The Guardian World News

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• UN council backs air strikes on Libya
• US military spies on social media
• Bahrain arrests six opposition leaders
• No Potters Bar prosecution for Jarvis
• Cable alleges vote buying in India
• Defence jobs may be spared in cuts
• Aristide defies US and heads to Haiti
• Smiley Culture died from stab wound
• Zimbabweans bailed over treason
• New York Times announces paywall
• Blood, gore, and silly wigs
• Jessica Reed
• The Wu master
• I'm 80. How do I find a male friend?
• Knot of the Heart – review
• The second coming ... twice
• Band of the day: NewVillager
• Bangladesh's midwives call for men

UN council backs air strikes on Libya Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:58 PM PDT UN votes in favour of 'all necessary measures short of an occupation force' as Tripoli regime warns of counterattack British and French military aircraft are preparing to protect the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi after the UN security council voted in favour of a no-fly zone and air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces. With Gaddafi's troops closing in on Benghazi, the French prime minister, François Fillon, said "time is of the essence" and that France would support military action within hours of the vote. But a US official was more cautious, warning against expectations of imminent action. French planes will operate from bases on its Mediterranean coast. Several Arab countries have promised to join the operation. The US backed the resolution, a complete turnaround after weeks of resisting no-fly zone proposals, but has not yet said what role it would play in military action. The 15-member security council voted in favour of a resolution authorising all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack, in particular Benghazi. Ten members voted in favour, with five abstaining, including China, Russia and Germany. The resolution ruled out putting troops on the ground. Rebels in Benghazi celebrated in the streets after the no-fly vote was announced. Gaddafi called the vote "flagrant colonisation" and warned of dire consequences. "This is craziness, madness, arrogance," he told the Portuguese TV channel. RTP. "If the world gets crazy with us, we will get crazy too. We will respond." In a chilling message earlier, he also threatened that no mercy would be shown to residents of Benghazi who resisted him. Earlier, his regime issued a strong warning that it would target all maritime traffic in the Mediterranean if it is targeted by foreign forces. In a statement broadcast on Libyan television, the defence ministry said: "Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea to danger and civilian and military [facilities] will become targets of Libya's counterattack." Residents and a rebel spokesman reported three air strikes on the outskirts of Benghazi on Thursday, including at the airport, and another air raid further south. There was also heavy fighting in residential areas of nearby Ajdabiya, where around 30 people were killed, the TV station al-Arabiya reported. The UN resolution was co-sponsored by Britain, France and Lebanon, with the US heavily involved in the drafting. A security council source said the resolution would impose a no-fly zone over Libya but that was no longer enough. "The resolution authorises air strikes against tank columns advancing on Benghazi or engaging naval ships bombarding Benghazi," he said. Nato would have to meet before committing any forces. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who is on a visit to Tunisia, said a no-fly zone would "require certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots, including bombing targets like the Libyan defence systems". Speaking outside the UN security council in New York, Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said there was "reason to anticipate that some Arab countries will participate". The Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt, with the knowledge of the US, was already sending weapons to the rebels. Germany, which opposes a no-fly zone, remains sceptical about the value of military action. In an interview with the Guardian, its foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, said Berlin remained strongly opposed to any military intervention in Libya or the use of air strikes against Gaddafi. Westerwelle warned that the consequences of western military intervention were 'unpredictable' and could affect freedom movements in the Arab world. "Your own instinct is to say 'We have to do something'. But military intervention is to take part in a civil war that could go on for a long time. Germany has a strong friendship with our European partners, but we won't take part in any military operation and I will not send German troops to Libya," he said. Instead, Westerwelle said there were non-force options that could still be used against Libya, including 'targeted sanctions, political pressure and international isolation." "Considering alternatives to military engagement is not the same as doing nothing,' he said. He declined to say how Germany would vote ahead of this evening's vote in the UN security council.William Hague, the foreign secretary, said the resolution was necessary "to avoid greater bloodshed and to try to stop what is happening in terms of attacks on civilians". The British and EU criteria for a no-fly zone – a demonstrable need, a clear legal basis and broad regional support – had all been met, he added. "This places a responsibility on members of the United Nations and that is a responsibility to which the United Kingdom will now respond," Hague said at the Foreign Office shortly before heading for talks in Downing Street with the prime minister around 11pm last night. David Cameron and Barack Obama discussed the operation in a phone call. Ministers were holding talks late into the night in Downing Street to discuss the next steps. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, told the BBC: "Without action of this kind, Benghazi would have been a bloodbath. By the standards of the last 20 years, this is a remarkable vote. This is a tremendous morale booster for Libyans, not just in Benghazi." After weeks of stalling by the US, Washington backed the resolution after the Arab League at the weekend joined the calls for a no-fly zone. The Obama administration had been divided between Clinton, who favoured a no-fly zone, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates. Gates, although opposed to the no-fly zone, redeployed US naval vessels close to the Libyan coast and told the president that the military was capable of fighting on a third front. Three US senators, representing a cross-section of political opinion, John Kerry, John McCain and Joe Lieberman, issued a joint statement welcoming the vote: "With Gaddafi's forces moving towards Benghazi, we must immediately work with our friends in the Arab League and in Nato to enforce this resolution and turn the tide before it is too late." Libya Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East protests Middle East US foreign policy Hillary Clinton United States France Europe Military Lebanon David Cameron Nicholas Watt Ewen MacAskill Ian Black Ed Pilkington Luke Harding guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

US military spies on social media Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:19 AM PDT Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda Jeff Jarvis: Washington shows the morals of a clumsy spammer The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda. A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world. The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives. The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same. The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries". Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US." He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto. Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated Facebook messages, blogposts, tweets, retweets, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command. Centcom's contract requires for each controller the provision of one "virtual private server" located in the United States and others appearing to be outside the US to give the impression the fake personas are real people located in different parts of the world. It also calls for "traffic mixing", blending the persona controllers' internet usage with the usage of people outside Centcom in a manner that must offer "excellent cover and powerful deniability". The multiple persona contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a programme called Operation Earnest Voice (OEV), which was first developed in Iraq as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of al-Qaida supporters and others ranged against coalition forces. Since then, OEV is reported to have expanded into a $200m programme and is thought to have been used against jihadists across Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East. OEV is seen by senior US commanders as a vital counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation programme. In evidence to the US Senate's armed services committee last year, General David Petraeus, then commander of Centcom, described the operation as an effort to "counter extremist ideology and propaganda and to ensure that credible voices in the region are heard". He said the US military's objective was to be "first with the truth". This month Petraeus's successor, General James Mattis, told the same committee that OEV "supports all activities associated with degrading the enemy narrative, including web engagement and web-based product distribution capabilities". Centcom confirmed that the $2.76m contract was awarded to Ntrepid, a newly formed corporation registered in Los Angeles. It would not disclose whether the multiple persona project is already in operation or discuss any related contracts. Nobody was available for comment at Ntrepid. In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with "our coalition partners" to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain". According to a report by the inspector general of the US defence department in Iraq, OEV was managed by the multinational forces rather than Centcom. Asked whether any UK military personnel had been involved in OEV, Britain's Ministry of Defence said it could find "no evidence". The MoD refused to say whether it had been involved in the development of persona management programmes, saying: "We don't comment on cyber capability." OEV was discussed last year at a gathering of electronic warfare specialists in Washington DC, where a senior Centcom officer told delegates that its purpose was to "communicate critical messages and to counter the propaganda of our adversaries". Persona management by the US military would face legal challenges if it were turned against citizens of the US, where a number of people engaged in sock puppetry have faced prosecution. Last year a New York lawyer who impersonated a scholar was sentenced to jail after being convicted of "criminal impersonation" and identity theft. It is unclear whether a persona management programme would contravene UK law. Legal experts say it could fall foul of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, which states that "a person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice". However, this would apply only if a website or social network could be shown to have suffered "prejudice" as a result. Hacking Social networking US military US foreign policy Data and computer security CIA United States Ian Cobain guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Bahrain arrests six opposition leaders Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:17 AM PDT Clashes in Manama, and earth-moving equipment reportedly brought in to Pearl Roundabout Security forces in Bahrain arrested six key opposition members whom they accused of having contacted "foreign agents", as a crackdown on a two-month anti-government rebellion continued. Several were accused of incitement to murder. They include Hassan Musaima and Abdul Jalil al-Sangaece, who had been jailed for allegedly plotting to overthrow the monarchy but had been freed in February as part of an amnesty designed to build trust. The pair had been critical of the government since their release. Clashes continued in the capital, Manama, but not on the same scale as the pitched battles on Tuesday and Wednesday which drew strong international condemnation and set Bahrain's rulers at odds with the US, their key western backers. Friday prayers loom as a further flashpoint in the violent rebellion, which has seen the Shia majority pitch against a ruling Sunni elite. Tensions soared this week after Bahrain's beseiged rulers invited into the kingdom troops from the Gulf Co-operation Council, led by a contingent from Saudi Arabia, which had felt increasingly threatened by the Shia uprising on its northern border. The Saudi intervention marked a dramatic divergence from a month of peace overtures led by Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the kingdom's crown prince. They had done little to stop the rolling protests with main roads and government sites regularly used by demonstrators to call for political reforms and the installation of a political monarchy. The prospect of dialogue appears to have evaporated for now, with the crisis taking on a strong sectarian tone. The crown prince has not commented publicly this week and demonstrators say the death toll of at least seven people this week makes political reconciliation all but impossible. Iraqi Shias took to the streets of the shrine city of Karbala to rail against Saudi Arabia and the crackdown in Bahrain. Demonstrations were also planned in Bahrain. Meanwhile, there were reports of earth moving equipment being brought in to the Pearl Roundabout site, which had been the main base for demonstrators and as significant in Bahrain's uprising as Tahrir Square was to Egypt. Bystanders reported large diggers being used to carve away at the roundabout lawn, which is topped by a giant white sculpture that serves as one of Manama's main landmarks. Bahrain Arab and Middle East protests Middle East Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

No Potters Bar prosecution for Jarvis Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:53 PM PDT Lawyer for relatives of victims condemns 'farce' as rail regulator looks set to drop criminal case against maintenance firm Jarvis will escape prosecution for the fatal Potters Bar train crash after the rail regulator is understood to have dropped criminal proceedings against the maintenance firm. A lawyer representing families bereaved in the accident slammed the nine-year quest for justice as a "farce", particularly as the taxpayer is instead likely to underwrite a looming six-figure fine for Network Rail over its liability for the incident. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is preparing to announce that it will not seek a prosecution over the derailment of a train outside Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, on 10 May 2002 in which seven people died. Louise Christian, a solicitor who represented families at the inquest into the deaths, said: "There is a huge problem every time we have one of these health and safety disasters. There is no accountability and the prosecutions they bring are a bit of a farce." A tragic bookend to the Railtrack era that ushered in rail privatisation, the circumstances of the Potters Bar crash highlighted severe strains in the rail industry. Jarvis was contracted by Railtrack to maintain the line but attempted to blame the crash on a saboteur with "informed" engineering knowledge. The company later withdrew the claim in a humiliating apology and admitted joint liability for the crash. Six passengers on the West Anglia Great Northern train – Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu – were killed in the accident. A passerby, Agnes Quinlivan, died after she was hit by falling debris. It is understood that Jarvis's financial problems contributed to the ORR's decision, which it reached after consultation with the victims' families, who have already seen the prospects of criminal proceedings against former Jarvis or Railtrack executive disappear. Jarvis's rail division is in administration and its administrators have not participated in proceedings, adding further complications to a prosecution under the Health and Safety At Work Act that could only result in a fine against the company. Perdita Kark, whose father Austen was killed and whose mother, the novelist Nina Bawden, was seriously injured in the derailment, urged the industry to tighten safety standards after a coroner at the Potters Bar inquest warned that passengers still faced safety risks. "The gut instinct is that one wanted Jarvis in the dock along with Railtrack but in the end you just want to make sure that this sort of thing does not happen again because they have learned something from it. It is disappointing but I don't see how you can bring into court something that does not exist anymore." Last month Network Rail told Watford magistrates court that it would plead guilty to track safety failings that caused the derailment. Network Rail admitted failings over the installation, maintenance and inspection of stretcher bars, which hold rails apart at the correct width for train wheels. The owner of Britain's tracks and stations inherited the liability for Potters Bar after it replaced Railtrack months after the crash and it will be sentenced at St Albans crown court on 30 March. Sentencing guidelines state that a fatal breach of health and safety laws carries a fine of at least £100,000 but the punishment will be underwritten by the state, which put £3.7bn into Network Rail last year and is its main source of funding. After entering its guilty plea Network Rail said the rail system had improved considerably since the crash, with the last fatal accident due to infrastructure problems occurring in 2007 when a Virgin Trains Pendolino derailed at Graygrigg, claiming the life of one passenger. "The railway today is almost unrecognisable since the days of Railtrack and the Potters Bar tragedy of 2002," said Network Rail. The government has ruled out a joint public inquiry into Potters Bar and the Graygrigg crash, saying public interest would be "best served" with separate independent inquests into the disasters. The ORR declined to comment. Potters Bar train crash Transport Rail transport Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Cable alleges vote buying in India Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:10 PM PDT Diplomatic cable claims official of India's ruling Congress party told US of bribe plan India's increasingly shaky coalition government is facing a fresh crisis following the release of an American diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks which appears to reveal a government bid to buy support in parliament before a vote in 2008. Published in the Hindu newspaper, the cable claimed that an official from the ruling Congress party had told a US diplomat stationed in Delhi that a fund of between 500m and 600m rupees (between £7m and £8.2m) existed to pay parliamentarians to ensure the survival of the government. India's opposition parties demanded the resignation of the prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has been under fire in recent months following a series of corruption cases. The Indian media has closely followed investigations into the scandals, which include an alleged telecoms scam estimated to have cost the state nearly £25m. The former telecoms minister, from a coalition partner of Congress, is currently in detention. Other government figures alleged to have acted corruptly include senior sports administrators involved in last year's Delhi Commonwealth Games. The WikiLeaks report said an aide to a senior Congress politician had shown the American diplomat two chests of cash and said four lawmakers of a regional party had been paid 100m rupees each for their support. "Money was not an issue at all ... the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government," the aide was reported to have said. A second official allegedly told the diplomat that formerly a minister "could only offer small planes as bribes" but "now he can pay for votes with jets". Votes at all level of politics in India are routinely exchanged for cash or favours. Allegations that money changed hands before the vote in 2008 – which came at the height of acrimonious debates over a controversial civil nuclear deal with the US – have been made before. Narasimhan Ram, editor of the Hindu, said the newspaper had gained access to the cables after long talks with WikiLeaks, which has been releasing portions of 250,000 leaked state department cables through selected newspapers since late last year. In December, the Guardian published a series of reports based on more than 5,000 cables sent by the US embassy in Delhi to Washington. One revealed that Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi – who is widely seen as her political heir – had told the American ambassador that violent Hindu radicalism in India posed a potentially greater threat to the country than Islamist extremism. A second cable revealed a briefing by the Red Cross describing systematic torture in Indian detention centres in Kashmir. Ram said his newspaper would publish more revelations in coming days. "Can there be any doubt that there is something deeply rotten in our democracy? You are talking about a rising India ... There are a lot of good things happening but at the heart of it is something rotten," he said. Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata party, said Singh's government had lost its legitimacy. "This is a hammer blow that it cannot recover from," she said in parliament. "It has lost all moral responsibility to govern." The speaker of the house was forced to suspend proceedings for the day. A series of political protests over corruption has blocked parliamentary business in India for months. The current government, in its second term, has been unable to pass much-needed economic reforms as a result. Satish Sharma, the senior Congress politician at the centre of the new scandal, told reporters the claims were "baseless". The government narrowly won a vote of confidence in 2008 after Communists withdrew support in anger at a landmark civil nuclear co-operation deal between India and the US. The four lawmakers whom the report alleged to have been paid bribes by the Congress official eventually voted against the government. India United States WikiLeaks Jason Burke guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Defence jobs may be spared in cuts Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:00 PM PDT 'No political imperative' to lose 25,000 MoD posts and union leaders are confident cost-cutting can keep many staff in work Liam Fox, the defence secretary, has told unions that if they can find convincing ways of cutting the Ministry of Defence's budget then thousands of threatened civilian jobs might be saved. Union leaders say they were told there was no "political imperative" to lose 25,000 ministry jobs, the figure set out in last year's strategic defence and security review, and that ministers would look seriously at any fresh proposals to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies. A meeting between the two sides has been scheduled for next week to discuss ideas. Steve Jary, national secretary of the union Prospect, which represents 7,000 MoD staff, said it should be possible to save up to a third of the jobs in danger. Prospect has suspended the threat of industrial action pending further talks. "We were pleased with the meeting because the defence secretary accepted that the 25,000 figure is not sacrosanct," Jary said. "Previously we had been told there was a political imperative to cut civilian jobs, but that seems to have changed. "We have argued that the figure was arbitrary and he seemed to accept the point. Now we have to give them our proposals, but we are making good progress." Though the apparent softening of the MoD's position will encourage civil servants, it may come as a surprise to armed forces chiefs who are having to draw up their own redundancy programmes for the army, RAF and Royal Navy. The budget squeeze at the MoD has affected all three services with the strategic review demanding the loss of up to 17,000 jobs from the military within four years. The RAF has already given details of its compulsory redundancy programme, while the navy and the army will report early next month. Union leaders, though, are convinced that they have found other ways of cutting the budget. Using documents obtained from freedom of information requests, they have discovered a huge increase in the amount paid by the MoD to outside consultants for procurement advice – a job formerly done in-house. "Some of this spending is just obscene," said Jary. "The increase is one of the consequences of previous cuts in civilian staff at the department, and now these consultants are being used in an ad hoc way and it is very expensive. "The MoD is now paying a whole range of companies to provide assistance for technical support because it has lost the expertise to do this from within." He said one external computer consultant appeared to have earned £180,000 for 80 days' work. The union says this is the main area where savings could be made – the MoD is looking to save £650m from the civilian redundancy programme, and Prospect says half of that could be covered by using existing MoD staff rather than outsiders. Another saving could be found in reducing the number of highest ranking officers, who are being given civilian jobs because no other posts for them can be found. Sources close to Fox said the unions would need very credible ideas if they wanted to argue the cuts could be made in a different way. "We are having to tackle a £38bn overspend. That is the position we are in at the moment. It wasn't an ideological measure to make 25,000 people redundant, we just have to reduce costs. "That hasn't changed. He was sympathetic to their case and made it very clear that if there were other ways [of making cuts] he would look at them." An MoD spokesman added: "In the current economic climate, we have to make savings and we have to balance the MoD budget." Defence policy Liam Fox Trade unions Military Redundancy Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Aristide defies US and heads to Haiti Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:27 PM PDT Exiled former president on flight to Port-au-Prince accompanied by Hollywood actor and campaigner Danny Glover Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, is expected to end seven years of exile by touching down in Port-au-Prince on Friday, defying Barack Obama's concerns that his return could jeopardise the country's election. Aristide left his base in South Africa, accompanied by the Hollywood actor and campaigner Danny Glover, who is chairman of the TransAfrica social justice forum. Such are Obama's misgivings that he called Jacob Zuma, the South African president, to discuss the matter, according to US National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor. "The United States, along with others in the international community, has deep concerns that President Aristide's return to Haiti in the closing days of the election could be destabilising," he said. "President Obama reiterated that view in a call with President Zuma the other day ... along with his belief that the Haitian people deserve the chance to choose their government through peaceful, free and fair elections [on 20 March]." US state department spokesman Mark Toner has acknowledged Aristide's right to go back to Haiti, but said returning this week "can only be seen as a conscious choice to impact Haiti's elections". Aides say Aristide fears the election winner may reverse the long-awaited decision to allow his return – both candidates are rightwingers long opposed to him. Aristide's lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said: "He is genuinely concerned that a change in the Haitian government may result in his remaining in South Africa." Kurzban claimed that even at the 11th hour the US was exerting pressure on South Africa to delay Aristide's flight, which took off on Thursday night from Johannesburg's Lanseria airport. The former priest and liberation theologist's diplomatic passport was delivered last month, and the South African cabinet minister Collins Chabane said the government could not be held responsible for whether he stays or goes. "What I should stress is that we are not sending former president Aristide to Haiti," Chabane said. "He was given the passport by the government of Haiti and we can't hold him hostage if he wants to go." Glover arrived in South Africa on Thursday to escort the ousted leader home. He asked why the former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier could return to Haiti unhindered – as he did in January following 25 years in exile – and yet not the twice democratically elected Aristide. "People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator is able to return unhindered [and] a democratic leader who peacefully handed over power to another elected president is restricted from returning to his country by external forces," Glover wrote on the TransAfrica Forum website. Glover and nine others recently wrote to Zuma urging him to "assist the Aristides in making their transition as soon as possible" as "all the last remaining obstacles to the Aristides' return have been removed". Aristide, who emerged as a leading voice for Haiti's poor in a popular revolt that forced an end to the Duvalier family's 29-year dictatorship, remains hugely popular in the country. Some predict his return will brings tens of thousands of supporters to the airport. He has said he will not be involved in politics in Haiti and wants to lead his foundation's efforts to improve education in the impoverished Caribbean nation devastated by an earthquake last year. His political party has been excluded from running in the election, which many Haitians consider illegitimate. The two remaining candidates received just 10% of the first-round votes between them. This would be Aristide's second return from exile. He was ousted by a military coup in 1991 but Bill Clinton, when he was president, returned him to power in 1994 following a US intervention that forced out the military regime. Aristide fled Haiti again in February 2004, leaving before dawn on a US plane as rebels approached the capital. He accused American diplomats of having kidnapped him, charges that Washington denied. He continues to have powerful enemies in Haiti. The same forces that made him leave in 2004 will consider his return to be a threat, and foreign powers that bankrolled the elections will also see him as a destabilising influence. The first round was marred by massive fraud, with voters unable to find their names on electoral rolls and polling stations closing early – or not opening at all. Voter turnout was at a 60-year low – only 22.9% of those registered actually cast ballots. In areas most affected by the earthquake the figure was half that, and it is not yet clear the situation will be vastly improved this time. Haiti South Africa Barack Obama United States US foreign policy Human rights Isabeau Doucet David Smith guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Smiley Culture died from stab wound Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:34 PM PDT Family of rapper vows to uncover truth after star – real name David Emmanuel – dies 'making tea during police raid' David Emmanuel, the British rap star Smiley Culture, died from a single stab wound through his heart, according to a postmortem examination. The 48-year-old singer died during a Metropolitan police raid at his house. His family have been told he stabbed himself while making a cup of tea. Emmanuel's family say the postmortem has strengthened their resolve to uncover the truth behind the "most bizarre of circumstances". They say they will employ an independent pathologist to verify the cause of death. "As a family, we are in a state of deep sorrow and anger," said David Emmanuel, the musician's nephew, at a packed public meeting in Brixton, south London. "My uncle was a father, an uncle, a friend and a mentor to many and is a British icon who died under the most peculiar of circumstances. "This is not a race issue, although there are suspicions that ethnicity has some relevance in this tragic event. This is a time when the whole British public will stand up to let the police and government know that we will no longer allow any citizen to die in the most bizarre of circumstances. Instead, we will seek the truth, doggedly, until that truth has been exposed." Emmanuel was stabbed shortly before 8.30am on Tuesday, an hour and a half after four Metropolitan police officers arrived at his house in Warlingham, Surrey, with a search warrant. A relative, who asked to remain unnamed, said she saw Emmanuel shortly after 8am. He seemed calm, she said, but appeared to indicate that he was confused by the raid. She saw him "surrounded by officers" and when she waved to him, he "shrugged his shoulders, as though to tell me he didn't know what was going on". It was after this that Emmanuel was allowed to go unaccompanied into his kitchen, his family say. "Why, if Smiley was arrested, was he allowed to go near a kettle full of boiling water and drawers full of knives?" asked Lee Jasper, chair of the London race and criminal justice consortium. "It just doesn't make sense." At about 8.30am an air ambulance was called by police officers. The helicopter arrived but Emmanuel died at the scene. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is setting up a community reference group to tell local people and the family of the investigation's progress and channel questions or concerns. "This investigation is examining the basis on which Metropolitan police service officers went to Surrey to carry out the search warrant on Tuesday, how that was planned, how it was communicated with Surrey police and what happened while officers were at the address," said IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin. "It is also looking at the response of the officers present to examine what was done in terms of first aid. The independent investigation will be studying forensic evidence and all other possible lines of enquiry to try to establish a factual account of exactly what happened," he added. "Many of the questions that I know Mr Emmanuel's family and friends have are exactly what we will be examining as part of this investigation. I want to reassure people that we will thoroughly scrutinise this incident and will update all those involved as we progress. I will also make the findings of our investigation public at the earliest opportunity. Until then, I would ask that speculation is avoided." In September last year Emmanuel appeared before magistrates charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. He was due in court in the coming days. Another relative, Merlin Emmanuel, said he refused to believe the singer had taken his own life. "Smiley had a great deal to look forward to," he said. "It is true that he had an impending case but it is also true that the evidence in relation to this case was minimal and he, along with his legal team, were supremely confident of being acquitted this coming week. "The police have yet to give an official statement as to what happened," he added. "We haven't had a clear, coherent, official explanation as to what happened to Smiley. The police have a lot to answer to. Until our questions, queries and suspicions have been fully and competently answered to dispel any notion of foul play, we will not rest." Police London Rap Race issues Urban music Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Zimbabweans bailed over treason Posted: 17 Mar 2011 09:56 AM PDT Six were arrested in Harare and accused of plotting against their country by watching Egypt and Tunisia uprising videos Six Zimbabweans accused of treason for watching videos of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have been granted bail after a judge said he had seen "no iota" of evidence against them. The six were arrested in Harare on 19 February with 40 other activists, students and trade unionists who were later freed due to the weak case against them. They were all attending a discussion led by the former opposition lawmaker Munyaradzi Gwisai about the north African revolutions and what they might mean for Zimbabwe. Prosecutors claimed that the group was plotting to overthrow Robert Mugabe. But on Wednesday high court judge Samuel Kudya described the evidence against the six, including Gwisai, as unsubstantiated. "I see no iota of evidence that any Zimbabwean ever contemplated any Tunisian or Egyptian revolution," he said. The six were granted bail of Z$2,000 after Kudya rejected the prosecution's argument that they would abscond. But he ordered the accused to report to the police three times a week. No trial date has been set. At an earlier court ruling, the accused had complained of being beaten by the police with sticks and iron bars. Defence lawyers argued that their clients were merely debating African politics and democracy at the time of the arrest. The tumult in the Arab states of north Africa has shown little sign of spreading south of the Sahara, though it has clearly put some of the continent's longest-serving leaders on edge. In Cameroon, where Paul Biya has been president for 28 years, the government banned a Twitter text messaging service last week. During the Ugandan elections last month, which saw Yoweri Museveni extended his 25-year presidency, authorities ordered mobile phone companies to block messages referring to the Egyptian or Tunisian uprisings. In the case of Mugabe, 87, who has ruled Zimbabwe for 31 years – longer than the deposed leaders in Egypt or Tunisia – the heavier-handed response was little surprise. Over the past decade he has used the police to violently suppress any opposition. A brutal campaign of torture and intimidation by the security forces helped him cling on to power in 2008 after he lost the first round of the presidential election. His challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, reluctantly agreed to enter a power-sharing government in order to help end a socio-economic crisis. But the coalition remains fragile, with Mugabe appearing determined to force Tsvangirai's MDC party into quitting, which would force early elections. Last week police arrested energy minister Elton Mangoma, a co-founder of the MDC, for alleged corruption. Mangoma was freed on bail on Tuesday, with the judge saying there was no evidence he had personally gained from a deal to import petrol from South Africa. Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe Protest Tunisia Egypt Middle East Xan Rice guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

New York Times announces paywall Posted: 17 Mar 2011 09:13 AM PDT Users in Canada have to pay monthly subscriptions from Thursday ahead of global roll-out at end of March • Poll: will you become a subscriber? The New York Times started charging for access to its website in Canada on Thursday ahead of a global roll-out on 28 March, with monthly subscriptions charged at between $15 (£9.3) and $35. The paper has settled on allowing users access to 20 articles for free each month – including slideshows and videos – before users will be asked to become digital subscribers. The NYT, which has the most-read newspaper site in the world, is launching in Canada first to "fine tune" the customer experience ahead of the global roll-out. There will be three charging options for four weeks' access, with the cheapest at $15 for the NYT website and its smartphone app; $20 for the website and the tablet app; and $35 for all devices. An introductory offer will be unveiled on 28 March. However, the company said that the Top News section of its website will remain free on its smartphone and tablet applications. In addition users who access New York Times articles from searches, blogs and social media will be able to read those individual articles even if they have reached their monthly reading limit. Customers who subscribe for home delivery of the paper will receive free unlimited access to digital content. The NYT first floated plans to develop a metered-access payment system over a year ago but has been cautious in developing a system that will not drive away its huge amount of online readers. "Today marks a significant transition for the Times, an important day in our 159-year history of evolution and reinvention," said Arthur Sulzberger, chairman of The New York Times Company. "Our decision to begin charging for digital access will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in the journalism and digital innovation on which our readers have come to depend." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". New York Times US press and publishing Newspapers Digital media Paywalls Newspapers & magazines United States Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Blood, gore, and silly wigs Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PDT The CBBC TV version of Horrible Histories has won yet another award. Now the kids' show, which has become cult daytime viewing, is moving to a primetime slot The feedback from the BBC was unambiguous: "We really like it, but we feel the poo quotient needs to be higher." Terry Deary, creator of the wildly successful Horrible Histories children's publishing franchise, is recalling the two-year journey to bring his books to the screen. "At one time, it was going to be based on a ghost train at a deserted fairground carrying two children into the past. But the BBC, to its credit, was very adventurous and said that it wanted a comedy sketch-based format written by adult sketch-show writers." It was the right call. Since Horrible Histories first aired in 2009 on CBBC, the BBC's digital channel aimed at six- to 12-years-olds, it has been a huge hit with viewers and has won a slew of awards, including a Royal Television Society award for best children's programme earlier this week. But it isn't just children who have found themselves drawn to the show's Pythonesque sketches, which skip jauntily through the books' trademark themes such as the Rotten Romans and Groovy Greeks up to the Terrible Tudors and Vile Victorians. By the time the second series aired last summer, the programme had attracted a loyal audience of grown-ups, too; parents watching with their children at first, but soon followed by students and pensioners as it quickly developed into cult daytime viewing. Some of the most popular sketches and songs from the show have attracted more than half a million hits each on YouTube. But perhaps the show's break-out moment came in January when it won best sketch at the Comedy Awards, the first children's programme ever to do so. The crossover into a mainstream audience will be completed later this year when BBC1 airs a repackaged version of the show in primetime, fronted by Stephen Fry instead of the current host, a talking rat called Rattus Rattus. There are even ongoing discussions to create a stage show featuring all the actors, which would tour arenas in the autumn. And there are murmurs of a movie. "Children's TV is, on the whole, appalling. Just shocking," says Deary, whose books have sold 20m copies globally since the first one was published in 1993. "It's all shouty, patronising voices. But what I love about the Horrible Histories show is that it's not a literal translation of the books. I've written the odd song for the show and I make the odd cameo appearance, but I'm not a sketch writer. It's best left to the likes of the excellent Steve Punt. Incorrectly, I get lots of credit for the TV show, but it's the team behind it who are the massive talent." Once the decision was taken by the BBC to use writers and actors from adult comedy shows, production company Lion Television corralled the best talent it could find. Writers such as Punt, Jon Holmes (Dead Ringers) and Giles Pilbrow (Have I Got News For You) wrote sketches for the first series, which featured comedy actors such as Meera Syal, Jim Howick (Peep Show), Simon Farnaby (The Mighty Boosh), Mathew Baynton (Gavin and Stacey) and Ben Ward (Dead Ringers). Dominic Brigstocke, the director of Green Wing and The Armstrong & Miller Show, also played a key role from the start. But by the second series, David Baddiel, Alexei Sayle and Dave Lamb (Come Dine With Me) were also making appearances. With the editing team behind The Office, Extras, and Outnumbered overseeing post-production, the show quickly stood out by some distance from its rivals on children's TV. "The team is excellent," says Deary. "The show's actors were all targeted. They didn't rely on auditioning unknowns. Yes, there is some ad-libbing at times, but it is rare because the actors are also involved in the writing. We sit around a table for about eight weeks with the director and a historical adviser and we read the books in a circle. Then someone might say, 'That might work as a gameshow' and they go off and write the sketch." As a result, viewers have been treated to an Eminem-inspired pastiche about Charles II, a Victorian Dragons' Den, "Spartan School Musical" and a Jackson 5-style explainer on hieroglyphics. The show's unique comedy pedigree among children's programming has long been acknowledged by those in the business. Jesse Armstrong, co-writer of the Bafta-winning Peep Show and Oscar-nominated In the Loop, admits the show has been his afternoon vice ever since it first aired. "Hit shows are very difficult to achieve. You need to have everything just right – that's what's so terrifying. But Horrible Histories has a great cast and brilliant writers. They're also blessed with great source material. The tone is perfect and it is done in a non-patronising, engaging way. The key for me, though, is that the team has been given leeway to do the subjects that really interest kids – death, shit, blood and piss." Armstrong says that it ranks alongside Pingu as his favourite children's show: "You can just tell the creators of both shows have put more of themselves into them than is normal. I used to write for children's TV [Tracy Beaker]; it's certainly not easier than writing for adults. You have fewer tools at your disposal because you can't draw on sexual content or obscenities. Kids are as discerning as adults, if anything they are quicker and clearer in knowing what they like. My daughter, who says Horrible Histories is her favourite programme, gets that the tone is sophisticated and that it takes children seriously. It doesn't talk down to them. Just watch the Four Georges. It's my favourite sketch – wonderfully written and beautifully performed. The programme could go on for years because the material is limitless." The Four Georges sketch featured in the first series but is still among the most popular of the show's trademark pastiche songs. Mocking the modern-day trend of boy bands perched on high stools sitting in a line, we see the four Georgian kings singing Born to Rule Over You under moody spotlights – "You had to do what we told you to do, just because our blood was blue" – before standing up in unison on the key change. Another much-loved repeat sketch is Stupid Deaths, which sees a comical grim reaper processing recently departed historical characters at the "Death Check-In" counter and then laughing mercilessly at the farcical manner in which they died. For example, King Edmund II, who was stabbed by a Viking hiding in his pit latrine, receives little sympathy from the reaper. No one seems to question that the show is entertaining, but is it good history? Dan Snow, the TV historian, says it doesn't need to be both and we should celebrate it for what it is: "It's wonderfully exciting to watch. It has such a great sense of the past. It's fun, harmless stuff. But it isn't a serious look at the past. It's one step above Blackadder, but that's fine: the Victorians fictionalised their history. We shouldn't try to dress it up as brilliant history. For example, the Four Georges song is great, but George III was only mentally ill for a short period of his reign. It plays to stereotypes, but it's fantastic as entry-level history." While admitting he has not yet seen the programme, Tristram Hunt, the historian and Labour MP, expressed concerns in December about Horrible Histories being adapted for primetime BBC1, describing it as "cartoon content for adults". "For children, Horrible Histories is an exciting aid to engage with the guts and gore of the past, but there are more sophisticated, populist ways of getting people involved in history than this." Richard Bradley, the programme's executive producer and managing director of Lion TV, rejects this perception: "Lion has done countless history programmes, but Horrible Histories is the best history we've ever done. It looks at the role of women, social history, attitudes to authority and class. We've done the foundation of the Anglican church and the American civil war. It's incredibly dense and factual. My eight-year-old said to me after watching one sketch: 'So, that's what the Restoration was.'" Bradley says that his son must take some credit for the show ever being produced. "I had a chat with him about five years ago and he said he wanted me to make Horrible Histories for TV. But how could I get the rights? Even though the publisher Scholastic held the licence, the first thing was to get Deary on board. He had had a terrible experience with a little-known animated version of his books being produced about 10 years ago in the US. But he said there were three things that must happen if we were to do it: it must be horrible, funny and true." Bradley says it took a while to find the "spirit of Blackadder, Monty Python and Carry On", which he credits as the show's key success. In addition to the time-travelling ghost-train format ("it was too similar to Doctor Who and Mr Benn"), Lion also tried to develop a Dumbledore-like master storyteller as narrator – "a sort of wizard historian" – but it felt too generic. "The click came when I met Dominic Brigstocke in the street one day and we immediately thought of doing a high-powered sketch show," says Bradley. "We realised that when children go around stately homes all they ever want to know about is how the people went to the loo and how they died. Working with Anne Gilchrist, the then controller of CBBC, we finally struck on the live-action comedy route directed and acted by adult comedy talent." Bradley says the programme has led the trend for adult comedy writers and directors working in kids TV. For example, Graham Norton's company makes Sorry, I've Got No Head. But the most rewarding aspect of making the programme, he adds, was first showing it to children. "We took it to local schools and showed them the rough cuts. The reaction was fantastic. The recognition of the Horrible Histories brand is so strong that they even cheered the names Groovy Greeks and Rotten Romans." There were a few sketches that missed the beat, admits Bradley – a riff on the Incas, for example. "But it made us realise that it had to be written 100% for children and not have knowing references aimed only at adults. We're still learning what works best for children. At the moment, we have never gone further than the Blitz, but we are having discussions now about doing a sketch based during the fall of the Berlin Wall. "The Georgians with their big hair and makeup are very popular, but, from a pure comedy point of view, you really can't beat the Romans." Rewriting the past: What makes Horrible Histories so funny? Steve Punt At the first writers' meeting we sat round with the producer watching clips of Blackadder and Life of Brian. The point, from the outset, was to stress that this was a comedy show based on history, not a history show with a bit of humour grafted on. It's a fact of comedy writing that the tighter the brief, the better the result. Plucking comedy out of the air is what leads to cliches and well-worn themes. But knowing that you have to stick to the facts of what the Celts wore, or how the Tudors treated illness, concentrates the mind. It leads you into strange areas that you would never have thought of, and that's always creatively a good thing. One underestimated element of the show is the sheer fun of all the costumes, wigs, silly beards and hats. Wigs, in my book, are funny, and so are hats. TV budgets have shrunk since the days of Blackadder and Python. My children have lived in a world where TV comedy mostly consists of people sitting behind desks on panel shows. There is a glorious, back-to-the-70s daftness about Horrible Histories' parade of togas, wimples, ruffs and tights that makes it appealing – to a wide audience. David Baddiel People tend to go on about Horrible Histories being "not just a kid's show, but a proper comedy show" but actually I don't see the dichotomy there. It's partly to do with the fact that kids are more sophisticated, especially linguistically, then they used to be, so to do a show that is clever and funny and uses arcane references but can play to adults and children is more possible now. It's very modern in style – single camera, throwaway delivery etc - and it uses history brilliantly: they had a sketch once about how Henry VIII only found out about Catherine Howard's adultery from his jester, since everyone else was too frightened to tell him, which was both poignant and funny – and, of course, told me something I didn't know about the Tudors. When they asked me to play Vincenzo Larfoff (the reader of Scary Stories, which regularly turn out not to be that scary) I was really pleased, and he seems to have been a hit – I get kids shouting "scaaarry story" at me. Children's TV Television Children and teenagers History Leo Hickman guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jessica Reed Posted: 17 Mar 2011 11:30 AM PDT So a woman has failed the theory test 90 times. The true indicator of driving ability is not the ability to click a mouse button One thing's for sure, she's not scoring one for us women. You can picture the tabloid editor beaming already. Woman! Failed! Theory test! 90 times! Thanks to a freedom of information request, the worst driving student in the UK has indeed been unveiled: she is 26, lives in Southwark, and spent an astonishing £2,790 on driving theory test exams. Call it confirmation bias, but the opinion currently held by Neanderthals about females behind a steering wheel will only be strengthened by the story. One has to ask, though: how can someone fail a multiple choice test so many times? There are only 50 questions, followed by four answers each. Candidates have to get at least 43 answers right – not an issue if one studies hard – and then face the gruelling hazard perception test (more on that later). I know those details because yesterday morning found I and a dozen others wiping metaphorical sweat from our brows as we sat in a south London test centre, waiting to make good use of the knowledge accumulated in the past few weeks. Or in my case, days; I'm lucky to be gifted at last-minute cramming and passed. 45/50, if you must ask. I won't lie – the test isn't that easy. The current pass rate for the theory test is 62.9%; people in the US are said to be horrified at our UK process. And while a lot of the expected answers are solidly rooted in common sense ("Q: You are invited to a pub lunch. You know that you will have to drive in the evening. What is your best course of action?" A. Avoid mixing your alcoholic drinks B. Not drink any alcohol at all C. Have some milk before drinking alcohol D. Eat a hot meal with your alcoholic drinks), others were more pointed ("How long will a statutory off road notification last for?"). Some, on the other hand, were downright stupid ("When should you take a call on your mobile phone while travelling?"). The first written examination was introduced for wannabe drivers in 1996, before being replaced by the computer test in 2000. But is it a truly essential part of the learning process? Talking to my colleagues about the unlucky student who failed so many times this morning, many of them recalled the "good old days" during which you would just be asked a few questions by your driving examiner before passing your driving test: do you know what that sign is? Yes? What about this one? Good, all right then. Now show us how you park. Take the dreaded hazard perception test – a glorious example of a terribly explained task which many people who did not train for the test with a DVD find impossible to understand. On paper, this sounds relatively straightforward: "Examinees watch 14 one-minute clips filmed from the perspective of a car driver and have to indicate, usually by clicking a mouse button or touching the screen, when they observe a developing hazard." Because we're told that each clip is supposed to contain one hazard (with one exception, which contains two), many viewers decide to react only once, when they should instead click every time they suspect they see a developing hazard (which can be anything, from a far-away pedestrian to an incoming truck). Surely such skills would be better assessed by an instructor during actual driving lessons? The same applies to the multiple choice part of test, where it is easy to "luck out" or take educated guesses (which I did on occasion during mine). Truly, I couldn't be convinced of the utility of the theory test. It did provide me with some basic knowledge, but it is nothing I wouldn't have learned on the ground. The hard work lies ahead, in the hours during which I will drive the vehicle accompanied. I truly feel that practice, much like making a good damson pie, cycling or learning to tie laces, is the only way to learn. Perhaps the woman who failed so many times should just be given a free pass. Transport Road transport Jessica Reed guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The Wu master Posted: 17 Mar 2011 01:31 PM PDT The internet as a model of free speech and access is coming to an end, says web expert Tim Wu The internet is under threat. At risk is what's known as "net neutrality", or the principle of free access for each user to every online site, regardless of content. That's the view of the man who coined the above term, Tim Wu, whose new book, The Master Switch, was published yesterday. It argues the internet now runs the risk of not just political censorship – as seen in Libya and Egypt, and in the American reaction to WikiLeaks – but that of commercial censorship, too. Monopolies such as Google and Apple may soon decide to choose which parts of the internet to give us – or switch off – and in some cases have already started to do so. "We are in a critical period for the internet," Tim Wu, the book's author, says. "What the internet is, is in flux." Wu looks, a colleague suggests, like a cleverer version of Keanu Reeves. In reality, he is a senior adviser to the Obama administration on, fittingly, the competition issues that concern internet and mobile industries. A position which, ironically, makes him a distant colleague of the officials waging war against WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning. An academic lawyer by trade – he has taught at Chicago, Columbia and Stanford – Wu has also long been a respected commentator on internet issues, and writes regularly for Slate magazine. The first to coin the term "net neutrality", Wu is sometimes mentioned in the same breath as social media experts Jay Rosen and Jeff Jarvis, internet evangelist Jay Rosen, and sceptics Evgeny Morozov, Nicholas Carr and Jaron Lanier. But unlike these six, whose work is mainly concerned with a discussion about the (de)merits of online activity, Wu's book perhaps places him in a critically different category. The Master Switch is less concerned with the rights and wrongs of the internet today, and more concerned with its long-term future. "The internet is about 15 years into its cycle as an open medium," says Wu, "and at that moment in their cycle, most open media tend to turn to closed media." What Wu means is that the internet might be about to go the same way as the information services of the 20th century: the telephone, radio, cinema and television. "Internet is the descendant of these industries," Wu says, "a 15-year-old teenager." And if we want to know what kind of adult this teenager will become, "the clearest way is to look at its parents, and look what happened to them when they reached their 20s". What happened, he argues, is that they went from being technologies used by lots of different individuals and companies, to ones controlled by just a few monopolies. He uses the example of AT&T, the great American telephone monopolist, "who went to the American people and said, 'We will be good, we will build the best telephone network in the world: give us the monopoly'." He points to the American film industry, and shows how it quickly was transformed from an industry that was relatively easy to enter, to one mainly controlled by a few Hollywood studios. Wu's fear is that a similar consolidation of power may be about to happen to the internet. "When we talk about the internet," he says, "we're only talking about three or four companies . . . Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook." These big four are so large that one or more of them could team up with a mobile network and end net neutrality (a term that Wu coined in 2003) by privileging that network's clients above all others. It's something that is already partly happening. Apple's iPhone was at first only available to AT&T customers in the US and O2 clients in the UK. And since Google teamed up with American phone firm Verizon last summer, it now at least has the option to do something similar. Wu won't comment on these deals directly, due to his position with the US government. But, he says, like AT&T in the 1910s, "Google has similarly promised the world: 'We will be a good company.' And we have essentially conferred it a dominance over the market, and over how we find our information, because we believe it will be good." However, warns Wu, "the question everyone has is whether one day Google will have its Heart of Darkness moment." If it does, says Wu, what's at stake is the principle on which the internet was founded. At its inception, "the internet was typically a place where you could put up content without anybody's permission". But partnerships between the bigger web-related companies might squeeze out the smaller ones. Using the example of the online news industry, Wu suggests that if newspapers were to follow the example of Rupert Murdoch's new iPad-based "paper", The Daily, and "become exclusive partners with Apple, it may be easier for them to make money, but we may also end up with a media on the internet that is significantly more closed than it is now." This is because, he says, "You can imagine a future where blogs don't really have a meaningful future, because the content provided on a platform [such as Apple] doesn't create any room for anyone other than its exclusive media partners." So, Wu concludes: "The internet as a forum for speech, as a place where an individual with a talent can compete with a major newspaper – I'm suggesting that model may be passing." But though the internet was a freer place in its younger days, I ask Wu, wasn't it only available to a privileged few? Big conglomerates may be growing ever powerful, but haven't they at least brought the internet to a much wider audience than the academics and techies of the early 90s? "It shouldn't be a trade-off," Wu replies. "There is some truth to the idea that companies are interested in consumers, and so they bring [the internet] to a broader marketplace – but it is still important to stand up for the original values of the internet." Wu sees these values "as fundamental to a free society", values that we should preserve even as the internet becomes "a mass consumption product. And I think it's possible. You don't have to throw those values out the window just because millions of people are using it." Wu recommends protecting these values through the maintenance of something that in his book he calls the "separation principle". Just as journalists maintain "a separation of news and opinion", Wu argues, "the people who move and carry information should stay at some distance from the creators of content, because they have a natural conflict of interest." In other words, though Wu does not name names, companies such as Apple and Google should stay well away from mobile networks such as AT&T and Verizon. He feels government and consumers have a dual responsibility to police this conflict. Legislation should prevent mergers between the carriers of internet content, and the producers of the content. Consumers should boycott any company that threatens net neutrality. Will it work? Wu is undecided. "My big question is whether, five years from now, the big four companies will be even more consolidated, with other companies mattering less and less – or whether the internet will have proved its truly radical nature, and a whole new cast of characters will have emerged . . . And I don't know the answer." Internet Google Apple Computing Technology sector WikiLeaks Patrick Kingsley guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

I'm 80. How do I find a male friend? Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT There are many ways of discreetly finding like-minded partners, says Pamela Stephenson Connolly I am 80-plus and have recently become a widower. Is there anywhere I can find a male friend (say 60ish)? I could not make any local inquiries as I am a highly respected person. When my wife was very ill she told me that she would be happy if I had the luck to find a man, because I was gay in my teenage years and she thought I would like to renew that experience. I feel the deep desire to satisfy my emotions. My late wife understood because she was a lesbian from the age of 12 until we met. How touching that your late wife had such understanding and acceptance of your sexuality! Nowadays there generally tends to be more acceptance of gay, lesbian and bisexual people than there was when you were a teenager; however, I can certainly understand your desire for privacy. Internet dating sites and special "finder" phone apps such as Grindr now play a huge part in helping people contact like-minded partners. Consider joining an internet dating service. If this seems technically difficult, perhaps there's someone (maybe at your local library) who could teach you the necessary skills – you don't have to tell them why! Otherwise, consider placing an anonymous ad in a non-local newspaper. Set up a separate PO box or phone number (pre-paid mobile is best) for the replies. Do you have any gay friends at all? There's an efficient mentoring system in the gay community, so once you feel safe enough to explain your situation you will probably find someone to introduce you around. Good luck! • Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. • Send your problem to private.lives@guardian.co.uk Sex Relationships Pamela Stephenson Connolly guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Knot of the Heart – review Posted: 17 Mar 2011 05:46 PM PDT Almeida, London Addiction is a difficult subject to dramatise: it depends on repetition, isolation, an inability to connect with other people. But, although David Eldridge's moving new play doesn't avoid all the pitfalls, it greatly heightens our understanding of the addictive personality and shows that dependence, whether on drugs or alcohol, is no respecter of class or status. Eldridge was prompted, in part, by the desire to write a whopping role for Lisa Dillon in which he has certainly succeeded. She gets to play Lucy: a golden girl whose career as a TV children's-show presenter is cut short when she's discovered by her producer smoking heroin in her dressing room. We watch as the suspended Lucy, supported by her loving mother and sniped at by her abrasive elder sister, lapses into a state of helpless dependence before winding up in a crisis intervention centre. But the rocky road to recovery not only becomes a test of Lucy's resilience. It also forces the family to face up to long-buried secrets. "Why has this happened to us?" Lucy's mother plaintively asks at one point; and the answer, dramatically, comes rather late in the day. But the great virtue of Eldridge's approach is his painstaking exploration of what addiction entails and his refusal to pass easy moral judgements. Lucy herself is seen neither as pitiable victim nor heroic coper: she is a liar, self-deceiver and ruthless exploiter of her mother's private wealth but also someone whose recovery hinges on a confrontation with truth. Equally, her mother is ambivalently viewed as both adoring protector and indulgent enabler of Lucy's habit. Even the icy self-control of her solicitor sister proves to be a camouflage for a deeply damaged psyche. But what really impressed me was that Eldridge never lectures us about the evils of addiction: he simply shows its destructive consequences and suggests its causes are often hereditary rather than environmental. It's a painful subject but Michael Attenborough's production, deftly designed by Peter McKintosh, makes it aesthetically bearable and Dillon amply fills a giant role. What she makes clear is that you never quite know which Lucy you are going to see. And she conveys the addict's fluctuating sense of self in a riveting interview with a psychiatrist in which she moves from snide aggression to desperate neediness. Margot Leicester catches equally well the mother's mix of smothering love and bewildered exasperation. And Abigail Cruttenden as the steely-seeming sister, Sophie Stanton as a pragmatic carer and Kieran Bew as sundry blokes from druggies to journos all offer vibrant support. I wouldn't say that, in the end, I love Lucy; but, thanks to Eldridge's compassionately inquiring play, I begin to understand her. Rating: 4/5 Theatre Michael Billington guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The second coming ... twice Posted: 17 Mar 2011 09:53 AM PDT US writer James Frey and British author John Niven will both publish books imagining return of Messiah to contemporary New York It's as awkward as two socialites wearing the same dress to a party. Hard on the heels of news that US author James Frey's new novel will be a second-coming story entitled The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, comes word that a novel on a stunningly similar theme, this time by a British writer, will also be published in April, just days before Frey's book. Frey's story will feature the return of the Messiah in contemporary New York, in the form of Ben Zion Avrohom, an alcoholic bisexual who impregnates a prostitute. John Niven's novel The Second Coming features Christ returning to earth in contemporary New York as a struggling musician who, as the author puts it, "smokes dope and gets laid". Niven – whose literary CV will be no more reassuring to the Christian right than Frey's, given that his book Kill Your Friends was described by Guardian reviewer Jane Housham as "an orgy of mad, gleeful nastiness" – is philosophical about the uncanny coincidence. "It's not that unusual to have a couple of novels published in the same ball park, but it's slightly freakish scheduling that they're so close together," he said. "But the atheist debate has raged in non-fiction in recent years and now it's moving into fiction." Niven's story is more lighthearted than Frey's appears to be: his Christ-figure lives by just one true commandment – "Be Nice" – and realises his best chance of winning the hearts and minds of the American people is by entering a TV talent contest. The author describes it as very much a "comic novel". But Niven, like Frey, is anticipating some controversy – and like Frey, he has run into issues over publication in the US. Frey has chosen to avoid mainstream publishers with his new book, preferring instead to publish with the Gagosian gallery in New York, although in the UK he is sticking with John Murray, who also published his previous works. John Murray managing director Roland Philipps said: "James knew he didn't want to publish in the traditional way in the US because it has a much more charged relationship with religion. He anticipates death threats, book burnings and bannings. In the US, James couldn't see a publisher standing by him." Philipps added: "I'm sure there will be people who are offended, but I think what he's done is an entirely valid attempt to create a mythology around imagining what it would be like if a Messiah figure came down today. It's a worthwhile exploration of the nature of belief." Niven has yet to find an American publisher for his novel at all, although both his previous books have been published there by HarperCollins. "We had an incredible reaction to this novel in Europe – a big sale in Germany, an auction in Italy," he said. "But in America the publisher who had published my last two declined to publish, citing commercial reasons." Niven hopes that in the "relatively sane" culture of the UK, any controversy will be muted. But he admits that one episode in the novel, in which God calls a board meeting of all the saints, including Mohammed, does occasionally cause him to wake up bathed in sweat. "From the reading I did, I gathered you're not meant to have a physical representation of Mohammed, so I changed it so that he was only on speakerphone," Niven said. "But I did still get a text from a friend saying 'I look forward to seeing your be-hooded pleas for mercy on Al-Jazeera.' I very much hope it won't come to that." Niven and Frey's Easter novel clash is one of many such examples. Novelist David Lodge was unlucky when his 2004 novel Author, Author, about writer Henry James, was eclipsed by the close publication of Colm Tóibín's The Master, on the same subject. Meanwhile Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Truman Capote in the Oscar-winning 2005 film Capote took the limelight from Toby Jones's portrayal of the same writer in the film Infamous, released shortly afterwards. James Frey Christianity Religion Fiction Benedicte Page guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Band of the day: NewVillager Posted: 17 Mar 2011 08:49 AM PDT They claim they sound like a cross between Michael Jackson and the Beatles and operate as an artistic collective. Get them! Hometown: Brooklyn and San Francisco. The lineup: Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini. The background: The three most hyped (or self-hyped in two cases) bands at the start of this year – Mona, Brother and the Vaccines – drew attention for their back-to-basics approach. They offered crude propositions and simple pleasures. But there are others daring to be different, making unusual connections, being anything but obvious. Last night, for example, we went to Heaven in London to watch Crystal Fighters, a three-piece creating a hybrid of Basque folk and techno out of indigenous instruments, dance rhythms and the poetry of a friend's deceased, insane relative. It hinted at what a collaboration between Federico García Lorca and the Chemical Brothers might have been like: vivid and joyous, if a little crazed. NewVillager are equally determined to stand out from the crowd. They describe themselves as "an artist collective". The core duo of Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini are complemented by "visual director" Ben Dickinson (LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture), plus live drums and a cast of thousands – well, maybe a dozen – whom they draft in as and when required to work on whatever ancillary drawings, animations, performances, films, lectures, books and writings are needed to augment the music. Wait – as Blue Oyster Cult once said – there's more. Bromley and Simonini, recently hailed by NME as "pop shamans taking meticulous steps towards a mysterious, musical nirvana", use the various media at their disposal to espouse their "NewVillager mythology". This comprises a "10-part cycle exploring transformation, teenage-hood and the formation of new ideas". As if that weren't enough, their shows include various installations, "integrated events" and "immersive rituals" which "explore the concept of the boundaries between different communities". Meanwhile, their forthcoming debut album, they have promised (or should that be threatened?), will be a "song cycle" based on "not so much a narrative but a lens or a model for looking at any kind of transformation – how does something change from one state to another state? What kind of a process is that? What are the perennial tensions in that process?" When they started going on about the "structural shifts, including the main shift from Cocoon House to Black Crow Boy to Light House" intended for the album, we got a little irritable and couldn't help wondering: yes, but what about the tunes? See, every so often a band comes along with ideas about subverting the form (yer actual pop music) and adding multimedia facets to the otherwise rote ritual of release single, release album, tour. Remember Sudden Sway, the mid-80s clever-clogs who issued eight versions of one single, followed by an extravaganza by the name of Spacemate which included a double LP, a book, a poster, a set of cards and an instruction manual, all packaged together in a soap-box container, after which the plan was to devise a "soap opera musical" called '76 Kids Forever? The conceptual carapace was inviting but by the time you got to the music it was a tad anti-climactic. Needless to say, their attempts to make the packaging of pop interesting failed to sell. NewVillager are a bit like a latter day American Sudden Sway. When they finally get to discussing their music, they call it "new pop" and claim it's a cross between Michael Jackson and the Beatles. This is risibly wide of the mark. Lighthouse has chanty vocals and a quasi-religious feel. Overpass is also white gospel-ish, with churchy organ. Bad Past Gone Away is what happens when indie boys do soulful. Genghis On is Scissor Sisters-style retro-disco, while Rich Doors is hooky synth-funk that recalls Hall & Oates when they worked with Arthur Baker on their album Big Bam Boom. More than anyone, they remind us of Polyphonic Spree, another outfit intent on bringing a non-rock purity of spirit to pop who, having seemed at first to be rule-changing, eventually became Just Another Band. How soon it will be before NewVillager buckles depends on their mettle, and bank accounts (who's funding all their auxiliary ventures?), but you've got to applaud their ambition even as you worry that their music is thus far a woeful mismatch for their ideas. The buzz: "They weave mythology throughout their music and art." The truth: It's easy to scoff and be cynical, but at least they're Saying Stuff, even if we haven't a clue what it all means. Most likely to: Be bicoastal. Least likely to: Go postal on us – they're too joyous, man. What to buy: Their self-titled debut album will be released on 21 June by IAMSOUND. File next to: Sudden Sway, Hall & Oates, Polyphonic Spree, Crystal Fighters. Links: www.myspace.com/newvillager. Friday's new band: Dom. Pop and rock Paul Lester guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Bangladesh's midwives call for men Posted: 17 Mar 2011 07:42 AM PDT One-in-500 women die in childbirth in Bangladesh – with cultural factors as much to blame as a lack of medical care There's hardly a man to be seen in the maternity ward of the Maternal and Child Health Training Institute in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Despite the lack of any law forbidding men to enter the delivery room, fathers are normally not present during the birth of their own child – an attitude that needs to change, say the country's first midwives, who are due to graduate next month. "Men need to be involved in the labour process if we are to reduce maternal mortality," says Mala Reberio, one of the 20 midwives being trained to international standards in Bangladesh, which is still heavily reliant on community skilled birth attendants, who lack the skill and the authority to perform more complicated deliveries. Currently, one in 500 women in Bangladesh dies during childbirth. "If [men] could see firsthand the complications of childbirth, they would be more likely to send their pregnant wives to proper medical facilities and less likely to insist on early childbirth after marriage," says Reberio. More than 75% of deliveries take place at home, and the average age of women having their first child is just 16 years, according to the UN. Fathers are not present during the delivery. The support role is usually taken on by the father's mother or another senior female member of the family, said Dr Roushon Ara Begum from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the organisation leading the training. However, recent figures show that attitudes towards childbirth are changing. According to the government's Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Healthcare Survey 2010, women are increasingly choosing to use professional medical facilities (mainly due to a growth in private practices). The proportion of women giving birth in medical facilities has more than doubled, from 9% in 2001 to 23% last year – a trend that is likely to continue as fertility rates decrease, incomes increase and education levels improve. "I would recommend to everyone to give birth in a hospital for comfort and safety," says Samia Zakia Sultana, 20, who is expecting her first child in a few weeks. Bangladesh is on target to meet MDG5 – reducing maternal mortality. According to the BMMS 2010, the maternal mortality ratio in Bangladesh has declined from 322 per 100,000 in 2001 to 194 in 2010. However, data collection in this area is notoriously difficult and there tends to be a large margin of error and much disagreement about the exact figures. Other reports from 2010 place Bangladesh as the worst in south Asia for maternal mortality.   The Bangladesh government aims to have 3,000 fully qualified midwives who can provide round-the-clock assistance in all 427 sub-districts by 2015. At the moment, the UNFPA and WHO-supported midwifery programme is an interim solution before the government introduces a three-year direct-entry midwifery course. The country will get its first 20 midwives in April, a modest start, but the government hopes to scale up the project in coming years so that Bangladesh can reach its MDG targets of 50% skilled birth attendance. The programme still faces a number of major obstacles, despite being well received by the general public. First, doctors who can earn large sums of money by delivering a baby through a caesarean-section may be unwilling to lose that income if midwives are available to do the surgery for free. Second, the potential fallout from introducing a new cadre of midwives or professionals into an already hierarchical sector could prove difficult. The government's biggest challenge, though, remains getting women into the healthcare facilities and continuing to bring about behavioural changes in men and women. For Sultana, introducing midwives into Bangladesh and encouraging women to come into the hospitals is a step in the right direction. Her only wish now is that her husband could be with her at the birth. "We are making something together. Of course I want my husband to be at my side, not only to support me and to learn, but to share the experience," she says. • Misha Hussain is a Dhaka-based journalist covering humanitarian and development news throughout south Asia Bangladesh Maternal mortality Women Maternal health guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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