. It may come as a surprise that olives are being grown in the harsh climatic conditions of the state where temperatures swing from extreme highs to lows, especially when the olive’s native home is the mild Mediterranean. But Rajasthan’s cold spells are key to cultivation. “The olive requires a certain chilling temperature, which we have in the state. Everything else can be managed with technology,” says Shekhawat. In addition, the olive is able to withstand scorching temperatures and has a low water requirement, which is crucial in this water-scarce state. The state has taken its cue from Israel, which experiences a similar climate to Rajasthan and has been successful in producing olives in desert areas with the help of technology. As part of the joint venture, the Israeli firm Indolive Ltd is providing Rajasthan with the latest sensor and drip irrigation technology, which measures exactly how much water, nutrients and fertilisers the plants need for a healthy, high yield, avoiding water wastage. Once the pilot is a success, cultivation will be taken to hundreds of farmers in the initial stage. The technology would be replicated locally and handed to the farmer at a subsidised rate, along with training in crucial plant management. The challenge will be how to modernise the traditional farming community and encourage small farmers to come together to farm and manage olives on larger, more efficient plots. Experts say Indian agriculture is in poor shape due to low standards and practices, and has suffered from cost-saving shortcuts. But olives need great care, so management – and the state’s role – will have to be robust. Exploring crop diversification and efficient, modern farming techniques are part of the state’s plans to breathe life into the state’s agriculture. The adverse climate conditions and water scarcity means very few commercial crops grow in the state, while common crops such as wheat, mustard and maize consume large amounts of water and don’t bring big financial returns. About 30km from the state capital, Jaipur, at Bassi, 40 hectares of wasteland has been cleared to grow peppers, strawberries, pomegranates, tomatoes and cucumbers under fasttrack modern farming techniques. A high technology centre with modern nurseries and cooling chambers is planned for the area. With other northern states in India closely watching the pilot, Shekhawat believes they will quickly start replicating it once there’s concrete success, which means India could compete with the Mediterranean in the future, producing olives at a lower cost. Olive picking and pruning is a labour-intensive task and India’s labour costs are low. On top of that, the state has huge swaths of underutilised land, unlike European countries. He hopes to expand to 5,000 hectares in the next few years, with 2,500kg of oil being produced per hectare and 15 tonnes of fruits. There is potential to export table olives and high-grade flavouring olive oil for which Indians have not yet developed a palate. But most olives could be channelled for domestic consumption. Lower-grade, pomace cooking oil is increasingly being used in the country’s kitchens as heart-related diseases soar. With two years of the project left, the focus will turn to overcoming the challenges of rolling out olive production on a mass scale. If this goes to plan, India could be the new home of the olive. India Agriculture Food & drink Nishika Patel guardian.co.uk
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• A boss wants me to falsify his holiday records • How do I handle a superior who appears to be ill? At the start of each week, we publish the problems that will feature in this Saturday’s Dear Jeremy advice column in the Guardian Work supplement, so readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here are this week’s dilemmas – what are your thoughts? Problem one: A boss wants me to falsify his holiday records I hold a junior clerical position in a large bank. Part of my job is to look after the department’s holiday and sickness records. My department manager had a disagreement with his previous boss about the number of days he should be allowed off for dealing with a domestic problem last year – the final decision meant he lost two weeks of his leave entitlement. He has now told me he wants to “get back” as many days as he can this year by not always telling his new boss (who works at a different location) when he takes leave, in the hope several days will go unnoticed. I told him I had already sent an email regarding a couple of days he had taken, but he told me to ignore those days and that he would liaise directly with his boss in future. He said I should continue keeping the internal record which we could change at the end of the year, if necessary, depending on the number of days that had been “noticed”. I felt under pressure to agree, but I now feel very awkward because if I am asked to explain why the total has changed I will have to lie. And destroying or altering the internal record at the end of the year can’t be right. Should I report him, in confidence, to HR? If there is any comeback he will surely know it was me. Problem two: How do I handle a superior who appears to be ill? I am a senior social worker and have monthly supervision with my line manager in her office, which includes guidance about complex cases. For the past year she has clearly struggled to remain alert and focused, and now I dread our meetings. During our individual sessions she becomes more and more drowsy, regardless of the time of day. The past two sessions have been particularly difficult as she appeared to drop off following a gradual process of her eyes drooping, her face dropping, and her verbal input becoming sparse. This was extremely uncomfortable. On both occasions I eventually said in a clear voice: “Excuse me, are you tired?”, and she answered “No, I’m OK” in quite an aggressive manner. I do not have the kind of relationship with her where I feel comfortable dealing with this issue myself. My colleagues have also commented that she appears very drowsy in their sessions, and we have witnessed her falling asleep on a regular basis in team meetings. I am aware that a former colleague did challenge her regarding this about six months ago, but I haven’t noticed any difference. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. Please can you advise me what to do? What are your thoughts? • For Jeremy’s and readers’ advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@guardian.co.uk . Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally Work & careers Graham Snowdon guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …An angry Gen. David Petraeus yesterday condemned a Florida church’s burning of the Koran as “hateful, intolerant and extremely disrespectful.” The head of the allied forces in Afghanistan and other officials spoke out as clashes again broke out between Afghan security forces and protesters over the burning of the Muslim…
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Ronan Kerr’s murder by suspected republican dissidents prompts Sinn Féin minister to call for information One of Sinn Féin’s most prominent figures has called on nationalists to inform on the republican dissidents who killed a police officer in Northern Ireland at the weekend. Martin McGuinness, a former chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, made the call after a security briefing in Belfast on Monday. The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland said: “I would say, and I am standing up to be counted: give the information to the police, give it to the Garda in the south if you have it, give it to the PSNI in the north. “My message is very, very simple: those who are perpetrating these acts, those who are killing our people, need to be apprehended. These are people who are pledged to destroy the peace and destroy a peace process that many of us have invested much of our adult lives in trying to bring about.” His call for nationalists to provide information about armed dissident republicans would have been unthinkable before the peace process and the political power-sharing settlement in Northern Ireland. Republicans behind the booby-trap bomb murder of Catholic police constable Ronan Kerr were the enemies of Ireland, McGuinness said, adding that the Real IRA, Óghlaigh na hÉireann (ONH) and Continuity IRA were waging a “useless war against peace”. McGuinness made his remarks after he and the first minister, Peter Robinson, met with the PSNI chief constable, Matt Bagott, about the security threat posed by the republican dissidents. Nuala Kerr, mother of the murdered police officer, has urged young Catholics not to be deterred from joining the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is to hold a press conference in response to the murder. The officer had been a keen gaelic footballer and supported the Tyrone county team. At Tyrone’s match on Sunday players and supporters held a minute’s silence. Robinson said: “When you see, not just the statement from the GAA, the minute’s silence at their game, but also the respect in which that minute’s silence was held, it indicates we have support right across the community.” In a sign of unity he and McGuinness stood beside Bagott and the Northern Ireland justice minister, David Ford, inside Stormont. Although McGuinness urged the dissidents to abandon their armed campaign it is unlikely to be heeded in the short to medium term. The Real IRA, ONH and Continuity IRA have stepped up their violence in recent weeks and as the Guardian revealed on Monday they have perfected a new type of mortar bomb launcher which poses a greater threat against security bases and other strategic locations in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Martin McGuinness Sinn Féin Police UK security and terrorism Continuity IRA Real IRA Omagh bombing Ireland Europe Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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Fukushima plant will discharge 11,500 tonnes of water into Pacific to make space for more highly contaminated liquid The operator of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant is to discharge 11,500 tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific to make space for more highly radioactive liquid. The intentional release of water that is 100 times the legal limit is an unprecedented breach of operating standards, but it is considered necessary so workers can concentrate on containing far more severe leaks. The government justified the action as the lesser of two evils. Recent samples of contaminated seawater from the leak show radiation levels at 4,000 times the legal standard. “We didn’t have any other alternatives,” the chief cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, told reporters. “This is a measure we had to take to secure safety.” The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric, said it would discharge 10,000 tonnes of water from its waste treatment facility and a further 1,500 tonnes that have collected in pits outside reactors No 5 and No 6. According to Kyodo News, the pumping could begin as early as Tuesday. Workers have been battling to control radiation leaks since the magnitude 9 earthquake and a devastating tsunami crippled the plant’s cooling system on 11 March, leading to a partial meltdown of the reactor. Earlier attempts to cool the reactor by hosing water from fire engines and helicopters have left pools of contaminated water and flooded basements, hampering the containment operation and efforts to restart the cooling pumps. Highly radioactive water is seeping from at least one point at reactor No 2, where a 20cm crack has been found in a concrete pit. It is thought to be leaking into an inflow conduit for seawater, but there may be other paths of contamination. Plant workers have started to dye the water a milky white colour so they can trace its route. At the weekend workers tried and failed to plug the crack by using 80kg of highly absorbent polymer (more commonly used in nappies) mixed with shredded newspaper and sawdust. A previous attempt to use concrete had a similar outcome. Edano said the situation must be stabilised as soon as possible because a long-term leak “will have a huge impact on the ocean”. As a temporary measure to ease the leak, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has recommended the construction of an undersea silt barrier. “A silt fence ensures that mud down deep doesn’t seep through,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, Japan’s spokesman on nuclear safety. Officials say the situation is unlikely to be under control for several months. Independent analysts warn it might take years. Giant concrete pumps are being sent to the area from overseas. The government has also asked Tokyo Electric to look into the possibility of covering the plant with sheets pinned to a steel frame. But the more radioactivity that enters the air and water, the harder such countermeasures become. Tokyo Electric has said the plant will never recover and some areas are so contaminated that workers cannot get near them. “I don’t know if we can ever enter the No 3 reactor building again,” Hikaru Kuroda, the company’s chief of nuclear facility management, said on Sunday. The dire situation dominated a meeting in Vienna of signatories to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which was supposed to prevent a repeat of the disasters at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. “I know you will agree with me that the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge,” Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told participants. “We cannot take a ‘business as usual’ approach.” Although the nuclear threat has yet to claim a life, it has overshadowed the severe humanitarian crisis faced by survivors of the tsunami, which killed 12,157 people and has left 15,496 missing. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and millions are still affected by shortages of electricity. Japan disaster Nuclear power Japan Energy Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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Conservative MP says media regulator ‘entirely missed the point’ of his claim that news programme misled viewers Zac Goldsmith has reacted angrily to a ruling by Ofcom after the media regulator rejected a complaint he made about a Channel 4 News interview in which the MP clashed with the programme’s presenter, Jon Snow. Goldsmith said the regulator had “entirely missed the point” of his complaint and said he was “puzzled by its workings”. Ofcom also refused to uphold his complaint about a Channel 4 news report which accused the Conservative MP for Richmond of bending the rules on how much parliamentary candidates are allowed to spend on election expenses. The regulator’s ruling had said Channel 4 gave Goldsmith “an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond to the allegations”, which were contained in a 15 July report. Goldsmith complained the broadcaster had conveyed the impression that he had refused to be interviewed by the programme. Ofcom said this was not the case. The interview between Goldsmith and Snow took place the following day, 16 July, live on Channel 4 News. Goldsmith arrived at short notice, and the extended interview became increasingly heated as Goldsmith accused Channel 4 News of misleading viewers. But Ofcom concluded in its ruling: “Given that Mr Goldsmith was able to put forward his response to all the assertions relating to his offer to contribute to the 15 July programme … the programme as broadcast was fair.” Channel 4 News said Goldsmith had spent slightly less than the £10,000 legal limit on his successful 2010 general election campaign. But an analysis of those expenses suggested he had underpaid for several items. If had paid the full price, the expenses would have come to more than £10,000, it claimed. Goldsmith said: “Despite eight months of deliberation, Ofcom has entirely missed the point of my complaint. Given some of its recent judgments, I assume I am not alone in being puzzled by its workings. What matters is that Channel 4′s allegations about my general election campaign expenditure were dismissed by the Electoral Commission.” The Channel 4 News editor, Jim Gray, said: “We have always maintained that our investigation into Mr Goldsmith’s election spending, and our dealings with him throughout have been absolutely fair and balanced – so it is pleasing to see Ofcom’s research into his complaints reach the same conclusions.” Following Ofcom’s ruling, Snow demanded an apology from Goldsmith. He used his Twitter account to say: “Ofcom find against Zac Goldsmith on every single count of his complaint again myself and C4 News. Is an apology in the post from the MP? In the 10-minute live interview in the Channel 4 News studio, Goldsmith objected to the assertion the previous day that he had chosen to give an interview about the allegations to Sky News. Goldsmith insisted he had offered to be interviewed at 5.30pm on 15 July, 90 minutes before the programme was aired. Snow said Channel 4 had been seeking a response to the accusations for a week and accused Goldsmith of “bottling it”. He said Goldsmith’s claims were: “a travesty of the truth”. Ofcom pointed out in its ruling that six minutes of the interview were spent discussing Goldsmith’s complaint about the way his offer to do an interview had been reported. “During this time, Mr Goldsmith was able to put forward his version of events running up to the 15 July broadcast. Mr Goldsmith was able to assert that Jon Snow’s version of events was untrue.” The programme’s editor, Gray, added: “When you commit to asking awkward questions you accept that your findings may provoke criticism – so we welcome Ofcom’s thorough handling of the complaints, and their vindication of our journalism. At the centre of all of this remain important questions about the clarity and enforcement of campaign spending limits.” The Electoral Commission investigated Goldsmith’s expenses and said in December that it would not be taking further action. However, it criticised his claim as “unclear in places”. It also said the practice of combining expenditure on Goldsmith’s parliamentary campaign with money spent on the local election campaign fought at the same time “was not consistent with the commission’s guidance or good practice”. •
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General Phillippe Mangou has left South African ambassador’s residence, where he sought refuge last week The top army general in Ivory Coast has rejoined government forces days after deserting, providing a rare boost to president Laurent Gbagbo, officials say. General Phillippe Mangou, his wife and five children left the South African ambassador’s residence in Abidjan after fleeing there last week, South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed. Mangou’s departure had been seen as a blow to Gbagbo, who refuses to cede power to the internationally recognised president, Alassane Ouattara, more than four months after the election. The streets of Abidjan resemble a ghost town as the city’s residents await a final battle for power. Thousands of troops backing Ouattara are massed at a toll booth some 20 miles from the centre of the commercial capital, which has been a fierce battleground over the past four days. Speaking on Sunday on the pro-Ouattara TCI television channel, Ouattara’s prime minister, Guillaume Soro, said their side’s strategy had been to encircle the city, harass Gbagbo’s troops’ positions and gather intelligence on their arsenal. “The situation is now ripe for a lightning offensive,” he said. UN employees were ordered to take refuge inside the basement of their main building. One of the army chief’s aides said Mangou was still supporting Gbagbo despite having fled to the South African ambassador’s residence. “The general is with us and has always been with us,” Lieutenant Jean-Marc Tago said. “Our plan is to defend the institutions of the republic against all its enemies, against the rebels, against the mercenaries, against the [United Nations] and all those who are attacking the institutions of the republic commanded by President Laurent Gbagbo.” There was no confirmation that Mangou, whose house was reportedly looted by pro-Gbagbo youths in his absence, will return to fight for Gbagbo. G4S, a local security company, reported that the two men had met. A Gbagbo spokesman, Ahoua Don Mello, said on state TV: “Phillipe Mangou met with his fellow soldiers on the ground. But we still don’t know if he is willing to return at the helm of affairs. I don’t have enough information about that.” He added: “I saw him today [Sunday] at the residence of the president with his colleagues. He is going to deliver a statement in person, maybe tomorrow.” On Ouattara’s rival TV station, Serges Alla, a journalist, confirmed that Mangou had left the embassy and been picked up by a close collaborator of Gbagbo’s. The journalist added: “Mangou was forced to leave the South African embassy because some of his relatives were made hostage by diehard supporters of Gbagbo, and Gbagbo militiamen were putting pressure on him, saying they would bomb his village if he doesn’t show himself or doesn’t return to the Gbagbo army.” The top UN diplomat in Ivory Coast estimates that up to 50,000 members of Gbagbo’s security force deserted or defected in the hours after the pro-Ouattara forces descended on Abidjan, late on Wednesday. Despite the defections, Gbagbo has surprised many observers by fighting back, issuing a call to arms to his supporters, who descended on his residence on Sunday to form a human shield around it. Pro-Gbagbo forces have wrested back control of the state broadcaster, which at the weekend showed unverified images of Gbagbo calmly sipping tea at what appeared to be his Abidjan residence. Militiamen repeatedly shot at journalists as they tried to approach Abidjan. Leaders around the world, from the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, reiterated calls for Gbagbo to step down over the weekend. “There has been too much bloodshed,” Ban said. “I renew my call on Mr Gbagbo to step down to avoid further violence and transfer power immediately to the legitimate general candidate, President Ouattara.” France is sending an extra 150 soldiers from Gabon to Ivory Coast to help protect civilians, a spokesman for the armed forces said. The soldiers’ deployment brings the number of French troops in Ivory Coast to 1,650. The UN has raised concerns about the possible involvement of fighters linked to Ouattara’s forces in hundreds of killings in the west of the country, something the Ouattara camp denies. Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara Laurent Gbagbo United Nations Hillary Clinton France Gabon Ban Ki-moon David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Soldiers use live ammunition on protesters demanding removal of President Saleh, killing six and wounding more than 30 Yemeni troops have opened fire on crowds of protesters demanding the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, killing six and wounding more than 30 in the second day of clashes in Taiz, witnesses and medical officials said. The bloodshed in the southern city stoked the uprising that has lasted more than a month against Saleh’s 32-year rule. The opposition has held continual protest camps in main squares of cities around Yemen, and on Monday new demonstrations in solidarity with the Taiz protesters erupted in several places. The violence began when thousands of protesters marched through Taiz toward Freedom Square, where demonstrators have been camped out. As the march passed the governor’s headquarters, troops stationed there blocked the procession, and clashes broke out, with some protesters throwing stones, witnesses said. Troops on nearby rooftops opened fire with live ammunition on the crowd. The marchers then besieged the governor’s headquarters, said Bushra al-Maqtara, an opposition activist in Taiz, and other witnesses. At least six protesters were killed and more than 30 wounded, some with gunshots to the head and chest, said Zakariya Abdul-Qader, a doctor at a clinic set up by protesters in Freedom Square. Other doctors at the clinic confirmed the figure. The military has clamped down on the city of nearly half a million, about 120 miles south of the capital, Sana’a. For a second day, tanks and armoured vehicles blocked entrances to the city to prevent outsiders from joining the protests. They also surrounded Freedom Square, containing the thousands in the protest camp and arresting anyone who tried to leave. Saleh’s top security official in Taiz, Abdullah Qiran, is accused by demonstrators of orchestrating some of the most brutal crackdowns, particularly in the southern port town of Aden, where he was stationed until his transfer several weeks ago. Marches in solidarity with the Taiz protesters erupted in the cities of Mukalla, in the east, and Hodeida, on Yemen’s western Red Sea coast. In Hodeida, protesters tried to march on a presidential palace in the city but were blocked by security forces, who opened fire with teargas and live ammunition, said activist Abdel-Hafiz al-Abbasi. He said three people were wounded. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East guardian.co.uk
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