Decision to designate national transitional council as legitimate government is taking sides in civil war, says Moscow Russia has criticised the US and other countries for recognising the Libyan rebels’ national transitional council as a legitimate government, saying they are taking sides in the civil war. “Those who declare recognition stand fully on the side of one political force in a civil war,” the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, announced the recognition of the rebels on Friday when she was in Turkey for a meeting of an international contact group on Libya. The major diplomatic step could unblock billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds for the campaign to end the 41-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who has resisted Nato bombing for nearly four months. Russia, along with China, has taken a softer line towards Gaddafi. They were both invited to the Istanbul contact group meeting but did not attend. “Supporters of such a decision are supporters of a policy of isolation, in this case the isolation of those forces that represent Tripoli,” said Lavrov, adding that Moscow was in contact with both Tripoli and the rebels. Russia abstained from voting on a resolution that authorised western force against Gaddafi to protect civilians. It has increasingly criticised the scope of the Nato campaign as well as the role of the Libya contact group. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Russia Muammar Gaddafi United States Middle East Africa guardian.co.uk
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General John Allen takes over amid further violence including assassination of Karzai aide and death of three Nato troops General David Petraeus has handed over command of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan to another US general, John Allen, who will assume responsibility as Washington and others draw up exit plans from the nearly 10-year conflict. The transfer on Monday came amid further violence: an aide to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, and an Afghan MP were assassinated in a Taliban-claimed attack in Kabul, while three Nato troops were killed in eastern Afghanistan. Allen said the reduction in US forces that started this month and the transition of some areas to Afghan control this week did not mean international forces were easing up in their campaign to defeat the Taliban insurgency. “It is my intention to maintain the momentum of the campaign,” the general said at the handover ceremony in Kabul. “There will be tough days ahead. I have no illusions about the challenges ahead.” US officials have heralded successes in reclaiming Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan and training Afghan security forces. But violent attacks have continued. On Monday morning, a bomb killed three international service members in eastern Afghanistan. Nato did not provide further details. Most of the troops in the east are American. At least 37 international troops have been killed so far this month in Afghanistan. Allen, who was promoted to a four-star general shortly before the handover ceremony, takes over from Petraeus, who commanded international forces in Afghanistan for one year and is retiring from the military to become the director of the CIA. The ceremony came hours after security forces in the capital killed the final attacker involved in the assassination of Karzai’s adviser Jan Mohammed Khan and a parliamentarian he was meeting in his house. The deaths were announced late on Sunday night, but fighting continued inside the house until early on Monday morning as police tried to take out the remaining assailant who had barricaded himself in. One police officer was killed, the interior ministry said. Afghan officials had originally said the attackers were wearing suicide vests but said on Monday that this was incorrect and they were armed only with guns. David Petraeus Afghanistan US military Nato United States Hamid Karzai Taliban guardian.co.uk
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Friends of the Earth is calling on MPs to block the government’s energy policy statement in parliament on Monday Dozens of new fossil-fuelled power stations are being planned by energy companies, triggering concerns among green campaigners of a new “dash for gas” that could crowd out wind and other cleaner energy projects, the Guardian can reveal. Friends of the Earth is calling on MPs to block the government’s prime energy policy statement, which comes before parliament on Monday amid a deluge of new planning applications or consents. Some plans are already queuing up in the public planning system. Scottish Power wants to construct a 1.2GW station at Avonmouth, near Bristol, while RWE npower is building a 2GW gas plant at Pembroke, south Wales, and a 2.4GW station at Willington in Derbyshire. It is also looking at a smaller facility at Fawley, near Southampton. Smaller schemes include ones by Welsh Power, which wants to construct an 850MW plant at Fleetwood in Lancashire, and Trafford Peaking Power is developing one in Manchester. The Guardian has unearthed as many as 30 potential gas schemes , which are either in late development stage or very early proposals, and which – if built could lock Britain into a higher carbon future at a time when it is trying to promote renewable power to cut emissions. Simon Bullock, a campaigner with FoE, says the national policy statement which will be debated in the Commons today would allow gas projects to be fast-forwarded on the basis that the UK has an “urgent” need for all new capacity to replace old nuclear and coal plants. “Instead of there being an ‘urgent’ need for new gas, there is in fact no need for new gas – beyond the capacity already being built or with planning permission. The new capacity the government says is needed by 2025 is already either under construction or has planning permission,” he argues. London-based consultancy, New Power, argued regulatory and financial uncertainty had slowed a dash for gas but it still believed “interest in new gas-fired plants remains high”. Gas is seen as attractive by developers because plants are relatively cheap and quick to construct but consumer groups are worried about soaring gas prices. A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman voting through the national policy statements were a vital part of the move to set Britain on a new course and rebuild out-of-date infrastructure. “The transition to low carbon energy can’t just happen overnight. Gas in particular will be needed to provide vital flexibility to support an increasing amount of low-carbon generation and to maintain security of supply,” he explained. “In the long term there is likely to be a role for gas plant equipped with carbon capture and storage, which is why new gas plants are required to be built carbon capture ready and the carbon capture and storage demonstration competition is open to gas plant as well as coal plant.” RWE npower, which The Guardian calculates could have nearly 9GW of gas-fired plants in action by 2020 and which revealed last week it was in wide-ranging talks with Gazprom of Russia, insists it has made no decisions on facilities such as Willington or Fawley. A spokesman said: “I would not say this a dash for gas as we are progressing renewable and other projects but we do believe in diversity because the future of energy is uncertain.” RWE said talks with Gazprom were at a very early stage but it admitted it could include an equity stake being released to the Russians and combined gas projects in the UK. Gazprom was at one stage linkled with the potential purchase of British Gas, something that caused political concern among some MPs. RWE is also among the companies looking at building nuclear power plants but said there was no question of Gazprom being involved in those schemes. Gas Energy industry Gas Renewable energy Carbon emissions Friends of the Earth Pollution Fossil fuels Energy Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk
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Government expected to suspend movement of cattle as fears mount over contaminated straw in region hit by nuclear crisis Japan is poised to impose a ban on shipments of cattle from Fukushima prefecture – the scene of its worst ever nuclear crisis – after discovering that meat containing abnormally high levels of radioactive caesium had been processed and consumed. The cows had been fed on rice straw containing high levels of the radioactive isotope that was harvested after the 11 March tsunami triggered a core meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. While officials said consuming the meat did not present an immediate threat to health, the incident has highlighted concerns over food safety in the wake of the crisis, which has caused contamination in milk, tea, leaf vegetables, fish and water. The government is expected to announce the suspension of cattle shipments from Fukushima, and possibly other areas nearby, on Tuesday. “The most likely outcome is that we will ban beef shipments,” Goshi Hosono, a special adviser to the prime minister on the nuclear clean-up, said on a TV programme. “We are discussing the matter along these lines. We have to ensure food safety.” Authorities in the prefecture confirmed that 84 head of cattle from five affected farms had been shipped to eight locations, including Tokyo and Osaka, between late March and mid-July. Local media reported that the contamination risk could be more widespread, affecting farms 60 miles from the power plant. Kyodo news agency said it had calculated that as many as 143 cows sent to all but 10 of Japan’s 47 prefectures may have been exposed to radiation via feed. “We may need to increase our response by checking the distribution of contaminated straw,” said Kohei Otsuka, the senior vice-minister for health. “We are currently considering Fukushima prefecture, but we may have to consider the need for a further response by checking the distribution of contaminated straw.” Retailers said it was highly likely that some of the contaminated beef had already been eaten. On Sunday, the Aeon chain of supermarkets said 319kg (703lb) of beef from a farm in Asakawa in Fukushima, had been sold at 14 of its stores in Tokyo and the surrounding area between late April and the middle of last month. Tests on straw at a farm in Koriyama city in Fukushima prefecture showed caesium levels as high as 500,000 becquerels per kg. Those readings are about 378 times the legal limit set by the government. Farmers in the area said they had not been told about a government warning, issued days after the nuclear accident, not to give their animals feed that had been stored outside. The Tokyo metropolitan government said on Sunday that high levels of radioactive caesium were detected in meat from a cow shipped to a packing plant in Tokyo from a farm in Koriyama. The meat contained radioactive cesium at measurements as high as 2,400 becquerels per kg, nearly five times the government-set safety limit of 500 becquerels per kg. Efforts to track down exposed cattle began earlier this month after meat from cows at a farm in Minamisoma, about 15 miles from Fukushima Daiichi, were found to have been fed with contaminated straw. Authorities in Tokyo said they had detected radiation levels in beef originating from the farm of up to 2,300 becquerels per kg. Government officials and some experts played down the risk to health. “This is not a number that would clearly cause abnormal effects on health even if the beef was eaten,” Ikuro Anzai, honorary professor of radiation protection at Ritsumeikan University, told Kyodo. But he added: “It would be better to refrain from eating it until the situation becomes clear.” Japan disaster Japan Farming Food Agriculture Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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• Expobank to be sold in decision to exit retail banking in Russia • Move part of Diamond’s strategy to sell underperforming units • Sale expected to make a tenth of 2008 £373m purchase price Barclays is expected to record a multimillion-pound loss as it prepares to draw up a shortlist of potential bidders for the Expobank business it bought in Russia just before the 2008 banking crisis. Bob Diamond, the Barclays boss, was quick to identify Expobank as a business that needed to be disposed of after he took the helm late last year and announced the decision to pull out of retail and commercial banking in Russia in February. A sales process is now under way and sources believe that Barclays will have to sell the operation for as little as a tenth of the £373m that it paid for the 32-branch operation in March 2008 . Among those thought to be potential bidders are the local banks Vostochny Express and the largest Kazakh bank, Kazkommertsbank. High-street banking in Russia – rather than investment banking – has proved difficult for UK banks to crack. HSBC sold its retail business to Citi of the US in June barely two years after trying to break into the market. Foreign entrants face many state-owned competitors – particularly Sberbank and VTB – which exacerbates the problems they face in winning business. Citi is one of the foreign banks to have managed to break into the market. When Barclays, which refused to comment, announced the Expo deal, it had not expected the acquisition to start boosting its overall earnings until 2011. Focused on Moscow, St Petersburg and other parts of western Russia, Expobank was owned by Petropavlovsk Finance until Barclays stepped in. The acquisition was led by Frits Seegers, who was head of global and retail banking for Barclays but has since left the bank. At the time, Seegers had described the bank as “well run” and a local expert, Nikolai Tsekhomsky, former VTB Group finance director, was brought in to speed up growth in the business, which employs about 1,500 people. While Diamond will be keen to demonstrate that he is executing his strategy to pull out of underperforming businesses when he presents the bank’s interim results on 2 August, it is unlikely that he will be able to name a buyer for the operation by then. He told the City that he had embarked on a “rigorous and continuous review” of the group’s business as he attempts to improve the return to shareholders despite being required to hold more capital to support its existing operations. The bank’s return on equity was 7.3% in 2010, while Diamond wants it to hit 13% to 15%. The Barclays investment banking arm, Barclays Capital, will continue to look for business in Russia from big companies and multinationals as well as governments. HSBC is also planning to retain an investment banking presence in the country. Barclays Banking Russia Europe Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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Crunch week for euro begins with market reaction to European bank stress tests Eurozone governments need to improve their crisis-management skills and learn to speak with one voice, the head of the European Central Bank said on Sunday at the start of what promises to be a crunch week for the single currency. As financial markets deliver their verdict on the results of controversial stress tests on European banks and political leaders prepare for a crunch summit to discuss the single currency crisis on Thursday, the ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said governments needed to improve “verbal discipline”. “There is an absolute need to improve ‘verbal discipline’. The governments need to speak with one voice on such complex and sensitive issues as the crisis,” Trichet said. In an interview with Financial Times Deutschland conducted last week, he reiterated that the ECB would not accept bonds from a nation that defaults as collateral for fear of triggering a “Lehmans-style” event in the financial system. “If a country defaults, we can no longer accept as normal eligible collateral defaulted bonds issued by the government of that country,” he said. “Because … this would impair our ability to be an anchor of confidence and stability. “The governments would then have to step in themselves to put things right … the governments would have to take care the euro system is presented with collateral that it could accept.” But he did not elaborate on how governments could secure liquidity in case of default. In what Trichet might regard as a lack of verbal discipline, the Irish deputy prime minister said on Sunday that he would like to see the eurozone issue common bonds to soak up the bloc’s debt. “It is an option I favour. It is one of a series of options that have to be looked at,” Eamon Gilmore told Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. Eurozone leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss how to halt the threat of contagion to Italy and Spain from Greece’s rumbling debt crisis. Eurozone finance ministers agreed last week to make the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone’s multibillion-euro rescue fund, more flexible in order to buy up debt, but details have yet to be worked out and governments, the ECB and the commission in Brussels are at loggerheads as to how to resolve the problem. But Trichet said Europe could surmount its divisions. “The Europeans can manage the issue. It is not a question of technique. It is a question of will and determination.” He said the euro was not in danger and remains “a highly credible currency”. The markets may deliver a more hostile view when European traders react to the stress test results, which were published after markets closed on Friday. Although eight failed the tests and will require a €2.5bn (£2.2bn) capital boost, some analysts said that showed the conditions had not been tough enough. Credit Suisse said: “We previously estimated 10-15 banks as the minimum threshold for credibility. A total recapitalisation requirement of €2.5bn does not effectively test the bailout system .” European debt crisis European banks Europe Euro Currencies Euro European Union Economics European Central Bank Banking guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …You’re a pro with lingo like “friends” and “walls.” Too bad that vocabulary won’t help you get up to speed on Google+, whose bread and butter is Circles, Hangouts, and Sparks. Writing for the Huffington Post , Craig Kanalley pulls together 15 confusion-busting tips for Google+ newbies. Start by finding your…
Continue reading …Sir Paul Stephenson has resigned his post as commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, thanks to the “ongoing speculation and accusations” swirling around the department in the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Stephenson, the most senior police officer in Britain, has taken heat for hiring ex-NoTW executive Neil Wallis…
Continue reading …It was another thriller today in the Women’s World Cup final, but this time it ended in heartbreak for the US. The Americans led twice in the game, but each time Japan tied it up, according to ESPN . Neither side managed to score in the first half, despite multiple chances…
Continue reading …Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid are busily hammering out a debt ceiling Plan B, and are likely to put it to a vote in the coming week, senior Democratic aides tell Reuters . It would be based on McConnell’s widely panned plan to allow Democrats to raise the ceiling, but place…
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