Official version of events disputed as Uighur assault on police building raises fears of new violence An assault on a Chinese police station in Xinjiang has left at least four people dead, the state media has reported, raising concerns about a fresh outbreak of violence in the restive far western region. The confrontation in Hotan – near one of China’s most important energy-producing areas – comes two years after the deadliest ethnic rioting in the country’s recent history left at least 197 people dead. Details of the police station attack are contested. The official Xinhua news agency said on Monday that “thugs” forced their way into the building, started fires and took hostages before security reinforcements killed several attackers in a gunfight that also claimed the lives of two civilians and two officers. “Six hostages were successfully rescued,” it said, citing the ministry of public security. Local police confirmed the report and said they were planning countermeasures. “It’s true,” an officer at Hotan police station said by phone. “We are all awaiting assignment.” He declined to give his name or further details. This version of events is disputed by the World Uighur Congress, which wants more independence and greater rights for the largely Muslim, ethnic group in Xinjiang. Dilxat Raxit, the Sweden-based spokesman for the WUC, said the shooting occurred in the main bazaar when a large number of locals tried to protest about the “disappearances” of young Uighurs taken away by the security forces. “The Chinese government should not claim this was an attack. It started as a demonstration,” he said. “Many Han migrants have moved into this area and local people are losing their land. Young Uighurs are being illegally imprisoned.” Xinjiang has had several murderous confrontations in recent years. In 2008, 16 police officers were killed in a raid on a paramilitary border police headquarters in Kashgar . The following year, the government says 197, mostly Han Chinese, people were killed in a riot by Uighurs in the regional capital, Urumqi. The unrest is a major concern for the government in Beijing, which is increasingly dependent on Xinjiang for oil, gas and coal to power the economy. Many Han Chinese migrants have moved into the region to cash in on this boom, prompting tensions with the indigenous population. Xinjiang China Protest Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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Latest leak is likely to do nothing to mend oil giant’s reputation in US after 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster BP reported yet another pipeline leak at its Alaskan oilfields, frustrating the oil giant’s attempts to rebuild its reputation after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP has said that a pipeline at its 30,000 barrel per day Lisburne field, which is currently closed for maintenance, ruptured during testing and spilled a mixture of methanol and oily water onto the tundra. The company has a long history of oil spills at its Alaskan pipelines – accidents which have hurt its public image in the US, where around 40% of its assets are based. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said the spill occurred on Saturday and amounted to 2,100 to 4,200 gallons. A BP spokesman said the cleanup was under way and the company would determine the cause “in due course.” Lisburne, which is managed as part of the Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit, has produced no oil since 18 June, according to Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission records, suggesting maintenance work requiring a prolonged shutdown. The spokesman said the field had been undergoing “its annual maintenance.” BP’s blown out Macondo well caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded , spewing almost 5m barrels of oil into the Gulf and putting BP’s future in the US at risk. Previous problems including leaks from corroded pipelines in Alaska and the fatal Texas City refinery blast in 2005 have already earned the company a poor reputation for safety, something analysts say it needs to address if it is to continue to grow in North America. BP shares were down 1.089% at 454p this morning. Production from the entire Lisburne field remains shut off while the spill is addressed, Alaska officials said. Immediate efforts are focused on containment and cleanup, said Tom DeRuyter, the state on-scene coordinator for the Department of Environmental Conservation. The methanol-produced water mix has spread into wet tundra as well as onto a gravel pad, bringing risks to slow-growing vegetation, DeRuyter said. “You have actively growing plants and they’re very susceptible to the contaminants.” He went on to say that the pipeline will also have to be dug up to allow for an investigation into why it failed. Resumption of normal operations at that part of the field may require a relatively long wait. “I think they’re looking at trying to get that pad back up before freeze-up,” he added. Oil spills BP Pollution Oil BP oil spill Fossil fuels Commodities Oil Energy Energy industry Oil and gas companies United States Alaska guardian.co.uk
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Honeymoon murder suspect facing extradition to South Africa is deemed too ‘fragile’ to face British court A British man accused of arranging for his wife to be murdered while they were on honeymoon in South Africa would be considered unfit to stand trial if he was facing a British court, his extradition hearing has been told. Shrien Dewani faces being sent back to South Africa to be put on trial for allegedly conspiring to kill his wife, Anni, in a fake carjacking in Cape Town. However, he has been diagnosed as suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and his barrister, Clare Montgomery QC, argued that if he was facing domestic proceedings he would be “simply unfit to stand trial”. Dewani, who is being treated in a medium secure hospital, was excused from staying in court to hear proceedings after Montgomery claimed it would be “inhuman” to force him to remain. Montgomery said Dewani had had to begin his journey from the Fromeside hospital in Bristol to Woolwich crown court in east London, where the extradition hearing is taking place, at 4am every morning he was required to appear. Travelling by car, being exposed to loud noises and the presence of other people exacerbated his condition, Montgomery said. Dewani sat in the dock looking dishevelled and confused as Montgomery asked for him to be allowed to leave. District judge Howard Riddle accepted that Dewani’s health was “fragile” and agreed that in the “exceptional” circumstances he could be excused from attending. Dewani was led from the dock looking unsteady on his feet and disoriented. Anni Dewani, 28, was shot dead in the back of a taxi in Cape Town on 13 November after a hijacking alleged to have been staged by Dewani and three other men. Dewani, from Bristol, and his family, who run a successful string of care homes, deny strongly he had any involvement in his wife’s death. But the South African authorities insist that he should return to Cape Town to be put on trial. Over the next three days Judge Riddle is to hear claims from Dewani’s lawyers that he is too ill to be extradited. Dewani’s team is also claiming that his human rights would be infringed if he were sent back because he would not receive the treatment he needed in South Africa’s prisons as he awaited trial and if he was convicted of the crime. Judge Deon Hurter Van Zyl, who heads an independent inspectorate that monitors conditions in South African prisons, was asked by Montgomery about gang and sexual violence. She suggested to him that most prisoners were sexually assaulted even before they actually reached prison in holding cells, police stations and vehicles as part of “initiation” rites. Van Zyl accepted there were many problems within the system and staff lacked pride, commitment and dedication. He also told the court inmates with mental health conditions mixed with other prisoners and there were not sufficient facilities for dealing with those who suffered from psychiatric problems. At an earlier stage of the hearing in May, the court was told Dewani would be particularly vulnerable to attacks in prison because of his good looks, the fact that a woman was his alleged victim and allegations – denied by his family – that he is gay. The South African authorities have stipulated which prisons Dewani would be held in while awaiting trial and if convicted and insist he would be safe and cared for. But the court has also heard that future governments would not be bound by any promises made now. Also at the May hearing, the South African authorities revealed they had a witness who would claim that seven months before the killing Dewani had said he “needed to find a way out” of the marriage. The witness claimed Dewani had said he would be disowned by his family if he broke off the engagement with Anni. Dewani’s family insist the marriage was a happy one. Dewani is wanted for kidnapping, robbery with aggravated circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder and obstructing the administration of justice. The extradition hearing is being heard by Westminster magistrates, sitting at Woolwich crown court. Dewani murder case London South Africa Crime Africa Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The flames of the News of the World scandal are lapping at Prime Minister David Cameron’s heels after a top cop zinged him for his relationship with a Rupert Murdoch henchman. Scotland Yard’s Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Paul Stephenson resigned amid questions about the force’s relationship with the tabloid and…
Continue reading …Japan’s World Cup soccer victory over the US women’s team yesterday devastated the Yanks, but also gave a major kick in the pants to the bad fortunes haunting a nation struggling in the wake of a devastating tsunami. It was the first-ever World Cup win for the gutsy women, who…
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Fire safety experts say modifications by right-to-buy owners have exacerbated problem Three-quarters of all social housing blocks are potentially unsafe in a fire, according to a survey questioning managers responsible for ensuring buildings are properly maintained. A similar proportion of housing managers are not confident that their blocks have had a proper fire risk assessment, according to the study, carried out jointly by the Chief Fire Officers Association and Chartered Institute of Housing. The findings will further raise concerns that fire safety in social housing, particularly in high-rise blocks, remains a significant problem even two years after the Lakanal House tragedy in Camberwell. Six people, including three children, died on 3 July 2009 when a blaze swept though the 14-storey south London block. While an official report into the cause has been delayed pending a still-running police investigation, fire experts who examined Lakanal’s sister block concluded that decades of botched modifications to the 1959-built structure massively compromised its ability to contain fires, allowing the flames to spread at speed vertically and laterally, trapping residents. Following the fire the Chief Fire Officers Association and Chartered Institute of Housing organised a series of safety seminars for professionals in the social housing sector, during which they polled participants about the blocks they managed. A total of 400 people were surveyed at the first three events, all in England, using an anonymous, push-button vote system. Asked before the seminar whether they believed their buildings were “fit for purpose” regarding fire safety, 45% agreed. After the expert briefing this fell to 27%. Similarly, while 40% were initially confident they had carried out proper fire risk assessments on their housing stock, this dropped to 25% afterwards. Both organisations stress the findings do not mean three-quarters of buildings are fire traps or that the occupants should be worried. But Tony Prosser, director of operations for the West Midlands fire service, who led the study for the Chief Fire Officers’ Association, said it showed that many supposed experts in the housing sector did not know as much as they thought. “We were quite surprised by the results, bearing in mind that the people who come to these events tend to be already reasonably aware of the issues,” he said. “It’s a worrying figure. When we go through the various scenarios it made people aware of some things they’d maybe not considered.” A main concern is modifications to buildings, some by residents, for example right-to-buy flat owners who replace the original fireproof doors to their flats with combustible replacements. Similarly, work on communal areas could sometimes cause hazards, he said. “Some of these buildings are 50 years old now. Since then there’s been a lot of work – satellite dishes, additional plumbing, heating systems. You can get heating engineers who bang holes between floors and don’t do anything about filling in the gaps. In some buildings it can be a process of steady degradation.” Debbie Larner, head of practice at the Chartered Institute of Housing, the professional body for social housing groups, said the figures were “quite shocking” but stressed the need for perspective. “There’s much more awareness about what the issues are. We’re getting a sense that people really want to ensure that their assessments are much more robust. It’s less of a tick-box approach,” she said. Some fire safety experts take a more gloomy view, saying that decades of chronic under-investment in social housing stock has left many hundreds of blocks unsafe . Correcting all this would cost hundreds of millions of pounds, a sum which councils and other housing providers simply cannot afford, they say. Housing Communities Firefighters Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Exclusive: Chancellor holding back extra funding needed for modernisation, with MoD calling for PM to intervene David Cameron is locked in a standoff with his chancellor over defence spending after a secret study concluded the government will need to find an extra £25bn to pay for its modernisation of the armed forces. The Guardian has learned that a three-month internal analysis of the Ministry of Defence’s chaotic budget has found the department will not be able to pay for the programmes agreed in last year’s strategic defence and security review without a huge injection of cash – or a savage round of fresh cuts. George Osborne has been refusing to give the defence secretary, Liam Fox, any promises about funding beyond 2014/15, even though many programmes need to be signed off in the coming months to have any chance of coming in on time and on budget. From private discussions with the MoD’s most senior officials, the Guardian understands that the prime minister has also dug his heels in. He has refused to sanction any further cuts to defence capabilities before the next election, even though the department is already far over budget. One senior Whitehall official said the Cameron and his chancellor appeared to be in a power struggle – and they needed to resolve the situation quickly. “We are going round in circles,” said the source. The three-month review began in the spring as the MoD tried to tackle an estimated £1bn overspend for last year, as well as determine costs for the contracts that need to be signed for the changes set out in the SDSR. Downing Street has already conceded that if the armed forces are to become Future Force 2020 the MoD will need real-term budget increases from 2014/15 onwards. But defence officials were not sure how much extra money would be needed. In a series of secret meetings with top officials from the Treasury, Cabinet Office and No 10, the MoD argued it will need rises of inflation-plus-3% every year until 2020/21 to meet its targets. The Guardian understands the sums were not disputed. Without them the MoD will be unable to create Future Force 2020 within the timescale. If the MoD’s budget remains constant between 2014/15 and 2020/21 the department will be £20bn short of what it needs – at current prices. Allowing for inflation that rises to £25bn over six years. The MoD believes it has convinced officials across Whitehall that its problems are as great as it says. It does not want to set a precedent that other departments might seek to follow, and it points to the MoD’s well-earned reputation for mismanaging money as another reason not to make any commitments now. “The essential underlying problem remains the same,” said the source. “The chancellor doesn’t want to give defence any more money because if he makes a special case then what will happen next? “Every other department will be asking to be made a special case. But what the prime minister is not prepared to countenance is further cuts. Defence has been on this painful trajectory since the SDSR came out last year. “The only way the Treasury will move is if David Cameron comes down on the side of defence. The prime minister recognises that the MoD will need real term increases to meet the SDSR commitments.” Until then the permanent secretary at the MoD, Ursula Brennan, is stalling on signing contracts until she is sure she will have the money to pay for them. Professor Malcolm Chalmers, from the Royal United Services Institute thinktank, said there were “no easy choices left” and that the MoD needed to make decisions now about new tanks, submarines and aircraft. “Without an explicit commitment soon to significant real terms growth in defence spending between 2014 and 2020, the SDSR vision for UK forces in 2020 is not affordable. “Getting a commitment after the next election is too late unless the MoD is prepared to sign contracts without knowing whether it can afford to fund them. “If the defence budget does not grow significantly in real terms after 2014/15, there could be a six-year funding gap – between what is needed to fund Future Force 2020 and what is available – of around £25bn. “If decisions are not taken soon, either to approve significant real defence spending growth after 2014 or to make further cuts in capabilities, the MoD will become increasingly reluctant to approve new financial commitments.” Chalmers said the government had been “refreshingly frank” about the problems with the defence budget but if it could not commit to new spending “further difficult capability choices cannot be avoided”. The armed forces will have made redundant up to 17,000 servicemen and women by 2015, but further job losses are expected after the British mission in Afghanistan begins to wind down in the next parliament. Defence policy Military David Cameron George Osborne Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Cryptic message triggers fears over fate of Chinese reporter’s investigative team
July 18, 2011 No Comment
Journalist Wang Keqin causes alarm with blogpost amid claims officials are targeting his China Economic Times newspaper Concerns are growing over the fate of one of China’s most influential investigative journalists amid reports that he and his colleagues are the victims of a backlash by senior Communist party officials. Wang Keqin, a pioneer of in-depth and undercover reporting over the past decade, caused alarm with a cryptic message on his Sina Weibo microblog about taboos and silencing speech. “Where political power burns books, it will also ultimately burn people also,” he wrote. Associates said senior officials were targeting his newspaper – China Economic Times – and its investigative news department was being broken up. “I just received word from a friend at China Economic Times: ‘A ridiculous leader just visited us here, and aside from carrying out political struggle and grinding over people, he understands nothing.’” said a post by Qian Gang, director of the China Media Project at Hong Kong University. Contacted by phone, Wang said he was unable to comment. “Sorry, I have to hang up,” he said. Wang – who grew up in a poor farming family in Gansu province – is among a handful of senior reporters who have pushed back the boundaries of journalism in China, where the media was previously used almost exclusively as a propaganda tool. His reports on child deaths linked to mishandled vaccines, the dire conditions of taxi drivers, and mafia-like “black society” scams have exposed gangsters, extortionists and corrupt officials. This has reportedly led to a price being put on his head. “I had problems with black society [gangs], and problems with red society [officials],” Wang said in a Guardian interview last year. “I heard there was a special investigation team, [with the target of] sending me to prison.” He said his life had been threatened and he had been beaten up on several occasions. Until now, however, it was assumed that his position was safe because he was protected by China’s former premier Zhu Rongji. There is little indication of what may have sparked a bout of pressure from the authorities. At midnight and from 5am to 9am, Wang posted a series of online comments calling for freedom and condemning the corruption of officials. “Thanks for your support … Even if we can only change society a little, that is still progress,” he wrote in one. “Respect everyone’s freedom in order to achieve true freedom,” he noted in another. “Who but a corrupt man would want to become a governor?” read another. Commenting below his post, supporters described Wang as the “backbone of China” and expressed sympathy for his predicament. Ahead of this apparent setback, Wang appeared confident that investigative journalism was growing stronger despite waves of restrictions. “Over a mere 10 years,” he wrote in a recent blogpost , “there were more reporters in the field writing higher quality articles for a growing range of publications.” “Investigative reporters are receiving increasing attention and social respect,” he said. • Additional reporting by Cecily Huang China Press freedom Journalist safety Censorship Newspapers & magazines Newspapers Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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Clerk of parliaments publishes letter on Lords’ site saying peer is not and has ‘never been a member of the House of Lords’ The House of Lords has taken the unprecedented step of publishing a “cease and desist” letter on its website demanding that Lord Christopher Monckton, a prominent climate sceptic and the UK Independence party’s head of research, should stop claiming to be a member of the upper house. The move follows a testy interview given by Monckton to an Australian radio station earlier this month in which he repeated his long-stated belief that he is a member of the House of Lords. When asked by ABC Sydney’s Adam Spencer if he was a member, he said: “Yes, but without the right to sit or vote … [The Lords] have not yet repealed by act of parliament the letters patent creating the peerage and until they do I am a member of the house, as my passport records. It says I am the Right Honourable Viscount Monckton of Brenchley. So get used to it.” The letter, sent by David Beamish, clerk of the parliaments, to Monckton last Friday and now published on the Lords’ website, states: “You are not and have never been a member of the House of Lords. Your assertion that you are a member, but without the right to sit or vote, is a contradiction in terms. No one denies that you are, by virtue of your letters patent, a peer. That is an entirely separate issue to membership of the House. This is borne out by the recent judgement in Baron Mereworth v Ministry of Justice (Crown Office).” In May, Mr Justice Lewison threw out an action at the Royal Courts of Justice brought by Baron Mereworth, who maintains that it his hereditary entitlement to attend the Lords, despite the House of Lords Act 1999 debarring all but 92 of the 650 hereditary peers, including his late father Lord Oranmore and Browne. Mr Justice Lewison ruled : “In my judgement, the reference [in the House of Lords Act 1999] to a ‘member of the House of Lords’ is simply a reference to the right to sit and vote in that house … In a nutshell, membership of the House of Lords means the right to sit and vote in that house.” The letter from Beamish to Monckton continues: “I must therefore again ask that you desist from claiming to be a member of the House of Lords, either directly or by implication, and also that you desist from claiming to be a member ‘without the right to sit or vote’. I am publishing this letter on the parliamentary website so that anybody who wishes to check whether you are a member of the House of Lords can view this official confirmation that you are not.” The Guardian understands that the House of Lords has been consulting with its lawyers on this issue since the ABC radio interview aired. It is not yet clear what form of sanction the Lords has available to it should Monckton persist with his claim. Last year, the then clerk of the parliaments, Michael Pownall, wrote to Monckton stressing that he was not entitled to call himself a member , nor should he use parliament’s famous portcullis symbol on his letterheads or lecture slides, as he has done for a number of years. Monckton wrote back stating that “the House of Lords Act 1999, which purported to exclude hereditary peers from membership of the House of Lords, is defective”. He argued that the act removed the right to sit or vote in the upper house, but did not remove membership because peerages are granted by letters patent, which are a personal gift of the monarch. Monckton claimed in the letter that “only a specific law can annul a grant. The 1999 act was a general law.” Buckingham Palace was drawn into the dispute when it was revealed that Pownall had sought advice from the Lord Chamberlain, a key officer in the royal household, on the potential misuse of the portcullis emblem due to it being the property of the Queen. The Buckingham Palace website states that any misuse of the emblem is prohibited by the Trade Marks Act 1994, meaning Monckton could potentially be liable for fines and a six-month prison term if the palace pursues the matter and successfully prosecutes him. Monckton has since been using a slightly altered portcullis emblem on his lecture slides. The two chains hanging either side of portcullis are now kinked instead of straight. It is not known whether the Lord Chamberlain is content with the change. A spokesperson told the Guardian that the palace was “aware of the issue”, but it had a policy of not commenting on private correspondence between it and an individual. Monckton is currently on a lecture tour of Australia discussing climate change . The tour has been dogged by venue cancellations after he referred to the Australian government’s former climate advisor Prof Ross Garnaut as a fascist during a recent lecture in Los Angeles. Footage of the lecture also showed Monckton displaying a swastika next to one of Garnaut’s quotes. Monckton later apologised for “having made the point I was trying to make in such a catastrophically stupid and offensive way”. Climate change Climate change scepticism House of Lords UK Independence party (Ukip) Leo Hickman guardian.co.uk
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Heathrow owner could seek judicial review if Competition Commission makes it sell Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh BAA could seek a judicial review against the Competition Commission if, as expected, the airport group is ordered on Tuesday to sell Stansted and one of its Scottish airports. The owner of Heathrow is braced for a ruling that it must offload Stansted, Britain’s third largest airport, and either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport. The commission indicated earlier this year in a preliminary review of a 2009 ruling that it was still minded to order the forced divestments in order to increase competition in the airport market in south-east England and Scotland. Tuesday’s final report is expected to give BAA 18 months to arrange an auction that will leave it with a rump of airports at Heathrow, Aberdeen, Southampton and either Glasgow or Edinburgh. However, BAA is adamant that the market for UK airports has changed significantly since the commission gave its initial verdict. One strand of the commission’s argument is that breaking up BAA’s monopoly – it used to own the top three airports in Britain before it sold Gatwick in a £1.5bn deal – will encourage building of new runways. BAA argues that the arrival of a new government in May 2010 has nullified that position, because the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition has ruled out the construction of new landing strips in south-east England, including at Stansted and Gatwick. Nonetheless, the commission has countered that disposals will increase competition by introducing new owners who will improve the customer experience. Gatwick’s new owner, US fund Global Infrastructure Partners, is opening a new security area in its south terminal this year and is luring airlines from Stansted. Although Gatwick’s poaching act confirms a degree of competition with Stansted, BAA believes that Heathrow operates in a completely different market as the UK’s only hub airport and is not constricting growth at Stansted. BAA believes easyJet’s recent move to operate flights from Southend airport underlines the competitive pressures that Stansted faces, with or without new owners. BAA Travel & leisure Airline industry Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
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