The Guardian World News

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• Explosion at stricken Japan nuclear plant
• Europeans: liberal, anxious and don't trust politicians
• Sixth journalist in hacking scandal
• Crowley quits over Manning remarks
• Gaddafi routs rebels in eastern town
• Saudi forces prepare to enter Bahrain
• Israel plans settlements after killing
• Lib Dems belong in 'radical centre'
• NY bus 'hit by lorry' before crash
• Rattigan play wins four Oliviers
• Wisconsin senators in defiant return
• Up to 20% of school staff 'to lose jobs'
• Child trafficking in Scotland 'scandal'
• Damilola killer returned to prison
• Robbers take Spanish nuns' cash
• 'You must make yourself interesting'
• Is this the world's heaviest cookbook?
• The tug and pull of nonstop talk

Explosion at stricken Japan nuclear plant Posted: 13 Mar 2011 08:54 PM PDT A second reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant has exploded but officials say there is a 'low possibility' of a dangerous radiation leak Read the latest information in the Guardian's live blog Japan's nuclear crisis has deepened after a second reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant exploded on Monday morning. Officials said there was a low possibility that the blast had released radioactive material into the air. The wall of the building housing the No. 3 reactor collapsed in the explosion, which occurred at 11:01am local time. Tokyo Electric Power Company said three workers have been injured and seven are missing. Television footage showed a brief red flash followed by a large plume of white smoke. The blast came two days after a similar explosion at the No. 1 reactor, which occurred after hydrogen ignited when it mixed with oxygen. Officials had said that coolant levels were lower than usual in the reactor and pressure was higher than normal at the time of the explosion. The government's top spokesman, Yukio Edano, said there was a "low possibility" of a dangerous radiation leak, adding that water was still being pumped into the reactor to cool it down. The Dainiichi plant and neighbouring Fukushima Daini plants have suffered multiple failures if cooling systems after Friday's earthquake and tsunami on Japan's north-east coast. There were no immediate reports of a rise in radiation levels around the plant, but Edano said the government was still collecting information. He told reporters that the head of the plant had told him the reactor and its container vessel were both still intact. About 600 people still living within a 20 km radius of the plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, have been ordered to remain indoors. A spokesman for Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency spokesman said a worst-case scenario had been avoided. But he added that residents inside the 20km exclusion zone had been ordered to stay indoors and close all windows. The explosion coincided with tsunami warning for the coasts of Fukushima and Iwate prefectures. But the meteorological agency later said there was no indication that a tsunami was about to arrive. Japan earthquake and tsunami Japan Nuclear power Natural disasters and extreme weather Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Europeans: liberal, anxious and don't trust politicians Posted: 13 Mar 2011 02:07 PM PDT Guardian/ICM survey in five EU countries shows people see a bleak economic future and don't think their leaders will deliver Europe's hope of a better future is faltering, as the financial crisis and spending cuts bite, according to a Guardian/ICM poll of five leading EU countries. It finds trust in government at rock bottom and widespread fear of further economic decline. Few people are convinced that the present signs of recovery can be sustained. The poll was carried out online using a representative sample of more than 5,000 people of working age in five leading EU states – Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. It paints a picture of a continent confident in its liberal values and still mostly committed to EU institutions such as the euro and the free movement of people between states, but notably hostile to state spending and political leaders. Carried out at the start of a month-long Guardian series examining Europe in the wake of recession, the poll makes it clear that few Europeans believe the worst of the economic crisis is over. A majority are also against immediate cuts in government spending. The result is a crisis in European democracy. While people are divided on the need for state spending cuts and the speed with which they should take place, very few in the five states surveyed trust their politicians to deal with the problems facing their countries – or even their honesty. Only 6% of people across Europe say they have a great deal of trust in their government, 46% say they have not very much and 32% none at all. Only 9% of Europeans think their politicians – in opposition or in power – act with honesty and integrity. The lack of trust in government is greatest in Poland and France, where distrust outweighs trust by a net 82 percentage points. In France, the net negative score is 78 points and in Germany 80 points. Only Britain breaks the consensus somewhat, with a net negative score of 66 points. Even fewer Europeans think their politicians are honest. In Poland, only 3% of those questioned agree; in Spain 8%; in Germany 10%; in France 11%; in Britain 12%. Overall, the percentage of those who think politicians are not at all, or not very, honest outweighs those who disagree by a massive 89 percentage points. Political anxiety appears to be fuelled by deep economic worries. Overall, 40% of those polled think their economy will get worse over the next 12 months, against 20% who think it will improve. Only in Germany are more people optimistic than pessimistic. Economic anxiety is greatest in France, where pessimists outnumber optimists by a net difference of 46 points. In Britain, the difference is 40 points and in Poland 30 points. Spain is more optimistic, with a net difference of 18 points – which could be explained by few people in the country thinking things can get worse than they already are. There are also signs of hope: except in Poland, people on balance are more likely to think things will get "a little worse" (26% of those polled) than "a lot worse" (21%). And others (31%) think things will simply stay the same. Europe is not in economic depression. But on the other hand there is limited hope for the future expressed in the EU's traditional economic powerhouses of Germany and France. Almost three-quarters of the French questioned think they will be worse off in a decade than they are now. In Germany – despite its recovery – over half think the same. In Britain, a majority think the next decade will either leave them poorer or, at best, no better off. Only a quarter think Britain will get richer over the next 10 years. Only in the more recent EU entrants of Spain and Poland is there significant optimism. In Poland, almost half think they will end up better off in a decade; in Spain, a majority think this. Both countries have experienced rapid growth within recent memory as a result of EU entry. The poll focused on national attitudes rather than those to the EU as a whole. But despite economic worries and the cost of bailing out Greece and Ireland, EU states already using the euro want to keep it. Overall, 68% questioned in the three euro countries – France, Spain and Germany – are in favour of retaining it. Spain (71%) is keenest, followed by France (60%). But a majority of Germans (59%) also want to keep the euro despite national concern about the Greek bailout. However, a narrow plurality of Poles (48% to 40%) oppose their country joining the single currency as is planned. ICM interviewed a random sample of 5,023 adults in five EU states aged 18–64 from its online panel between 24 February and 8 March, 2011. In order to achieve a nationally representative sample within each country, quotas were set by gender, age and region. At the data analysis stage, data were weighted to the profile of all adults aged 18-64 in each country Europe European Union Euro France Germany Poland Spain Euro European debt crisis Recession Julian Glover guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Sixth journalist in hacking scandal Posted: 13 Mar 2011 11:07 AM PDT Hacker hired by senior News of the World executive to intercept emails, BBC documentary says The News of the World phone-hacking scandal is set to reach a new peak of embarrassment for the paper and for Scotland Yard with the naming of the sixth and most senior journalist yet to be implicated in illegal news-gathering. A BBC Panorama programme claims that Alex Marunchak, formerly the paper's senior executive editor, commissioned a specialist snooper who illegally intercepted email messages from a target's computer and faxed copies of them to Marunchak's News of the World office. The embarrassment is heightened by the fact that the target was a former British army intelligence officer who had served in Northern Ireland and was in possession of secrets which were deemed so sensitive that they had been suppressed by a court order. Rupert Murdoch's News International, which owns the News of the World, has claimed repeatedly that only one of its journalists – the former royal correspondent, Clive Goodman – was involved in illegal news-gathering. When Goodman was jailed in January 2007, Scotland Yard chose not to interview any other journalist or executive on the paper. And Panorama reports that the illegal interception of emails happened in July 2006, when the prime minister's former media adviser Andy Coulson was editing the paper. Coulson has given evidence to a parliamentary select committee and on oath at a criminal trial, denying that he knew anything of any illegal activity during his seven years at the News of the World. Panorama obtained details of a fax sent to the office of Marunchak on 5 July 2006, apparently containing copies of emails which had been written by Ian Hurst, a former army intelligence officer. Marunchak was then based in the News of the World's Dublin office, editing the Irish edition. Hurst was believed to be involved in writing a book titled Stakeknife, eventually published under the pseudonym Martin Ingram, which details the alleged involvement of British intelligence in assassinations in Northern Ireland. Hurst had been the subject of court orders obtained by the Ministry of Defence. Panorama traced Hurst and showed him the fax. He confirmed on camera that the emails had come from his computer. "The hairs on the back of my head are up," he told them. Hurst then contacted a specialist hacker who he suspected was responsible, met him in a local hotel and confronted him, while the BBC secretly filmed the exchange. The hacker – whose name cannot be revealed for separate legal reasons – confessed his role and added: "It weren't that hard. I sent you an email that you opened, and that's it ... I sent it from a bogus address ... Now it's gone. It shouldn't even remain on the hard drive ... I think I programmed it to stay on for three months." Hurst then asked the hacker who had commissioned him to do this. The hacker replied: "The faxes would go to Dublin ... He was the editor of the News of the World for Ireland. A Slovak-type name. I can't remember his fucking name. Alex, his name is. Marunchak." Marunchak declined to answer questions when the BBC confronted him. The BBC claim that Marunchak was introduced to the specialist hacker by Jonathan Rees, the private investigator whose involvement with corrupt police officers was detailed by the Guardian on Saturday. Internal News International records show that Marunchak regularly employed Rees from the late 1990s, and that during 2006, the News of the World paid Rees more than £4,000 for research relating to Stakeknife, the codename for the British intelligence mole inside the IRA whose activities were known to Ian Hurst. Marunchak is the sixth News of the World journalist to be implicated in the affair. Documents published by the Guardian in 2009 include an email containing the transcripts of 35 illegally intercepted voicemail messages, sent by a junior reporter, Ross Hindley, for the chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck. Paperwork disclosed in court cases suggests that Clive Goodman, Ian Edmondson and Greg Miskiw commissioned phone-hacking. Goodman was jailed; Edmondson has been sacked but not charged with any offence; Miskiw is believed to have been interviewed by police in 2005 but never charged with any offence. Monday's edition of Panorama includes an interview with Sean Hoare, the News of the World's former showbusiness writer, who last year told the New York Times that Andy Coulson had actively encouraged him to hack voicemail. Hoare tells the programme that the news desk commissioned private investigators to access targets' bank accounts, phone records, mortgage accounts and health records. The former deputy assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard, Brian Paddick, who believes his own voicemail may have been intercepted on behalf of the News of the World, told the programme "I think that the new investigation should be carried out by an external force and it should be independently supervised. Otherwise, certainly some of the victims of phone-hacking will not be satisfied that the thing has been investigated thoroughly." In a separate development, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, has taken the unusual step of publicly challenging a senior serving police officer, who has been closely involved in the hacking affair. In a letter published in the Guardian, Starmer accuses the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police John Yates of quoting him out of context in attempting to justify evidence which he has given to two parliamentary select committees. In the House of Commons last week, Chris Bryant MP said that Yates had misled the committees by claiming that it is illegal to hack voicemail messages only if they have not already been heard by the intended recipient. This was a key factor in justifying the Yard's claim that there was only a small number of victims of the News of the World's activities. Yates wrote to the Guardian defending his position and quoting a sentence from evidence submitted by the DPP's office to one of the select committees. However, in his letter to the Guardian, Keir Starmer says it was "regrettable" that Yates used this sentence out of context; that the original prosecution did not use this interpretation of the law; and that this interpretation had no bearing on the charges brought or the legal proceedings generally. "The issue simply did not arise," he writes. News of the World Phone hacking Andy Coulson News Corporation News International Rupert Murdoch Newspapers Nick Davies guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Crowley quits over Manning remarks Posted: 13 Mar 2011 10:53 AM PDT WikiLeaks disclosure of classified US files claims first Obama administration scalp as state department spokesman quits PJ Crowley, the official spokesman at the state department, has fallen on his sword after calling the treatment of Bradley Manning, the alleged source of the WikiLeaks files, "counterproductive and stupid". The resignation followed Crowley's remarks to an MIT seminar last week about Manning's treatment in military prison. Crowley had said: "What is being done to Bradley Manning is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid on the part of the department of defence." The remarks forced President Obama to address for the first time the issue of Manning's handling at Quantico marine base in Virginia. Obama defended the way Manning is being treated, saying he had been reassured by the Pentagon that his confinement was appropriate. In a resignation letter, Crowley said he took full responsibility for his remarks. Though he attacked the leaking of classified information, which he called "a serious crime under US law", he stood by his earlier criticism of the Pentagon. In words that could cause further difficulty for Obama, Crowley said his comments "were intended to highlight the broader, even strategic impact of discreet actions undertaken by national security agencies every day and their impact on our global standing and leadership. The exercise of power in today's challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values." When Obama entered the White House, he made improving the global standing of the US one of the key aims of his administration. He also denounced the extreme treatment of detainees by George W Bush as running counter to the national interest. In her letter, Hilary Clinton said that "with regret" she had accepted Crowley's departure. "PJ has served our nation with distinction for more than three decades, in uniform and as a civilian," she said. The resignation means that the furore over Manning has reached inner circles of the Obama administration. Manning has been held in solitary confinement for the past 10 months. He is being subjected to a prevention of injury order, which sees him kept in his cell for 23 hours a day and stripped naked at night. The maximum security regime he is under in Quantico has been denounced by many, including Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers on the Vietnam war, as a form of torture. The UN is also investigating. Commentators have pointed out the apparent double standards behind Crowley's departure. Glenn Greenwald, a Salon reporter who has been outspoken about Manning's detention, tweeted that "detainee abuse is allowed, speaking out against it isn't". Last week, Manning gave his own account of how he is being held, saying that it was harsh treatment designed to punish him even before he was put on trial. He said he was stripped naked every night after he made a sarcastic comment to guards about the absurdity of the regime he was under. Manning has been charged with multiple counts relating to the leaking of thousands of secret US embassy cables, as well as videos and warlogs from Afghanistan and Iraq. He was arrested last May at a US military base outside Baghdad, where he had been working as an intelligence specialist. Bradley Manning United States WikiLeaks US politics Obama administration Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Gaddafi routs rebels in eastern town Posted: 13 Mar 2011 06:53 AM PDT Rebels driven out of town of Brega under heavy bombardment as pro-regime forces advance towards Benghazi Time was running out for Libya's revolution last night as Muammar Gaddafi's forces routed rebels in the east of the country, driving them into retreat from the town of Brega under a rain of rockets and shells, and opening up the road to the principal opposition stronghold, Benghazi. With western countries paralysed by disagreements over military intervention, the exhausted and terrified rebel army piled into pickup trucks with machine-guns mounted on the back or towing anti-aircraft guns and raced away from a sustained assault by rocket launchers and artillery to which they were ill equipped to respond. The Gaddafi forces' advance came as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, prepared to travel to the region to meet representatives of the rebels' revolutionary council. Clinton's trip follows an unprecedented Arab League call for the imposition of a UN-backed, western-led no-fly zone to assist the rebels. But with pro-regime forces advancing rapidly eastwards and encamped around Libya's third city, Misrata, and with President Barack Obama still resisting pressure for a no-fly zone, it seemed increasingly likely that any western help might come too late to save the uprising from defeat. Suliman Refadi, a doctor fleeing Brega hospital, said the town had come under intense bombardment. "They shot 40 to 60 rockets at the same time. The sky was raining with rockets, with shrapnel. There was heavy artillery. Then they advanced," he said. "It was impossible to stay." Refadi said the victims included a seven-year-old boy who had lost part of his brain and was expected to die. He said he also saw four civilians, three men and a woman, dead beside the road. State television in Tripoli said: "Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs." The rebel military commander, Abdel Fattah Younis, Gaddafi's former interior minister who defected to the revolutionaries, last night described the chaotic retreat as a tactical withdrawal and promised a vigorous defence of the next major town threatened by the regime's forces, Ajdabiya. The town of 135,000 people is the last major obstacle for Gaddafi's forces before Benghazi, the seat of the revolutionary council, 100 miles up the coast. Younis said Gaddafi's forces had been principally concerned with seizing control of oil facilities during their gains of recent days. He said that while they have been able to cross large areas of desert they would not be able to overcome resistance in larger towns still held by the revolutionaries which had already driven Gaddafi's forces out, sometimes in fierce fighting, at the beginning of the uprising nearly a month ago. "What we're trying to do is draw him into a situation where the fight is more even," Younis went on. "Ajdabiya is very important and we feel that [Gaddafi] will have some serious difficulties ... In all the eastern cities [under rebel control], all the people are armed. In the unlikely event our armed forces fail, he will face the people." But while Younis pledged to fight for Benghazi street by street, some residents were openly discussing escape routes to Egypt. Retreating rebels complained about the lack of tangible support from foreign governments. "Where is France? Where is America? Why don't they give us the big guns to fight?" said Wanis Kilani, a uniformed rebel driving a pickup truck with a machine-gun mounted on the back. The regime's assault on Brega came after it seized control of the oil town of Ras Lanuf on Saturday. With the rebel line broken, Gaddafi's forces had little trouble moving on to Brega about 90 miles away. Ajdabiya is a gateway to Benghazi and the oil refineries of Tobruk, also under rebel control. Ajdabiya sits on a junction, with one branch leading to Benghazi and the other to the oil refineries of Tobruk, which is also under rebel control. Clinton was to travel to Egypt and Tunisia on Tuesday, her first visit since the recent popular uprisings. Officials from the Benghazi-based rebel council are expected to travel to meet her. The venue and timing of the meeting have not been disclosed. It was not immediately clear whether Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, would also seek to make contact with the Libyan rebels. Like the US, the EU has demanded Gaddafi's resignation and an end to the violence but has stopped short of endorsing military intervention. The Arab League's unanimous decision at the weekend to ask the UN security council to impose a no-fly zone was an extraordinary step, given its historical opposition to western intervention in the region. Describing Gaddafi's government as "illegitimate", the league has suspended Libya's membership and begun talks with the rebels, although it has not formally recognised the council in Benghazi. The league's decision, which highlighted "serious crimes and great violations" by the Libyan regime, increased pressure on Obama to drop US objections to a no-fly zone. The US, Nato and the EU say military intervention would be justified if there were demonstrable need to prevent criminal atrocities on the ground, if there were a sound legal basis (such as a new UN security council resolution) and if there were strong regional support. Some US officials doubt whether a no-fly zone would make any difference to the outcome, as most of the regime's attacks use ground forces. William Hague, the foreign secretary, suggested the requirement for regional support had been all but satisfied. "In brutally repressing a popular uprising by his own people, it is clear [Gaddafi] is isolated and ignoring the will of the international community. The Arab League call for a NFZ [no-fly zone] is significant and provides important regional support to the option of creating a NFZ," he said. France also welcomed the Arab League decision and said it was stepping up efforts to get UN agreement for action. But while the White House said the league's declaration of support was an "important step", it did not say whether it viewed it as definitive. Attention may soon shift to the UN security council, where British and French diplomats, supported by Lebanon, have drawn up a draft resolution on a no-fly zone on a contingency basis. Libya Middle East Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East protests Chris McGreal Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Saudi forces prepare to enter Bahrain Posted: 13 Mar 2011 06:14 PM PDT Crown Prince of Bahrain expected to invite Saudi support following anti-government demonstrations in capital Saudi forces are preparing to intervene in neighbouring Bahrain, after a day of clashes between police and protesters who mounted the most serious challenge to the island's royal family since demonstrations began a month ago. The Crown Prince of Bahrain is expected to formally invite security forces from Saudi Arabia into his country today, as part of a request for support from other members of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council. Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday cut off Bahrain's financial centre and drove back police trying to eject them from the capital's central square, while protesters also clashed with government supporters on the campus of the main university. Amid the revolt Bahrain also faces a potential sectarian conflict between the ruling minority of Sunnis Muslims and a majority of Shia Muslims, around 70% of the kingdom's 525,000 residents. The crown prince, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, said in a televised statement that Bahrain had "witnessed tragic events" during a month of unprecedented political unrest. Warning that "the right to security and safety is above all else", he added: "Any legitimate claims must not be made at the expanse of security and stability." The crown prince has also promised that national dialogue would look at increasing the power of Bahrain's parliament, and that any deal could be put to nationwide referendum. However, some protesters have pressed their demands further to call for the toppling of the Sunni dynasty. The unrest is being closely watched in Saudi Arabia, where Shia are some 15% of the population. The secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Attiya, expressed the "full solidarity with Bahrain's leadership and people", adding that "safeguarding security and stability in one country is a collective responsibility". In an apparent reference to Iran, which Gulf Arab ruling elites fear may capitalise on an uprising by Shiites in Bahrain, he also expresssed "strong rejection of any foreign interference in the kingdom's internal affairs, asserting that any acts aiming to destabilise the kingdom and sow dissension between its citizens represent a dangerous encroachment on the whole GCC security and stability." Reports that the Saudi National Guard was poised to enter Bahrain were cited by the Foreign Office, alongside a recent increase in protests, as it changed its advice to advise British citizens against all travel to Bahrain. Earlier on Sunday, police moved in on Pearl Square, a site of occupation by members of Bahrain's Shia majority, who are calling for an elected government and equality with Bahrain's Sunnis. Witnesses said security forces surrounded the protesters' tent compound, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at the activists in the largest effort to clear the square since a crackdown last month that left four dead after live ammunition was fired. Activists tried to stand their ground yesterday and chanted "Peaceful, peaceful" as the crowd swelled into thousands, with protesters streaming to the square to reinforce the activists' lines, forcing the police to pull back by the early afternoon. At Bahrain University, Shia demonstrators and government supporters held competing protests that descended into violence when plainclothes pro-government backers and security forces forced students blocking the campus main gate to seek refuge in classrooms and lecture halls, the Associated Press reported. The latest demonstrations took place a day after the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, visited Bahrain and said that the Khalifa family must go beyond "baby steps" reform and enact substantial economic and political change. Bahrain Saudi Arabia Middle East Protest Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Israel plans settlements after killing Posted: 13 Mar 2011 11:20 AM PDT 500 more homes to be built in West Bank in response to the murder of five members of a Jewish settler family Israel is to build hundreds of homes in West Bank settlements in response to the murder of five members of a Jewish settler family, including two children and a baby, believed to be the work of Palestinian militants. The events of the weekend are likely to further push back the prospects of renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The decision to approve 500 housing units was taken on Saturday night, less than 24 hours after the Fogel family were attacked with knives as they slept in their home in the isolated settlement of Itamar, deep in the West Bank. All five had their throats slit. Thousands of people attended their funeral in Jerusalem on Sunday. Three children in the family survived. The homes are to be built in the large settlement blocks which Israel expects to keep under any peace agreement with the Palestinians. It is the biggest tranche of construction announced since the end of the settlement freeze almost six months ago. Some members of the Israeli cabinet pushed for a more radical response to the family's murder. Interior minister Eli Yishai, of the pro-settlement, rightwing Shas party, said Israel should build "at least a thousand new homes for each person murdered". Housing minister Ariel Atias, also of Shas, said: "We must strengthen the settlement, and the time is now." The move signals a stiffening of the Israeli government's stance in the face of international pressure for a gesture to encourage peace talks to resume. The prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, had been expected to propose an interim Palestinian state on temporary borders, but analysts suggested that may now be shelved. The Palestinian Authority said the construction announcement was aimed at addressing Netanyahu's domestic political problems within his fragile coalition. It would not "cause the Palestinians to forego their right to independence and freedom," said a spokesman, Ahmad Assaf. Further details of Friday night's attack emerged amid criticism that security procedures at the settlement had not been properly observed. The attacker or attackers scaled Itamar's perimeter fence, triggering an alarm. Settlement security investigated but failed to notify the Israeli military. The intruders waited inside the settlement for some time after identifying their target, then entered the Fogels' house through a window. Two children were killed first, then the father, who was asleep with his baby daughter, and then the mother, who, it was reported, attempted to shoot the attackers with the family's gun. The attackers then escaped over the perimeter fence, triggering a second alarm. The bodies were discovered by the Fogels' 12-year-old daughter, who had been attending a youth event in the settlement. Two other children in the house were physically unharmed. The surviving children were being cared for by their grandparents and social workers. Graphic photographs of the bloodsoaked bodies were yesterday emailed to journalists by the settlers' Yesha council and a Jerusalem public relations firm. Government officials considered distributing the photographs, but decided against the move. The hunt for the attackers continued for a second daywith a heavy police and military presence in Palestinian towns and villages around Itamar. At least 20 men were arrested in the nearby village of Awarta. Security forces were also on alert against reprisal attacks by hardline settlers. The defence minister, Ehud Barak, said the "iron fist of the IDF [Israeli Defence Force] and the Shin Bet [intelligence service] will quickly land on the murderers". They will be caught, brought to justice and made to pay, he added. The funeral of the five victims drew thousands of people to a cemetery on the edge of Jerusalem, causing gridlock as hundreds tried to get to the burial site up to an hour after the scheduled start of the service. Helicopters passed overhead as Chief rabbi Yona Metzger told the crowd that the attackers had only succeeded in uniting Israelis. Settlement expansion should accelerate in response to the murders, he added. "Another neighbourhood, that's the answer. More building, that's the answer," he said. Reuven Rivlin, the Knesset speaker, said: "We will live, we will continue to build and to plant, we will continue to grip on to the land of Israel. More construction, more life, more hanging on to the land. This is our answer to the murderers." The Palestinian news agency, Maan, reported a number of incidents in the West Bank on Saturday night after the end of the Jewish sabbath, in which settlers attacked or harassed people in villages and towns. Itamar, which is home to about 100 families, is a deeply nationalist and religious settlement near the Palestinian city of Nablus. The area has seen frequent clashes in the past. Israel Middle East Palestinian territories Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Lib Dems belong in 'radical centre' Posted: 13 Mar 2011 09:11 AM PDT Liberal Democrat leader rejects 'tribalism of left and right' after party votes to affirm commitment to social democracy Nick Clegg has told Liberal Democrat delegates that they are now the party of the "radical centre", hours after the party voted to commit itself to the traditions and beliefs of social democracy. In his address wrapping up the party's two-day conference, Clegg pushed ahead in his attempt to redefine the Lib Dems. His speech rejected the "tribalism of left and right" and instead made its pitch to middle-income earners – "alarm clock Britain". Clegg said: "We are liberals and we own the freehold to the centre ground of British politics. Our politics is the politics of the radical centre. We are governing from the middle, for the middle. "Lloyd George's 'people's budget' to make the wealthy pay their fair share and give a pension to all those who had worked hard. Keynes's plans to make our economy work for everyone and provide jobs for all. Beveridge's radical blueprint for a welfare state to give security and dignity to every citizen. They may not have called it alarm clock Britain but they had the same people in mind. "We are not the heirs to Thatcher. We are not the heirs to Blair. We are the heirs to Mill, Lloyd George, Keynes, Beveridge, Grimond. We are the true radicals of British politics." The two other traditions in British politics had failed middle-income earners, he said, "because both of those political traditions forget about people and place their faith in institutions. For the left, an obsession with the state. For the right, a worship of the market. As liberals, we place our faith in people." While he sought to persuade his party that they were now at the centre of British politics, delegates had earlier passed a strategy paper that called for the Lib Dems to fight as a party of social democracy. The motion that was passed said: "The UK Liberal Democrats are based firmly in the historical and global traditions of the liberal and social democratic philosophy and beliefs." At the opening rally on Friday night, the party president, Tim Farron, said: "In the old days, some people would say the Lib Dems are a party of the centre-left. That is the party I still belong to." the party's deputy leader, Simon Hughes, said: "Our job is to be, yes, an alternative to the Tories. But our job is to replace Labour as the radical alternative to the Tories in Britain." The public pronouncements by Hughes and Farron are slightly at odds with some ministers who have come to accept they may fight the next election on the centre, and possibly even from the centre-right, against Labour. They believe that some leftwing supporters may not in future come back to the Lib Dems. The motion also called on Lib Dem MPs, peers and ministers to spell out more clearly "those policies which derive from the Liberal Democrats' existing and emerging policy platform" and "those aspects of government policy which originated from the Conservative party policy platform". The motion went on to say that the party would fight the election as an independent party "with no preference for future coalition partners". In his speech, Clegg said: "The old political establishment, on the left and on the right, hate what's happening to our politics. The old left screaming betrayal every time politicians work across party lines or make a compromise. "The old right simply horrified to see Liberal Democrats in government at all. We are showing that new politics, plural politics, coalition politics, can work for this country. And it terrifies them. There are enemies of reason across the political spectrum." The concept of "alarm clock Britain" has surprised some who believe it is an odd formulation that requires too much explaining. In his speech, Clegg set out again what he meant by alarm clock Britain: "Everyone who wants to get up and get on. People who, unlike the wealthy, have no choice but to work hard to make ends meet. People who are proud to support themselves but are only ever one pay cheque from their overdraft. People who believe in self-reliance but who don't want to live in a dog-eat-dog world. Who want everyone who can to work hard but want children, the elderly and the vulnerable to be looked after, too." Clegg also raised an allegation that Labour-run Manchester council was making deeper cuts than the Lib Dem council in Sheffield and as such the scale of cuts being brought in may be politically motivated. He said: "I cannot tell you how proud I am that not a single Liberal Democrat-led council is closing a single Sure Start children's centre. Sheffield has had a budget cut of more than 8%. Every lost job is a loss we all feel keenly, but the Liberal Democrat council here has kept compulsory redundancies down to 270. And they have kept open every children's centre, library and swimming pool. But cross the Pennines into Manchester, a council having to make almost identical savings, you'll find a Labour council letting nearly 2,000 people go. So don't let Labour take the moral high ground." Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg Allegra Stratton Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

NY bus 'hit by lorry' before crash Posted: 13 Mar 2011 10:12 AM PDT Police investigate horrific bus crash on New York highway Police were investigating a bus driver's claim that he was driven off the highway before his bus slid into a sign pole that sheared it end to end, killing 14 people and leaving others injured in a horrific scene of blood, jumbled bodies and shattered glass. Ophadell Williams told police that a lorry clipped his World Wide Tours bus just as it entered New York City on a trip from the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. But state police said witnesses told them Williams was speeding before Saturday morning's crash on Interstate 95. The 31 passengers were returning to New York's Chinatown from an overnight trip to the casino. Captain Matthew Galvin of the NYPD's emergency service unit was one of the first rescuers on the scene. He said officers found "bodies everywhere".clambered into the wreckage. "People were moaning and screaming for help," he said Galvin said that in his 22 years on the job, "it's probably the worst accident I've ever seen in terms of the human toll". Around 20 passengers were treated at hospitals. Eight were in a serious condition. The crash happened at 5.35am on Saturday, while some of the 31 passengers were still asleep. The bus scraped along the highway's guard rail for 90 metres, then toppled and crashed into the support pole for a highway sign indicating the exit for the Hutchinson Parkway. The pole peeled off the roof of the bus all the way to the back tyres. Most passengers were hurled to the front of the bus on impact, fire department chief Edward Kilduff said. The southbound lanes of the I-95 highway were closed for hours while emergency workers tended to survivors and removed bodies. Major Michael Kopy, of the state police, told news media on Saturday night that the crash was being handled "as if it is a criminal investigation", adding: "It will take a long period of time to determine what, if any, criminal acts may have occurred here." Kopy said witnesses reported that the bus driver had been speeding on the I-95 highway, where the limit is 55mph (90kph). He said the driver, Williams, 40, from Brooklyn in New York, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and blood had been drawn for analysis. Kopy said state police were working with authorities in Connecticut and officials at Mohegan Sun to determine what the driver's activities were before the accident. "At this point it appears that the operator lost control of the vehicle for what is as yet an undetermined reason," Kopy said. He declined to identify the passengers or to describe their injuries, but added: "The pole did go through the top half of the bus." Chung Ninh, 59, told the New York Times and NY1 News that he had been asleep, then suddenly found himself hanging upside-down from his seat belt. He described one man bleeding from a severed arm. Ninh said that when he tried to help one bloodied woman, the driver told him to stop, because she was dead. "Help another one," he said the driver told him. Another passenger, Jose Hernandez, 49, said he also was asleep. "We tried to help people, but there was twisted metal in the way," he told the Times. The NYPD's Commissioner Raymond Kelly said on Saturday that the lorry, which did not stop after the crash, was in the lane to the left of the bus, although it was unclear whether the two vehicles touched. Homer Martinez was at the scene moments after the incident and said other drivers ran from their cars to help the injured. State police said they were interviewing the driver of a lorry that was in the area at the time of the crash. They said the trailer had been found on Long Island, New York State, and the tractor was in Westchester County, about 50 miles away. Both were being inspected. The bus, a 1999 Prevost, was being inspected at a New York state police barracks. Video from a camera on the bus had been obtained by authorities, but not yet analysed, Kopy said. He said investigators were trying to determine the speed the bus was travelling at and that a device that can record such information, similar to a flight data recorder, was expected to be examined overnight. "People were saying, 'Oh my God. Oh my God,' holding their hands on their heads," Martinez said. "I saw people telling other people not to go there, 'You don't want to see this'." Christopher Hart, the vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said an investigation team would be looking at the bus company's safety programmes, including those involving driver fatigue, as well as highway design and the bus itself. Many of the passengers were from Chinatown, ranging in age from 20 to 50. Fifteen were being treated at Jacobi Medical Centre in the Bronx. A hospital spokeswoman, Barbara DeIorio, said some injuries were serious but she gave no numbers. Five more were taken to St Barnabas hospital where two were breathing with the help of machines. "We've had skull fractures, rib fractures … internal bleeding, we've had lung contusions," said Dr Ernest Patti, adding that the bus driver was "awake and conscious". World Wide Travel of Greater New York, the operator of the bus, said it in a statement that the company was "heartbroken" and co-operating with investigators. "We are a family-owned company and realise words cannot begin to express our sorrow to the families of those who lost their lives or were injured in this tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with them," it said. Federal records showed that World Wide Travel had at least two other accidents in the past 24 months in which people were injured. The company was also flagged for possible extra scrutiny due to violations involving driver fatigue regulations. The bus was one of scores that travel daily between Chinatown, in Manhattan, and the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in south-eastern Connecticut. Mohegan Sun, in Uncasville, Connecticut, has estimated 20% of its business comes from Asian spending and caters to Chinese-American gamblers. Its website has a Chinese-language section offering gaming and bus promotions. ___ David Caruso and Cristian Salazar also contributed to this report. New York United States guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Rattigan play wins four Oliviers Posted: 13 Mar 2011 02:21 PM PDT National Theatre's revival of 1939 drama is night's biggest success, alongside Legally Blonde and Stephen Sondheim A Terence Rattigan play that closed early and was largely neglected for 70 years until its revival at the National Theatre emerged as the biggest winner at last night's 2011 Olivier theatre awards. After the Dance, which portrays a group of bright young things getting older but still drinking and partying as the nation slides to war, won four awards including best revival. The National was the biggest winner, with seven prizes overall. This is Rattigan's centenary year and there are revivals of his plays across the country, including the wartime tearjerker Flare Path, which opened to loud audience cheers last week. Last night's other big winners at an unashamedly showbizzy ceremony in the West End were Legally Blonde, the Musical – and Stephen Sondheim. After the Dance opened in June 1939 to good reviews but closed early as the country's mood changed, and it has been staged only rarely since. The play's director, Thea Sharrock, said it had not been easy to get such a little-known play staged. The National's Nicholas Hytner initially declined. "He said: 'No, I don't think so, but let's try and find something else.'" Hytner changed his mind after re-reading the play. "At which point I got really nervous and said: 'Can I go away and think about it?' By hook or by crook it happened," she said. Its four awards included best actress for a pregnant Nancy Carroll, whose portrayal of the socialite Joan Scott-Fowler was described as "magnificent" by the Guardian and "almost unbearably moving" by the Telegraph. Adrian Scarborough won best actor in a supporting role for his performance as a drunken hanger-on, and Hildegard Bechtler won for best costume design. The National won three awards for its production of The White Guard, including best director for Howard Davies, best lighting for Neil Austin, and best set design for Bunny Christie. One of the strongest-contested categories was best actor, with Derek Jacobi nominated for King Lear and Rory Kinnear for Hamlet. The winner, from a shortlist that also included Mark Rylance and David Suchet, was Roger Allam as Falstaff in Henry IV parts 1 and 2 at the Globe. He called the role "a middle-aged man's Hamlet" and paid tribute to the Globe's pricing policy, which includes many £5 seats. "I remember as a teenager going to the Old Vic when Laurence Olivier was running the National Theatre and being able to sit on a bench for 15 pence. The price of a tube fare. I saw Olivier, for goodness sake, playing Shylock for 15 pence." The portrayal by Sheridan Smith of the sorority queen Elle in Legally Blonde won her best actress in a musical. Jill Halfpenny, who played hairdresser Paulette, won best supporting performer in a musical, while the production itself won best new musical. The production seems to be doing better in London than it did on Broadway. "British audiences just took to it," said Smith. "It's credit crunch, terrible weather and all you want to do is have two and a half hours of escapism." Sondheim, who turned 80 last year, was presented with the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award by Cameron Mackintosh and Angela Lansbury, while productions of his work also took prizes. Into the Woods, at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, was named best musical revival, and David Thaxton won best actor in a musical for Passion at the Donmar Warehouse. As widely tipped, Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park, which opened at the Royal Court before transferring to the West End, won best new play. The theatre won three prizes in total, with Michelle Terry named best supporting actress in a play for Tribes, and Leon Baugh taking the theatre choreography award for Sucker Punch. Organisers of this year's ceremony had tried to give it more pizzazz. It was held in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, rather than a hotel ballroom, with performances by entertainers including Barry Manilow. It was also broadcast live for the first time, via the BBC's red button. The awards were decided by panels, apart from an audience prize voted for by Radio 2 listeners which pitted long-running musicals against each other. We Will Rock You emerged as the winner from a list that included Jersey Boys, Les Miserables and Billy Elliot the Musical. The Railway Children, which was performed at Waterloo station, won best entertainment. There had been annoyance among the dance community that the shortlist for outstanding achievement contained no actual dance performances and the winner last night was the artist Antony Gormley, for his set designs for Babel (Words) at Sadler's Wells, a show that also won best new dance production. The German baritone Christian Gerhaher won an outstanding achievement award for his performance in Tannhäuser at the Royal Opera House, while OperaUpClose's La Bohème at the Soho Theatre sprang a surprise by winning best new opera production. The show, which originally played to 35 people at The Cock Tavern, beat productions at the Royal Opera House and Coliseum. Soho Theatre's Steve Marmion paid tribute to the awards for helping promote such productions at a "time of enormous ideological and brutal cuts to the arts." The Lyric Hammersmith's revival of Sarah Kane's Blasted won outstanding achievement in an affiliate theatre, while the Donmar's King Lear won for sound design. Olivier awards Awards and prizes Theatre Musicals Terence Rattigan Stephen Sondheim London Mark Brown guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Wisconsin senators in defiant return Posted: 13 Mar 2011 12:22 PM PDT US senators who fled state are cheered by thousands despite Republicans removing collective bargaining rights Fourteen Democratic senators from Wisconsin have returned home from exile in Illinois at the end of a bruising clash with the Republicans in which the state capitol in Madison became a virtual battleground in a dispute over trade union rights. The senators had fled for three weeks across state lines in an attempt to prevent the new Republican governor Scott Walker from passing a bill to strip 175,000 public sector workers of almost all collective bargaining rights. Their ploy, designed to block the bill going to vote by making it impossible for the Republicans to gain a quorum, ultimately failed when the bill was signed into law on Friday. But the senators, dubbed the "Fab 14", returned to a heroes' welcome. Up to 70,000 trade union and Democratic supporters gathered in Capitol Square, chanting "Thank you! Thank you!" The crowd included many farmers who came into Madison to join the protest in a "tractorcade". Local paper the Journal Sentinel spotted Tod Pulvermacher, a dairy farmer, driving a John Deere tractor with a sign attached to its rear manure spreader, saying "Walker's bill belongs here". Dave Hansen, the Democratic senator from Green Bay, told the crowd: "We lost the battle, but we're going to win the war. I think we've got the momentum on our side." However, Scott Fitzgerald, the leader of the Republicans in the Wisconsin senate, who orchestrated the passage of the bill, said the senators were "the most shameful 14 people in the state of Wisconsin". He said: "To the senate Democrats: when you smile for the cameras today and pretend you're heroes, I hope you look at that beautiful Capitol building you insulted and are embarrassed." Although the bill has been passed – restricting public sector unions to negotations only over pay increases up to the rate of inflation – the battle in Wisconsin is far from over. Democrats across the country have vowed to use the scenes there as a stick with which to beat Republicans in next year's presidential election. Democrats and Republicans in the state have declared their intention to seek revenge against each other in recall elections that will seek to unseat incumbent Wisconsin senators. Up to 16 senators, eight from each party, are vulnerable to such an attack, which can be triggered by a petition of voters. US politics United States Wisconsin Democrats Republicans Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Up to 20% of school staff 'to lose jobs' Posted: 13 Mar 2011 12:44 PM PDT Third of calls to 24-hour helpline related to redundancies amid fears new English bac will lead to more losses Schools are preparing to make up to a fifth of their staff redundant in anticipation of huge budget cuts, it has emerged. The number of senior teachers seeking advice on how to dismiss colleagues – and keep their own jobs – has hit a peak last seen in the late 1990s, a headteachers' association has warned. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), which represents 15,000 heads and deputies, said some of its members planned to make 15 or 20 redundancies out of a workforce of about 100. A third of calls to a 24-hour helpline for senior teachers set up by the association are now related to redundancies – a big rise on a year ago, the association said. ASCL has run five courses on how to make redundancies in the last year, and all have been fully subscribed. Schools across the country are waiting to hear their budgets for the financial year starting on 1 April. Cuts to local authority budgets, in some cases falling numbers of pupils, and reductions to central government education grants will mean many schools are worse off. ASCL's legal consultant, Richard Bird, warned that the government's flagship new qualification – the English baccalaureate – would compound the problem. The qualification is awarded to pupils who achieve at least a C in their GCSEs in English, maths, two sciences, history or geography and a language. Schools are now measured on the proportion of pupils who obtain this and it is published in national league tables. Bird said teachers of some vocational courses or non-English bac subjects would be more likely to face redundancy. "If there is going to be a shift in the curriculum because of the English bac, it will quite likely cause restructuring and inevitably create redundancies," he said. He said senior teachers were also at risk because making them redundant saved a school more money. Brian Lightman, ASCL's general secretary, said: "People might, in a few years, say, 'What's happened to teachers in those subjects [that aren't in the English bac]?'" He added that his association had seen "massive demand for advice about redundancies". The Department for Education has said no school will see reductions in funding of more than 1.5% per pupil. This does not include the extra they will receive for each pupil on free school meals. The department has promised local authorities that they will not face a cut of more than 2%, even if they have a falling number of pupils. A spokesman for the DfE said: "Ministers are clear that this is the best possible settlement for schools considering the dire public finances. It protects cash levels nationally for every single pupil to cover rising numbers and demand for places, with the pupil premium on top for those that need the most support. "We know that hard decisions may have to be made locally – that's why we've put in additional budget protections at school and local authority level. "Heads know the needs of their school and where their money needs to be spent to have the biggest impact on schools – that's why we're expanding the academy programme to give them complete autonomy over their budgets and stripping out ringfences from local authority schools funding so they can target cash where it is most needed." Education policy Teaching Schools English baccalaureate GCSEs Public sector cuts Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Child trafficking in Scotland 'scandal' Posted: 13 Mar 2011 12:14 PM PDT Police criticised for failing to secure single conviction as group warns known cases are the tip of the iceberg At least 80 children have been trafficked to Scotland to face sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse including forced labour, benefit fraud and domestic servitude, a report published on Monday says. The findings conclude that these cases are the tip of an iceberg, with many more child victims who have been sold, stolen and transported thousands of miles remaining unidentified. The report – Scotland: a safe place for child traffickers? – criticises police for failing to secure a single conviction for trafficking, and the authorities for their poor response to young victims' needs. In November, it emerged that a young Nigerian girl had been trafficked to Scotland, held prisoner and gang-raped. Her case was just one of several documented by the Scottish Refugee Council. Some of the children identified have been forced to work in cannabis factories and private homes and pose as dependents for benefit scams. They came from a number of countries including China, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vietnam. The youngest was 14 years old. Child trafficking has long been considered an issue of border control, the study said, leading to those who have been trafficked being regarded as part of a problem, rather than as victims. Scotland's commissioner for children and young people, Tam Baillie, and the Centre for Rural Childhood at Perth College University of the Highlands and Islands produced the report, and made a number of urgent recommendations. They called on the UK government to review the national referral mechanism to strengthen co-operation between government agencies, and to appoint an independent human trafficking rapporteur accountable to the UK parliament. The authors recommended the Scottish government should ensure adequate resources are available to tackle the problem and act as a lead for local authorities to ensure that nationally agreed procedures are followed consistently at a local level. Baillie said: "When children are raped or exploited as slaves in households or businesses in Scotland it becomes our national scandal. When we fail to notice, fail to pick up the signs and fail to act on children's trauma, it demands action. I hope this report, the first of its kind in Scotland, will take the issue out into the open and result in action and change for child victims of trafficking." Professor Rebecca Wallace, director of the centre for rural childhood at Perth College UHI, said the report's findings address the previous lack of an evidence base regarding child trafficking in Scotland. She added the study was an opportunity to "harness the very evident willingness of professionals encountered during the research to improve the identification and treatment of children trafficked into and within Scotland". Human trafficking Children Scotland Child labour guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Damilola killer returned to prison Posted: 13 Mar 2011 01:47 PM PDT One of two brothers convicted of killing Damilola Taylor has been returned to prison after breaching licence conditions One of two brothers convicted of killing Damilola Taylor has been returned to prison after breaching licence conditions that were applied to him after he was released last year. Ricky Preddie, who was jailed at the same time as his brother Danny in 2006 for the manslaughter of 10-year-old Damilola, was released in September after serving two thirds of his eight-year sentence. He was arrested on Friday evening after he failed to conform to a curfew on a number of occasions. Damilola, who had moved to Britain from Nigeria a few months before his death, was stabbed with a broken bottle in November 2000 as he walked to his family's home in Peckham, south London, and was found bleeding from a leg wound in a stairwell on a housing estate. The Preddies, south London gang members who were 12 and 13 at the time of the manslaughter, were convicted of his killing after two police inquiries and three trials which cost an estimated £16m. Police forces around the UK initiated reviews of scores of murders after serious failures at the government-run forensic science laboratory were exposed. A Ministry of Justice spokesman declined to confirm Preddie's recall but said: "All offenders subject to probation supervision on release from prison have to adhere to a set of strict conditions." "They are subject to recall to custody if they breach their conditions or their behaviour indicates that it is no longer safe for them or for the public if they remain in the community." At the time of Preddie's release, Gary Trowsdale, chief executive of the Damilola Taylor Trust, said the charity had urged the authorities to ensure he received the help he needed. Mr Trowsdale said: "We have very strongly recommended to the authorities that the boy is mentored. "We hope the Probation Service will do its job and he is properly mentored." Danny Preddie remains in prison serving a sentence for another offence and is due to be released this year. Damilola Taylor Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Robbers take Spanish nuns' cash Posted: 13 Mar 2011 11:26 AM PDT Nuns who kept cash in binliners have raised suspicions among police and tax inspectors They have all taken the traditional vow of poverty, so police and tax inspectors in Spain want to know why the nuns at Zaragoza's Santa Lucia convent claimed that a robber had stolen €1.5m (£1.3m) in cash from them. The nuns' unorthodox banking system, using dozens of black bin liners stuffed with high denomination euro banknotes, has made investigators suspect that the cash they handled did not come solely from the Sunday collection plate. The fact that they later changed their story to claim that the money that disappeared while they were saying their prayers a fortnight ago only amounted to €450,000 has done nothing to allay those suspicions. According to the evidence given to police, the nuns kept their haul of cash in a locked cupboard, much of it in the €500 notes favoured by those paying for, or receiving, services in Spain's abundant black economy. The thief knew where the bin liners were stored, and when the nuns would be praying in their chapel. The nuns said they had been preparing to distribute some of the money to other convents in financial difficulties. Unlike most of the nuns who live in the hundreds of crumbling, half-empty convents dotted around Spain, the 16 Cistercians at Santa Lucia have no financial problems. As expert restorers of old books, their services are constantly required by libraries and private collectors. Neighbours said the convent was always busy, with the nuns' white van constantly driving in and out of the gates. One of their number, Sister Isabel Guerra, is a renowned portrait painter whose pictures fetch up to €40,000 each and are key to maintaining other Cistercian convents around Spain, according to the Heraldo de Aragon newspaper. The nuns' lawyer, Jesús Garcia Huíci, said they were stunned by the robbery. "They are trusting people, and are upset at having been the victims of a robbery, especially by someone who obviously knew their way around their home." He denied that they worked for black economy money and said they always issued receipts and bills with their tax number on. "The money comes from a lifetime of saving," he told Spain's ABC newspaper. "They are not trying to hide anything." The nuns grow much of their own food in a small vegetable garden and leave the convent once a week to shop. They run the convent themselves, and have no employees. The gates are opened once a week so that worshippers can join them in their chapel. Police suspect that builders who had been working on the convent for the past three months may have been involved. "This is a major setback in their finances," said Garcia Huici. "All they want now is a bit of peace and, if they can get their money back so much the better." Local people from Zaragoza have already offered to pay any bills they are now unable to cover. Spain's black economy accounts for 17.6% of the country's GDP, according to a report published by Spain's savings banks foundation, Funcas, last week.ENDS Spain Europe Religion Giles Tremlett guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

'You must make yourself interesting' Posted: 13 Mar 2011 03:30 PM PDT One of the UK's favourite sports presenters on his freakishly successful double career In many respects an interview is not unlike an internet date. You read about the person you're going to meet, and form some advance impressions – but everything still rests on those first few minutes in each other's company, when you find out if you're going to connect. If this interview really had been a date, I think I might have made my excuses and slipped away quite quickly. Gary Lineker is every bit as handsome as you'd expect – and friendly, in a polite sort of way, with a smooth and winning smile. But you'd be tempted to suspect that he'd been put up to the meeting by a mate, for beneath the smile he wears the unmistakable expression of someone who is only here on sufferance, willing to do whatever necessary to meet his obligations, but no more than that. It's a bit disappointing, obviously – but probably not so surprising, for you don't get to have a career like Lineker's if you cannot keep your mouth shut. And his is an incredible career – or, rather, pair of careers – for to be a world-class footballer, and captain of your national team, would be an extraordinary achievement in itself. But then to transfer from the pitch to the TV studio, to anchor Match of the Day, and become one of the country's favourite sports broadcasters, is practically freakish. At 50, he is not just a household name, but a national treasure. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say a bad word about Lineker, and even his adverts for Walkers crisps have a charm that falls just the right side of cheesy. Lineker has been the face of Walkers for 16 years, and he's now promoting their stunt for Comic Relief, in which four comedians compete to sell specially flavoured crisps (Jimmy Carr is flogging Jimmy con Carne flavoured ones, Al Murray's are Steak and Al Pie, and so on). So we meet at a PR company's office, surrounded by reams of press releases that say things such as: "Walkers loves having a laugh and Red Nose Day is a great way to have fun," none of which strikes me as massively interesting. I'm more interested in Lineker's views on themes in contemporary football – but alas, these turn out to be as carefully sanitised as an FA press release. The game, he says, hasn't been spoilt by money, nor is wealth the motivation for aspiring youngsters today. "You've got no chance of reaching the top if you're just playing for money. No, you play because you love it – and if you've got a talent you'll love it even more. You're not telling me that five-year-olds go: 'If I do this I'll earn lots of money and have a great life.' I don't think they watch their idols play and go, 'Ooh, he's on 150 grand a week'." He's not jealous of the earning power of today's players, but thinks if he'd been paid their sort of wages, "I would have handled it all right. I was always relatively level-headed." The suggestion that today's national team is too pampered by riches to bother really trying for their country is also wide of the mark, he says. "You cannot reach the top unless you're truly motivated and passionate about the game, and care about your performance and care about your team's performance." Equally inaccurate, he says, is the impression of premiership footballers as vice-ridden bad boys. "Most young footballers are a cross-section of working-class society, and so as in any life you're going to get some people that drink too much, or take drugs, or like the girls. So you read about these things, and can dangerously make the assumption that all footballers live like that, and it's not true. By and large, most of them will probably try to live a reasonable life and be professional. But that doesn't make great copy. You're not going to get a front page News of the World headline: 'Footballer has night in with wife.'" And on it goes, this masterclass in vanilla diplomacy. I ask about the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's long-standing boycott of Match of the Day, and Lineker says mildly: "He's got his reasons, and he's within his rights. If he doesn't want to speak, he doesn't have to speak, he's under no obligation." Reflecting on managers in general, he offers: "Different managers have different skills and probably the most important thing is bringing the best out of the players you've got, and getting the best out of whatever budget is available to you. I think those are the two key things." Losing the will to live, I have a last stab: where does he stand in the debate over whether England should have an English manager? "I'm not really that fussed. I want England to have a really good manager." Oh-kaaay. A little bit of me wonders whether Lineker might not really be that fussed about discussing football with a woman, but I think that would probably be paranoia. It is interesting, though, that on one of the rare occasions when he ventures what could almost be described as bold opinion, it's to express sympathy for the two Sky sports presenters who lost their jobs in a sexism row. "Obviously I don't know what's gone on there," he begins cautiously. "They're both very good broadcasters, no question about that. I guess it was the manner of how it happened, rather than possibly the content, that was the problem. If it had been the old jokey, 'Oh women don't know the offside rule, blah blah, have a laugh about it', I think it would probably have gone unnoticed. But it came over as if they really meant it rather than were joking. Whether that was true or not, I don't know. And it went on from there. But I don't know why the thing played so big." It sounds, I suggest, as if he thinks what happened to the Sky presenters was unfair. A faintly uneasy pause, as Lineker considers his response. "Well," he finally says, "I think any broadcaster would say, 'There but for the grace of God.' Which is why you can't be holier than thou. I totally disagree with what they said, of course," he adds. "But off air, every single one of us would have said something that would probably get us the sack. Cos we all do it. I'm sure you'd be the same. It made me think, my God, you've got to be so careful now. So that's the side of it where I'm going, God, is this the way it should be?'" Did the Sky presenters' fate feel a bit Big Brotherish to him? "Yeah, very much so." But then, of course, he balances this by saying he hopes that any sexist – or in his words "blokey" – culture in professional football will one day be offset by the arrival of a female player alongside the men. "If a genius is born, why not? There's no reason why at some point some superstar woman can't emerge, who could possibly play. Why can't a strong and quick woman come along? It's not impossible. It would be great, it would be brilliant for the game if it happened, a great boost for football. It would be a great story." It isn't hard to see how Lineker managed to receive not a single yellow throughout his entire football career. It's an astonishing record – virtually unequalled in the modern game – and indicative of almost superhuman professional self-control, in a career distinguished by an absence of failure. Signed to Leicester FC as a schoolboy in the late 70s, the striker transferred to league champions Everton in 1985, to become the first division's highest scorer. The highest scoring player in the 1986 World Cup finals, he signed for Barcelona, followed by Tottenham Hotspur, and finally a Japanese side, where an injury brought his career to an end in 1994. He turned his hand to broadcasting, and has been presenting Match of the Day since 1999. In fact, the only loss of self-control occurred at the 1990 World Cup finals, during England's match against the Republic of Ireland, when Lineker had a "dodgy stomach" and lost control of his bowels during a tackle. Footage shows him dragging himself along the grass, not unlike a dog, and hastily wiping his hands before playing on – yet he managed to keep the incident quiet for 20 years, only admitting to it in an interview last November. I get the feeling he's far from bland in private, but is formidably careful when it comes to his public image. He always looks immaculately groomed, and suspiciously bronzed, but Lineker swears the tan is natural. On Saturdays he arrives at the TV studios by noon, watches all the games, and writes his own script before broadcasting live. In the early days, he used to watch every show with his editors – "I told them to be brutal with me, I just really wanted to learn" – and hired a voice coach "to get some enthusiasm and light and shade into my voice", which, off air, still sounds resoundingly flat. He is so disciplined that I don't for a minute imagine that he'll say yes when I ask if he ever has a drink before going on air late on Saturday night. And, of course, he says no. But occasionally his regular studio guest Alan Hansen looks as if he might have had one or two, which is what I'm really getting at – but when I ask Lineker he just laughs and says: "No, that's been said to me before, but no, that's not right. With Alan, it might just be nerves." Nerves? Hansen? How unlikely. "No, he's always uptight before the show," Lineker chuckles happily, in that way sportsmen do when teasing each other. "He has this shuffly foot thing on the floor before his first question, before he speaks. He says that as a player before every game he ever played he either felt sick or was sick." Was Lineker ever nervous before a game? "No, not really, I never got nervous." If nothing else, he must surely have worried towards the end of his playing career about getting booked and spoiling his clean sheet? "No, I never even thought about it. I never really realised [I had a clean sheet] until very near to the end. Truthfully, I never thought about it once during a match. I was only interested in scoring goals. I wasn't interested in anything else." He wasn't even that interested, he admits, in the sport. From his early 20s he knew he wanted to go into TV journalism after retirement, being nowhere near obsessed enough with football to even think about becoming a manager. "I never was, to be honest. I never really liked training that much, and the thought of watching other people train . . ." He shudders and laughs. "I just think to be a manager you've got to live and breathe and have this incredible enthusiasm for football, the whole thing. And while I love the game, and it's been a large part of my life, it's not the only thing in my life. I wouldn't want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody's reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we're going to buy him. I have a much better life this way." In fact, he hasn't played a game of football since the day he retired. "I never really enjoyed playing friendly matches or warm-up matches and stuff like that. So without the buzz of the big game, what buzz am I going to get from playing? And I just don't fancy being rubbish. I mean, you've got to play regularly to avoid being useless, and what's the point in being useless?" Instead he took up golf, and says he's useless at that, but that's not really true for he has a handicap of five. Does he actively avoid trying anything unless he thinks he'll be good at it? "Oh yeah, for example, entertainment television. I've had lots of offers but I'm just not that kind of presenter. I don't think I can be false in terms of being larger than life; when I present Sport Relief, I'm always a little bit out of my comfort zone, cos I feel like I've got to be a little bit showbiz, and I feel uncomfortable with myself, I don't feel like I'm me. I like what I do, and I don't think there's any need to be greedy." He did appear in a documentary about step-families last year, alongside his second wife, Danielle, an underwear model he married in 2009, who is now stepmother to his four teenage sons. Lineker's first marriage lasted 20 years, without attracting the sort of publicity common to Wag culture nowadays – and again, he says, this was no accident. "Well, I've never sold my private life and I'd be uncomfortable to do that. I don't think it's good to sell your new baby or sell your wedding, personally. Other people might think differently and fair enough, they're entitled to that. But I think it's about finding a balance. I don't mind giving up a bit of my life, I understand how it works, and I think you learn as you go along that it's quite good to give a little bit of yourself. "When you're a player, you have to be terribly guarded cos anything you say can be taken out of context, so you're very careful and very dull and make sure your answers are pretty bland. Whereas after football, if you want to go into the media, you've got to try and make yourself a little bit more interesting." And somehow, Lineker has managed to do just that, making himself irresistibly appealing without ever taking a risk. When we go outside for the photo shoot, literally every passing car slows down to stare and smile and wave. Strangers have been waving at him for almost all of his life – and I wonder whether he would have missed that had he disappeared from public life when his playing career came to an end. "Quite possibly, yeah," he agrees. "It just becomes so normal to me, it's how my life is and people are unbelievably kind, almost across the board. People are just really pleasant, so why wouldn't you enjoy that and embrace it?" Gary Lineker Football League Football politics BBC1 Television Television industry Decca Aitkenhead guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Is this the world's heaviest cookbook? Posted: 13 Mar 2011 12:59 PM PDT It runs to almost 2,500 pages and weighs 18kg and might just be the ultimate encyclopedia for serious foodies Got a spare 30 hours and £395 burning a hole in your pocket? If so, you might want to place an order for Nathan Myhrvold's six-volume cookbook, published in the United States today, and spend the time creating his Mushroom Swiss burger. At 2,438 pages, and apparently weighing more than 18kg (40lb), his Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking could be the heaviest – and most ambitious – recipe book ever sold. Myhrvold, the former chief technology officer at Microsoft, was inspired to create the culinary colossus in 2004 after discovering that a cooking technique called sous-vide – which uses vacuum-sealed bags to cook food in water under very controlled temperatures – was not widely available. In response, he decided "to create a comprehensive book that covered modernist cuisine in terms of history and recipes, science and technique". Highlighting developments spearheaded over the past 20 years by such forward-thinking chefs as El Bulli's Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal, the book outlines the equipment (such as test tubes) and step-by-step maths and science techniques readers will need to recreate optimum cooking conditions in their own kitchen. It took 36 people four years to put together the contents in Myhrvold's Seattle-based Cooking Lab, using recipes from chefs both dead and alive. But despite its size it doesn't include any pastry or baked dessert recipes (Myhrvold hints that he is saving that for a second book). And with some recipes requiring liquid nitrogen, critics have unsurprisingly argued the ingredients, tools and techniques are inaccessible to most people. But Myhrvold insists: "Eighty per cent of the recipes in the book can be made with the utensils that you can find in a shopping mall kitchen store. The other 20% is more exotic stuff but . . . even if you don't want to cook with liquid nitrogen at home, for example, it's still interesting to see how you would use it." And he remains unrepentant: "This book is for people who really love food. The point of it is to be an encyclopedic reference that, in a self-contained way, explains the key techniques of 21st-century cooking and if you're not looking for that, then there are a million other cookbooks in the world." Food and drink Food & drink Chefs Food science Carlene Thomas-Bailey guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The tug and pull of nonstop talk Posted: 13 Mar 2011 05:06 PM PDT Please, football commentators, pause the flow of words occasionally to let the game breathe Watching highlights of the 1981 FA Cup final replay between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur on ESPN Classic, two things struck me. First, the greatness of Glenn Hoddle, often obscured by later wackiness, and second, how the commentary of the late Brian Moore let the game breathe, allowing you to decide for yourself how it was going, to create your own narrative, as you might do if you were in the ground. And Moore was probably the least minimalist of the old school. David Coleman, whose catchphrase, tellingly, was "one-nil", and his BBC predecessor Kenneth Wolstenholme, said even less. Contrast this with the work of today's commentators, who rarely allow you to make up your own mind about anything. We all have our own betes noires, mine being Clive Tyldesley, who is a fine commentator in many ways, meticulously prepared, rarely faltering in player identification, spotting player movements and so on, but spoils it with his compulsion to fill every available second with the voice of Clive Tyldesley. It is almost like a form of Tourette's. The Cup tie between Manchester United and Arsenal on Saturday was a prime example. Few viewers will have come to the match not knowing that Arsenal had been eliminated from two competitions in the preceding week, and were particularly keen to avoid a similar fate at Old Trafford. In case you were unaware of this, the build-up with Gordon Strachan and Gareth Southgate, and pre-match interviews with the managers, made it abundantly clear (inasmuch as the crazy camera angles and arty cutting on Gabriel Clarke's pieces allow anything to be made clear). Yet, during a slight lull around 10 minutes into the game, Tyldesley felt obliged to launch into another lengthy rehearsal of Arsenal's circumstances, barely drawing breath: "There's been a lot of talk about recovery, response, and opportunity in the pre-match interviews, it's a touchy time of the year, it can all slip through your fingers in a couple of weeks in the spring when things turn against you, that's when you find out about the character of a team. Arsène Wenger has always insisted his teams have character, many doubt they have quite as much as United in the home straight so this is a great opportunity for Arsenal to show what they're made of this evening, and kick on towards the finishing line in the two great domestic races they're still involved in." Arguably, this collection of cliches holds some truth (that is why they are cliches) but do you not sometimes want to say, "For pity's sake, Clive, just let us watch the bloody match"? It was, I am afraid, something of a cliche-ridden week for Tyldesley, who on Wednesday, gawd help us, had Spurs "earning the right to dine at the top table of European football". As I often point out, I appreciate how difficult it is to choose words carefully in the hurly-burly of live commentary, but I feel Clive would give himself more chance if he were to pause for breath once in a while. This is not, by the way, just some old geezer whingeing on about how the commentators were better in the old days (and I don't like the new money, aren't the policemen young, and why can't you get a decent cup of tea in Starbucks?) In the Spurs-City match, for instance, Moore missed a scuffle in back play that any of the new guys would have picked up on, and if you gave me a choice between Wolstenholme and Tyldesley I should go for Clive every time. I am just saying not every second needs to be filled with sound. It is football, not Just A Minute. But, enough of football talk (see, that is how you do it, Clive). Many of you, I know, rely on Screen Break for news of the latest developments in shaving technology. Maybe you are afflicted with the curse of "tug and pull", in which case you will welcome the new Gillette Fusion Proglide, currently being hawked in pretty well every commercial break during the football. "See how shaving may cause uncomfortable tug and pull," runs the advert, as an unhappy shaver furrows his brow (He is shaving, I assume, with the razor Gillette assured us was the dog's bollocks about six months ago). "The new Fusion Proglide has been engineered with Gillette's thinnest blades ever, gliding for less tug and pull, turning shaving into gliding, and sceptics into believers." Not here, mate. I remain a sceptic. My razor has three blades; one to cut, one to follow on behind the first one, and a third so I can laugh scornfully at people who have just two blades. Now they want me to discard this, because it is no longer about the number of blades but about their thickness. Well, nuts to that – even if it means I am no longer dining at the top table of shaving technology. FA Cup Manchester United Arsenal Sport TV Television Advertising Martin Kelner guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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