The oldest known American survivor of World War II’s infamous Bataan Death March has died at the age of 105—after living 55 years longer than doctors said he could expect to. Army captain Albert “Doc” Brown was among 78,000 American and Filipinos forced to trek 65 miles to…
Continue reading …
Stolen food sold in Mogadishu markets amounts to no more than 1% of total assistance, says World Food Programme spokesman The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has rejected as implausible a report of widespread food aid theft in Somalia, where more than 3.2 million people are relying on a massive international relief operation. Associated Press claimed that vast piles of food bearing stamps from the WFP, the US government aid arm USAid, the Japanese government and the Kuwaiti government are for sale in Mogadishu markets. AP said it found eight sites where thousands of sacks of food aid were being sold in bulk. Other food aid was also for sale in numerous smaller stores, it was reported. Among the items allegedly being sold were Kuwaiti dates and biscuits, corn, grain, and Plumpy’nut, a fortified peanut butter designed for starving children. However, according to WFP, the key player in the relief effort for Somalia, early estimates based on the evidence provided by AP suggest the diverson of food aid amounts to about 1% of food assistance the organisation is bringing through Mogadishu. WFP is shipping 5,000 tons a month of food aid into Mogadishu. “From our perspective, the scale of theft alleged is implausible,” said Greg Barrow, a WFP spokesman in Rome. “The scale of theft suggested would require a logistical operation comparable in size to what we are doing in Mogadishu.” For the past two weeks, planeloads of aid from the UN, Iran, Turkey, Kuwait and other countries have been arriving in the Somali capital almost daily. Supplies by ship are also on the way. Five areas of Somalia are officially in a state of famine, and the rest of southern Somalia could follow within the next four to six weeks, according to the UN. Nearly half of Somalia’s population need emergency food aid amid the worst drought in the Horn of Africa for 60 years, which has come on top of a long-running civil war. The Islamist insurgents, al-Shabaab, announced their withdrawal from Mogadishu earlier this month, but the move is not expected to end insecurity in the Somali capital. Some 2.8 million people are in the south, where al-Shabaab is at its strongest. The group’s hardline elements oppose the presence of most western aid agencies in areas under their control. Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for relief groups. Aside from al-Shabaab, they also have to contend with an ineffective transitional government riven by clan rivalries. A Human Rights Watch report on Monday accused all sides involved in the conflict of contributing to Somalia’s humanitarian catastrophe by committing serious violations of the laws of war. WFP rarely allows its staff outside the African Union’s heavily fortified main base at the airport and relies on a network of Somali aid agencies to distribute its food. The organisation said it had uncovered possible theft of food aid through its monitoring systems and had launched investigations. It noted that it had put in place strengthened and rigorous monitoring and controls for its relief operations, but – given the lack of access to some areas because of security concerns and restrictions – humanitarian supply lines remained highly vulnerable to looting, attacks and diversion by armed groups. WFP condemned any diversion of “even the smallest amount of food from starving and vulnerable Somalis “. A Somali government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said the government does not believe food aid is being stolen on a large scale, but promised that, if such reports come to light, the government “will do everything in our power” to bring action in a military court. AP said its investigation found evidence that WFP is relying on a contractor, Abdulqadir Mohamed Nur, also known as Enow, who was blamed for diverting large amounts of food aid in a 2010 UN report. Barrow denied this was the case, however. “We are not relying on him, we are not using him,” he said. The UN says more than 12 million people across the Horn are in need of food aid, including more than three million in Somalia. Famine Somalia Africa Mark Tran guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Casey Anthony’s lawyers are fighting a judge’s ruling that would bring her out of hiding and back to the Orlandoarea to serve a year’s probation for a check-stealing conviction. She was allowed to serve the probation while in jail awaiting her murder trial, but the the judge who presided over…
Continue reading …As melting ice continues to make more of the Arctic Sea accessible every year, Russia is planning to annex an area of the sea the size of Texas and Arizona combined. The Kremlin is expected to stake its claim to the waters at the United Nations, arguing that the Siberian…
Continue reading …A Louisiana man decapitated his 7-year-old disabled son with a meat cleaver because he was sick of taking care of him, and wanted to make his wife “feel stupid,” he told police. Jori Lirette was bludgeoned, decapitated and dismembered. His father, 30-year-old Jeremiah Lee Wright, said he left the little…
Continue reading …Zimbabwe’s ruling party shrouded in suspicion after ex-military chief dies
August 16, 2011 No Comment
Fire death of Solomon Mujuru, husband of Robert Mugabe’s deputy, exposes Zanu-PF infighting to succeed president One of the most powerful men in Zimbabwe has been killed in a fire at his home, triggering rumours of a conspiracy in the battle to succeed the president, Robert Mugabe. Former military chief Solomon Mujuru, 62, was “burnt beyond recognition” in the blaze at his farm about 35 miles south-west of Harare in the early hours of Tuesday morning, police said. Under his nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo, Mujuru was a leader of the guerrilla war that swept Mugabe to power and became Zimbabwe’s first black military commander after independence. The general was married to Joice Mujuru, vice-president of Zimbabwe and leader of a moderate faction in Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. Analysts said his death will shake Zimbabwe’s political kaleidoscope and rock Zanu-PF, where Joice Mujuru and other rivals are jostling for position as 87-year-old Mugabe’s heir apparent . This in turn could destabilise the party’s power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In a country with a history of politically suspicious deaths, there was speculation over the cause of the fire at the 3,500-acre farm that had been seized from a white farmer in 2001, although there was no immediate evidence that it was anything other than an accident. Rugare Gumbo, spokesman for Zanu-PF, said: “What we know is he died in a fire accident at his home this morning. The police are looking into the cause and they will inform us. Personally, I rule out all speculation but of course you can never be certain.” Mugabe’s relations with Mujuru had cooled in recent years, but Gumbo added: “Obviously the president must be troubled by the death of someone he worked with for a long time. They were very close.” State radio said Mujuru’s wife visited the farm where its reporter saw the main building razed to the ground. Family members and friends said an electrical fault may have ignited the blaze. Police said a worker at the house told them Mujuru went to bed and neighbours were woken later as fire swept through the house, state radio reported. Mujuru had evidently tried to escape but was overwhelmed by flames and smoke. General Constantine Chiwenga, the current military chief, also visited the farm and told state radio: “The way he has gone is difficult to comprehend. He was such a fine fighter.” Mujuru had been the most senior member of the military to sit on Zanu-PF’s politburo. His wife is seen as leading a reformist faction open to working with the prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, and the MDC. She is opposed by Emmerson Mnangagwa , the hardline defence minister dubbed “the Crocodile” who is also vying to take over, should the ailing Mugabe retire or die. It was claimed the circumstances of Mujuru’s death could fuel Zanu-PF infighting. Eddie Cross, policy co-ordinator general of the MDC, said: “It’s a huge shock. The suspicion of a power play is everywhere. Everybody’s talking about it. If that was involved, it’s a huge event and could spark violence between factions of Zanu-PF. “We’ve been saying for a long time that if there’s a civil war in Zimbabwe, it won’t be between Zanu-PF and the MDC, it will be between factions of Zanu-PF.” Cross added: “I think Robert Mugabe will take it badly. He will read into it rivalries in his own party. Our information is that Mugabe is now looking for a quiet retirement, so this is the last thing he needs.” John Makumbe, professor of political science at Zimbabwe University, said: “There is so much fighting in Zanu-PF now that, if it’s foul play, it’s anybody’s guess who might have done this. “I think we are going to see a severely fractured party because there is going to be finger pointing and allegations from one side against another. The two factions, Mujuru and Mnangagwa, have been fighting for crumbs from the rich man’s table. Mugabe will not find it easy to handle. It will make him age a little faster again.” Mugabe has acknowledged deep divisions in his party and has said he cannot leave office until he has resolved them and unified the party ahead of elections, which could take place next year. The latest turn of events is likely to strengthen Mnangagwa’s hand, according to the Zimbabwean media entrepreneur Trevor Ncube . “It certainly weakens Mrs Mujuru’s chances of succeeding Robert Mugabe,” he said. “All their supporters will have to regroup and consolidate. It strengthens Emmerson Mnangagwa’s chances in a big way. I suspect there may be celebrations in that camp.” Others felt it was too soon to judge. Piers Pigou, project director for Southern Africa at the International Crisis Group, said: “This throws up a lot of dust that will cloud vision for a bit. We’ll have to see how the dust settles.” Accusations of foul play are never far from Zimbabwe’s political discourse. Questions were raised over the death of Brigadier-General Armstrong Paul Gunda, who had been linked with a coup plot against Mugabe, when his car collided with a train in 2007. Tsvangirai’s wife Susan was killed in a car crash in 2009, though the prime minister himself said it was an accident. Mugabe is scheduled to attend a summit of regional presidents this week in Angola, at which the Zimbabwe political crisis is high on the agenda. Regional leaders have recently taken a firmer stance against violence and other obstacles to democratic reforms blamed on Mugabe and his party leaders. Zimbabwe Africa Robert Mugabe David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Suspect remains under guard in St Helier hospital as pathologist confirms female victim died of stab wounds The man suspected of stabbing to death six people, including his wife and two young children, remained under police guard in hospital in Jersey as the first postmortem was completed. The 30-year-old, named as Damian Rzeszowski, who is believed to have been distressed over the breakdown of his marriage, has been formally arrested after undergoing surgery for knife wounds, understood to be self-inflicted. He is under armed guard in the General Hospital in St Helier, where he is heavily sedated and said to be in a stable condition, A postmortem by a Home Office pathologist on one of the female victims confirmed cause of death as multiple stab wounds. All the victims were of Polish origin. His wife, named as Izabela Rzeszowska, 30, is believed to be among his victims, along with their daughter, Kinga, five, and son Kasper, 18 months, and her father Marek Garstki, 55, who lived with the couple. Her friend, named as Marta de la Haye, who is believed to have worked in a care home, and her five-year-old daughter Julia, were also said to be among the victims and were visiting the family for the afternoon. At the flat of her husband, Craig de la Haye, a relative, said there was no comment. The bodies of two victims, who were pronounced dead at the scene, were being removed from the couple’s flat in Victoria Crescent, St Helier, today. Witnesses said that the row that led to the frenzied stabbings may have started at a family barbecue on Sunday afternoon. A large covered the back garden. One neighbour who called police, told the Jersey Evening Post that he heard trouble outside his window and looked out to see a man brandishing a knife. “I just heard screaming and looked out of the window and he came out of nowhere. He had an 18-inch knife and he just went for her while she was shouting for help. “She was backing off, and he started slashing with the knife,” said the witness, who asked to remain anonymous. “The woman was covered in blood but she never ran away. It was just mayhem and like watching a film in slow motion.” Friends said the couple, who are thought to have just returned from a trip to Poland, had been having relationship problems. There were unconfirmed reports Rzeszowski had taken an overdose and had attempted suicide four weeks ago, Former workmates of Rzeszowski said he has lived in Jersey for at least 10 years, and worked as a block layer on building sites. A former work colleague told the Post: “He worked very hard to support his family and was a very reliable guy. I would often see him in the supermarket with his kids. This has come as a huge shock to everyone.” He was described as a man who “did everything for his family”. Jersey police said the remaining postmortems would be carried out in the next few days. Forensic examination of the scene, at a flat in a secluded road in central St Helier, is ongoing. Family liaison officers, supported by Polish-speaking officers and staff, were supporting the two families. Police and paramedics who witnessed the terrible aftermath of the stabbings, were being offered psychological support. “It is an extremely complex investigation, involving two young families and, inevitably, impacting on a whole community, and our inquiry continues to establish exactly what happened on that fateful afternoon last weekend,” said Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull, who is leading the murder investigation. Crime Jersey Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Campaigners and politicians have criticised the oil company for being slow to release information on the spill A relief valve close to the faulty pipeline at Shell’s Gannet Alpha oil platform in the North Sea appears to be the source of a secondary leak that is adding to the worst oil spill in UK waters in a decade . Green campaigners and members of the Scottish parliament have rounded on the oil company for being slow to release full information on the leak, which was first detected last Wednesday but only disclosed to the public on Friday evening. Shell said on Tuesday that while the leaking well was “under control”, and the main spill had been shut off successfully, a small quantity of oil was still finding its way to the sea by another pathway. After lengthy searching, the valve was pinpointed as the likely source. Work will continue to dam the small quantities of oil – at up to five barrels a day, a trickle compared with the 1,300 barrels thought to have gushed out in the first days of the leak, but Shell could not say how soon it would be completed. The company has also been so far unable to explain how the leak occurred in the first place. Green campaigners accused the company of complacency and secrecy, as information on the progress of the leak continued to be slowly released. Per Fischer, communications officer at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “It beggars belief that we are still being drip-fed information and that Shell’s initially ‘insignificant’ leak is still causing problems.” Tony King, head of policy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, added: “It seems clear that there has been a substantial oil spill in the North Sea, putting sea birds, whales and dolphins, fish and other wildlife at risk. Shell needs to come clean on exactly how much oil has entered the sea. This is an extremely serious matter and wildlife organisations need information in order to plan what, if anything, can be done to safeguard Scotland’s marine wildlife. Once the immediate threat to the environment has been removed, Shell must be open about exactly how this spill came about and what measures it is taking to make sure that it never happens again.” Shell rebuffed these criticisms, saying it had responded “promptly” and “properly”. The company said it had followed correct procedures in alerting the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) first about the leak last week, and agreeing a course of action to stop it. Most of the oil has now been dispersed by the waves, leaving only a small area where a sheen can be seen on the sea surface. Government advisers also played down the risk to bird life, as the oil is unlikely to reach shore from the rig – 112 miles east of Aberdeen – and said the risk to fish was also small as most of the oil should be cleared by natural processes. Officials said that while the leak was the biggest in UK waters for a decade, it was less serious when viewed in context of other major spills such as BP’s blowout in the Gulf of Mexico last year, which was estimated to be spilling up to 70,000 barrels a day . Sarah Boyack, Labour’s environment spokesperson in the Scottish parliament, said people needed more assurances from the government agencies involved: “I want to know from Marine Scotland what contingency plans they put in place to deal with major oil spillages. I also want information on the lessons they learned from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in relation to wildlife protection, protection of public health and protection of the fishing industry.” Glen Cayley, the technical director of Shell UK, said that since the original leak had been shut off last Thursday, the company had been “working to find the source of the much smaller flow of hydrocarbons. It had proved difficult to find because we are dealing with a complex subsea infrastructure and the position of the small leak is in an awkward place surrounded by marine growth. So, it has taken our [remotely operated vehicle] inspections some time to establish exactly where the source is. Once we’ve confirmed this we will then develop a series of mitigation options to stop this leak. There is no new leak.” Green campaigners said the incident raised questions over the safety of oil companies’ plans to drill in deep water in the Arctic , as the North Sea is generally supposed to be the safest in the world in terms of spills. Vicky Wyatt, senior oil campaigner at Greenpeace, said: “As Shell finalises plans to move into the fragile Arctic, where oil spills are almost impossible to clean up, the company has important questions to answer. Meanwhile the government should halt its rush to hand out new licences for deep water drilling to the west of Shetland.” Greenpeace is taking legal action to stop the granting of more than 20 new licences for oil companies to drill in the deep water to the west of Shetland, arguing that the government cannot be certain that a spill in the area would not devastate specially protected wildlife havens. Campaigners also pointed to wider lessons for oil companies in other parts of the world, including places where oil spills have been covered up such as Nigeria. As the Guardian recently revealed , Shell has been forced to admit liability for spills in the region that have dwarfed last year’s Gulf of Mexico disaster. Fischer said: “It is ironic that the information [Shell has] made available is actually vastly better than what was offered to the people of Nigeria, where Shell for a long time denied any responsibility for endless oil spills. For decades, oil companies have acted with impunity when it comes to the environment. At a time when we could be using the skills learnt through oil exploitation to advance our renewable energy resources, we should be placing much higher standards of operation on companies like Shell.” Shell said: “The high winds and waves over the weekend have led to a substantial reduction in the size of the oil sheen as can be seen from the current levels on the water,” said Cayley. “This is a significant spill in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea. We care about the environment and we regret that the spill happened. We have taken it very seriously and responded promptly to it.” Decc said: “Shell has informed us that the oil leak at its pipeline at the Gannet Alpha platform east of Aberdeen is under control and has now been greatly reduced. They are working to completely halt any further leakage. Although small in comparison to the Macondo incident [at one of BP's platforms in the Gulf of Mexico last year], in the context of the UK’s continental shelf the spill is substantial – but it is not anticipated that oil will reach the shore and it is expected that it will be dispersed naturally.” Oil spills Oil Oil and gas companies Energy industry Oil Energy Fossil fuels Royal Dutch Shell Marine life Wildlife Oceans Scotland Fiona Harvey Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …npower raises gas and electricity prices – the fifth of ‘big six’ firms to do so
August 16, 2011 No Comment
German-owned company increases prices by 15.7% and 7.2% respectively, adding £134 a year to the average bill Millions of Britons face substantially higher energy bills after npower became the fifth of the “big six” providers to raise gas and electricity prices in the past two months, blaming the “volatile global wholesale market” for the increase. The company, owned by Germany’s RWE, said it will increase average gas prices by 15.7% and electricity by 7.2% from 1 October, adding 37p a day or £134 a year to the average bill. This will mean an average energy bill of £1,188 a year for npower’s 6.5 million UK customers. Kevin Miles, chief commercial officer at RWE npower, said: “I know it hurts everyone when we put up prices and I wish we didn’t have to. With reduced quantities of North Sea gas, we are now forced to buy energy on the volatile global wholesale market. World events have pushed up prices and we believe this trend will continue.” The company follows Scottish Power, British Gas, Scottish & Southern Energy and E.ON in announcing price hikes, blaming wholesale price increases and pointing to the nuclear crisis in Japan, the Arab spring uprisings and the nuclear shutdown in Germany as the reason. EDF is the only one of the big six – which between them provide 99% of the energy used in UK households – not to have raised its prices. Miles pointed out that npower’s price increases were significantly below the tariff increases of between 10% and 19% on gas and electricity introduced by its rivals . Although wholesale energy prices have risen significantly this year, they are still down about a third from their peak in 2008, while average domestic energy bills have risen to record levels. Miles said: “Although our half year profits were better than last year, they do not begin to match the billions of pounds we are investing in energy for the future.” Energy bills Consumer affairs Household bills Family finances Utilities Gas Tom Bawden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Minnesota dad Pat Smith has decided that teaching his boys about honesty is worth more than $50,000. Smith took his twin 11-year-old sons, Nate and Nick, to a charity fundraiser hockey game last week, where Nate amazed the crowd by firing a 3-inch puck through a 3.5-inch hole…
Continue reading …