Poll: More than 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s handling of economy
September 6, 2011 No CommentWith President Obama set to lay out his job creation ideas in a speech Thursday, a new Washington Post/ABC News poll has found that more than 60 percent of respondents disapprove of his handling of the economy. The president’s overall approval number sank to 43 percent, a new career low. Read the full story here.
Continue reading …A massive cloud of smoke is all that remains in the sky of United Flight 93 in a video shot by a nearby resident seconds after the plane went down on 9/11. The film has finally been released publicly 10 years after the 42 people on board went down in…
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Rescue mission under way at Immingham to free 30ft minke calf stranded in one of UK’s biggest docks Fire crews are digging a trench in mudflats to try to rescue a young whale which has become stranded in one of Britain’s biggest docks. Hopes that high tide would raise the 30ft (9.1 metre) minke calf enough to ease its 15 tonnes off the estuary bed have been revised with the water level not expected to rise enough. A watch is also being kept on the whale’s mother, which is circling the area off Immingham docks where the pair became separated at around 4am. Emergency services think the calf may have been startled by ship movement in the busy seaway and became disoriented. Police and firefighters have been joined by vets from the RSPCA and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Unit. A tweet from the RSPCA warns of previous failures at refloating the creatures: “Being realistic, they often do not survive.” Mike Puplett, of Humber coastguard, said 50 people were involved in the rescue attempt, which began at 8am when a passing ship raised the alarm. Low tide hampered initial approaches and the water level sank to cover only about a tenth of the whale. Puplett added: “At the moment, we believe the whale’s still alive. There’s signs of life, there’s still movement with it. We’ve got a lot of people down there and standing by to provide safety cover because it’s a dangerous area for people.” The main fear is that the calf will be crushed by its own weight, which is normally supported by water. Minkes prefer the open sea but are occasionally drawn close to land where they become vulnerable to unfamiliar tidal movements. Animals Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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Bomb-threat man who took 12-year-old daughter into Sydney law office is taken into custody A man who marched into a Sydney law office with his daughter and said he had a bomb in his backpack has been taken into custody after a 12-hour standoff with police . The man’s 12-year-old daughter was released and reunited with her family, New South Wales police said. She was distressed but otherwise unharmed, police said. Police did not immediately say whether explosives had been found in the man’s backpack. “Towards the latter part of the time we’ve been here, those negotiations have started to break down and then deteriorate to a stage where police have taken action to break into the premises and take a 52-year-old man into custody,” Police Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said. “He’s currently assisting police with their ongoing inquiries.” Police have not released the man’s name. Television footage had earlier shown the man looking from a second-floor window shirtless and wearing the same kind of wig as worn in Australian courts by judges and lawyers. At one point he spat on the wig. He had also swung a bottle like a hammer to smash a plate-sized hole in the office window and yelled through the hole. He threw the bottle, then a telephone handset, which was left dangling by its cord. Betty Hor said she was working at the reception desk when the man approached on Tuesday morning. She said he asked to see someone she had never heard of. The man went upstairs briefly then returned to the reception desk and repeated his request. She repeated that she had never heard of the man. She said he then threw a book on the desk and told her to call the unknown man and the state attorney general’s department and said: “Tell them I’ve got a bomb in my backpack.” Hor called the police as the man walked upstairs to a lawyer’s office with the girl, who called him dad. The standoff came a month after an extortionist broke into a Sydney home and fastened a fake bomb around the neck of a millionaire’s teenage daughter . She spent 10 hours with the device strapped to her before police determined it was harmless and freed her. A man has been arrested in the US in connection with the incident and is awaiting extradition. Australia guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A ranting Australian claiming to be armed with a backpack bomb is holding his daughter hostage in law offices near a courthouse in a Sydney suburb. Workers in nearby offices have been evacuated, and police and rescue workers are standing by as officials negotiate with him. The unidentified man earlier…
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Two accused of plotting to ‘assault and murder’ Celtic manager and two others in sectarian campaign Two men are to stand trial accused of plotting to “assault and murder” the Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other prominent people in a sectarian parcel-bombing campaign. Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, are alleged to have sent the suspect devices to Lennon, the Celtic lawyer and QC Paul McBride, Trish Godman, the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament earlier this year, and an Irish republican group in Glasgow. The prosecution alleges that the improvised explosive devices (IED) used a potentially lethal combination of nails, an explosive substance or petrol and that both men embarked on a sectarian conspiracy. The devices could have caused “severe injury and death”. The pair are accused of buying the ingredients for the bombs – nails, envelopes, plastic travel bottles, digital watches and other items – at shops near their homes in Stevenson, Ayrshire, including a branch of B&Q. They are also accused of acquiring cream peroxide containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP), after inducing another man to buy it. The two men also face an alternative charge contrary to the Explosive Substances Act of “unlawfully and maliciously conspiring” to endanger life or cause serious injury. All the charges are said to have been aggravated by religious prejudice. In several other charges, they are accused of sending an item to Lennon in early March at Celtic’s home ground with the intention of inducing him to believe that it would “explode or ignite”. The men are further accused of threatening to plant an IED outside a police station in May knowing the bomb allegations were being investigated, of trying to destroy evidence and possessing the peroxide chemical with the intent to endanger life. Both men pleaded not guilty. Their trial is due to start in November. Crime Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Liberal Democrats in House of Lords are likely to let legislation be passed after accepting safeguards Plans to bring in elected police commissioners are likely to go ahead with peers expected to announce a compromise on Tuesday lunchtime, the Guardian has learned. Lib Dem peers had been delaying the policy in the House of Lords but have now accepted safeguards added to the legislation and government sources expect the bill to be passed, paving the way for a radical overhaul of policing authorities. Concerns about the cost of the policy will however grow as the compromise will see the first elections delayed until the autumn of 2012 rather than May as had been planned. This is intended to allay fears that any setbacks in their implementation could affect the successful staging of next summer’s Olympic games. Labour had suggested that the policy was too costly at a time of police cuts, gleaning government estimates that the staging of elections would cost around £100m. Those concerns are likely to increase with the decision to hold the elections during a period when none are currently planned, which may increase the cost. However, the policy’s main obstacle had been objections by Lib Dems in the House of Lords. Lib Dem peers had been concerned that the election of a single individual to the role of police commissioner would distort the job of policing because that person would have to chase popularity in order to win and later secure re-election. They feared this would mean individuals would focus on seeking headlines and play to the most voluble parts of the electorate. In May Lib Dem peers defeated the legislation but because of a commitment in the coalition agreement, party managers have been under pressure from the Conservatives to manage this concern in the Lords. Now the compromise will see the first elections of police commissioners delayed from being held on the same day as next May’s local election and held instead in the autumn. Lib Dems feel they have also improved the legislation by ensuring that local authorities will have a part to play in the police commissioner’s role. Conservatives cherish the election policy and in the aftermath of the riots, David Cameron and the home secretary, Theresa May, increased the frequency and ardour with which they referred to the introduction of elected individuals. They suggested that elected figures would have reacted with more alacrity to public concerns over the riots when in the first hours of rioting the police appeared to stand back. Tories also believe the issue to be one of trust for the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, who was obliged to deliver his peers into supporting the policy as part of the coalition agreement. Liberal Democrats Police House of Lords Conservatives Labour David Cameron Theresa May Nick Clegg Metropolitan police Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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Judges have revealed the six novels left in contention for this year’s prize. Find out what they’re about – and what our reviewers thought of them
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High winds and heavy rainfall predicted across the UK Flood warnings were in place and some travellers faced difficult journeys as heavy rain and strong winds whipped across parts of the UK on Tuesday. Winds of up to 50mph were predicted on the south and south-east coasts of England and up to 50mm or rain was expected to fall within 24 hours in some areas of the north-east of the country and north Wales. The wet and windy weather is expected to continue throughout the week as a series of low pressure systems move through. Flood warnings (meaning flooding is expected) were in place on the River Conder in Lancashire and in parts of the Dyfi Valley in north Wales. The Environment Agency also put in place 20 flood alerts (flooding is possible) mainly in the north-east of England and north Wales. Some ferry services were delayed or suspended because of the poor weather across the south of England. Flights in the far south-west of England were also disrupted. Speed restrictions were imposed on the old Severn Bridge because of the high winds and drivers were being warned of difficult conditions along the M4 through south Wales. Fallen trees also caused delays in Monmouthshire and Swansea. Dan Williams, a spokesman for the Met Office, said the south-east of England was likely to bear the brunt of the strongest winds while the Lake District and Snowdonia were due to be the soggiest places. “It is likely to stay windy throughout the week with fast moving low pressure systems moving through,” he added. Sixteen sailors were rescued from a vintage ship on Monday evening after its mast snapped in the strong winds. The 120-year-old ketch, a training ship, was off the coast off Portland Bill, Dorset, when it was caught up in 40mph gusts. Its wooden 9m (30ft) tall mast broke in half and the sail and rigging fell into the sea. The crew, all young adults, were unable to retrieve the stricken mast in the poor conditions and called coastguards for help. They were towed to shore by the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat and none of the crew members were injured. Southend pier in Essex – the longest pleasure pier in the world – will be closed on Tuesday to allow engineers to assess damage from a contractor’s barge tethered to the pier. A statement on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s website said the barge was forced into the pier by high winds and a heavy swell. A council spokeswoman said the vessel had been moored alongside the pier to carry out scheduled maintenance work. “The pier is not about to fall down, or anything like that, but it has caused some damage,” she said. Weather Flooding Wales Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Tribunal jails ex-head of army for 27 years over military support to Bosnian and Croatian Serbs in massacres like Srebrenica A war crimes tribunal has sentenced the former chief of the Yugoslav army to 27 years imprisonment for providing crucial military aid to Bosnian Serb forces responsible for the Srebrenica massacre and deadly four-year campaign of shelling and sniping in Sarajevo. UN judges convicted General Momcilo Perisic on charges of providing troops, ammunition and logistical support to rebel Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia. Tuesday’s verdict underscored the Yugoslav army’s far-reaching support for Bosnian Serb forces and rebel Serb forces in Croatia responsible for the worst atrocities of the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s. However, the judges acquitted Perisic on charges that he was directly responsible for crimes as a superior officer to leaders of the Bosnian Serb forces. Serbia Europe Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia guardian.co.uk
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