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Noticias del Reino Unido
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The Guardian World News Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:20:07 GMT |
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Syria resolution vetoed by Russia and China at United Nations
• Thirteen other council members vote in favour
• UK and US react with fury to decision
• Homs death toll more than 200, say activists Russia and China have vetoed a UN security council resolution calling for the Syrian president to step down, provoking a furious reaction. All 13 other members of the council, including the US, France and Britain, voted in favour of the resolution, which backed an Arab peace plan aimed at stopping the violence in Syria. Russia and China blocked the resolution because of what they perceived to be a potential violation of Syria's sovereignty, which could allow for military intervention or regime change. William Hague, the foreign secretary, condemned the decision. "More than 2,000 people have died since Russia and China vetoed the last draft resolution in October 2011," he said after the vote. "How many more need to die before Russia and China allow the UN security council to act? "Those opposing UN security council action will have to account to the Syrian people for their actions, which do nothing to help bring an end to the violence that is ravaging the country. The United Kingdom will continue to support the people of Syria and the Arab League to find an end to the violence and allow a Syrian-led political transition." The draft resolution, tabled by Morocco, did not impose sanctions or authorise military action and contained nothing that warranted opposition, Hague said. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, reacted angrily to the news at a press conference in Munich on Saturday night: "What more do we need to know to act decisively in the security council? To block this resolution is to bear responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in Syria." Responding to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, who asked "What's the endgame?", Clinton replied: "The endgame in the absence of us acting together as the international community, I fear, is civil war." Hague accused Russia and China of siding with "the Syrian regime and its brutal suppression of the Syrian people in support of their own national interests. Their approach lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing, as it has done in Homs over the past 24 hours." France's ambasador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said: "It is a sad day for the council. It is a sad day for Syria ... History has compounded our shame." The defeat came despite concerted efforts by western leaders to get security council backing for the resolution censuring the Damascus regime. Speaking before the vote, Barack Obama called for Assad to step down following the latest bloodshed. The US president said Assad had lost his legitimacy as a ruler and had "no right" to cling to power. He said the regime's policy of terrorising its people "only indicates its inherent weakness and inevitable collapse". Britain and France also condemned the violence and called for decisive action by the international community in an apparent rebuke to Russia, which carried out its threat to veto the draft resolution. Death tolls cited by activists and opposition groups ranged from 217 to 260, making the Homs attack the deadliest so far in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted 11 months ago in response to uprisings that overthrew three Arab leaders. Hague said it was time for countries to stop giving "shelter" to the regime after the assault on Homs. "The Syrian regime's actions display President Assad's cold-blooded cynicism in the face of mounting international pressure for the UN security council to do its utmost to end the bloodshed. "The time is long past for the international community, particularly those that have so far sheltered the Assad regime, to intensify the pressure to end over 10 months of violence." The French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said the Homs bloodshed was a crime against humanity and "those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility". But the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, criticised the UN resolution, saying it made too few demands of anti-government armed groups, and could prejudge the outcome of a dialogue among political forces in the country. Russian news agencies reported that Lavrov and Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov, will meet with Assad in Damascus on Tuesday. Syria has been a key Russian ally since Soviet times and Moscow has opposed any UN demands that could be interpreted as advocating military intervention or regime change. Earlier on Saturday, Tunisia decided to expel Syria's ambassador in response to the "bloody massacre" in Homs and said it no longer recognised the Assad regime. As news of the violence spread, a crowd of Syrians stormed their country's embassy in Cairo and protests broke out outside Syrian missions in Britain, Germany and the US. Homs residents said pro-Assad forces began shelling the Khaldiya neighbourhood at around 8pm on Friday using artillery and mortars. They said at least 36 houses with families inside were destroyed. "We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads," said Waleed, a resident of Khaldiya. It was not immediately clear what had prompted Syrian forces to launch such an intense bombardment, just as diplomats at the security council were discussing the draft resolution supporting the Arab League demand for Assad to step aside. Some activists said the violence was triggered by a wave of army defections in Homs, a stronghold of protests and armed insurgents whom Assad has vowed to crush. "The death toll is now at least 217 people killed in Homs, 138 of them killed in the Khaldiya district," Rami Abdulrahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters, citing witnesses. "Syrian forces are shelling the district with mortars from several locations, some buildings are on fire. There are also buildings which got destroyed." An activist said forces bombarded Khaldiya to scare other rebel neighbourhoods. "It does not seem that they get it. Even if they kill 10 million of us, the people will not stop until we topple him." The opposition Syrian National Council said 260 civilians were killed, describing it as "one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria". It said it believed Assad's forces were preparing for similar attacks around Damascus and in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. Another group, the Local Co-ordination Committees, gave a death toll of more than 200. It is not possible to verify activist or state media reports as Syria restricts independent media access. Video footage on the internet showed at least eight bodies assembled in a room, one of them with the top half of its head blown off. A voice on the video said the bombardment was continuing as the video was being filmed.
Ed Miliband: we have just three months to save the NHS
Labour leader urges cross-party campaign to block Andrew Lansley's health reform bill Labour leader Ed Miliband is calling on the public to join a three-month campaign to kill off the government's controversial NHS reforms as pressure mounts on David Cameron to withdraw the coalition's flagship health and social care bill from parliament. Ahead of a crucial week for the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, during which the bill will return to the Lords where it can expect a further mauling, Miliband describes the plans as a dangerous "leap in the dark" that will impose a "free market free-for-all" on the NHS. With much of the medical profession now opposed to the plans and Downing Street increasingly concerned, Miliband says an effective cross-party campaign in parliament, backed by patients, could deliver Lansley's plans the last rites. "It is not too late to stop this bill," Miliband says in an article for the Observer. "We have three months to prevent great harm being done to the NHS. Now is the time for people of all parties and of none, the professions, the patients and now peers in the House of Lords to work together to try to stop this bill." The worst option, he argues, would be to press on with a bill just so that the government can save face. Ominously for the government, Labour, Liberal Democrat and crossbench peers are discussing joint strategies to torpedo further elements of the bill when it begins its report stage in the Lords on Wednesday. The latest action to amend the bill – which would devolve power over commissioning to GPs and open the service up to more competition – comes despite the government offering a string of concessions when it put down 136 amendments in addition to the 1,800 already tabled. One peer involved in cross-party discussions said the aim was to continue amending the bill until ministers had to concede there was no further point in pressing ahead. Labour and some Lib Dem peers, including Shirley Williams, are now training their sights on the part of the bill that would open the NHS to a greater role for the private sector. "This is the core of the bill," said one peer. "This is what really matters." Labour and the Lib Dems, with some crossbench support, are tabling further changes which they say will limit the extent to which the private sector can compete to provide services across the NHS. Peers predict the government could suffer a series of defeats between now and March. Privately, many Tory MPs question whether it is wise to press ahead with a bill not backed by most of the medical profession. Last week, physiotherapist leaders joined the Royal College of GPs in calling for the health bill in England to be scrapped, becoming the latest medical group to set its face against the plans. Changes agreed by ministers last week, intended to win peers round, include making it clear the health secretary would retain ultimate control over the NHS, and strengthening the requirement of the regulator, Monitor, to ensure different providers competing for patients also work together. But there are signs that peers are going for more concessions. The Observer understands that some prominent Tory peers may soon break cover to voice concerns about key elements of the bill relating to its provisions on competition. Miliband is keen to stress his party is not against all reform. "The NHS needs reform, but not David Cameron's. A sign of a reform being on the right track is whether it slowly builds support, as the Labour government did with the tough action we took to get waiting times down, including using the private sector where appropriate." Defending the reforms, Lansley said: "The NHS faces unprecedented challenges from our ageing population and new, more expensive treatments. "Our plans to improve the NHS are essential if it is to be sustainable for the future. Doctors and nurses support the core principles – giving more power to clinicians to design services for patients, getting patients the information they need to make proper choices and promoting democratic accountability, with councils leading health improvement. Any reform of something as important as the NHS will cause controversy. "Trade unions like the BMA opposed the very creation of the NHS. Labour used to support reform but now they are jumping on the bandwagon of opposition in order to please their trade union masters. My father worked for the NHS on the first day it came into existence, I want the NHS to still be here to support my children in the future. I care passionately about maintaining an NHS that is free for all which is why I am pursuing a programme of reform to make it sustainable for future generations," he said.
Nevada caucuses: Mitt Romney cruises to easy victory
Newt Gingrich to meet backers while other Republican nomination candidates turn attention to remaining states Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney has coasted to victory in the latest of the party presidential contests, the Nevada primary, and increased the gap to his rivals. CNN and other television networks projected that Romney had won the state after the caucuses closed. Nevada brings his tally to three, on top of New Hampshire and Florida. Rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have one each: South Carolina and Iowa. Romney, in a victory speech in Las Vegas, recalled that he had won the state in his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2008. "This is not the first time you have given me your vote of confidence and this time I am going to take it all the way to the White House," he said. Looking ahead to the White House election in which Nevada will be a swing state, Romney devoted part of his speech to the state's economic troubles. "Mr President, America has had enough of your kind of help," Romney said.
He made no mention of Gingrich or his other rivals and concentrated instead on Obama. Romney's vote was magnified by the large Mormon population in Nevada who turned out in large numbers to support their co-religionist. A survey of caucus-goers showed about 25% were Mormons. Romney's support was magnified by the large Mormon population in Nevada who turned out in large numbers to support their co-religionist. A survey of caucus-goers showed about 25% were Mormons. One of his rivals, Ron Paul, speaking as the results were coming in, acknowledged the impact. "Everybody recognises the Mormon vote is significant," he said. Romney was helped too, as was Paul, by having had full-time staff and volunteers working in the state for months, important in caucuses. Gingrich and Santorum only began organising over the last few weeks. The candidates are fighting for the Republican nomination to take on Barack Obama for the White House in November. The winner needs to secure 1,144 delegates to the Republican convention in August. Nevada has 28 delegates, distributed among the candidates based on share of the vote. Although Romney takes the biggest share, Paul and Gingrich will receive a significant portion. Ominously for Obama, for whom Nevada is a swing state in November, four out of 10 of those surveyed going into the caucuses said their priority was to force him from office. They also cited the economy as their number one issue. Nevada is one of the states worst-hit by recession, with high unemployment and collapse in the housing market. Romney's main rival, Gingrich, held a meeting on Friday with about 60 financial backers in Las Vegas to discuss a long-term strategy, working out the feasiblity of taking a large bloc of delegates to take to the Republican convention in Tampa, Florida. One of the key questions is whether the Las Vegas billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, who has helped bankroll the Gingrich campaign so far and who attended the strategy meeting, is prepared to keep funding him month after month. Although Romney has established himself as favourite, there is still a route available to Gingrich if he can take big states such as Ohio, Georgia and Texas in March and April and sweep up the remaining southern states. Paul and Santorum did not stay in Nevada to watch the results come in. Paul spent the day campaigning in Minnesota while Santorum did the same in Colorado, both of which vote on Tuesday.The Maine caucuses began on Saturday and are due to be completed next Saturday. Romney also spent the day campaigning in Colorado before returning to Nevada for his election night speech. He is planning to take Sunday off, a sign of confidence about the upcoming contests, and also recognition of the futility of trying to compete with the Super Bowl. Although Santorum came in fourth, he indicated he is not planning to quit soon, claiming he is hopeful of a decent result in Colorado and Minnesota. Before Nevada, Romney had 87 delegates; followed by Gingrich on 26; Santorum on 14; and Paul with four. The Nevada caucuses were open only to the state's 470,000 registered Republicans. They were marred by rows over voting, with some being turned away because of misinformation about ballot locations and others confused by the process. Romney won the state in the 2008 Republican race, taking 51.1% to Paul's 13.75% and John McCain's 12.7%.
Anti-Putin protesters march through Moscow
Up to 120,000 Russian anti-government protesters demand political reform as Putin supporters stage counter-rally Tens of thousands of demonstrators have braved temperatures of -18C in Moscow to march through the city shouting "Russia without Putin" and calling for a rerun of disputed elections. In the latest of a series of mass gatherings since allegations of widespread government vote-rigging at the parliamentary poll on 4 December, the protesters walked an agreed route from Oktyabrskaya metro station to Bolotnaya Square, near the Kremlin. Much of the protesters' anger is focused on the prime minister and defacto leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who earlier likened their white ribbons – worn as a symbol of solidarity – to condoms. "Under Putin, so many thieves have come to power," said Ivan Frolov, 28, an engineer. "The authorities are totally closed, they don't talk to the people. We want to choose leaders who listen to us. And we don't want to worship a single person." Analysts say nascent discontent – especially among the urban middle class – grew in September when President Dmitry Medvdev, who is perceived as being a more liberal figure, announced he would not run for a second term, leaving Putin free this spring to return to the presidency, which he held from 2000 to 2008. Protest organisers claimed up to 120,000 people attended the march while police put the figure at 35,000. There was an irreverent atmosphere: some came dressed as clowns, or knights on cardboard horses, while others banged drums. Groups of communists waved Soviet flags, and several hundred nationalists marched in in a phalanx crying in unison: "Russia for ethnic Russians!" However, the majority of demonstrators showed no party or group allegiance, and many had fashioned their own placards. Natasha Orekhova, 26, a public relations specialist with a real estate firm, stood next to a friend who carried a fork with a pretend snake spiked on its tines, a reference to Putin calling the protesters Bandar-logs, the monkeys hypnotised by a python in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. "Suddenly there is a feeling of unity in our discontent," said Orekhova. "The people coming to protests are beautiful, clever, educated. It's very pleasant." Many spoke of the ruling elite treating ordinary people with contempt. Galina, a linguist in her 50s who declined to give her surname, said: "We want our dignity back. The authorities despise us. Recently, I was travelling to visit my sick mother in hospital and they closed the road for an hour because Putin's cortege was taking him somewhere to drink tea with someone. I sat in my car crying tears of rage and frustration." Several opposition leaders spoke from a stage. Sergei Udaltsov, a radical leftwing activist, drew cheers when he tore up a portrait of Putin. The protesters are demanding a rerun of the parliamentary elections, the resignation of the head of the central election commission, reform of the political system and the release of political prisoners. So far, the only sop offered by the Kremlin is a simplified process for registering political parties and the return of direct elections of regional governors, but it remains unclear when these changes will come into effect. Attention now turns to the presidential election on 4 March. Putin is the clear frontrunner in that race and a rally of his supporters in a park on the edge of Moscow on Saturday also drew large crowds. However, he admitted this week that he may not get the 50% required to win in the first round of the vote, which would erode his authority. Police deployed about 9,000 officers for the protests. No serious incidents were reported.
North-south divide grows as jobs are lost at four times the rate elsewhere
Unemployment figures give new impetus to calls for an elected assembly for the north of England Jobs in the north of England are being lost at four times the rate in the rest of the country, deepening the economic divide and prompting new calls for devolution of powers to an elected assembly for the north. About 98,000 jobs were lost in the north-east, north-west, Yorkshire and Humberside in 2011, according to an analysis by the centre-left thinktank IPPR North. This was an 18% increase on the previous year, dwarfing the 4.5% rise in the rest of England. In the most extreme case, in the north-east, 12% of the working-age population are unemployed compared with 6.5% in the south-west, 6.4% in the south-east and 9.9% in London. The figures will bolster the growing movement calling for a "voice for the north" through an elected assembly. In the Observer, a letter from six Labour MPs from across the north, supported by parliamentary colleagues from other regions, says that the debate over Scotland's potential move to further devolution or independence should not "ignore the growing political marginalisation of the north of England, with a cabinet dominated by southern politicians who seem to know little, and care even less, of the economic and social problems of the north". It demands that the north is given a "stronger say in its own destiny" and calls for a debate on the benefits of directly elected regional government. The MPs, who are patrons of a new thinktank, the Hannah Mitchell Foundation, established to campaign for an elected assembly, said: "We need to move on from the pessimism that descended on politicians after the defeat of the referendum for north-east devolution in 2004, and recognise that the UK has changed." Barry Sheerman, the MP for Huddersfield and a signatory of the letter, said the movement aspired to create an assembly, but in the short term he believed that each region should have a commission made up of business and academic leaders to protect its particular interests. "I am very passionate about this. The north has a much larger population than Scotland, and look at London, which has an assembly and a powerful mayor to protect its interests. With the scrapping of the regional development agencies, we don't have a body to deal with strategic problems and issues for the north. "As I keep telling the prime minister and chancellor, the northern regions have been in recession for years." Linda Riordan, MP for Halifax, said: "The disparities between the north and south are widening and demand action and it is extraordinary that the government is getting rid of the regional development agencies that provided us with some support." The government is funding 164 projects through a regional growth fund, "creating and safeguarding" more than 330,000 jobs, supported by more than £6bn of private investment. In November, the chancellor announced an additional £1bn for the fund, bringing the total to £2.4bn.
Big chill set to last several days as Britain is reduced to a go-slow
Heathrow flights grounded and motorists warned of dangerous driving conditions as Met Office issues severe weather warning Around 400 flights from Heathrow will be cancelled due to snow and freezing fog, while motorists were warned they faced a "dangerous cocktail of driving conditions" as the big chill took hold of the country. Forecasters added that they expected the freezing weather to last for several days. Parts of the UK were placed on amber alert until 9am on Sunday, the Met Office's second-highest severe weather warning, and most parts of the country will wake up to a blanket of snow, with up to 15cm forecast in some places, as southern Scotland and parts of Wales were badly hit before the snow moved across south-east England. Heathrow's chief operating officer, Normand Boivin, said the decision to introduce a revised flight schedule before snow had actually fallen had been taken in an effort to minimise disruption. British Airways said it would allow passengers booked on Sunday flights to rebook for journeys between Monday and Thursday. Southern Railways also reported it was reducing services on some of its routes on Sunday. The cold snap has already seen daytime temperatures fall four or five degrees lower than average for February. A temperature of -10.6C was recorded in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, at 2am on Saturday, and of -10.3C in Benson, Oxfordshire, making it the coldest night of the year so far. "We have got a band of rain, sleet and snow pushing in from western parts," said Met Office forecaster Michael Lawrence. "This is running over colder air and that's going to give some fairly significant snowfall, mainly in eastern and central parts of Britain and – to some extent – large parts of the UK." While the worst snowfall will be restricted to Cumbria, Lincolnshire, East Anglia and the Midlands, many other regions will still get significant falls of between 5cm and 10cm. Wales and the south-west, along with parts of western Scotland, will mostly see rain, however, as will Northern Ireland. The freeze, which is likely to continue this week, is also expected to cause treacherous conditions on the roads. "It looks like we're going to get a dangerous cocktail of driving conditions this weekend, with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures making the roads extremely treacherous," said Kevin Andrews of the RAC. The motoring organisation said it was attending 70% more breakdowns than normal. The AA added it had been called out to deal with more than 4,300 vehicles on Saturdaymorning and the figure was expected to reach 16,000 by the end of the day, almost double the 8,500 callout for a typical Saturday. Motorists were also advised to take shovels, warm clothes and fully charged phones on their journeys. However, the Local Government Association pledged that an army of council staff and volunteers would be ready to brave the conditions to make sure vulnerable people were cared for. It said: "Thousands of new grit bins have been placed in estates and side streets, residents have been given their own bags of salt along with salt spreaders in some neighbourhoods, and arrangements have been made with parish councils, community groups, snow wardens and farmers to grit hard to reach areas. Information about school closures and bin collections is also being updated regularly online." British Gas added that its fleet of all-weather 4x4s was on standby to get engineers out to customers. The company said it had received more than 200,000 calls in the last five days, compared with 120,000 to 140,000 during a normal winter week, and was expecting a further 50,000 this weekend, compared with 20,000 normally in the winter. The Department for Transport has said it is better prepared than ever for severe winter weather. Salt stocks across Britain stand at more than 2.4m tonnes – a million more than last year. However, the charity Age UK warned that it was a dangerous time for older people. Besides the risk of flu, low temperatures raise blood pressure, putting people at greater risk of heart attacks and strokes. Among yesterday's sporting fixtures that were postponed because of the weather were Portsmouth's game against Hull and Doncaster's match against Reading. In League One, Bournemouth against Exeter, Sheffield United's clash at Colchester, Oldham versus Leyton Orient and Charlton against Rochdale were also postponed as were Preston's game against Brentford, Stevenage's trip to Notts County, and the Bury versus Hartlepool match. Walsall's trip to Scunthorpe also fell foul of the weather. In Scotland, Falkirk's Scottish Cup match at Ayr was called off while, of the country's league programme, only the Third Division games at East Stirling, Montrose and Queens Park went ahead.
Lord Ashcroft's Caribbean bank asked to hand over documents
Court gives insolvency practitioner tracing assets of collapsed company power to demand information from Tory peer's bank The Caribbean bank of Tory peer Lord Ashcroft faces demands to hand over documents relating to the collapse of a company whose subsidiary is accused of benefiting from a culture of corruption. An insolvency practitioner appointed by the British Virgin Islands courts to trace the assets of Oxford Ventures Limited has been granted powers to request information from the British Caribbean Bank (BCB), an Ashcroft business based in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Oxford Ventures, which collapsed in 2010, is the ultimate parent company of Johnston International, a construction and engineering firm that went bust in the same year with debts of $30m and is now under scrutiny in the TCI and the UK. Oxford's main creditor was BCB. Last week, in a libel action brought by Ashcroft against the Independent, the paper's lawyers claimed the Tory peer was linked to Johnston which, they alleged, had benefited from a property boom in the TCI "knowing this boom was being created through systematic corruption". Ashcroft insists he has had no "economic beneficial or legal interest" in Johnston since he sold it in 1999. Documents obtained by the BBC's Panorama programme, however, suggest its chief executive, Allan Forrest, who was also a director of Oxford Ventures, reported to Ashcroft and also believed the peer owned Oxford. Chris Johnson of CJA Associates, the insolvency practitioner charged with unpicking Oxford's collapse, was last week given new powers by the TCI courts to request documents from Ashcroft's bank. BCB has previously declined to provide Johnson with requested documents. On Friday the bank confirmed it would hand over Oxford's bank statements. "We have now obtained a court order in the Turks which empowers us to receive such documents," said Johnson. The Lib Dem peer, Lord Oakeshott, said he would be tabling parliamentary questions to establish what British officials in the TCI knew about Johnston.
Gun experts raise doubts over Jeremy Bamber murder verdict
New review of ballistics evidence 'shakes safety of convictions' in 1986 Essex killings Some of the world's most eminent ballistics experts have uncovered "the first evidence directly pointing to the innocence of Jeremy Bamber", convicted of a notorious multiple murder 27 years ago. Bamber was found guilty in October 1986 of shooting his adoptive parents, June and Nevill, his sister Sheila Caffell and her six-year-old twins, Daniel and Nicholas, at their Essex farmhouse. He has consistently maintained his innocence, although his last attempt to win freedom was rejected by the Criminal Cases Review Commission 12 months ago. However, a new legal team has submitted evidence to the commission, the authority that investigates miscarriages of justice, claiming to have unearthed evidence that "shakes the safety of Bamber's convictions to their core". Detailed reports, compiled by British and US medical and ballistics analysts, corroborate the initial police view that Bamber's schizophrenic sister Sheila Caffell committed the White House Farm murders in 1985. During the immediate aftermath of the killings on 7 August, detectives and the pathologist thought Caffell, 28, had murdered her parents and sons before turning the gun on herself. Yet the theory was cast into doubt when three days after the shootings a cousin of Bamber found a silencer in a cupboard at the farm, apparently with Caffell's blood on it. Central to the prosecution case in the Chelmsford crown court trial was evidence that Caffell's blood was on the silencer; if so, she could not have shot herself then placed it in a cupboard downstairs. Jurors heard how the silencer was responsible for scratch marks on a kitchen shelf, allegedly made in a struggle between Bamber and his 61-year-old adoptive father. The trial was unusual in that the jury were told the killings could have been carried out only by Caffell or Bamber. The issue of the silencer was vital in persuading the jury, with the judge instructing them the silencer "could, on its own, lead them to believe that Bamber was guilty". Now the conclusions of a peer-reviewed pathology assessment of the evidence relating to Caffell's death, obtained by the Observer, appear to demolish the case against Bamber. They suggest that a silencer – so pivotal to Bamber's conviction – was never used. One report by David Fowler, chief medical examiner of the US state of Maryland, who has reviewed the files of more than 3,000 shooting homicides, states: "In my professional opinion, the [burn marks] complex just described of the lower entrance and two abrasions is consistent with the rifle not having a silencer." Fowler believes no silencer was involved. His conclusion is supported by Ljubisa Dragovic, chief medical examiner of Oakland county in Michigan, and Marcella Fierro, former chief medical examiner of Virginia. Leeds-based Simon McKay, Bamber's new solicitor advocate, said: "The evidence of three senior and respected pathologists that the wounds to Sheila Caffell are consistent with the rifle having been fired without the silencer fitted shakes the safety of Jeremy Bamber's convictions to their core." McKay added: "The fresh expert evidence aligns itself with what police officers found at the scene on the morning of the killings and the combined views of those who assessed the position then: namely, and tragically, [that] Sheila Caffell murdered her family, then took her own life." Evidence that the fatal wounds had been fired by a rifle without a silencer are corroborated by further fresh analysis of burn marks on Nevill Bamber's back. The findings are supported by firearms experts working for Dr John Manlove, an Oxfordshire-based forensic scientist. Manlove states: "From its size and shape, this mark could possibly have been caused by the hot muzzle of a firearm, without a sound moderator." He says that further testing is required with the murder weapon, an Anschütz 525 rifle, to underpin his initial assessment. Manlove's conclusions are corroborated by gunfire tests conducted last month in Arizona. A report by Daniel Caruso, chief of burn services at the Arizona Burn Centre and executive chair of the department of surgery at the University of Arizona, states: "In my professional opinion, the three wounds sustained by Ralph [Nevill] Bamber are consistent in size, shape and diameter with a threaded end of a model 525 Anschütz rifle barrel heated sufficiently to cause injury." McKay is adamant that the CCRC has no option but to refer the case. During the trial, the jury struggled to reach a verdict, requesting to see the evidence relating to the blood on the silencer, before returning with a 10-2 majority. McKay added: "A picture is emerging that exculpates Jeremy Bamber and implicates his sister." Until the finding of the silencer, he says, there was no reason to doubt the initial view of detectives that Caffell committed the murder then killed herself. The pathologist, Dr Peter Vanezis, added: "My examination did not reveal anything to contradict the suicide theory." Although the burn marks were raised at the trial, McKay said they were dismissed as a "mystery". A senior forensics expert in 1985 raised the possibility that the rifle muzzle may have been responsible but no evidence exists that he pursued this line of inquiry. Bamber's lawyers have recently obtained a copy of a note from the Home Office database endorsing that tests were needed to ascertain how hot the silencer became after firing, but again no proof is available that this was pursued.
Chris Huhne's successor faces clash as Tories attack wind farms spending
Demand for £400m subsidies to be slashed threatens claim to be the 'greenest government ever' The challenge facing the new Liberal Democrat energy secretary, Ed Davey, has been laid bare by the revelation that 101 Tory MPs are demanding drastic cuts to the £400m-a-year government subsidies for wind farms. The demands from Conservative MPs, made in a letter to David Cameron, came as a former Liberal Democrat leader, Menzies Campbell, warned that there would be serious trouble from his party's activists if there was any rowing back from the coalition's commitment to run the "greenest government ever". Policy on wind farms threatens to become a major fault line between the Tories, many of whom say they are expensive and inefficient, and the Lib Dems, who see the building of 4,500 more turbines as an essential part of the drive to cut carbon emissions. In the letter, the Tory MPs tell the prime minister they are becoming "more and more concerned" about the commitment to "support for onshore wind energy production". The letter is evidence of growing pressure from Conservatives to resist Liberal Democrat pressure to promote green policies which many Tories believe have no proved economic or environmental benefit. The warning came as Campbell said the Lib Dem grassroots would tolerate no rowing back from the green agenda that is central to their purpose in government following the resignation of Chris Huhne. Huhne, one of the Lib Dems' toughest operators, resigned as energy secretary to mount a "robust defence" of claims that he persuaded his ex-wife, Vicky Pryce, to take his penalty points for a speeding offence in 2003. The MP for Eastleigh, Hampshire, and his ex-wife, who faces a related charge, will appear before Westminster magistrates on 16 February. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Campbell told the Observer that the Lib Dems' credibility rested on the new energy secretary taking as tough a line on green issues as Huhne and not giving in to the demands of the Tory right. "Liberal Democrat voters, and in particular Lib Dem activists, will not be content if there is any rowing back on the green agenda," he said. "Commitment to the environment has an iconic place in the Lib Dem approach and if we were seen to water that down, publicly and privately, things could get very tough." Environmentalists expressed dismay at the loss of Huhne from the heart of government. Greenpeace said he had been "a vocal advocate for the green agenda in a government whose green credentials are looking more than a little tarnished". Huhne was furious when the chancellor, George Osborne, suggested in his autumn statement last November that the government could not put green policies before the need to create jobs. "We are not going to save the planet by shutting down our steel mills, aluminium smelters and paper manufacturers," the chancellor said. "All we will be doing is exporting valuable jobs out of Britain." Davey, 46, the former consumer affairs minister, , who has had a relatively low-profile career in the party until now, will join Nick Clegg at an event which officials insist will demonstrate the party's determination to keep green policies at the top of the government's agenda. Clegg is due to give a major speech on the environment within weeks, before Osborne's budget next month. Lib Dem sources said Davey, Clegg and others would be working on ideas on how to raise money to pay for more tax cuts for low earners through pollution taxes, most probably on aviation. On his promotion to the Cabinet, Davey said he was "particularly conscious of the impact on consumers' households across the country of high energy bills". He made clear he would continue with Huhne's plans to increase the number of wind farms and "a green economy where there's lots of green jobs to help growth in our economy". He added: "I am determined to work to follow on Chris's priorities, the Liberal Democrats' priorities, the coalition government's priorities and make them my priorities."
Egyptian football protests: death toll reaches 11
Ten protesters and one security officer killed in Cairo and Suez in aftermath of deadly football violence At least 11 people have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces amid ongoing fallout from the 74 deaths at a football match in Port Said earlier this week. Five people were killed when hundreds of demonstrators in Cairo clashed with police near the interior ministry on Saturday morning. The protesters are demanding an end to military rule and retribution for those killed in the riots after Wednesday's match. Abdolheliem Mahmoud, a doctor at a field hospital in Tahrir Square, said Saturday's victims died birdshot to the head or chest during overnight clashes. Another protester was in critical condition. Demonstrators claimed that police fired rounds of teargas into the crowds and field hospitals were set up in streets near the interior ministry to help hundreds of cases of suffocation. Some protesters chanted for the execution of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling military council, who has been accused of mismanaging the country's transition to democracy. A security official confirmed that an officer died on Friday after an armoured police vehicle ran him over during the protests outside the ministry. Also on Friday, security forces in the port city of Suez opened fire on a crowd of several thousand outside the police headquarters, killing five people, a police official said. Egypt's state news agency, Mena, reported that the victims were aged between 18 and 21. About 2,500 people have been injured in clashes between protesters and security forces in the three days since the football deaths, the health ministry said. The opposition April 6 movement said it was trying to broker a peace deal between security officers and protesters. It called for the Cabinet to resign and denounced the police for failing to protect people after the football match. "At the least, this shortcoming [in security] can be described as amounting to complicity," the group said. There have been accusations that plainclothes officers took part in the riot. Some have alleged that riot police intentionally allowed the violence in Port Said to happen to retaliate against fans of the visiting team Al Ahly, known as ultras, who played a key role in clashes with security forces during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
Andaman Islands abuse: new videos reveal Indian police role
Jarawa girls told to dance semi-naked for the camera as two videos offer fresh proof of official involvement in 'human safaris' Two videos obtained by the Observer offer fresh proof of official involvement in "human safaris" to see the protected Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands. A three minutes and 19 seconds clip, shot on a mobile phone, shows half-naked girls from the tribe dancing for a seated Indian police officer. A second, shorter clip again focuses on a girl's nudity, while men in military uniform mill around. The new evidence comes as authorities in Orissa state set an example to their counterparts in the Andamans by moving swiftly to end human safaris to see the Bonda tribe, another abuse revealed by an Observer investigation. The Indian government had ordered both sets of officials to take swift action to investigate and prevent abuse. In an interview last week, tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said exploitation by outsiders had to be stopped. A preliminary report quickly commissioned by the Orissa government concluded that the Bonda needed greater protection. Officials suggested that tourists would in future be banned from photographing the tribe and all cameras would have to be deposited with officials before they could enter the area. Two tour operators have already been charged with selling tribal tours "in an obscene manner". Police in the Andamans have repeatedly denied any involvement in human safaris after an Observer investigation last month found evidence that officers had accepted bribes to allow tourists to meet and film the Jarawa. A video of young Jarawa women being ordered to dance in return for food caused outrage in India and around the world. But the new videos raise fresh questions about the complicity of officers who are supposed to be protecting the tribe. An off-camera voice at the start of the longer clip is heard to tell the girls: "Dance". Initially, the camera is focused on the breasts of the oldest girl. A few second later, the man tells the girls: "Move back, move back a little, a little more". They do, until they are all in shot. The girls are young, wearing red string skirts and jewellery. "Do it," the voice tells them, and they start to dance again, swaying their hips and clapping. Halfway through, the camera pans round briefly to show a police officer sitting by the side of the road, watching. For the opening seconds, the camera focuses on the girls' baskets: inside are items including a packet of Parle-G biscuits – a popular Indian brand. The second video is less structured and shows a group of young Jarawa being filmed with military personnel. The camera points first at a bare-breasted girl. A male voice, off camera, tells her, "isko to de" ("at least give me that"), which prompts her to run to protect her basket of belongings. The clip ends with a male voice saying, "chal chal" ("get lost"). The words are spoken in Hindi. The speakers are, it appears, members of the Indian defence forces (the Andamans is unusual in that it has a force structure combining all three military services, known as the Andaman and Nicobar Command). Neither video is datestamped, but the longer one is understood to have surfaced about two months ago in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Indian government ordered a crackdown on human safaris after the Observer revealed that hundreds of tourists drove through the Jarawa jungle every day on the Andaman trunk road, taking photos of the tribe and throwing them fruit, biscuits and other snacks. The Jarawa are believed to have lived on the islands for tens of thousands of years but did not make contact with outsiders until about 14 years ago. Campaigners say police are heavily involved in abusing the trust of the Jarawa. Six years ago, a report for the Indian government's National Advisory Council, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, president of the ruling Congress party, warned about the sexual exploitation of Jarawa women and the involvement of police. Despite reports of Jarawa girls being seen entering police huts at night, and the birth of a non-Jarawa child, no action was taken. The original Observer investigation found evidence that some police officers were taking bribes to allow tourists to meet and film the Jarawa inside their jungle reserve, both of which are illegal. The Indian government has taken a hard line, ordering the governments of the Andamans and Orissa to investigate and take action to prevent future abuse. The tribal affairs minister said last week that the government would review its policy on the Jarawa within the next 12 months, and promised to consult the tribe. He said: "Their land rights have to be protected. Their sources of livelihood have to be protected. Finally, their exploitation by outsiders has to be checked." The minister has also written to the Orissa government and promised to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of culprits. Although Orissa has taken swift action, there was embarrassment for ministers last week when it was revealed that tribal people were being paraded for visitors to a state-run exhibition. Human rights activists protested that the government was "making a circus" out of the tribes. Several tribal people had been brought to the exhibition in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa, and told to sit outside models of tribal houses for visitors. In the face of protests, organisers quickly withdrew the human exhibits. Andaman police failed to respond to the new allegations, claiming to be unable to view evidence submitted by the Observer because of problems with their internet connection. Earlier the commander-in-chief of defence forces on the islands had promised to take "appropriate action" if evidence was found of the involvement of military personnel. Denis Giles, the campaigning editor of the islands' Andaman Chronicle newspaper, says the tribespeople believe the police are protecting them; the reality is that they are being used. He says police have taught the Jarawa to beg. Officers take the money they collect and give them tobacco, which they never previously used, and food. The possibility of abuse is obvious, and Giles says there have been cases where women have given birth to children fathered by outsiders. The babies are not accepted by the Jarawa and are killed, he says. Like many previously uncontacted tribes, the Jarawa are vulnerable to new diseases. They have started succumbing to measles and mumps and even malaria, to which they previously appeared to have some sort of immunity.
Falmouth Bay residents split over dredging plan for giant cruise liners
Dredging a channel in Falmouth Bay could create jobs and bring more tourists. But the dispute will test European rules to protect ecosystems Falmouth Bay is one of England's finest stretches of marine habitat, with a profusion of creeks that penetrate deep into the heart of the Cornish countryside, and oak woods covering the coastline. It is a distinctive, unspoiled landscape, protected by strict environmental legislation and enjoyed by thousands of tourists every summer. But the tranquillity of Falmouth could soon be disrupted. A controversial plan to dredge a channel through part of the bay to open up the port to giant cruise ships has caused consternation among conservationists. They say the proposal could devastate the bay, in particular its beds of maerl, a coral-like algae that provides homes for a variety of sea creatures that includes crabs and scallops. This view has been backed by the Marine Management Organisation which has so far blocked the dredging plan. The plan's supporters continue to press for action, however. They say dredging will cause little environmental damage and is crucial to a £100m port development for Falmouth that will bring hundreds of jobs to the south-west, a region badly hit by the recession. And the group has powerful backing. In November the chancellor, George Osborne, picked on the refusal to give the go-ahead to the Falmouth project as an example of the "gold-plating of EU rules on things like habitats" that was placing ridiculous costs on British business. He urged the project's approval and set up a government review of how EU directives on habitats and birds are being applied in England. Its specific remit is to reduce environmental "burdens on business". Many conservationists fear this review, to be published in March, could lead to a dangerous relaxation of rules governing EU protection of other UK habitats. The bid to dredge Falmouth Bay is, therefore, being watched closely. "If this project is allowed to go ahead, that could set an appalling precedent for all the other protected sites we have in the UK," said Tom Hardy, a marine conservation officer with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust which opposes the Falmouth dredging plan. "Britain's marine environment is woefully poorly protected as it is. This could open it up to all sorts of new developments justified on economic needs. It is very worrying." Other concerned groups include the RSPB which says that slackening the rules protecting Falmouth Bay could lead to other destructive projects being approved. These include plans to develop the Humber Estuary, build an island airport in the Thames and construct a tidal barrage power plant in the Severn. Those who back the Falmouth development plan insist the environmental issues raised by the plan have no implications for the rest of the UK. "The harbour waters in Falmouth are slowly silting up," said Captain Mark Sansom, the Falmouth Harbour Master, who has led the port development plan. "At present, the waters there are about 5m deep at low tide. We want to dredge to make a channel that is 8.5m deep. That would allow really big cruise ships to moor at our docks. Passengers could disembark easily and enjoy trips to Land's End, Padstow and the Eden Project. Cruise companies are keen to add Falmouth to their list of UK destinations. It would be good for business in Cornwall. In addition, big ships would be able to get into our repair yards. Again that would be good for the local economy." Last year, about 22,000 passengers – from small to medium-sized cruise ships that can still get into Falmouth docks – visited the town. Some took coach tours to other Cornish destinations. Others thronged to visit shops selling local art and tourist goods. "If we can get the really big cruise ships in then we will get 100,000 a year into the town," added Sansom. "Many of these visitors will be German or American tourists with a lot of money to spend." Dredging the harbour will also be accompanied by new dock construction and the building of a marina at Falmouth, according to the development plan. However, its backers insist that these other proposals depend completely on the deepening of the harbour waters. "This project could bring up to 800 extra jobs to Falmouth and also protect the 450 existing jobs here," added Sansom. The project's key drawback lies with the fact that the proposed channel cuts through some of the bay's maerl beds. "Maerl is a form of seaweed that dies, calcifies and forms layers that have nooks and hollows in which all sorts of sea creatures – including juvenile fish and shellfish – make their homes," said Hardy. "It is an extremely important habitat and an economically valuable one. These beds are nurseries for crabs and scallops, for example." The maerl beds at Falmouth were a key factor in designating the bay a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats Directive. As a result, when Falmouth Harbour Commissioners applied to dredge the channel they were turned down by the Marine Management Organisation – even though the new channel would affect only 2% of the bay's maerl beds. The decision dismayed many local businessmen. "The environmental consequences have, to date, been the only ones considered by decision makers. That upsets me," said Pete Fraser, owner of Falmouth's Harbour Lights fish and chip restaurant. "We live in extremely challenging economic times, and the proposed dredging would be a massive boost to the struggling Cornish economy." Others disagree. "The material dredged up to make the channel would be dumped in another part of Falmouth Bay, right on top of one of our best fishing grounds," said fisherman Chris Bean. "We get lots of really good quality cod, haddock, whiting and pollock there. The bay's fishing grounds would be ruined if dredging went ahead." At present, the channel plan remains on hold. However, a project by Plymouth University scientists – set to begin in April – will attempt to discover if the harbour's maerl beds could be relocated in the bay without causing major disruption to the sea creatures who make homes in them. If the plan is feasible, the MMO could very well relent and approve the project. However, if the maerl relocation plan is rated a non-starter by the scientists, then the project will remain on hold – until the habitat directives review is completed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. By slackening how the EU habitat directive is implemented, and giving business more influence over the outcome, the goverment could allow the Falmouth dredging – and many other projects – to proceed. "This could be the thin end of the wedge," added Tom Hardy. "It won't just be Falmouth dock development that gets the go-ahead but a lot of other unpleasant projects."
ANC dismisses Julius Malema's appeal against suspension from party
Radical youth leader who's called for seizing white-owned land was found guilty of indiscipline and bringing party into disrepute A maverick youth leader in South Africa is facing life in the political wilderness after a failed appeal against suspension from the governing African National Congress. Julius Malema's bid to overturn a five-year suspension was dismissed by party officials on Saturday, effectively stripping him of the presidency of the ANC's youth wing. Malema was once anointed a possible future leader by president Jacob Zuma but has since become his political nemesis. Charges that he sowed divisions and brought the ANC into disrepute were upheld by the party's disciplinary committee, which described some of Malema's appeals as "naive and absurd". Malema is the first leader to suffer such punishment since the youth league was co-founded by Nelson Mandela in 1944. The loss of political influence and access to lucrative contracts represents a bitter blow to the ANC diehard, who joined the party aged nine and has become arguably South Africa's most talked about and polarising politician. He once threw a BBC journalist out of a press conference, yelling: "Bloody agent!" Following the announcement, Malema and fellow youth leaders made an attention-grabbing visit to the home of anti-apartheid struggle veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Soweto, according to local media reports. The ex-wife of Nelson Mandela has publicly backed Malema against Zuma. Saturday's verdict will be regarded as a boost to Zuma's hopes of re-election at a party conference later this year. Malema, a radical voice for the nationalisation of mines and seizure of white-owned land, has become a rallying figure for his political enemies. The youth league president was suspended in November on charges that included comparing Zuma unfavourably to his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, for failing to promote the "African agenda". Malema was also found guilty of calling for regime change in neighbouring Botswana, a source of diplomatic embarrassment. "Discipline is one of the key pillars in the life of the ANC," Cyril Ramaphosa, a senior ANC figure and head of the appeals committee, said at the party's headquarters in Johannesburg. In a minor reprieve, Malema and other youth leaders were cleared of the charge that they knowingly barged into and disrupted a meeting of the ANC's top national officials. They were also granted leave to appeal against the length of their suspension within 14 days. Malema, who is also facing a criminal probe into his finances, had retained his position as youth league leader while the appeal was heard. He was cheered by supporters at the ANC's centenary celebrations in Bloemfontein last month, although he was denied a chance to address them. According to some reports, Malema is considering an alternative career as a cattle farmer.
Tottenham Hotspur in talks to open free school at their new stadium
Michael Gove wrote to Premier League football clubs urging them to back his plans for free schools and academies Tottenham Hotspur football club is in talks to host a free school at its stadium after Michael Gove, the education secretary, wrote to every Premier League club urging them to back his reforms. Following the letter from Gove, the club, whose manager Harry Redknapp is on trial for tax evasion, is planning to build a new stadium close to its current ground, White Hart Lane, with space set aside for "educational use". The club said it had held talks with a number of groups interested in establishing a free school at the stadium but had yet to decide who would take the space in the 56,000-capacity arena. The development, which was uncovered by the BBC'S Sunday Politics London show, adds a new twist to the controversial free schools programme. Gove wrote that he hoped football clubs might meet him to discuss sponsoring an academy or setting up a free school. He said: "It would be possible to ensure that training is incorporated effectively into the school day without disrupting pupils' academic studies." He added: "Football clubs… are pillars of their communities and invest time, money and energy into young people. The work you are doing is having a positive impact on young people's lives. Your experience and drive would be hugely beneficial to children in your local area, who would be inspired by going to a school that their local football club is involved with." Redknapp and Milan Mandaric, his former boss at Portsmouth Football Club, are accused of colluding to conceal payments of £187,000 in a Monaco bank account. Both deny the charges. A group of parents and teachers called the Academy of Entrepreneurship and Sporting Excellence (AESE) is campaigning for a free school in Tottenham and has partnered with the charity founded by Lord Harris, owner of Carpetright. The Harris Federation runs 13 academies and is expected to submit plans for the new free school to the Department for Education by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Tottenham has dropped its campaign to move into the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, and the club is committed to its original plan for a new stadium near White Hart Lane. A spokesman for the Harris Federation said: "We would certainly look to work closely with Tottenham Hotspur if the free school gets the go-ahead to open, wherever in the area it is located, just as we would wish to partner any major organisation in the areas our schools serve." Adam Davison, head of community relations at Spurs, told the Sunday Politics London show, which airs today, that the club was exploring its options. He said: "Tottenham Hotspur Football Club believes education has the potential to play an important role in the new stadium redevelopment and could bring great benefit to the wider community. "The club has been approached by groups and organisations who are interested in exploring the opportunities on the Spurs site but is not endorsing any one proposal at this time and is keen to explore all the options before committing to anyone. All options for education provision will be considered in the context of the club's vision and ethos, community benefit and financial viability."
Backlash as Iran hardliners label Oscar favourite a 'dirty picture'
As international tensions rise, critics close to the regime dismiss praise for A Separation It has picked up award after award, including a Golden Globe last month for the best foreign language film and the Golden Bear at last year's Berlin film festival. And it has delighted ordinary Iranians grateful for some glory at a time when international tensions are rising and the country's regime is ever more isolated. But not everyone in Tehran is happy that Asghar Farhadi's hugely successful work, A Separation, is now a racing certainty to win an Oscar for the best foreign film at this month's Academy Awards. The backlash was apparent on state-run television recently when Masoud Ferasati, an Iranian writer whose views are close to those of the Islamic regime, said: "The image of our society that A Separation depicts is the dirty picture westerners are wishing for." Ferasati added that political motivations were behind the many awards for Iranian films in the past two decades, and said an Oscar for A Separation should not be welcomed by Iranians. "On one hand they [the US] impose sanctions against us, and on the other they give awards to our film, to send us a positive signal. I think this [the film's success] is an illusion. This is not a good film." Ferasati's remarks have been publicly echoed by other influential supporters of the regime, which is currently enduring western sanctions as a result of its nuclear programme. Fars, a semi-official news agency, has even attacked Farhadi for shaking hands with women at award ceremonies. Senior government officials appear unable to decide whether to associate themselves with the success of Iranian cinema or clamp down on its practitioners. Despite widespread censorship and systematic harassment of independent film-makers in recent years, Iranian cinema has had numerous international hits in recent years, not least with Abbas Kiarostami, the director who won a Palme d'Or at Cannes for Taste of Cherry. A Separation, Farhadi's fifth major film, follows the story of two Iranian families – one secular and middle-class, the other religious and working-class – whose fates become intertwined. A powerful portrait of social tensions in modern Iran, the film managed to obtain government backing, although permission for its production was briefly removed when Farhadi voiced support for Jafar Panahi, the Iranian film-maker imprisoned in 2010 after allegedly plotting to undermine the regime. After its nationwide release, A Separation attracted huge audiences for an independent film and even won government-sponsored awards. In comparison to his colleagues, the criticism of Farhadi is relatively mild, partly because of the subtlety of his work. Speaking to the Observer, Parviz Jahed, an Iranian film critic and the editor of the recently released Iran edition of the Directory of World Cinema, said: "Farhadi's approach to politics is not direct but implicit and that's why A Separation, as a subtle film, with ambiguity… leaves space for various interpretations. Farhadi is a democrat in the way he treats the film's plot and characters and avoids judging anyone. That's why his critics among the regime accuse him of being passive." But no one could say film-makers in Iran have it easy. Panahi's colleague Mohammad Rasoulof was also sentenced to six years in jail. Last year Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to a year in jail and 90 lashes (later reduced) for appearing with her head uncovered in an Australian film critical of the regime, while popular actress Pegah Ahangarani has faced jail for her activism. The regime also recently closed the country's independent film institute, Iran's House of Cinema. But despite suspicion of the motives of foreign festival juries, the sheer popularity of A Separation meant the authorities had little choice but to put Farhadi's film forward for the Oscars. Last month an Iranian opposition television based in London, Manoto TV, broadcast the Golden Globes live to the many Iranians who watch it through illegal satellite dishes back home. Farhadi later said: "When I was coming up on stage, I was thinking what I should say? Should I say something about my mother, my father, my kind wife, my daughters..." wondered Farhadi on the stage. "But now, I just prefer to say something about my people. They are a truly peace-loving people."
Afghan civilian death toll reaches record high
• UN report says 3,021 civilians killed in 2011
• 8% increase on 2010 and fifth consecutive rise
• Number of suicide bombings static but toll rises 80% The civilian death toll for the war in Afghanistan reached a record high last year with 3,021 deaths, according to the United Nations. The number killed rose by 8% last year – the fifth consecutive rise – with a further 4,507 civilians wounded, the UN report said. Many were killed by roadside bombs or in suicide attacks, with Taliban-affiliated militants responsible for three-quarters of the deaths. The number of deaths caused by suicide bombings jumped to 450, an 80% increase over the previous year, even though the number of suicide attacks remained about the same. "A decade after the war began, the human cost of it is still rising," said Georgette Gagnon, director for human rights for the UN mission in Afghanistan. The single deadliest suicide attack since 2008 occurred on 6 December, when a bomber detonated his explosives-filled vest at the entrance of a mosque in Kabul, killing 56 worshippers during the Shia Muslim rituals of Ashoura. Roadside bombs remain the biggest killer of civilians. The homemade explosives – which can be triggered by a footstep or a vehicle and are often rigged with enough explosives to destroy a tank – killed 967 people in 2011, nearly a third of the total. The figures come as Nato begins to map out plans for international troops to withdraw and hand over responsibility for security to Afghan security forces. The presence of western forces has managed to reduce civilian casualties in the troubled southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. But the UN found that insurgents had focused instead on areas along the country's border with Pakistan. They were also relying more on roadside bombs and suicide attacks in places like bazaars, school grounds, footpaths and bus stations. "The tactics have changed," said Jan Kubis, the UN secretary general's special representative to Afghanistan. "The anti-government forces being squeezed in certain areas ... move to some other areas and again use these inhuman, undiscriminating weapons like human-activated explosive devices and suicide attacks." Kubis said the Taliban banned the use of land mines as "un-Islamic and anti-human" in 1998 when they ruled Afghanistan with their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. But the UN report said there was little difference between mines and the buried homemade bombs used by the Taliban. The majority of improvised devices have about 20kg (44lb) of explosives and are triggered when a person steps on, or a vehicle drives over rigged pressure plates. "These are basically land mines," Kubis said of the roadside bombs. "So why is this 'inhuman and un-Islamic' weapon being increasingly used?" The number of roadside bombs planted last year overwhelmed security forces' improved ability to detect and defuse them. An average of 23 roadside bombs a day were either detonated or discovered and defused last year, twice the daily average in 2010, the report said. Actual explosions increased by 6%. The UN attributed 77% of the deaths to insurgent attacks and 14% to actions by international and Afghan troops. The cause of the remaining 9% were classified as unknown.
London Olympics could crash the internet, Cabinet Office warns
Fears of an internet meltdown during the London Games may lead to web access being rationed for British businesses British businesses are being warned that they could lose their internet connections during the Olympics due to a surge in the number of people going online at key times. The demand could be such that internet companies might be forced to ration access, according to official advice. The warning, in the Cabinet Office's official advice, Preparing your Business for the Games, says that the country's telecoms system may be unable to cope with demand to access the internet in certain areas. Businesses are being encouraged to offer staff flexible working arrangements to try to ease the pressure. The document, shared with government departments, states: "It is possible that internet services may be slower during the Games or, in very severe cases, there may be dropouts due to an increased number of people accessing the internet." The document says that internet service providers "may introduce data caps during peak times to try to spread the loading and give a more equal service to their entire customer base", leading to concerns that major corporations or those in areas of high usage could experience problems. Experts said the warning was timely and showed that companies needed to examine whether their IT systems would be capable of allowing staff to work from home. "A lot of businesses have still not prepared for the enormous risks presented by the London Games," said Kathryn Hurt, head of projects for MWB Business Exchange, which provides office space to businesses. "There's been a lot of discussion about traffic hotspots, but very little about potential internet traffic problems. The risk is that home workers are unable to work effectively due to over-capacity." The government believes that encouraging businesses to allow staff to work from other offices or home, or at different times, is key to easing congestion in the capital this summer. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the largest sporting events in the world, with organisers claiming they are equivalent to holding the FA Cup final, Wimbledon tennis championships and London Marathon on the same day. As many as 800,000 spectators and 55,000 athletes, officials, organisers and press are expected to be travelling to and from Olympic venues every day. The Games organisers predict that on 3 August 2012, the first day of the track and field events, London's public transport will experience an extra three million trips on top of the 12 million made on an average workday. The Department for Transport (DfT)will launch Operation StepChange, a week-long pilot across Whitehall departments, in which many staff will work from home. Ministers believe the project could result in a "permanent revolution" in which home-working becomes common practice for civil servants, who are expected to use technology such as video conferencing to communicate with colleagues. However, the initiative is not without its setbacks. The DfT conducted Operation Footfall, a pilot, last August, that resulted in participating staff experiencing internet connection problems, according to those familiar with the project. "To make sure our plans are robust, we are running a test week," a DfT spokesman said. "This is about encouraging staff to reduce the impact of their travel by either walking or cycling."
Sundance film festival: how it got its edge back
Before the 2008 credit crunch, it looked as though Robert Redford's festival of independent filmmaking had lost its way amid flashy budgets and celebrity parties. But with this year's outstanding crop of hard-hitting documentaries and challenging features, it suddenly seems relevant again At this year's Sundance film festival, which played out over 10 freezing days in Utah and came to a close last Sunday, the divide between American cinema and the news stories defining the nation's mood seemed narrower than ever. From abuses of military power abroad to the financial meltdown at home, to the long, sad aftermath of hurricane Katrina, real-world concerns were being tackled in challenging and provocative ways by the films in competition. And not only by those in the documentary section, which can be relied upon to respond sharply to recent events. These stories were also being told by dramatic features. In Compliance, one of this year's most divisive films, a prank caller posing as a policeman forces underpaid employees at a fast-food restaurant to subject a female colleague to a series of degrading strip-searches. Audiences reacted strongly to its depiction of people obeying power without questioning the moral authority behind it, and the abuses carried out in the film recalled Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo. In Arbitrage, an enormously wealthy venture capitalist (Richard Gere) tries to offload the toxic assets that made his fortune before someone finds him out. And in Benh Zeitlin's mesmerising debut feature Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won the grand jury prize, members of a dirt-poor community in Louisiana return to occupy their own homes illegally in the wake of a disastrous flood. Sundance is the largest independent film festival in the US by some margin, though many would argue that it has strayed from its original purpose. It started out in Salt Lake City in 1978 and, with the help of early sponsor Robert Redford, the festival became a breeding ground for daring, innovative and socially aware independent cinema. The Sundance Institute, founded in 1981 after the festival relocated to Park City, offered creative and financial support to emerging film-makers, far from the industry centres in New York and Los Angeles. Budgets were low but the calibre of film nurtured and exhibited here, in a ski resort town 10,000 feet above sea level, grew steadily. Important careers were launched at Sundance. Steven Soderbergh debuted sex, lies, and videotape here in 1989. With help from the Sundance Institute, Quentin Tarantino premiered Reservoir Dogs at the festival three years later. As the festival continued to grow, however, it became a victim of its own success and many began to see Sundance as part of the establishment it sought to define itself against. Before the credit crunch hit in 2008, it was getting out of hand. Underperforming films were bought for vastly inflated sums by Hollywood studios, and big-name film-makers used the Sundance brand to lend a sheen of credibility to their indie-style efforts. For every breakout success such as Precious, which began its march to the Oscars here in 2009, there were overstuffed duds such as Joel Schumacher's Twelve, featuring 50 Cent and Gossip Girl star Chace Crawford. It became commonplace to see A-list film stars being lavished with freebies in "gifting suites" as they swanned from red-carpet premiere to after-show bash. "It kind of engulfed what we did," Redford admitted in 2010. "You end up with parties and celebrities and Paris Hilton and that's not us. Sundance has nothing to do with any of that." Now, in the aftermath of the financial crash, it appears that the era of easy money and lazy artistic decisions in Park City is coming to a close. Once again, Sundance seems focused on taking risks and addressing the kind of challenging, philosophical questions Hollywood movies usually avoid. In his festival preview for the New York Times, media reporter Brooks Barnes did the maths. "At least eight [films at Sundance 2012] fall squarely into the category of 'America is broken'. Four films gaze intensely at corporate greed [and] at least 14 selections look at moral decay. Many movies, about 25, look at thirtysomethings whose lives have come apart for one reason or another — divorce, drugs, depression — and who are trying to get back on track." "The prevailing questions raised by the best fiction features this year were of an existential kind," says Mark Olsen, an independent film journalist who covered Sundance for the LA Times. "They boil down to: 'Who are we? What holds us together as individuals and a community?' These are obviously not happy questions to ask of oneself. These are questions of deep crisis and confusion." "I feel like Sundance has sort of gotten back to its roots," the actor William H Macy tells me when I meet him in the basement of a Microsoft-sponsored bar in Park City. "It feels like the films here are more 'indie', more experimental. The budgets seem lower. I've been here when there were some big films, with big directors and actors, and people complained: 'Is this what Sundance is about?'" As if to atone for the years of excess, the festival recently added a new out-of-competition sidebar called Next to its programme, to serve as a launching pad for "low-to-no-budget" films. It's already yielding results. Last year's controversial entry Bellflower, a film about homemade weapons shot on a homemade camera, had an impact entirely disproportionate to its budget. These films may struggle with funding, but they have technology on their side. Digital video is making movies cheaper to produce, which means independent film-makers today are less reliant than ever on the studios for help. Technology is also speeding up the production process and features, particularly those made without studio interference, are able to respond to newsworthy topics with greater speed and freedom than ever before. The veteran director Spike Lee, who chose Sundance to premiere his new film Red Hook Summer, shot it in a mere 19 days on a range of low-cost cameras, from the Sony F3 right down to the camera on an iPad. At the post-screening Q&A, he explained his reasons for not making the film with a big Hollywood studio in terms that suggested there were more than creative differences at play. "They know nothing about black people," he said. "And they gonna give me notes about what a young black boy and girl gonna do in Red Hook [a neighbourhood of Brooklyn]? Fuck no! We had to do it ourselves!" The effect of digital technology was also felt strongly in the documentary section, where films addressed contemporary issues with fierce urgency. Veteran filmmaker Kirby Dick exposed the secret and hidden epidemic of rape in the US military in his hard-hitting film The Invisible War, while Chasing Ice constructed a vivid picture of global warming out of chilling time-lapse photographs showing the retreat of glaciers. More sensational, but no less relevant, was Lauren Greenfield's opening-night film The Queen of Versailles: it captures the rise and fall of a wealthy couple, David and Jacqueline Siegel, whose high-flying lifestyle is upended when their time-share and resort empire falls apart. (The couple reacted differently to the film: David Siegel tried to sue everyone involved including the festival over the language used to publicise the film, while his wife Jacqueline chose to attend the premiere.) According to Charlotte Cook, the UK-born director of programming for the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto, who talked to me on the last night of Sundance: "Digital is where documentaries thrive, especially when it concerns current affairs or political issues. Previously, this often meant sacrificing cinematic quality, but we are on an upturn as the technology improves and are seeing absolutely stunning and timely work getting to audiences when the issues within are still at the forefront of people's minds." Digital technology has benefited documentaries in a more roundabout way too, according to Cook, by helping them swiftly and economically to fill up holes in the news as traditional media, embattled in the digital age, are being forced to shrink. "Since traditional media outlets can no longer support long-form investigations in the way that they once could, documentaries are filling this gap. I'm not sure that in today's environment a story like Watergate would have been uncovered by a newspaper. More likely it would have come through a documentary." Olsen sees great promise in this year's showing at Sundance. "Within the US competition the documentaries came in full force, in the best way the art form can, and put forth ideas and criticisms of modern America. From Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's Detropia, an artistic and poetic look at a fallen city, to Eugene Jarecki's fierce and emotional criticism of the effect of the drug wars in The House I Live In, there were a large number of films that addressed the repercussions of the financial crisis, and current policy, in different ways." Even the most admired films at Sundance, however, aren't guaranteed an easy ride once the festival applause has died down. Finding mainstream distribution is a serious problem. When William H Macy came here in 1999 to promote Happy, Texas, in which he had a supporting role, the film was snapped up for $10m by Miramax Films. It went on to earn less than a fifth of that at the box office, making it an emblem of spendthrift Sundance ways. This year Macy, who stars alongside John Hawkes and Helen Hunt in The Surrogate, saw a very different landscape. "It's a tough time for the indie world. I don't know how these films are going to make their money. I used to do two or three indies a year, and now I hardly do any." Sundance is focused less on money in 2012 and more on art, Macy believes, but the downside is that fewer films are being made and lower returns are being taken at the box office when they are released – if indeed they make it that far. The Surrogate, in which a man severely disabled by polio seeks advice from a Catholic priest about having sex for the first time, was one of the fortunate pictures this year – Fox Searchlight picked it up for a reported $6m, attracted no doubt by its frank approach to sex and a heavy-hitter cast that is already generating buzz for next year's Oscars. However, many other prominent films, such as Lee's Red Hook Summer and the searing love-and-alcohol drama Smashed, have so far failed to find a distributor. In a year when the frontrunners at the Oscars are harking back to the distant past of silent movies and the first world war as viewed through the eyes of a lovable horse, the razor-sharp relevance of the best Sundance films is needed more than ever. But even if these films have secured distribution deals, they still won't make it to cinemas for up to a year. This makes it less certain that of-the-moment films, such as The House I Live In, will help change the national discussion as much as they will be seen, in retrospect, as a reflection of it. Sundance gave us many things in 2012, including images of famous people in winter wear kicking slush off their boots on the red carpet, but it also offered attendees the sight of characters struggling to pay the bills or questioning unjust laws. It's good to see that, three decades on, Sundance not only endures but also thrives as a place for audiences and artists willing to take risks, and that in the screening rooms of Park City there was as much interest in this year's elections as there was in next year's Oscars. The insiders' view
RACHEL GRADY, DIRECTOR
In Sundance with: Detropia (directed with Heidi Ewing).
Previous work includes: Jesus Camp (2006)
"We had some great screenings – our film was one of several in the documentary category that seemed to be questioning the American dream and what it's become, and asking how things need to change. It's part of a wider and really powerful movement here in the US focusing on inequality and all the things that have been going on forever but have become so acute now that people can't avoid talking about them. "The mood this year felt very serious, and I think you can gauge that from what won the audience award in the US documentary category, a film about rape in the military called The Invisible War. That says a lot. Sundance did a really great job of curating the section, and this wasn't the first time they nailed it. I always see them as having their finger on the pulse." JAMES MARSH, DIRECTOR
In Sundance with: Shadow Dancer.
Previous work includes: Man on Wire (2008)
"It was definitely a different Sundance this year compared to when I went there in 2008 with Man on Wire. Back then the focus seemed to be a lot more on celebrity and glamour. Now it's returned to what the festival wants to be, which is a showcase for new independent film-making. Also, it seems to me that Sundance has become a brilliant documentary festival, even though that's not what it's best known for. Over the last eight or nine years almost every successful documentary critically or commercially has been at Sundance. This year one I really liked is called The Imposter. It's a totally unbelievable story of a French conman who somehow inveigles himself into a family in Texas. It's one of those films that had to be done as a documentary because you wouldn't believe it as fiction. I also enjoyed a film by a Swedish documentarian called Searching for Sugar Man, about a Detroit singer-songwriter who made two records in the early 70s which went on, unbeknownst to him, to become huge successes in South Africa and part of the culture of the struggle against apartheid. It's a lovely film and I think it'll do very well. "It was a different experience for us this year because we had a lovely big venue for the first screening of Shadow Dancer, whereas with documentaries you tend to premiere in smaller venues. The reviews were good and word of mouth appeared to be quite good too, and ultimately the film was sold at the festival, which I guess speaks louder than words." CLARKE PETERS, ACTOR
In Sundance with: Red Hook Summer.
Previous work includes: The Wire
"It was my first time at Sundance and they were treating us like movie stars. We had famous chefs cooking us gala meals and film commissioners were coming up to me, pressing cards into my hand. My agent put me in contact with someone and next thing I knew I was being ferried from one retailer to the next and they were giving me a bunch of stuff I don't need. I enjoyed the experience, although I wish someone could have given me a car instead, or taken care of my mortgage. "Sundance is the pinnacle of film festivals in America, no doubt about that. I came to promote Spike Lee's new film. It's a nice film, an art film, and I'm glad it isn't coming out of Hollywood. Chris Rock, who did the Q&A with Spike after the film, asked: 'What would you have done different if you had gotten money from a studio? Blown up something?' I thought, oh yeah, that's exactly how they would have wanted the money to be used. "It feels like we're treading water in America with all the stuff at the moment we're rehashing. No one in Hollywood wants to take a chance, and when that happens society becomes stagnant and people become spiritually numb. Sundance is helping change that, and films like Red Hook Summer show that you can tell a story without blowing anything up: no submarines, no helicopters, no special effects, just a damn good story. You might have to see it twice though. It's a really layered piece of art, and there's no way in hell that anyone in Hollywood would have given it green light." ANTONIO CAMPOS, DIRECTOR
In Sundance with: Simon Killer.
Previous work: Afterschool (2008)
"This was my fourth time at Sundance and the energy was definitely different this year. There were a lot of really great films being shown but people weren't buying as much and you felt the hesitation in the air. Last year, when I went as a producer of Martha Marcy May Marlene, people were very optimistic and spending a lot.We were one of the fortunate ones this year: Simon Killer sold to IFC films. I knew it was going to divide people so I was expecting a strong reaction. The positive reviews were very good and the negative reviews were very angry, but that was OK. "I really enjoyed a film called The End of Love. It's basically a father making a film for his three-year-old son. The director, Mark Glover, plays a version of himself: a fuck-up of a dad who's doing his best to survive and do his best for his kid. I like the idea of a film-maker making a gift like this for his child, a document of the time that he can watch when he grows older. There was something very sad and hopeful about the film that appealed to me." SALLY EL HOSAINI, DIRECTOR
In Sundance with: My Brother the Devil.
"It was my first time at Sundance and obviously, having a film in competition, it was hectic, but amazing as well. I was nervous before the first screening of My Brother the Devil because it was our world premiere. But it was really well received and we had a great Q&A afterwards. It was exciting to finally see how audiences responded to the film. Quite a lot of normal people also attend Sundance, it isn't just an industry event, and that was great, being able to ride the shuttle around Park City with people coming up to you, saying they'd seen your film and really liked it. "Everything built from that first screening. Word spread and the screenings became more and more packed out; and getting the best cinematography award in the world cinema dramatic category was the cherry on the top! I was just overjoyed. I kept pinching myself, to make sure I wasn't dreaming!"
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