The Guardian World News

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• Is Gaddafi a target? PM and military split over war aims on Libya
• Yemeni general joins opposition
• Japan quake death toll passes 18,000
• US troops pictured posing with dead
• Questions raised over organ donation
• Sky News 'would not be independent'
• G4S wins Olympic security deal
• Gbagbo bolsters army against rebels
• Creationism warning to free schools
• Palin pulls out of Bethlehem visit
• MPs to freeze salaries at £65,738
• Looters strip Peru of treasures
• How to marry a billionaire
• Snakes settling in after big move
• Online search for star of Tupac film
• New Look gets old broom
• Classic case of plagiarism?
• Recession threatens trouble at mills
• What next for Edinburgh's Traverse?

Is Gaddafi a target? PM and military split over war aims on Libya Posted: 21 Mar 2011 06:55 PM PDT David Cameron says Libyan leader may be a legitimate target while Chief of the Defence Staff said he was 'absolutely not' A breach within Britain's political and military leadership has opened up as David Cameron argued that the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, may be a legitimate target while the chief of the defence staff, Sir David Richards, said he was "absolutely not". The clash fed concern on the third day of the air assault that the hastily assembled international alliance is struggling to paper over disagreements about its ultimate war aims, the future role of Nato and the legitimacy of the rebel groups. There was cabinet anxiety that the scale of the bombardment may strengthen support for Gaddafi in Tripoli and be seen in the Middle East as exceeding the UN security council goal of protecting civilians. Gaddafi's compound was hit by British missiles on Sunday night in an attempt to weaken his command structure as fighting continued across coastal towns. Anti-aircraft fire and explosions shook Tripoli again last night, with reports of missile hits on ports and naval facilities to the east and in the capital itself. Police closed a road near Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound after a blast nearby. Residents watched, some waving Libyan flags. Just after midnight local time, anti-aircraft batteries opened up again. A mobile unit on the seafront near the Bab Corinthia hotel sent arcs of red tracer fire curving across the sky. No aircraft were visible. Libyan TV broadcast live pictures of what it called "barbaric crusader bombing" and warned citizens to keep away from ordnance, saying it could contain illegal chemical or biological substances. Senior cabinet ministers admitted "the emotional optics" of cruise missiles raining down, backed by coalition military briefings, had unwelcome echoes of Iraq. Downing Street is urgently trying to help organise the rebels into a more coherent and visible political and military force. Cameron won cross-party support for military action from sceptical MPs, but there was disquiet about mission creep, and whether the intervention would end in an unstable partition of Libya. MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour, by 557 to 13, after a six-and-a-half-hour debate. The rift between Cameron and his defence chief arose after the defence secretary, Liam Fox, said on Sunday that an attack on Gaddafi could be a possibility if it did not lead to civilian casualties. When asked whether Gaddafi was a legitimate target, Sir David replied: "Absolutely not. It is not allowed under the UN resolution and it is not something I want to discuss any further." Cameron told MPs: "The UN resolution is limited in its scope and explicitly does not provide legal authority for action to bring about Gaddafi's removal by military means. We will help fulfil the security council aims, and leave it to the Libyan people to determine their government and their destiny, but our view is clear that there is no decent future for Libya with Colonel Gaddafi remaining in power." Later Cameron's spokesman argued that it was lawful to target Gaddafi if he was seen as organising the threat to Libyan civilians, pointing out that the security council's objective was to protect civilians. A summary of the legal advice given to the cabinet by the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, was published. It implies that attacks on Gaddafi are lawful if he poses a threat. The head of the US Africa Command, General Carter F Ham, said attacking Gaddafi was not part of his mission. A French spokesman said that even if the Libyan leader's exact location were known, he would not be targeted. However, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said he hoped the allied attacks would topple Gaddafi. "It is very probable that faced with the increased fragility of the regime, it falls apart from within." Barack Obama, on tour in South America, echoed the dispute in London, saying there was no contradiction between the Pentagon saying removal of Gaddafi was not a goal and the White House saying it was. He said the aim of the military was restricted to fulfilling the mandate of the UN, which was to protect civilians, but the White House and the state department was working for Gaddafi's removal. "I have also stated that it is US policy that Gaddafi has to go and we have a wide range of tools to support that policy," Obama said, making it clear he had in mind diplomatic pressure. Obama said when a leader lost legitimacy and turned his army on civilians, the international community could not respond with "empty words". Republicans, while backing intervention to prevent a massacre in Benghazi, objected to a lack of proper consultation with Congress and a lack of a clear mission. Obama said he had expected to transfer command from the US to Europe within days, but that is being held up by a Nato dispute involving Turkey, which objects to the scale of the attack on Libya. Ham said he was not worried about mission creep. Most of the action to destroy Gaddafi's air defence systems and push back his forces from Benghazi had taken place in the first 24 hours and he did not anticipate further action on that scale. Ham said he also saw coalition partners taking a bigger share in the days ahead. There were 60 sorties on Sunday and 70 on Monday, in which about half the planes involved were non-American. New members were joining the coalition, with Canadian and Belgian forces being added, and more were expected to follow. A total of 12 Tomahawk missiles had been fired in the past 24 hours, he said, aimed at a Scud missile base and a regional command centre, plus a repeat attack on an air defence system. US, British, French, Italian and Spanish planes were over Benghazi and he expected the no-fly zone soon to extend along the coastline. Ham insisted the mission was not to help the rebels, only to protect civilians. But Mark Toner, the state department spokesman, said regime change was an aim after Gaddafi's failure to honour the ceasefire he declared last week. "What we are trying to do is convince Gaddafi and his regime to step down from power … That remains our ultimate goal." Arab and Middle East unrest Muammar Gaddafi Libya David Cameron Middle East Patrick Wintour Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Yemeni general joins opposition Posted: 21 Mar 2011 06:56 PM PDT Defence minister vows to stand by president after 12 senior military commanders defect from regime A military showdown is looming in Yemen after the defence minister announced that the army would defend the president against any "coup against democracy". His statement came hours after 12 military commanders, including a senior general, defected from the regime and promised to protect anti-government protesters in the capital, Sana'a. "The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother president, Ali Abdullah Saleh," said Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, the defence minister. "We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy, or violation of the security of the nation and citizens." Explosions and shooting heard briefly on Monday evening near a presidential compound in the eastern port of Mukalla added to the sense of tension, as did a raid on al-Jazeera's offices in Sana'a by gunmen who seized broadcasting equipment. Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, suffered a significant blow when General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, his longtime confidant and head of the Yemeni army in the north-west, announced that he would support "the peaceful revolution" by sending soldiers under his command to protect the thousands gathered in the capital to demand that Saleh step down. "According to what I'm feeling, and according to the feelings of my partner commanders and soldiers … I announce our support and our peaceful backing to the youth revolution," Ali Mohsen said. Minutes after his defection, tanks belonging to the republican guards, an elite force led by Ahmed Ali, the president's son, rolled into the streets of Sana'a, setting the stage for a confrontation between defectors and loyalists. Republican guard tanks took up strategic positions across the city, at Saleh's residence, the ministry of defence and at the central bank. Tanks of Ali Mohsen's 1st armoured division took up positions elsewhere in the city. Ali Mohsen's pledge opened the floodgates to a stream of other defections. Scores of ambassadors, regional governors, editors of government newspapers, prominent businessmen and senior members of the ruling party either quit or announced their allegiance to the protesters. Within hours, seven Yemeni ambassadors – to Japan, Syria, the Czech Republic, Jordan, China, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – announced they were standing down. "The regime is crumbling. There is very little support left for the president now," said Mohammed al-Naqeeb, head of the ruling party in Aden, who also resigned. At first, protesters gathered at Sana'a University were unsure what to make of the general's pledge: many feared an increased military presence might mean further attacks. But confusion soon gave way to jubilation as hundreds of soldiers from the 1st armoured division arrived on foot, greeted by protesters, who kissed them and hoisted them on to their shoulders. The soldiers mingled with protesters as Ali Mohsen's men picked their way through the tent-filled streets, cheered on by young men waving placards carrying pictures of the general. Soon a line of policemen, soldiers and businessmen had formed, each waiting their turn to step up on to a huge stage and announce their resignations to a roaring crowd of thousands. "We've bought you a birthday present, Ali – it's a plane ticket to Saudi," shouted Haeman Saeed, a leading Yemeni businessman, after announcing his resignation from the ruling party. "The army are with you," roared Abdallah al-Qahdi, a senior military general from Aden who was fired from his position last week for refusing to quell a peaceful demonstration. Qahdi said many regime insiders had been waiting for someone like Ali Mohsen to lead the way. He expected most of the army to have defected by nightfall. But for the time being, the outcome remained unclear. Analysts said there may soon be a violent clash within the military between those who have defected and the significant portions of the army still under the president's control. Abdul Irayani, a Yemeni political analyst, said: "Unfortunately, the president and his sons still have control over powerful sections of the military, including the republican guard and the air force. "We are all praying that Saleh leaves quickly and quietly to prevent the situation deteriorating rapidly." Others suggest that the resignations may have been negotiated behind the scenes. "I believe this is a step towards a transitional military government in Yemen," said Abdullah al-Faqih, a professor at Sana'a University. The army split followed Saleh's decision to sack his entire government after tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital on Sunday for a mass funeral for the 52 protesters killed in a sniper attack by loyalists on Friday. The president asked the cabinet to serve as a caretaker government until he forms a new administration. Piling further pressure on Saleh, the country's most powerful tribal confederation also called on him to step down. Ali Mohsen is between 50 and 60 years old, and is generally perceived to be the second most powerful man in Yemen. Most reports indicate he is the cousin of Saleh's two half-brothers, although there is much confusion on this matter, with some claims that he is himself a half-brother to Saleh. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar's name is mentioned in hushed tones among most Yemenis, and he rarely appears in public. Those who know him say he is charming and gregarious. But as commander of the north-east region and the 1st armoured division, Ali Mohsen acted as Saleh's iron fist. The area he controls includes the governorates of Sa'ada, Hodeidah, Hajja, Amran, and Mahwit, and he is more powerful than any governor. Ali Mohsen was instrumental in the north's victory in the 1994 civil war and in crushing the recent Sa'ada uprising. It is estimated that he controls more than half of all military resources and assets. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Tom Finn guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Japan quake death toll passes 18,000 Posted: 21 Mar 2011 12:47 AM PDT • World Bank says economy will take years to recover • Officials update casualty estimates • Fukushima plant electricity restored The human and financial cost of the tsunami continues to rise, after police estimates showed more than 18,000 people have died in the disaster and the World Bank said it may cost Japan as much as £145bn to repair the damage. The figures came as emergency workers were evacuated from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after smoke or steam was seen rising from one of its reactor units. The smoke raised concerns that water in the spent fuel pools at the No 3 unit was running low, but officials said there was no immediate spike in radiation levels. "We are checking the cause of the smoke," Hidehiko Nishiyama, a nuclear safety agency official, told reporters. Earlier, engineers finally succeeded in connecting power cables to three of the plant's reactors and said they planned to test the pumps soon. Engineers hope to connect those power supplies to the No 3 and No 4 units on Tuesday, the public broadcaster NHK said. The nuclear emergency is far from over, however. On Monday, it was reported that the No 3 reactor had experienced a surge in pressure that may require workers to vent radioactive steam, a tactic that set off hydrogen gas explosions at the facility last week. The government's chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, conceded that the buildup of pressure was unsettling. "We knew that even if things went smoothly, there would be twists and turns," he told reporters. "At the moment, we are not so optimistic that there will be a breakthrough." That is causing concern because the reactor is the only one of the six that contains plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel – or MOX – and would release highly toxic plutonium in the event of a meltdown. The fuel in the other reactors is uranium. The country's self-defence forces resumed work on Monday to cool down the No 4 and No 3 reactors with seawater. Japan's nuclear safety agency said it did not believe much water from the two reactors had seeped underground. Radiation leaks from stricken reactors continued to spread through the region's food supply, though at levels too low to endanger health. The agency acknowledged that workers at the site risked inhaling radioactive dust, but said it had so far found no evidence of that happening. Radiation in excess of government standards was found in canola and chrysanthemum greens grown in the Fukushima area, a day after authorities reported that milk and spinach had been contaminated, as well as tap water in Tokyo, 150 miles away. The health ministry advised 6,000 villagers in Iitate, 19 miles from the power plant, not to drink tap water after tests revealed it contained abnormal, though not harmful, amounts of iodine-131, a radioactive substance. "We think we have arrived at the point where we are very close to getting the situation under control," the deputy cabinet secretary, Tetsuro Fukuyama, said. Graham Andrew, a senior official of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: "There have been some positive developments in the last 24 hours but overall the situation remains very serious." The US energy secretary, Steven Chu, told CNN that he believed the worst of the nuclear crisis was over, but added: "I don't want to make a blanket statement." Attention is turning to the humanitarian crisis on Japan's north-east coast and the cost of the cleanup and reconstruction operations. The World Bank said that it could take Japan five years, and cost between £75bn and £145bn – equivalent to 4% of Japan's GDP – to overcome the catastrophe, while private insurers face a combined bill of up to $33bn. "Damage to housing and infrastructure has been unprecedented," the bank said. "Growth should pick up though in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate." The bank said damage from the tsunami could also affect trade in the region. The price of some Japanese-made memory chips have risen 20% because of disruption to production lines, while car plants in Asia face shortages of auto parts. "Disruption to production networks, especially in automotive and electronics industries, could continue to pose problems," the World Bank said. "Japan is a major producer of parts, components and capital goods which supply east Asia's production chains." While hundreds of workers battle to render the nuclear plant safe, Japan continues to count its dead. Police estimates show more than about 18,400 died – 10,500 in Miyagi prefecture alone. A further 452,000 people are living in shelters. "It is very distressing as we recover more bodies day after day," said police spokesman Hitoshi Sugawara. Japan disaster Japan World Bank Global economy Economics Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

US troops pictured posing with dead Posted: 21 Mar 2011 02:56 PM PDT 'Trophy' pictures show US soldiers posing with corpses of Afghan civilians they are accused of killing for sport The face of Jeremy Morlock, a young US soldier, grins at the camera, his hand holding up the head of the dead and bloodied youth he and his colleagues have just killed in an act military prosecutors say was premeditated murder. Moments before the picture was taken in January last year, the unsuspecting victim had been waved over by a group of US soldiers who had driven to his village in Kandahar province in one of their armoured Stryker tanks. According to testimony collected by Der Spiegel magazine the boy had, as a matter of routine, lifted up his shirt to reveal that he was not hiding a suicide bomb vest. That was the moment Morlock, according to a pre-arranged plan, threw a grenade at the boy that exploded while other members of the rogue group who called themselves the "kill team" opened fire. They would later tell military investigators that the boy, a farmer's son, had threatened them with the grenade. The pictures include a similar photograph of a different soldier posing with the same victim and a photograph of two other civilians killed by the unit. There was no sign on Monday of the anticipated public outrage. But with Afghanistan on holiday for the Persian new year celebrations, and media outlets initially unable to get hold of the images, anger may yet build. The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, recently confided to officials that he feared it might trigger the same kind of scandal as that at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, where images of prisoners being abused by US soldiers sparked anti-American protests. For weeks the US government has been working to pre-empt any outrage, with top officials, including the US vice president Joe Biden, in talks with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. Despite being a setback in the propaganda war between the western coalition and its insurgent enemies, Nato will be relieved that for the time being only a tiny sample of a total collection of roughly 4,000 images and video clips have found their way into the public domain. The publication of the photos will also mark the ultimate disgrace of the group of young US soldiers, who are currently facing military justice for killing innocent civilians for sport and mutilating their bodies by cutting off fingers and ripping out teeth to keep as trophies. Morlock has turned on his former colleagues, agreeing to testify against them in return for a reduced jail sentence. Some of the activities of the group are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians. Morlock has told investigators that Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs was the ringleader. In videotaped evidence, he has said Gibbs would pick out a possible target with a comment such as: "You guys wanna wax this guy or what?" Gibbs, if found guilty, could receive a life sentence. Hans-Ulrich Stoldt, a spokesman for Der Spiegel, said the magazine had other, more graphic photos. "We published three but not others, and we even pixilated those we did print so that the victims could not be identified," Stoldt said. "We needed to document [the accusations] in some form, and were as restrained as possible." Afghanistan Middle East United States Jon Boone guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Questions raised over organ donation Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:01 PM PDT Investigation under way into how two transplant patients were given kidneys from a donor with a rare form of lymphoma An investigation is under way into how two transplant patients were given kidneys from a donor with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The incident at the Royal Liverpool University hospital involved organs from a woman who died at another hospital, and was later found to have had a hard-to-identify disease called intravascular B-cell lymphoma. Both patients had been preparing for live transplants from their sisters but accepted the donor kidneys instead. The recipients are now receiving chemotherapy treatment. Although cancer transmission is a known risk of transplantation among clinicians, the case raises questions about guidance to patients and whether sufficient checks are made. One senior official at the NHS Blood and Transplant Service (NHSBT) warned: "We can minimise risk but we can't abolish it." An investigation has been launched by the hospital and the transplant service. James Neuberger, associate medical director at NHSBT, said the incident, last November, happened weeks before new guidance was circulated to clinicians on obtaining consent from patients and warning them of risks – including from donor-donated tumours. The service has also begun work on compiling a national register of such incidents. Its says postmortems on donors before transplantation are impossible as they would take too long and render organs unusable. Most lymphomas could not be detected by blood tests. The patients in the Liverpool case have notified lawyers, who are seeking legal aid to investigate how they were counselled, the donor investigated and the organs screened. The case, which has also been investigated for BBC Radio Four's File on Four documentary broadcast on Tuesday , comes as the government considers removing state aid in potential clinical negligence cases. Both patients have made formal complaints to the NHS. One, Robert Law, 59, from Wirral, Cheshire, said: "I don't know whether there is anyone to blame or not. We want to find out how, why and when and what mistakes have been made, if any. "Given that I had a live donor, who has been tested, gone through all the procedures, why was I given a cancer-infected kidney from someone else? Anger has not really entered my mind … all my energies are focused on getting better." Gillian Smart, 46, from St Helens, Merseyside, said a transplant had previously been her "get out of jail card". She added: "This was where my life could start again. Now I think, goodness, I may have many years of fighting a potentially fatal illness." The Royal Liverpool's medical director, Peter Williams, said the hospital was told by the transplant service that two kidneys had become available from a donor who died at another hospital. "When we received confirmation that the kidneys were suitable for transplant, our specialist transplant team discussed options and risks with these patients and obtained their consent," Williams said. "Both operations went well and it was only after a postmortem had been performed that we were made aware of the donor's condition. We immediately fully informed both patients and discussed their options with them. "This is a very difficult and distressing time for Rob and Gillian and we continue to offer our full support, care and treatment to them. "We understand that this has been a very upsetting experience for them but we would like to emphasise that such cases are very rare." In a letter to Law, the hospital's chief executive, Tony Bell, said that "had there been any suspicion that the donor had cancer the transplant would not have taken place". He understood "the donor's death was not due to the lymphoma" and explained most patients remained on waiting lists for kidneys from dead donors in case potential live donors proved unsuitable. Neuberger said "everything possible is always done to reduce the risk of any transmissible diseases". When patients were registered for a transplant, "they are given a full explanation of the risks surrounding transplantation. No transplant is risk-free, but we do everything we can to make sure that any organ offered up for transplant is tested and deemed fit for transplant. "A full medical history of the donor is always obtained from the medical notes and from talking to the donor's family, as well as virology screening by a blood test. Tests are also undertaken to ascertain how well the organs are functioning." Law's lawyer, Eddie Jones, of Manchester-based JMW, said his client's condition before the transplant had not been life-threatening. "The tragedy of his particular case is that if he had had his sister's kidney, he would have been fine … lymphoma, or indeed any type of haematological cancer, is an absolute contra-indication for transplantation. Why wasn't a postmortem on the dead donor performed sooner? "And as lifesaving operations are increasing, isn't it time that strict guidelines are laid down to ensure patient safety and avoid this type of situation in future cases?" Smart's solicitor, John Kitchingman, of law firm Pannone, said: "Unexpected malignancy in a transplant donor is a known risk which arises from time to time, but the circumstances of each case differ. In all cases, though, the transplant team's decision to offer a kidney for transplant should be underpinned by the requisite certainty as to the cause of the donor's death." He would investigate whether Smart was unnecessarily exposed to risk when she was offered the kidney and whether she was advised properly so that she could make an informed choice. "Kidney transplantation isn't urgent like liver or heart transplant," said Kitchingham. "Gill and her doctors knew that there was no urgency and that she had alternatives." The NHS says such incidents are rare and there are long waiting lists for transplants. Three people die in the UK every day because not enough organs are donated. The service says 6% of people on waiting lists for kidney transplants die each year. For heart and lung transplants, the figure is about 20% and for those awaiting a liver transplant, 15%. In October 2009 an inquest heard how a former soldier died after being given a smoker's lungs in a transplant at Papworth hospital, Cambridge. Health NHS Cancer James Meikle guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Sky News 'would not be independent' Posted: 21 Mar 2011 05:01 PM PDT Rupert Murdoch faces backlash from rival newspaper owners amid fears £8bn BSkyB buyout will lead to NewsCorp domination It would be "fanciful" to expect a separately owned Sky News to be properly independent of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, according to lawyers acting for a group of four normally competing newspaper owners in a submission opposing the media mogul's £8bn buyout of BSkyB. Writing on behalf of the companies behind the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Mail and the Guardian, Slaughter and May said that a proposal to split off Sky News would not be enough to address fears that Rupert Murdoch would dominate British media once his NewsCorp bought all of the satellite broadcaster. The joint submission – also supported by BT – said that NewsCorp's offer would "make Sky News almost entirely dependent on News Corporation" and that "it would be fanciful to expect that Sky News will enjoy any meaningful independence" that would allow it to contribute to diversity in news provision in the future. As a result, Slaughter and May said, it would be "clearly unrealistic" to expect that Sky News would "rigorously investigate" if, for example, another News of the World phone hacking scandal emerged. The lawyers also questioned whether, if all Murdoch's newspapers supported one political party in a future election campaign, it would be "realistic to expect that Sky News would rigorously investigate and report on a major scandal affecting that party". Earlier this month, the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that, in principle, he would allow NewsCorp's bid for BSkyB to go through if Rupert Murdoch were to agree to the spinning-off of Sky News. NewsCorp's holding in Sky News would be capped at 39.1% – equivalent to its current ownership of BSkyB – for at least 10 years. Yesterday was the last day for anybody objecting to that plan to register their concerns formally with Hunt. The newspaper owners and BT had long been unhappy about the bid which, they argue, would lead to the creation of a powerful integrated media group combining more than one in three of every newspapers sold in the UK with the largest broadcaster as measured by turnover. Sky News would be financially dependent on NewsCorp because it would rely on the media group for an estimated 85% of its revenues under the spin-off plan, the submission said, meaning that Sky News "cannot be considered financially or commercially independent of News Corporation where the latter is by far its largest customer". Sky News would therefore be unable to disgregard News Corp's views as a result, the document added. The news channel would also be dependent on News Corporation for its distribution – although the draft undertaking proposed by NewsCorp gives no details as to how this would work in practice. In addition, Sky News would be dependent on winning a renewal of its contract with News Corp, an "absolute imperative" that "will profoundly influence decision-making at all levels within Sky News". There was also criticism that there would be only weak safeguards of editorial independence, because the directors who were given that job would have other legal obligations requiring them to maintain the financial health of the business. Slaughter and May noted that separate editorial undertakings given to safeguard the independence of the Times and Sunday Times when they were purchased by Murdoch in 1981 were ineffective, according to evidence previously provided to Ofcom, the communications regulator, by Harold Evans, a former editor of the Times, and Andrew Neil, who previously edited the Sunday Times. A spokeswoman for News Corporation said the company "had submitted a comprehensive proposal which, Ofcom has acknowledged, addresses the plurality concerns identified. We remain committed to engaging in the regulatory process." The department of culture said that it would not comment on individual submissions while it was still deciding whether to accept the proposed remedy. Jeremy Hunt is expected to make his final ruling on whether to formally accept the Sky News spin-off plan in April. Number of weekly viewers: TV BBC 33.5 million, ITN 21.9m, Sky News 11.7m Radio BBC 34.2m, Sky News 33.4m Newspapers (readership figures): News Corporation 14.5m, Daily Mail & General Trust 7.3m, Trinity Mirror 6.8m Online: BBC 12m, Daily Mail 5.5m, News Corp 4.6m Source: Ofcom *readership figures Sky News Rupert Murdoch BSkyB News Corporation BSkyB Newspapers Television industry Newspapers & magazines TV news Daily Telegraph Telegraph Media Group National newspapers The Guardian Guardian Media Group Daily Mail Associated Newspapers Daily Mail & General Trust Daily Mail & General Trust Daily Express Northern & Shell Express Newspapers Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

G4S wins Olympic security deal Posted: 21 Mar 2011 11:23 AM PDT Security firm to provide 10,000 guards to patrol London Games venues in 2012 Organisers of the 2012 Olympic games have signed a £100m deal with the security firm G4S to provide 10,000 guards to patrol venues during the event. Under the £757m security plan developed for the Games, the government is responsible for policing outside the venues and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games must provide security inside the park in east London. Mark Hamilton, G4S's managing director of security services for the Games, said it would dwarf similar events in terms of size and complexity. "Nothing compares to the Olympic Games in scale and complexity. But we've got decades of experience managing large-scale events such as Wimbledon, the Grand National at Wembley, music festivals and the G20 summit in London," he said. "This is where the breadth of our experience comes in, in particular across the field of sports. We're well versed with managing security needs for large sporting events and understand the need for maintaining the visiting experience. It's about making sure staff are aware this is a unique visitor experience." Like the police, the company's staff will have to walk the line between tight security and a welcoming atmosphere. Hamilton also said the company was working on new methods of reducing queuing time by ensuring that entrance searches were conducted as quickly as possible. But the appointment of G4S could prove controversial if the Crown Prosecution Service decides to pursue a case of corporate manslaughter against the company. Last week it emerged that Scotland Yard is considering charging G4S over the death of an Angolan deportee. Passengers on the British Airways flight in October told police they saw three G4S guards heavily restraining Jimmy Mubenga, who had been complaining of breathing difficulties before he collapsed. The guards were later arrested and have been bailed until 4 May. They could face manslaughter charges. However, sources with knowledge of the case have said police are also considering passing a file to the CPS recommending a corporate manslaughter charge against G4S. The company earns more than £600m from the UK government for services including the running of four prisons, three immigration removal centres and 675 court and police cells, and is the second-largest private employer in the world, boasting a £7bn turnover. G4S said in a statement last week: "As this is the subject of an on-going investigation, we are unable to comment as this time. We can confirm that G4S has received no approach at this time from the authorities in relation to the company's position and potential liabilities. Olympic Games 2012 G4S G4S London Owen Gibson Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Gbagbo bolsters army against rebels Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:32 AM PDT Supporters of rival Alassane Ouattara and human rights campaigners claim Gbagbo should be charged with war crimes Thousands of young men could be seen enlisting on Monday to fight for the incumbent president of Ivory Coast, stoking fears of an imminent civil war. Chanting slogans such as "We will kill them now" and "The rebels will die", prospective recruits gathered at a stadium at the army headquarters in the commercial capital, Abidjan. The show of strength underlines the growing influence of Young Patriot leader Charles Blé Goudé, who called on about 10,000 supporters at a rally on Saturday to sign up and "liberate" the country. It could also be aimed at deterring supporters of Alassane Ouattara, the rival to president Laurent Gbagbo, who have argued that Gbagbo's support base is shrinking and cannot prop him up much longer. Ouattara is the internationally recognised winner of last November's presidential election. Gbagbo's refusal to step down has sparked a humanitarian emergency and possible renewal of the 2002-03 civil war. His security forces fired six mortars on a crowded marketplace in the volatile Abobo surburb of Abidjan last week, killing at least 25 people and injuring dozens more. The attack, for which the military denied responsibility, has fuelled calls for Gbagbo to be charged with war crimes. The United Nations mission in Ivory Coast said: "Such an act, perpetrated against civilians, could constitute a crime against humanity." Supporters of Ouattara demanded on Monday that Gbagbo should stand trial at the Hague-based international criminal court (ICC), following the example of neighbouring Liberia's former president Charles Taylor. Sindou Cisse of the rebel New Forces, which control the country's north and backs Ouattara, said the Abobo mortar attack was "a war crime". He said: "What happened is beyond anything imaginable. It is out of order. As soon as possible, Mr Gbagbo should be trapped by the ICC. They should come and get him right now, not only for justice but to put an end to the suffering of the population." He urged the international community to take action. "They have gone after Gaddafi but we are still waiting," he said. Human Rights Watch said last week it believed Gbagbo and several of his close allies were now implicated in crimes against humanity as defined by the Rome statute, which created the ICC. "The targeted killings, enforced disappearances, politically motivated rapes and persecution of west African nationals over a three-month period demonstrate a policy of systematic violence by security forces under the control of Gbagbo and militias long loyal to him," it said. The watchdog claimed the killing of civilians by pro-Ouattara forces, at times with apparent ethnic or political motivation, could also be a crime against humanity if the slaughter became widespread or systematic. Gbagbo's government has accused Nigeria of transporting 500 mercenaries to join the New Forces, based in the northern town of Bouaké. The social and economic meltdown in the former west African powerhouse continued over the weekend as thousands gathered in Abidjan's main bus station, carrying suitcases full of belongings they had salvaged to head to the countryside. Men pushed, shoved and sometimes fought to get on to packed buses, while exhausted children sat or tried to sleep on piles of luggage at the station in Adjame, the scene of fierce fighting in the past week. Adama Diawara, a civil servant, told Reuters: "We're getting out of Abidjan. Bullets were falling on us day and night. We don't know what to do. We are so tired of this. We want the international community to come and help us." Aicha Diabate, sitting in the station with her children, said: "Since the day before yesterday, we've been here but we only managed to get a ticket at 2am this morning." Touts were buying all the tickets and charging double, she added, as a young man arrived at the station with his sick father in a wheelbarrow. The UN says 435 people have been killed and another 450,000 forced from their homes since the crisis began. The Ouattara camp puts the death toll at 720. An African Union mediation panel has given Gbagbo until Thursday to sit down with Ouattara to negotiate a transfer of power. Ivory Coast David Smith guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Creationism warning to free schools Posted: 21 Mar 2011 11:11 AM PDT Government spokesman says the education secretary is 'crystal clear' that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact The Department for Education has said Michael Gove is "crystal clear that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact" after a warning that the government's new free schools could be exploited by fundamentalist churches looking to promote a literal interpretation of the Bible. The remarks follow a letter to the education secretary from the British Centre for Science Education (BCSE) suggesting that creationists planned to use government legislation on free schools to mount a "concerted attack" on science education. Free schools can be set up by charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, teachers and groups of parents. They will have more freedom over the contents of their curriculum, leading to fears that science teaching in the schools may not be as rigorous. Teachers working at free schools will also not need to have formal teaching qualifications. The BCSE, which describes itself as the leading anti-creationist organisation in Europe, wrote to Gove to express its "extreme concern" at applications from groups such as the Everyday Champions Church and the Christian Schools Trust to run free schools. The trust has already had one proposal accepted. A primary school in Hampstead "with a distinctive Christian ethos that permeates every aspect of school life" will open in September. The BCSE says the trust has four applications outstanding. The Everyday Champions Church, in Newark, Nottinghamshire, submitted its proposal for a 652-place school in January, shortly before the DfE held its first free school conference where Gove said he would consider applications from creationist groups on a case-by-case basis. On its website the church says it has "660 children 'definitely' signed up to the school and 185 considering". It spent January and February carrying out public presentations and found parental response "overwhelmingly positive". "Creationism will be embodied as a belief at Everyday Champions Academy, but will not be taught in the sciences," said its leader Gareth Morgan. "Similarly, evolution will be taught as a theory. We believe children should have a broad knowledge of all theories in order that they can make informed choice." The DfE spokesman said groups setting up new free schools in the UK will be vetted to ensure that they have "strong education aims" and "high curriculum standards". He said: "The education secretary is crystal clear that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact. Ministers have said they will not accept any proposal where there are concerns about the people behind the project." In the letter from the BCSE, Professor Paul Braterman wrote that the embodiment of creationism "as a belief" could only mean that science was "subordinate to religious considerations, and that the central concepts of the natural sciences, as developed over the past 350 years, must be rejected as doctrinally unsound." In an accompanying report, the BCSE recommended the DfE "carefully vet" free school applications and "be very wary" of approving applications from creationist groups. Last July, Gove acknowledged there were concerns about "inappropriate faith groups using this legislation to push their own agenda." The education secretary, who was addressing MPs on the cross-party Commons education committee, said his department was working on the regulations to ensure there were no "extremist groups taking over schools". Braterman claimed that teaching in schools run by such groups in Sweden forced a revision of the original "friskolor" legislation there, making free schools subject to the same regulations that ensure teaching is objective as traditional schools. Evolution Biology Creationism Religion Free schools Teaching Michael Gove Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Palin pulls out of Bethlehem visit Posted: 21 Mar 2011 08:15 AM PDT Former governor of Alaska goes to Greek Orthodox monastery and Jerusalem during tour of Israel Sarah Palin apparently had second thoughts about crossing an Israeli checkpoint on Mondayto visit Bethlehem during a three-day visit to Jerusalem. The former governor of Alaska pulled up to the checkpoint run by the Israeli border police to the south of Jerusalem in a white people carrier, with her husband, Todd, her assistant and Israeli guides. None of the occupants left the car nor did they speak to the police officers at the checkpoint, according to photographers at the scene. They then turned around and drove away. A spokesman for the Israeli police said there was no incident at the checkpoint and a spokesman for the Israeli army said that Palin's group had not co-ordinated a visit to the occupied Palestinian territory. Palin's group then stopped at a nearby Greek Orthodox monastery before returning to her hotel in the centre of west Jerusalem from where they later continued their tour of the city. Tourists need to carry passports to cross checkpoints into the occupied Palestinian territory and Israelis are not normally permitted to enter areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, such as Bethlehem. From the checkpoint Palin would have been able to see the high concrete walls that separate Bethlehem from Jerusalem. Palin arrived in Israel on Sunday night after a delivering a speech in India on a rare foreign trip. She is due to meet Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on Monday evening. On arriving in Jerusalem Palin visited the tunnels next to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, which is believed to have been part of the walls of the Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70AD. Palin wore a Star of David, the symbol of Judaism, around her neck, prayed close to the wall and lodged a written prayer in a crevice, according to tradition. Palin told reporters: " It's overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith. I'm so thankful to be able to be here and I'm thankful to know the Israel-American connection will grow and strengthen as the peace negotiations continue." Danny Danon, the Likud party member of the Knesset who invited Palin to Israel and accompanied her to the Western Wall, said Palin was moved by being close to the wall. "The visit was educational and spiritual. She was a strong friend of Israel and she will become a stronger advocate of Israel in the future," he said. "The main purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with Israel and the holy sites. It was her first visit but I am sure she will come again." Sarah Palin US politics United States Israel Middle East Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

MPs to freeze salaries at £65,738 Posted: 21 Mar 2011 06:31 PM PDT Move agreed without Commons vote after MPs were told to be 'in step' with British workers or risk public anger MPs last night agreed to freeze their £65,738 salaries without a Commons vote after they were told to be "in step" with workers around the country or risk public anger. The move brings MPs into line with most public sector workers, whose pay has been frozen for two years. The Senior Salaries Review Body, whose recommendations have been implemented since 2008, had suggested a 1% rise. However, there was disagreement when the leader of the House, Sir George Young, said MPs' pay should be set by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, which is disliked by many MPs. The decision has angered many backbenchers on all sides of the House with some believing they are underpaid and others who do not agree that they should have to vote on their own salary. Many are also angry about curbs placed on their expenses in the wake of the scandal over abuses. Sir George told MPs the Government had to take "difficult decisions" across the public sector, including imposing a two-year pay freeze for those earning over £21,000. He said: "Colleagues must now decide whether their constituents would welcome Parliament exempting itself from this policy and thus insulating itself from decisions that are affecting households up and down the country. "Or whether, as I believe they should be in step with what is being required of other public servants. I believe it is right for us as MPs to forgo the pay increase which the current formula would have produced." The call was backed by the Shadow leader of the House, Hilary Benn, who said: "The public would find it very hard to understand if we got a pay rise when they are not getting a pay rise and that is why we will support the motion." Labour MP John Mann (Bassetlaw) said he was against MPs having to vote on their own salaries, insisting that "the principle of Members' salaries should be set by a body entirely independent of Parliament". He said: "Having been through the pain (of the expenses scandal), but the pain is not over, having been through that, having eventually determined that we should determine our own pay, having agreed the principle, we suddenly get back to where we started. MPs' expenses House of Commons Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Looters strip Peru of treasures Posted: 21 Mar 2011 11:59 AM PDT A century after Machu Picchu's rediscovery, ancient Mayan and Moche sites are being ransacked for tourist baubles Etched into the surviving art of the Moche, one of South America's most ancient and mysterious civilisations, is a fearsome creature dubbed the Decapitator. Also known as Ai Apaec, the octopus-type figure holds a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other in a graphic rendition of the human sacrifices the Moche practiced in northern Peru 1,500 years ago. For archaeologists, the horror here is not in Moche iconography, which you see in pottery and mural fragments, but in the hundreds of thousands of trenches scarring the landscape: a warren of man-made pillage. Gangs of looters, known as huaqueros, are ransacking Peru's heritage to illegally sell artefacts to collectors and tourists. "They come at night to explore the ruins and dig the holes," said Cuba Cruz de Metro, 58, a shopkeeper in the farming village of Galindo. "They don't know the history, they're just looking for bodies and for tombs. They're just looking for things to sell." A looting epidemic in Peru and other Latin American countries, notably Guatemala, has sounded alarm bells about the region's vanishing heritage. The issue is to come under renewed scrutiny in the run-up to July's 100th anniversary of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel in southern Peru, by US historian Hiram Bingham. He gave many artefacts to Yale university, prompting an acrimonious row with Peru's government which ended only this year when both sides agreed to establish a joint exhibition centre. A recent report, Saving our Vanishing Heritage, by the Global Heritage Fund in San Francisco, identified nearly 200 "at risk" sites in developing nations, with South and Central America prominent. Mirador, the cradle of Mayan civilisation in Guatemala, was being devastated, it said. "The entire Peten region has been sacked in the past 20 years and every year hundreds of archaeological sites are being destroyed by organised looting crews seeking Maya antiquities for sale on the international market." Northern Peru, home to the Moche civilisation which flourished from AD100-800, had been reduced to a "lunar landscape" by looter trenches across hundreds of miles. "An estimated 100,000 tombs – over half the country's known sites – have been looted," the report said. The sight breaks the heart of archaeologists and historians piecing together the story of a society which built canals and monumental pyramid-type structures, called huacas, and made intricate ceramics and jewellery. The Moche, who pre-dated the Incas by 1,000 years, also painted murals and friezes depicting warfare, ritual beheading, blood drinking and deities such as the Decapitator, who has bulging eyes and sharp teeth. Analysis of human remains confirmed that throat-cutting was all too real but, in the absence of written records, archaeology must shed light on what happened. In villages such as Galindo that is becoming all but impossible. Crude tunnels and caves make Moche ruins resemble rabbit warrens. Deep gashes cut into walls expose the brickwork below. Millennia-old adobe bricks are torn from the ground and scattered as though in a builder's yard. Most huaqueros are farmers supplementing meagre incomes. Montes de Oca, one of three police officers tasked with environmental protection in a region of a million people, said he was overwhelmed. "I've been doing this for 28 years. There are three of us and one truck. It's insufficient but we do everything possible." Ten miles away Huaca del Sol, one of the largest pyramids in pre-Columbus America, is an eroded, plundered shell. Here the culprits were not impoverished farmers but Spanish colonial authorities who authorised companies to mine for treasure, said Ricardo Gamarra, director of a 20-year-old conservation project. "They diverted the river to wash away two-thirds of the huaca and reveal its insides," he said. "They mined through the walls and caused it to collapse in various places. It's impossible to guess how much was taken because we don't know how much was there." Donations from businesses and foundations have helped Gamarra's team protect what is left, drawing 120,000 visitors each year, but of 250 other sites in the region just five have been protected. "In the mountains it's the same. It is full with archaeological sites, almost all of them have been destroyed," said Gamarra. There has been good news from Chotuna, also in northern Peru, where archaeologists found frescoes in a 1,100-year-old temple of the Lambayeque civilisation, which flourished around the same time as the Incas. Jeff Morgan, executive director of the Global Heritage Fund, urged Peru to funnel tourists away from Machu Picchu, overrun by two million visitors a year, to lesser known sites which could then earn revenue to protect their heritage. The government should resist the temptation to pocket the money. "One of the biggest problems is the disconnect between local communities and management of the sites. We think locals should get at least 30% of revenues." Only then, said Morgan, would cultural treasures fom the Moche and other civilisations be saved. Peru Guatemala Archaeology Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

How to marry a billionaire Posted: 21 Mar 2011 02:00 PM PDT A new website claims it can help women to bag a rich husband, but if we all get on our bikes, we might find something far more valuable ✤ It is not often that one is delivered a press release quite so dispiriting as last week's little number for a flight comparison site that had thoughtfully "mapped out exactly where to find the world's richest people in order for women to know where to bag a billionaire". If you can hear a distant thud, don't worry, it is only me bashing my head against my desk. Said website apparently pooled the recent Forbes Billionaire List and a map, to produce every woman's indispensable guide to hunting down a rich husband (if that's not attractive, I don't know what is). The site notched up a second achievement in perpetuating the myth that women are all secretly witchy little gold-diggers. Well done guys! Quite what Christy Walton or Liliane Bettencourt make of it I'm not sure, but for those of you trying to bag a female billionaire, I believe easyJet has a special offer on flights past the glass ceiling. ✤ We chanced across a rather fascinating new book this week, Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom by Sue Macy, which looks at how the success of the bike in late 19th-century America heralded a period of new liberation for women. Our favourite excerpt sees Macy quoting the great Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an early proponent of the contraption: "The bicycle," she stated, "will inspire women with more courage, self-respect and self-reliance and make the next generation more vigorous of mind and body; for feeble mothers do not produce great statesmen, scientists and scholars." And billionaires, naturally. ✤ I have been delighted by news of a man who has Julia Roberts's face tattooed all over his body. Eighty-two tattoos in total, and all inspired by scenes from Erin Brockovich. I can't help but feel this places a question mark over last week's revelation that women are better at stalking. Do any of you have 83 tattoos of John Cusack? Been liberated by a bicycle? Do share. Women Rich lists Cycling Laura Barton guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Snakes settling in after big move Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:23 AM PDT 24,000 adders, common lizards and other species moved from oil refinery site to reserves to make way for London Gateway They had lived peacefully in their tens of thousands on an old refinery site in Essex. Now after what is thought to be the UK's biggest artificial movement of animals, 24,000 adders, grass snakes, common lizards and slow worms are settling well into new homes 140 miles away. The reptiles were transported from the east of England to reserves in Wiltshire to make way for the £1.5bn London Gateway container port and logistics park. Since 1998 the creatures have been captured by hand and moved in vans – early in the morning so they did not dry out – around the M25 and down the M4 before being released into their new homes. The reserves in Wiltshire have now been declared full and this year the relatively few remaining reptiles at the Essex site will be rehoused closer to another reserve closer to home. Marcus Pearson, environmental manager for DP World, said the move seemed to have been successful. Reptiles that had been moved and then recaptured to check their wellbeing seemed healthy and doing well in their new home. Construction is under way at London Gateway, 25 miles to the east of central London. Once complete the development will allow the world's biggest container ships to berth close to the capital. But one of the challenges the developers faced was rehousing the animals that had moved on to the site after an oil refinery ceased operating in 1999. Homes were found nearby for the carefully protected great crested newts. But no new local habitat could be found for the reptiles so the decision was taken to move them to reserves managed by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. DP World also bought a chunk of land to link areas owned by the trust. It has moved 290 adders, 400 grass snakes, 17,000 common lizards and 6,000 slow worms. Pearson said finding a new home was tricky because they could not be moved to places where they were already large populations of a particular creature. The Wiltshire reserves are now judged to be full and the remaining reptiles found on the Gateway site this year will be moved to the RSPB reserve, West Canvey Marsh. Wildlife Animals Steven Morris guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Online search for star of Tupac film Posted: 21 Mar 2011 09:13 AM PDT Producers searching for someone with 'the right mix of raw charm and charisma' to portray the late rapper Tupac Shakur lookalikes have been offered the chance of screen stardom after a website invited online auditions for the lead in a biopic of the late rapper. Insearchoftupac.skeetv.com calls on would-be actors to download and perform a scene from the film as well as their favourite Tupac track. The scene appears to be a courtroom monologue in which the rapper protests: "I just don't wanna be the scapegoat. I just wanna be. I wanna be." The auditions are to run until 30 April. Morgan Creek Productions plans to start shooting its version of the music star's life story this summer, with Training Day's Antoine Fuqua in the director's chair. Producer David Robinson told the Hollywood Reporter: "We're looking for someone with the right mix of raw charm and charisma for the role. At this point, we're more concerned about finding someone with the ability to give their entire heart into the performance than just looks and personality." Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in 1996, curtailing a career that appeared to be hitting new heights following the success of his album All Eyez on Me. The rapper continued to sell millions of albums after his death, however, with a string of posthumous releases. In addition to his musical projects, he appeared in a number of films including 1993's Poetic Justice, in which he starred opposite Janet Jackson. Shakur's work and untimely death imbued him with near-mythical status in the eyes of some hip-hop fans, and he continues to inspire devotion. One follower reacted with dismay to news of the current casting call, saying on YouTube: "It's impossible to find somebody to play Tupac or even tell a story about him. He was like the most complex man in the past decades! It's like making another Mona Lisa with a cell phone. It's not gonna work!" Rap Hip-hop Urban music Ian J Griffiths guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

New Look gets old broom Posted: 21 Mar 2011 01:31 PM PDT At 62, Tom Singh retakes day-to-day control of retailer he founded in 1969 after private equity owners tire of string of profit warnings Tom Singh has resumed day-to-day management control of New Look, the retailer he founded 42 years ago, after its private equity owners lost patience with its poor performance and ousted chief executive Carl McPhail. John Gildersleeve, the group's chairman, announced his resignation at the same time. Singh, who founded New Look with a single store in Weymouth and retains 23% of the shares, was most recently a non-executive director at the group. He has assumed the title of interim executive chairman until a replacement for McPhail is found. Singh, 62, is not thought to be interested in the top job himself. The group declined to give a reason for the sudden departure of McPhail, a retail industry veteran who worked at Selfridges, Arcadia and Burton Group before joining New Look's board in 2001 and assuming the top job in April 2008. He is expected to receive a year's money as part of his departure agreement with the retailer, which is jointly controlled by private equity firms Apax and Permira. New Look added that Gildersleeve had already informed the board of his decision to move and was leaving to "focus on his other business interests". He is non-executive deputy chairman at Carphone Warehouse. Gildersleeve's departure is understood to be, in part, because he is not doing the job he was hired to do – chair a public company – after a planned flotation was pulled at the last minute in February last year. The management restructure came as little surprise to analysts after a terrible 18 months which saw three profit warnings and a relocation of its head office from its roots in Weymouth to London. The relocation was so unpopular that a third of the 300 staff refused to move, leaving New Look without important buying, merchandise and design personnel and forcing the group to hastily recruit 100 new staff. McPhail acknowledged the impact of the move in November when he unveiled a 5% decline in first-half profits to £73.5m, as like-for-like sales tumbled by 4.5% in the six months to 25 September. He also blamed the disappointing interim results on "worsening market conditions" - echoing a statement he made in February last year, when he blamed the decision to pull the float on the "unfavourable market backdrop". He blamed the market in February this year, saying trading conditions in the UK had "continued to be challenging" as he announced a disappointing 9.1% decline in like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to 8 January. While analysts agreed it was a difficult market, they believed that was only part of the reason for New Look's woes. The chain has underperformed its rivals and lost almost half its value in 2010, according to SVG Capital, the listed company that is invested in the retailer through its association with Permira. New Look has also suffered as Primark, a key competitor, poached its head of menswear, Steve Lawton, last summer, while Barbara Horspool, the retailer's group design director, resigned last month to take up a post at Oasis. Ramona Tipnis, an analyst at Shore Capital, said: "New Look's like-for-like sales are the weakest in the market. It is a tough market, but they are underperforming, suffering a little bit more and they need to go back to basics and get their product sorted out." The UK's second largest womenswear retailer – with about 1,000 stores worldwide and about 670 in the UK – suffered by "going too young" although it is now targeting slightly older customers again, Tipnis said. This point was acknowledged by Alastair Miller, the finance director, when he revealed disappointing Christmas results. "We probably went slightly young in the ranges," he said. New design, merchandising and buying teams, he said, were "inexperienced in New Look's way of constructing ranges and buying product." Miller said New Look particularly struggled to offload its ranges of tops – some of which analysts said appeared to be targeting customers in their teens and early twenties – given that the average age of its shopper was 32. Tipnis said that New Look's debts were too high and took issue with the large "pay-in-kind" (PIK) component, where interest rolls up and is repaid in a lump sum at the end of the term. The PIK note was taken on to pay a dividend to New Look's backers and management and may have proved the last straw for potential investors. New Look had planned to raise £650m to cut its £1bn debt rather than to invest in the company. Would-be investors reasoned that the majority of the float proceeds had been earmarked to pay off an expensive PIK loan that benefited New Look's existing shareholders. Nick Bubb, analyst at Arden Partners, said: "If they had gone public a year ago it would have been disastrous for shareholders. It's not just the move, or the snow. The retailer needs to strengthen its market position and its identity in an increasingly competitive market, where Primark is bigger and better and stronger than ever. "New Look has lost its way over the years. It's origin is in very small sea-side stores. It has increased its store sizes over the years but without having something distinctive to put there." • Tom Singh's decision takes him down a well-worn path as founders and chief executives seek to restore the flailing businesses they established, or transformed, by returning to the helm. The best known example is Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. He left in 1984 after losing a power struggle with the board, only to return in 1996 and take up the chief executive reins a year later. Closer to home, Steve Morgan, who bought ailing Wellington Civil Engineers and transformed it into the builder, Redrow, left in 2000 after 26 years, only to rejoin in 2009. New Look Retail industry Private equity Tom Bawden guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Classic case of plagiarism? Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:40 AM PDT Victorian writer Ada J Graves's granddaughter believes pivotal scene was 'lifted' from The House by the Railway It is arguably the single most memorable episode of E Nesbit's much-loved children's book The Railway Children. The three children, Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis, playing close to the railway line, witness a landslide on to the tracks, and bravely save a train from crashing into it by waving warning flags made from the girls' red flannel petticoats. And when they succeed in stopping the train – in the nick of time – Bobbie falls down in a dead faint. But it has now emerged that the dramatic episode may not have been purely the result of Nesbit's imagination. Another children's book – published in 1896, nine years before The Railway Children appeared – includes an episode seemingly too similar for coincidence alone. In The House by the Railway by little-known writer Ada J Graves, middle-class children from the suburbs move to the countryside with their mother, just as Bobbie and her siblings do, and save a train from crashing into an obstacle on the line by waving a red jacket to halt it in its tracks. And, just as in The Railway Children (as seen on our TV screens each Christmas in the classic 1970 film), they are presented with engraved watches as a reward for their courage. Other similarities connect the two novels. Both books include an episode in which someone the children befriend on a passing train turns out to have a connection to somebody else in their story, and both end with an emotional family reunion. However, the particularly heart-wringing theme of The Railway Children, in which the children's father is absent because he has been wrongly imprisoned for spying, only to be dramatically freed at the end of the novel, is Nesbit's alone. Ada Graves's 64-year-old granddaughter Anne Hall-Williams, who found a copy of The House by the Railway in her late father's house, is convinced that the pivotal near-crash scene was "lifted" by Nesbit from her grandmother's book. "It is quite blatant really, the plagiarism," she says. "It is pretty obvious that Nesbit had read the earlier book. I realise that lots of authors operate in this way, but it seems a bit naughty of her. Poor Ada deserves a bit of credit." However, Kate Agnew of the Children's Bookshop, Muswell Hill, north London, was sceptical about the connection. "There was a huge sweep of railways spreading across Britain from the 1830s and it had a profound effect on the whole country, so it was inevitable that there would be children's fiction about railways," she says. "And it's a classic trope of children's adventure that the children do something crucial that saves the day. In a book about railways, that's likely to be something to do with saving a train, and red has always been the colour of danger. I don't think it's enough of a coincidence to be certain." Nesbit, born in 1858, wrote about 40 children's books in all, and had already published many of the books that would become classics – including The Wouldbegoods, Five Children and It and the Phoenix and the Carpet – by the time The Railway Children appeared in 1906. She was also a writer and lecturer on socialism, co-founding the Fabian Society alongside her husband Hubert Bland – although thanks to Bland's philandering and her own penchant for relationships with younger men, her own family life was far from the cosy ideal often presented in her novels. Agnew says Nesbit's books remain very popular with today's young readers. "She has very contemporary heroes and heroines, though they have a strong Victorian sense of duty," she says. "They have very realistic adventures, even when they are magical ones – you enter the world of magic from a shop in Kensington, for example – and children love that." Children and teenagers Benedicte Page guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Recession threatens trouble at mills Posted: 21 Mar 2011 04:55 AM PDT After escaping demolition in the 1980s, Victorian textile mills are once again facing an uncertain future, say conservationists The cathedrals of the north, with their evocative roll call of names such as Black Dyke, Titanic and Goitside, are at risk again from recession, according to conservationists and historians. The economic squeeze is reviving fears last allayed two decades ago that the UK's heritage of Victorian textile mills is under renewed threat from the ball-and-chain and bulldozer. Success stories such as Saltaire near Bradford, one of the country's biggest buildings which is now a world heritage site ranking beside Stonehenge, disguise a wider, much bleaker picture. A report highlights more than 50 architecturally important mills in Bradford alone that face an uncertain future. "Wander for 10 minutes in any direction in one of England's northern cities, and you'll find a mill in trouble," said Nigel Grizzard, a Leeds-based historian and organiser of Our Northern Mills, which has monitored the situation since the last crisis in the 1980s. "Many people have a rosy belief that the problem has been solved, but the reality is that hundreds of buildings are in serious difficulty." The crisis follows the stalling of the market for housing conversions, which put a premium on the sturdy buildings – stone in Yorkshire and brick in Lancashire – as characterful urban housing. Small and medium-sized firms using former wool and cotton mills as "business clusters" with communal facilities are also feeling the pinch, as well as the cost of maintenance and restrictions caused by listing as architecturally or historically important. In Greater Manchester the textile firm Leigh Spinners, which has diversified over a century from cotton and carpets to making synthetic grass for football pitches, has been seeking a buyer for 18 months for its Grade II* listed, 3.4-hectare (8.5-acre) mill to move to somewhere more modern. The company's managing director, Peter Horrocks, said the firm, and its 40 staff, were "trapped" in the vast premises, which English Heritage considers one of the finest of its kind in the north-west. He appealed to the government to relax laws on adapting mills, including limited demolition of unwanted space. The sheer size of the buildings means that even successful complexes such as Saltaire, or Dean Clough in Halifax, which was once the largest carpet-making factory in the world, have room for new tenants. "Most of them could find you 100,000 sq ft if you were looking for space," said Grizzard. "But for all the problems of recession, that's the way we should be going. These are amazing buildings, built in a time of cheap materials and labour to a level of quality that we can seldom match today." A conference hosted last week by Our Northern Mills at Saltaire heard details of a series of thriving conversions, including the local Victoria mill, whose worsted production system– from newly sheared sheep fleeces arriving on the top floor to high-quality suits emerging from the bottom one – now houses 440 flats. The complex has grown through seven years and £80m-worth of conversion and new-build, financed by a steady increase in residents from 200 in 2006 to more than 600 today. "It's a fantastic place, as is Saltaire," said Grizzard. "So are the lofts and apartments which Urban Splash is making at Manningham mills," (another behemoth of a building whose silk and velvet products were rated the finest in the UK in Victorian times). "Potential development is still there, but needs a hand from a thorough survey of mills at risk. We've got to raise the profile of these truly important buildings." At Leigh, English Heritage is hoping to broker talks between Leigh Spinners and developers with a track record of conversions. Although large-scale schemes may be on hold until better economic times, a spokeswoman said that grants for repairs were likely to be available and feasibility studies could be funded by a local heritage trust – a model that has triggered rescues elsewhere. Revival may also be helped by concern over threats to green belts around the UK's urban areas. Most mills are on urban "brownfield" land, which local authorities and central government are targeting as the best place for new retail parks and homes. Frances Armitage-Smith, a Manchester architect with specialist experience of mills, said: "These buildings have already demonstrated their adaptability over time. Mill space is commonly rented out cheaply as warehousing, but could support more beneficial new uses cost effectively, especially as building land in many northern cities is now at a premium because developers have been land-banking during the recession." Our Northern Mills is planning a larger conference and workshop later this year, supplemented by a TV documentary and online campaign. The last major renaissance for northern mills, following a crisis in the 1980s when even Saltaire and Dean Clough were in danger of demolition, began when entrepreneurs moved in at the nadir of the property slump. One in danger – Bradford Conditioning House – is an ornate monument to the city's textile heyday, built by a special act of parliament in 1887 to test wool for diseases such as anthrax. The only one in the UK, its scientific status was marked by ornately carved sandstone and fine ironwork, but it was declared redundant and closed by the city council in 1990. Since then, a succession of conversion schemes have stalled or foundered, including headquarters for the regional Revenue & Customs and a retail village. The condition of the unique complex, which included a Moth Room to study insect infestation and a Light Room to check colour fastness, is causing increasing concern. One saved mill – Redbrick Mill in Batley, West Yorkshire – was a rundown complex two decades ago, left over from the "shoddy and mungo" industries, the Cinderella of the textile industry in which rags and scrap cloth were pulped and reformed.. A rescue in 1999 by the entrepreneur Steven Battye, who failed the 11-plus but went on to found the Skopos design firm, saw conversion to a retail centre whose designer outlets and stores, including Heals and Conran, still have locals blinking. Battye, who died last year, said optimism was the key. "We took a building worth practically nothing and turned it into a magnet for all kinds of firms who would otherwise not be in this part of West Yorkshire." Heritage Regeneration Communities Conservation Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

What next for Edinburgh's Traverse? Posted: 21 Mar 2011 09:09 AM PDT Should it be run by writers? Take over the King's? With director Dominic Hill heading for Glasgow, now is the time for the Traverse to get experimental once again The rumours were right. Dominic Hill, the most widely tipped candidate in the theatre bars of Scotland, has landed the job of artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens theatre. He will move to Gorbals Street in October after directing Philip Massinger's The City Madam at the RSC in May, and overseeing his final Edinburgh fringe season as artistic director of the Traverse in August. The first indication of his plans for the Citz comes in an interview with the Herald, in which he proposes to reinvent the theatre and put classical work on the main stage: "I want to draw on the history of the building," he tells the newspaper, "and what that stage is brilliant at doing – theatre that is both epic and intimate, with a dynamic, almost rough quality to it that is both exciting to be part of and to see." For the Citizens, it is an opportunity to reclaim the reputation it once had under the long-serving directorial triumvirate of Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and the late Robert David MacDonald who, in the early 1970s, established the company as an outpost of exotic European style. It was a tough act to follow and Jeremy Raison, who stepped down as artistic director in October after seven years, cannot be blamed if he did not live up to it. Hill may fare better. His accolades at the critics' awards for theatre in Scotland say it all. First at Dundee Rep then at the Traverse, he has picked up the best production award three times – for Scenes from an Execution (2004), Peer Gynt (2008) and The Dark Things (2010). In two of those years he was fending off competition from his own productions. Where, though, does that leave the Traverse, Scotland's self-styled home of new writing? Hill's departure has come round sooner than the Cambridge Street theatre would have liked, but he has made his mark both in the productions themselves (other highlights include Edward Albee's The Goat and Chris Hannan's The Three Musketeers and the Princess of Spain) and in the general level of activity in the building. Having brought Manipulate, the adult puppetry festival, with him from Dundee, he introduced a cross-disciplinary autumn festival and supported a raft of music and script-reading nights, helping create more of a buzz at the venue, even if the famous bar is not the social fulcrum it once was. It would not be a disaster if his replacement simply offered more of the same. Directors who might want to consider the job and have strong new-writing credentials include John Tiffany, of the National Theatre of Scotland, Roxana Silbert, ex-Paines Plough and now with the RSC, and former Traverse associate director Lorne Campbell. But what more radical possibilities are there? What could happen to make the Traverse not merely good but essential? One option would be to remember the theatre's core function and hand it over to the playwrights. That British theatres tend to be run by directors is not an inevitability. There was a time in the 1980s, for example, when the Liverpool Playhouse was run by Alan Bleasdale, Chris Bond, Bill Morrison and Willy Russell. And Alan Ayckbourn set a powerful precedent in Scarborough. Put in a call to the Scottish Society of Playwrights and a very different vision of how the theatre should be run might emerge. Or maybe it's time for the Traverse to catch up with performance art again. The theatre's origins lie in the experimental work of the 1960s, but today's Edinburgh audiences have to venture to Glasgow, and venues such as the Arches and the Tramway, for their avant garde fix (although, to be fair, Glasgow audiences often have to venture to Edinburgh for a decent play). Third suggestion: what about exploiting the close proximity of the Traverse, the Royal Lyceum and the King's (which, after all, is struggling to make ends meet) and putting them all under a single heavy-hitting artistic management? A big-name international director might not be enticed by the Traverse on its own, but might relish the flexibility of working on four different-sized stages and developing a dynamic relationship between them. It'd be a big organisational shift, but perhaps it could change the list of candidates from the usual suspects to the truly inspirational. Theatre Mark Fisher guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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