Latest news and features from guardian.co.uk, the world's leading liberal voice
Marie Colvin's killing piles pressure on Assad as civilian death toll rises
by Martin Chulov, Angelique Chrisafis
22 Feb 2012 at 6:46pm
Nicolas Sarkozy calls death of Colvin and photographer Remi Ochlik an assassination, and says: 'This regime must go'
The deaths of veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, and the rising toll of civilian dead in Syria, have prompted renewed calls for an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Their deaths came on a day in which, according to activists, more than 80 people were killed in the besieged district of Bab al-Amr in the city of Homs, which has been under daily attack by the Syrian army for the past three weeks.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, described the deaths of the two journalists as an assassination, and said that the Assad era had to end.
"That's enough now," Sarkozy said. "This regime must go and there is no reason that Syrians don't have the right to live their lives and choose their destiny freely. If journalists were not there, the massacres would be a lot worse."
The foreign secretary William Hague described the deaths as "a terrible reminder of the suffering of the Syrian people – scores of whom are dying every day.
"Marie and Remi died bringing us the truth about what is happening to the people of Homs," Hague said. "Governments around the world have the responsibility to act upon that truth – and to redouble our efforts to stop the Assad regime's despicable campaign of terror in Syria."
David Cameron paid tribute to Colvin, telling the House of Commons that the death of the "talented and respected foreign correspondent" was "a desperately sad reminder of the risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events in Syria."
Colvin and Ochlik were killed in Homs after an artillery shell hit the house in which they were staying.
Three other foreign reporters, as well as seven activists from Bab al-Amr, were also wounded on Wednesday. One of the injured is freelance photographer Paul Conroy, who was travelling with Colvin.
Edith Bouvier, a freelance journalist working for the French paper Le Figaro, suffered serious injuries to her leg in the attack, and activists warned that she was at risk of bleeding to death.
Jean-Pierre Perrin, senior foreign correspondent at the French daily Libération, told the Guardian he had been with Colvin and other journalists at a makeshift press centre in Homs and had left with her several days ago after being warned that the Syrian army were preparing a major offensive and that journalists could be targeted. Colvin waited, decided the offensive against the press centre had not happened, so returned to Homs a few days later.
He said the reporters had discussed concerns about Syrian army deliberately targeting journalists.
Perrin told Libération that the press centre, which had a generator and a patchy internet connection, was the only means of informing the outside world of what was happening in the city. "If the press centre were destroyed, there would be no more information out of Homs."
Perrin said the Syrian army recommended "killing any journalist that stepped on Syrian soil". He said the journalists had been aware of this, and of reports of intercepted communications between Syrian officers that recommended killing all journalists found between the Libyan border and Homs, and making out they had been killed in combat between terrorist groups.
He said of his departure from Homs with Colvin: "We had been advised to leave the town [of Homs] urgently, we were told 'If they find you, they will kill you.' So I left with the Sunday Times journalist [Marie Colvin], but later she wanted to go back when she saw the offensive hadn't happened."
In the deadliest period for the media since the uprising in Syria began, at least three citizen journalists have also been killed in recent days, in an apparent attempt by the regime to prevent news emerging from Homs. The three Syrians had all played prominent roles in chronicling the army's assault on Homs. One of those killed was the video blogger Rami al-Sayed, also known as Syria Pioneer, who had uploaded to the internet at least 200 videos of killing and destruction in his neighbourhood.
Colvin, a decorated foreign correspondent with more than 30 years of experience in conflict zones, and Ochlik, who last month won a World Press Photo award, died instantly when the shell struck the safe house that had been provided for them by local activists just after 9am. Colvin's body, along with Ochlik's, was recovered from the rubble just after 1pm.
Colvin's editor, John Witherow, released a statement that said: "Marie was an extraordinary figure in the life of the Sunday Times, driven by a passion to cover wars in the belief that what she did mattered. She believed profoundly that reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make the international community take notice. Above all, as we saw in her powerful report last weekend, her thoughts were with the victims of violence.
"Throughout her long career she took risks to fulfil this goal, including being badly injured in Sri Lanka. Nothing seemed to deter her. But she was much more than a war reporter. She was a woman with a tremendous joie de vivre, full of humour and mischief and surrounded by a large circle of friends, all of whom feared the consequences of her bravery."
Colvin and Ochlik had been in Bab al-Amr for the past week reporting on the bloody siege of opposition-held parts of Syria's third city, which has claimed hundreds of lives and led to a humanitarian crisis.
The house in which the reporters were based was located next to a hospital and had been the main refuge for all reporters who had made it to Bab al-Amr in the face of a relentless barrage by regime forces.
An activist for the campaigning group Avaaz who witnessed Wednesday's attack said: "I left the house after it got struck and headed to a house across the street. The shelling continues and the bodies of the journalists are still on the ground. We can't get them out because of the intensity of the shelling even though we're only a few metres away from them."
Another witness told the Guardian that rockets were continuing to rain down on the area as the wounded tried to escape the bombed house. A graphic video posted on the internet showed the two-storey house in ruins – a scale of damage that could only be caused by a heavy artillery round. Two bodies were visible in the rubble.
Three of the wounded are understood to be in a serious condition and in urgent need of treatment.
They face a long and perilous drive to the Lebanese border where Red Cross officials are preparing to meet them.
The foreign editor of the Times, Richard Beeston, released a short statement on Twitter that read: "Terrible news about Marie Colvin. First worked with her Beirut 85. Most courageous, glamorous foreign corr I have ever met. Tragic loss."
Colvin used a web forum to make what is believed to be her last post on Tuesday. "I think the reports of my survival may be exaggerated," she wrote. "In Baba Amr. Sickening, cannot understand how the world can stand by and I should be hardened by now. Watched a baby die today. Shrapnel, doctors could do nothing. His little tummy just heaved and heaved until he stopped. Feeling helpless. As well as cold! Will keep trying to get out the information."
On Tuesday night, Sayed also lodged a final missive. "Baba Amr is being exterminated. Do not tell me our hearts are with you because I know that. We need campaigns everywhere across the world and inside the country. People should protest in front of embassies and everywhere. Because in hours, there will be no more Baba Amr. And I expect this message to be my last."
SyriaBashar al-AssadMiddle East and North AfricaFranceEuropeNewspapersJournalist safetyMarie ColvinMartin ChulovAngelique Chrisafisguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
UN nuclear inspectors declare Iran mission a disappointment
by Julian Borger
22 Feb 2012 at 6:24pm
International Atomic Energy Agency team blocked by authorities in Tehran from visiting suspect site
The diplomatic options for a solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis narrowed on Wednesday after a team of UN nuclear inspectors returned from Tehran without agreement on visiting a suspect site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to issue its latest report on the Iranian nuclear programme on Friday, but took the unusual step of criticising Tehran's approach in a statement issued while the inspectors were still flying back to its headquarters in Vienna.
The main stumbling block was Iran's refusal to allow the IAEA team to visit a military site at Parchin, where the last agency report, issued in November, said there was a steel chamber which could have been used for testing explosives of a type performed in the development of a nuclear warhead.
"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin during the first or second meetings," said the agency's director general, Yukiya Amano. "We engaged in a constructive spirit, but no agreement was reached."
Herman Nackaerts, the IAEA deputy director general and head of the safeguards department, who headed the mission, had made a Parchin visit the main litmus test for its success, according to diplomatic sources, but was rebuffed by the Iranians.
Speaking at Vienna airport on his return, Nackaerts said his team "could not find a way forward".
A Vienna-based diplomat briefed on the visit said Iran had sought to focus the talks on a work-plan circumscribing the conduct of IAEA inspections.
"It was very hard work. The Iranians focused exclusively on process and they tried to get the team to sign a document which governed the ways they would work," the diplomat said. "My reading is, what happened was that the meetings were monopolised by a lot of unproductive discussions on the wording of the agreement and practical questions put forward by the agency were put to the side."
The IAEA said: "Intensive efforts were made to reach agreement on a document facilitating the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran's nuclear programme, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions. Unfortunately, agreement was not reached on this document."
In the wake of the collapse of the mission, Friday's report will almost certainly give a negative assessment of Iranian co-operation while noting the progress of the country's nuclear programme and uranium enrichment, which the UN security council has demanded Tehran suspend.
Iran insists it has a right to enrich uranium and the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, put on a show of defiance on Wednesday with a rare meeting with Iranian nuclear scientists, insisting their work was peaceful, that Iran had no intention of building a bomb and vowing the programme would continue in the face of mounting international pressure.
"With God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously," Khamenei said on Iranian state television. "Pressures, sanctions and assassinations will bear no fruit. No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work."
Doubts have now been cast over tentative plans to hold a new round of talks between Iran and a six-nation group of major powers, including the five permanent members of the UN security council together with Germany. The group, known as the P5+1, had been waiting for the new IAEA report before deciding whether to proceed with the talks.
It was also seeking clarification on whether Iran had dropped its earlier preconditions for negotiations, which included an immediate end to sanctions and a guarantee that uranium enrichment was a non-negotiable Iranian right.
There had been hopes that the P5+1 meeting could agree confidence-building measures, possibly including an exchange of Iranian low enriched uranium for French-made fuel rods. Diplomats said the group would now have to reassess if there would be any purpose in a meeting.
Some western capitals are pushing instead for Iran to be referred to the UN security council by the IAEA board of member states, with the aim of imposing further sanctions. An EU oil embargo is already planned for 1 July, at about the same time of US financial sanctions against the Iranian global oil trade.
IranMiddle East and North AfricaNuclear weaponsInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)Nuclear powerEnergyJulian Borgerguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
UK weighs up air strikes against Somali rebels
by Nick Hopkins, Richard Norton-Taylor
21 Feb 2012 at 9:00pm
Fears over piracy and al-Shabaab insurgents lead Britain and other EU countries to consider air strikes on logistical hubs
Mounting concern about the twin threats posed by pirates and Islamic insurgents operating in Somalia has led Britain and other EU nations to consider the feasibility of air strikes against their logistical hubs and training camps, the Guardian has been told.
The issue has been rising up the agenda of David Cameron's National Security Council in recent months, reflecting anxiety in the west about piracy, but also the ambitions of some leaders within al-Shabaab, the clan-based movement that is fighting against Somalia's western-backed transitional government.
Though the "war games" remain on the drawing board for now, the disclosure that they have been under serious scrutiny shows the depth of unease about the situation within the British government, which is hosting an international conference on Somalia in London starting on Thursday.
According to sources, the international coalition that has been spearheading the fight against the pirates drew up contingency plans in the summer of 2010, and again last year, for what was termed "over the beach" air strikes against Somali camps.
The UK has also considered plans for attacking targets in places where al-Shabaab and the pirates appear to co-exist, particularly in southern Somalia.
But though the military advice is that any attacks would be relatively straightforward, and may only involve small numbers of heavily-armed helicopters flown from warships, planners have also flagged the likelihood that civilians could be caught up in any fighting.
That has been one of the prime considerations militating against pre-emptive military action, though sources said that situation could change.
"We don't have the assets in place," said one senior official in Whitehall. "That does not mean we could not get them in the air quickly. You have got to think long and hard. You have got to be absolutely sure [about the targets]."
The official said that a short, sharp strike might "interdict" potential terrorists and pirates, but would not be a solution to either problem in the long term.
Another source added: "There was no political will on this to begin with, but that has been changing. We know where the camps are, where they set up and where they launch from."
Building up Somalia's own security forces and coast guard would be far preferable, but they are far too weak at the moment to be considered for such operations, the source said.
It is believed the British, Dutch, French and Americans would be the most likely to support military action, if the need arose.
The US is already taking great interest in Somalia and has begun missile strikes from unmanned drones against members of al-Shabaab, which is said to have growing links with al-Qaida affiliates in other countries, and is attempting to "export" violence to other countries in Africa.
The group claimed responsibility for twin bombings in Uganda two years ago that killed 74 people as they were watching coverage of the World Cup in South Africa. In recent months statements said to have come from the group's leaders have proclaimed greater links with al-Qaida's goals of global jihad.
Up to 200 foreigners, including 40 Britons, are know to have travelled to Somalia in the past six years seeking al-Shabaab's training camps, in the same way that extremists went to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1990s.
Some have been caught and are facing trial in the region, but intelligence agencies say it is only a matter of time before one of them attempts to bring terror back to their homeland.
With words that seemed to echo the reasons for invading Afghanistan, Cameron recently said that Somalia was a "failed state that directly threatens British interests".
The head of the British military, General Sir David Richards, also appeared to hint at the potential for military action in a speech shortly before Christmas. "Treating the causes of instability and terrorism at source is better and cheaper than dealing with the consequences, as Somalia's piracy demonstrates," he said.
Thursday's conference, which will be attended by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, will focus on the international efforts that will be needed to drag Somalia out of its present chaos and how to extend the transitional government's influence beyond Mogadishu.
A new intelligence centre, based in the Seychelles, to help co-ordinate the fight against Somali pirates was announced on Tuesday by William Hague. The foreign secretary said it would "help the international community to target the kingpins of piracy and ensure piracy does not pay."
During the conference, a new international "stability fund" is expected to be agreed, with the UK giving £20m to some of Somalia's most deprived districts. The money will help to set up markets, reopen schools and hospitals, as well as securing water supplies.
It is expected that the UK will also announce new support for Somalis who have been forced to flee their homes, with a package of healthcare, food and sanitation assistance for 150,000 refugees in Kenya.
In Ethiopia, 100,000 refugees also will be helped over the next three years.
Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, said: "Over the last year I've met Somalis in camps in Mogadishu and border areas who have known nothing but war, hunger and extreme poverty.
"Britain provided thousands of tonnes of food, water and medicine to help meet people's basic needs and that help will continue.
"But this conference gives us a chance to do much more by breaking the cycle of instability and agree a practical way forward that will improve things in the longer term."
SomaliaMilitaryPiracy at seaDefence policyEuropean UnionEuropeMiddle East and North AfricaAfricaNick HopkinsRichard Norton-Taylorguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Faith in André Villas-Boas slowly eroding among Chelsea hierarchy
by Dominic Fifield
22 Feb 2012 at 11:00pm
• Defeat at Napoli tests Roman Abramovich's patience
• Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard angry after starting on bench
André Villas-Boas is still confident he will be allowed to oversee the second leg of Chelsea's Champions League knockout tie against Napoli next month, although the manner of Tuesday's chaotic defeat at Stadio San Paolo has spread alarm among the club's hierarchy.
Roman Abramovich, who was not in Naples, was understandably unimpressed with the 3-1 reverse in Italy. The oligarch has resisted making a quick-fire decision on the 34-year-old's future up to now, but his patience has been sorely tested by a slump that has led to only four wins in 14 games and caused Chelsea to slip out of the Premier League's top four.
Villas-Boas has benefited from steadfast support in Abramovich's long-term "project", but that faith is being eroded while the current campaign unravels, and an immediate improvement is required to prolong his tenure.
The availability of Rafael Benítez, who won a European Cup with Liverpool in 2005 while he was overseeing a period of transition after Gérard Houllier's tenure, has not helped Villas-Boas. There are suggestions that the Spaniard could replace Villas-Boas initially until the end of the season, charged with securing Champions League qualification, while Chelsea consider their longer-term options.
Benítez had expressed a desire to take the job at Stamford Bridge last summer following the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti and is aware of some level of interest in his services, but he is understood to be reluctant to consider what would effectively be a temporary position until May. He would push for a deal that would stretch through at least to the end of next season as he seeks a return to management some 14 months after being sacked by Internazionale.
Villas-Boas is due to give his weekly press conference at Chelsea's Cobham training base on Thursday lunchtime, with the club officially insisting it is "business as normal". Yet the ramifications of the loss to Napoli, and the manager's risky team selection, are all too clear.
The omissions of Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard from the starting line-up prompted angry outbursts from both players before kick-off. Details have emerged since that the pair had been particularly vocal in their criticisms of the management in a clear-the-air meeting at the training ground last week. The England left-back is understood to have openly questioned whether the team's tactics could win the club trophies.
Neither player will be sanctioned by the club for the show of dissent in Naples. Villas-Boas conceded in the immediate aftermath of the loss that although his selection had been for "technical" and tactical reasons, both England internationals had been disappointed because they felt they "could have helped the team", before adding that it was a decision they "had to accept and move on".
Lampard and Cole remain available for selection, with Bolton Wanderers due to visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but it appears unlikely that their relationship with the manager can be healed.
Should Villas-Boas instigate a revival and claim the fourth Champions League qualification place, thereby prolonging his stay, there would be implications for both in the summer. Cole is one of the few members of the old guard who would still command a relatively healthy fee. Lampard, however, has entered the final 18 months of his deal and is unlikely to put up with a bit-part role for a further season.
The 33-year-old would concede that any new coach appointed in the summer might also regard him as no longer an integral part of the team, increasing the likelihood that he will move on. Paris St-Germain, managed by Ancelotti, retain an interest and LA Galaxy would offer an intriguing alternative destination.
There was an acknowledgement of the dissent in the dressing room on Thursday from Branislav Ivanovic, who was signed by Avram Grant in 2008 and has worked under four managers in as many years since. "These things always happen when you are losing," said the Serbia international. "They come out. But this is more about Chelsea. That's more important than the relationship between managers and players. A lot of things are wrong and, for me, this is the hardest moment during my four years here. We haven't won a lot of games, and the confidence is not in the best way.
"I can't say he [Villas-Boas] will stay, but we have to be focused on our jobs. The manager who decides who plays is doing his job. We have to do our job. His is a hard position, very difficult, so of course it is important we stay together because our squad is not doing what people expect of us." They will be without John Terry for up to two months, with the club still evaluating the results of an exploratory arthroscopy on the England defender's knee.
André Villas-BoasChelseaRoman AbramovichFrank LampardAshley ColeDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Sex-selection abortion claims sparks Andrew Lansley investigation
22 Feb 2012 at 10:58pm
Health secretary asks officials to look into claims that some doctors are arranging illegal terminations
An investigation into claims that some doctors are granting women illegal abortions based on the sex of their unborn baby has been launched by the Department of Health.
It has been sparked by an undercover newspaper investigation into sex-selection abortions, secretly filming doctors at British clinics agreeing to terminate foetuses because they were either male or female.
Doctors were allegedly recorded admitting they were prepared to falsify paperwork to arrange the illegal abortions.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley said he was extremely concerned about the allegations made by the Daily Telegraph and has instructed officials investigate.
He said: "I'm extremely concerned to hear about these allegations. Sex selection is illegal and is morally wrong. I've asked my officials to investigate this as a matter of urgency."
The newspaper said undercover reporters accompanied pregnant women to nine clinics in different parts of the country. In three cases, doctors were recorded offering to arrange terminations after being told the women did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of their unborn child's sex.
In the UK, abortions are allowed on certain grounds, including that continuing with the pregnancy would be a greater risk to the woman's life, physical or mental health than ending the pregnancy, continuing would be more of a risk to the physical or mental health of any of the woman's existing children and if there was a real risk the child would have a serious physical or mental disability.
In September, Conservative backbencher Nadine Dorries and Labour's Frank Field lost a House of Commons vote on the issue of abortion counselling.
They wanted to prevent non-statutory abortion providers such as Marie Stopes and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service from offering counselling. Dorries said the organisations had a vested interest because they received money for carrying out terminations,.
AbortionHealthWomenHealth policyAndrew Lansleyguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
US politics live: White House and Mitt Romney compete on tax reform plans
by Richard Adams, Adam Gabbatt
22 Feb 2012 at 10:53pm
Live coverage with Adam Gabbatt as Mitt Romney unveils plans for 20% tax cuts while the Obama administration offers lower corporate taxes
More from Reuters on the letters sent to Stephen Colbert and John Stewart. The letters threatened biological attacks on US senators, according to the report, and three members of Congress have received mail containing a suspicious powder, which was later found to be harmless. Law enforcement officials warned on Wednesday evening that more may be coming:
Other letters to a number of news organizations and postmarked Oregon warned that 100 letters had been sent to the Washington or home-state offices of U.S. senators and that 10 of those contained a deadly pathogen, a law enforcement source said.
At least two of the letters already received - one to the home-state office of a senator and the other to the district office of a member of the House of Representatives - contained a powdery substance.
Tests found the substance to be harmless, according to a statement by Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer, the chamber's chief law enforcement officer.
New Mexico governor Susana Martinez has lost her hair stylist due to her opposition to gay marriage, according to kob.com.
Antonio Darden, a popular stylist who runs Antonio's Hair Studio in Santa Fe, said he cut Martinez' hair three times, but that's it - unless she changes her mind about gay marriage.
"The governor's aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in," Darden said. "Because of her stances and her views on this I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I'd changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no again."
The governor has said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that does not cut it with Darden.
"I think it's just equality, dignity for everyone," the popular hair stylist said. "I think everybody should be allowed the right to be together. My partner and I have been together for 15 years."
Could there be a wave of politicians and their associates being refused services due to controversial stances? How would Callista Gingrich cope without her hairdresser?
Reuters has just posted a newsflash on Twitter suggesting that Comedy Central stars Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have been sent letters that threaten senators. There are no more details yet.
FLASH: US law enforcement officials probing letters sent to TV personalities Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert that threaten attacks on senators.
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 22, 2012
Slate's William Saletan has taken an indepth look at when, and how, Mitt Romney changed position on abortion – from pro-choice to his current pro-life position.
When you see the story in its full context, three things become clear. First, this was no flip-flop. Romney is a man with many facets, groping his way through a series of fluid positions on an array of difficult issues. His journey isn't complete. It never will be. Second, for Romney, abortion was never really a policy question. He didn't want to change the law. What he wanted to change was his identity. And third, the malleability at Romney's core is as much about his past as about his future. Again and again, he has struggled to make sense not just of what he should do, but of who he has been. The problem with Romney isn't that he keeps changing his mind. The problem is that he keeps changing his story.
Slate also has a pretty impressive timeline on Romney's development.
Mitt Romney's tax plan "has the appeal of simplicity" and could help him win over not only conservative voters but independents at a general election, writes Ewen MacAskill.
The prospect of tax cuts, particularly the idea of 20%, is a tantalising prospect as voters do their sums, regardless of how much progressives argue that tax cuts mean poorer services.
The plan is aimed at giving Romney a much-needed edge in a closely-fought campaign. Michigan is his home state and defeat at the hands of Santorum would raise serious doubts about his chances of becoming the Republican presidential nominee.
Voters in Michigan, Arizona and Super Tuesday states such as Ohio rate the economy and unemployment are the most important issues.
Romney, speaking in Chandler, argued tax cuts would help the economy grow. He suggested 20% cuts in each of six tax brackets: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35%. These would become 8%, 12%, 20%, 22.4%, 26.4% and 28%.
The former Massachusetts governor said his plan would be revenue neutral, by limiting deductions, particularly for the wealthiest. Among deductions he planned to limit are charitable contributions and relief on mortgage interest payments.
More from Bob McDonnell's statement after he recommended amendments which would not force women in Virginia to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds before having an abortion.
Over the past days I have discussed the specific language of the proposed legislation with other governors, physicians, attorneys, legislators, advocacy groups, and citizens. It is apparent that several amendments to the proposed legislation are needed to address various medical and legal issues which have arisen. It is clear that in the majority of cases, a routine external, transabdominal ultrasound is sufficient to meet the bill's stated purpose, that is, to determine gestational age. I have come to understand that the medical practice and standard of care currently guide physicians to use other procedures to find the gestational age of the child, when abdominal ultrasounds cannot do so. Determining gestational age is essential for legal reasons, to know the trimester of the pregnancy in order to comply with the law, and for medical reasons as well.
Thus, having looked at the current proposal, I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done. Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure.
For this reason, I have recommended to the General Assembly a series of amendments to this bill. I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily. I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age. Should a doctor determine that another form of ultrasound may be necessary to provide the necessary images and information that will be an issue for the doctor and the patient. The government will have no role in that medical decision.
Bob McDonnell, Virginia governor, has given in to pressure and recommended amendments to the SB484 bill that would have required women to undergo transvaginal ultrasound scans before being granted abortions.
"I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done," McDonnell said in a statement. "Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state."
Alec MacGillis, writing in the New Republic, says it's not surprising, as McDonnell is harbouring VP ambitions:
And just like that, Virginia's vaginal-probe ultrasound goes up in the smoke of burning vice presidential ambitions. is.gd/5Z7Jub
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) February 22, 2012
Below the line Mitt Romney's tax plan isn't winning many plaudits:
gwpriester
Cool plan Mitt. I guess with the reduced amount of tax revenue we can slash all other spending to the bone. And we don't need to worry about the deficit getting larger, we'll just put the expenses on the credit card like George W. did and leave it for the next Democrat to deal with.
Give me a break!!!
Meanwhile, in Virginia:
.@Vahousedems finding many flaws in @bobmcdonnell suggested amendments to #sb484 #transvaginal #ultrasound bill
— VA House Democrats (@VAHouseDems) February 22, 2012
Surely there has to be a question on transvaginal ultrasounds in tonight's debate?
Barack Obama is tied with Mitt Romney in Arizona, according to our friends at Public Policy Polling.
Obama and Romney each stand at 47% in PPP's latest poll, while the president leads both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich by 4 points.
"The only Republican he actually runs behind is Rick Santorum, although only by a single point at 47-46," PPP's press release says.
"This is the latest in an increasingly long line of our polls recently that challenge the premise that Romney is a much stronger general election candidate than Santorum."
John McCain won in Arizona in 2008, with 53.8% of the vote to Obama's 45%.
Good news for Obama – although PPP do qualify the poll by saying it is unlikely the President would be able to beat Romney in Arizona once the GOP unifies around one candidate.
"But the fact that we're even talking about Arizona as potentially being on the board right now is a big a shift from where we were a couple months ago."
Tom Jensen from PPP:
Arizona is a great microcosm of how Barack Obama's reelection prospects have improved over the last 3 months. When we polled there in November his approval numbers were atrocious and his prospects for winning the state in the general election didn't look very good. Now he's getting more popular, the Republicans are getting less popular, and he appears to have a decent chance there.
Buzzfeed has dug out audio from a 2008 interview Rick Santorum conducted with radio show host Mike Signorile. In the interview Santorum insists that child abuse is higher in same sex relationships as part of his argument about why gay people should not be allowed to get married. The former Pennsylvania senator doesn't have any evidence to back up his claim, but hey, never mind.
"As of course you know, as you course you know, that abuse in gay relationships is higher than in heterosexual relationships, it's absolutely clear about that. Sexual abuse, violence to children, is higher in those relationships. It's fact."
Santorum is also brilliantly vehement when Signorile describes Santorum's longstanding argument that "if same sex marriage is ok, then so is polygamy" as specious.
No it's not different it's the same. No it's not a specious argument.
Ps – This is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Richard for a few hours.
For further analysis of Mitt Romney's new tax cuts, the Washington Post's Greg Sargent talks to Bob McIntyre, president of Citizens for Tax Justice, who describes the outcome as a huge tax cut for the rich and a total tax cut of $10tn over 10 years:
So how does this all square with Romney's claim [that he would "make sure the top one percent keeps paying the current share they're paying or more"] about the one percent? McIntyre says the key is that Romney said the one percent's "share" would not drop. He didn't say the amount the one percent pays wouldn't drop.
"If you reduce the whole thing by 20% then they can go down by 20% and still pay the same share," McIntyre explains.
So while Mitt Romney is churning out Serious Proposals, his main rival for the moment, Rick Santorum, is having to discuss Satan's war on America.
Last night, though, Santorum told a rally in Phoenix that the American people want "the opportunity to see what's in here, and what's up here, and what's burning down here," – although what Santorum meant by "what's burning down here" was deliciously ambiguous, given his hand gestures. His loins? Piles? Pants on fire? Who can say, other than Mrs Santorum and his personal physician.
Politico's Jake Sherman has a scoop on Mitt Romney's athletic attire:
So Lululemon has now jumped the shark. Or downward-dogged the shark, to be accurate. Sherman also mentions that he got into the hotel gym before Romney at 5.30am. Obviously Romney slept in. Slacker.
Mitt Romney was to have made a big speech on the economy on Friday, and was presumably planning to unroll this tax cut plan then. But possibly to take advantage of tonight's debate, create a clear contrast with Rick Santorum and overcome a polling wobble in Michigan, Romney has pushed the button today.
The Romney campaign has put up more detail but still not much detail on how to pay for some fairly stiff tax cuts. This is what we get from Romney's website:
Stronger economic growth and reductions in spending will help to ensure that these tax cuts do not expand deficits. In addition, higher-income Americans in particular will see limits placed on deductions, exemptions, and credits that are currently available. The result will be a pro-growth tax code that still raises the necessary revenue, retains the existing progressivity, and ensures that middle-income Americans see real tax relief.
The bit in bold is very, very interesting: Mitt Romney looking past the GOP primaries and tackling his 1% problem? (Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich is sharpening a stick.)
The New York Times talks to Glenn Hubbard, Romney's economic advisor, about the fiscal implications:
Mr Hubbard said three different revenue streams would keep the plan from increasing the budget deficit: the "dynamic" effects of economic growth, the additional income that would be subject to taxation through "base broadening," and spending cuts Mr Romney plans that would reach $500 billion per year by 2016. The campaign promised more specifics on those spending cuts within the next week.
"Base broadening" here means bringing in additional tax payers or taxable income. At least he didn't also suggest "eliminating waste and inefficiency," the other usual suspect for filling fiscal holes.
You wait for weeks for detailed tax reform proposals and then two come along at once.
So far today we've had the White House outline its attempts at corporate tax reform. Now the Romney campaign – perhaps in response – has pushed out more details of his new larger-scale tax reforms. The Wall Street Journal distils the details:
Mr Romney wants to cut individual tax rates by 20% in all six brackets, reducing the tax the wealthiest Americans pay to 28% from 35%. That target is slightly higher than the 25% rate Mr Romney laid out earlier in the campaign.
The tax rate for people in the lowest income bracket would drop to 8% from 10%, and would fall to 20% from 25% for those Americans in the middle.
Mr Romney would maintain the current 15% tax rate on capital gains and dividends for households that earn $200,000 a year or more. Those earning less than that amount would pay no taxes on capital gains and dividends under his plan.
How to pay for all this, especially the across the board tax cuts? "Mr Romney offered no specific proposals to increase revenue through the tax code," reports the WSJ, "Instead, he would leave those decisions to Congress." Always a recipe for success.
President Obama attended a ground-breaking ceremony for the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall this morning, saying:
It was on this ground long ago that lives were once traded, where hundreds of thousands once marched for jobs and for freedom. It was here that the pillars of democracy were built often by black hands.
The museum itself will be built to sit on the Mall between the Washington Monument and the National Museum of American History, and is expected to be completed by 2015. Half the estimated $500m cost has been approved by Congress, with the rest coming from corporate and personal donations.
Buddy Roemer has announced this morning that he is withdrawing from the GOP nomination process. If you thought, "Buddy who?" then you've correctly identified the problem. Apparently it's all the media's fault that the former governor of Louisiana failed to take off.
Roemer says he's going to run for the Reform party nomination. And if you thought, "Reform what?" then [repeat].
The Treasury and the White House have now released a joint report on the president's plan for business tax reform:
The United States now essentially trades off greater tax expenditures, loopholes, and tax planning for a higher statutory corporate tax rate relative to other countries. This is a poor trade that produces a tax system that is uncompetitive relative to other countries, distorts business decision making, and slows economic growth.
The full document is available in pdf format here.
The New York Times reports that balancing the existing tax breaks with the proposed lower rate could be difficult if the change to the corporate tax code isn't to add to the deficit, as the White House claims will be the case:
Nonpartisan tax analysts consistently find that corporations here on average pay just slightly more than their competitors in other developed countries after exploiting the many tax breaks and loopholes. Recent news accounts have highlighted the low effective rates paid by companies like Google, Boeing and General Electric.
Amid all the talk of a contested convention for the Republicans in Tampa, veteran Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg tells the Guardian that the GOP nominee may not be one of the current contenders.
According to Greenberg, leading conservative players may "select a candidate" after the Super Tuesday primaries if a clear front runner fails to emerge.
There is a lot of discussion of this prospect around the conservative blogosphere but to be honest, contested conventions in modern politics are a lot like unicorns: people might want one but it never makes an appearance in reality.
Republicans love to crow that America's corporate tax rate of 35% is among the highest in the industrialised world – although a plethora of tax breaks and legal loopholes suggest otherwise.
Today, however, the Obama administration is going to use a Treasury department briefing by Tim Geithner to roll out cuts in the corporate tax rate combined with loophole closures, as AP reports:
The Obama administration is planning to propose cutting the top tax rate for corporations to 28%, and pay for it by eliminating dozens of tax loopholes companies now use to lower their rates, a senior administration official said.
Chances of a deeply divided Congress revamping a tax system regarded as convoluted across the political spectrum seems remote in an election year, but the announcement on Wednesday is certain to fuel debate in the run-up to November's elections.
The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill says the queue of people waiting outside the Mitt Romney campaign event in Arizona this morning wasn't quite as noteworthy as it first seemed:
I was quite impressed at first: it is unusual at a Romney event. He is not a big draw. But once inside, the gymnasium where the rally is being held is far from full. The Romney team had been expecting more. Police were talking about an overflow room and how it was no longer going to be needed. So even in Arizona, Romney's lack of charisma and excitement strikes again.
A new brace of polls via NBC News and Marist finds Mitt Romney comfortably in the lead in Arizona but locked in a bitter struggle with Rick Santorum in Michigan:
In Michigan – which has turned into a make-or-break contest for Romney – the former Massachusetts governor gets the support of 37% of likely GOP primary voters, including those who are leaning toward a particular candidate.
Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, gets 35%, and he's followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 13% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 8%.
The happier scene in Arizona sees Romney on 43%, Santorum with 27%, Gingrich on 16% and Paul 11%. And here's the reason why: Romney's huge lead among early voters, thanks to Romney's organisational clout:
And among those who have voted early or absentee in Arizona – more than half of all likely Republicans voters in the poll – Romney holds a 30-point advantage over Santorum, 52% to 22%.
More from the Detroit News endorsement of one-time Michigan native Mitt Romney, based in part on the idea that he alone of the Republican field can defeat Obama in November:
Very conservative Republicans have been lukewarm to Romney because of his history of more moderate positions on social issues. They have flirted with each of his rivals looking for a true standard bearer of conservative values. One by one, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have enjoyed a burst of popularity at Romney's expense.
Santorum, Gingrich and Paul are challenging Romney on the Michigan ballot next Tuesday. But those Republicans are delusional if they think either Santorum or Gingrich can prevail in the fall against Obama.
Naturally, Republican grassroots really appreciate being called "delusional" by the media.
Only Rick Santorum and Mitt Romey are out and about campaigning in Arizona today, indicating that Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich have given up on the state.
Rick Santorum – 11.30am MT: Addresses a Tucson Tea Party rally.
Mitt Romney – 9.50am MT: Holds a rally at the Tri-City Christian Academy gym, Chandler.
The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill is at the Romney event this morning and he emails to say: "Something you do not see often at Romney events: a queue."
The Republican presidential contenders gather in Arizona, ahead of tonight's big event, the debate hosted by CNN. But will Rick Santorum get any questions about Satan's takeover of America?
Meanwhile, the Obama administration unveils the offer of a cut in the corporate tax rate, puncturing a Republican talking point about US corporate tax rates being among the highest in the world.
The Guardian's Ryan Devereaux has a summary of the latest events on the campaign trail, with just six days to go until voting in the Arizona and Michigan primaries:
• The Republican presidential candidates debate tonight in Mesa, Arizona. It's been nearly a month since the candidates last faced off and all eyes will be on Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. With key contests looming in Arizona and Michigan, tonight's debate is crucial for Santorum, who has been rising in state and national polls since his hat-trick of wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Romney, meanwhile, will seek to cast Santorum as a Washington insider.
• With Arizona's primary next Tuesday, a poll from CNN, Time and ORC International has Santorum and Romney in a tight race, with one third of respondents saying they could still change their minds. According to the poll, Romney is supported by 36% of the voters, while Santorum has 32%.
• Rick Santorum has sidestepped a past claim that the US is under attack from Satan. Yesterday the Drudge Report ran a headline at the top of its page reading, "Satan has his sights on the United States of America." The headline was a reference to a speech Santorum made four years ago. On Tuesday Santorum was asked if the Prince of Darkness was still laying siege to the US. He said: "These are questions that are not relevant to what's being discussed in America today."
• In Michigan, the Detroit News endorsed Mitt Romney but not without an important qualification: "We disagree with Romney on a point vital to Michigan – his opposition to the bailout of the domestic automobile industry." The endorsement goes on to say, however, that the issue "isn't a differentiator in the GOP primary."
• Finally, in what was obviously the biggest political news of the day, someone has made a portrait of Rick Santorum entirely composed of a mosaic of gay porn. The very much Not Safe For Work image can be viewed here.
US elections 2012Republican presidential nomination 2012ArizonaMitt RomneyRick SantorumNewt GingrichRon PaulCNNRepublicansUS politicsUnited StatesRichard AdamsAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Premier League vows to clamp down on internet racism
by Owen Gibson
22 Feb 2012 at 10:01pm
Clubs will work with specialist police officers to tackle racist and homophobic abuse on forums and social networking sites
Premier League clubs have promised to work closely with specialist e-crime police officers to clamp down on racist abuse on internet message boards and Twitter aimed at footballers, pundits and fans.
It was one of several initiatives to emerge from a No 10 summit convened to discuss racism and homophobia within the game that also included a new scheme to encourage more coaches and managers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The meeting brought together football governing bodies, ministers, campaign groups and ex-players to discuss discrimination in the sport in light of recent high-profile incidents involving Liverpool's Luis Suárez and England captain John Terry.
Suárez was banned for eight matches by an independent FA tribunal following an incident involving Manchester United's Patrice Evra. Terry is due in court in July on a charge of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, which he denies.
After the meeting, David Cameron, the prime minister, paid tribute to the progress that had been made since the 1980s to eradicate racism on the pitch and in the stands. But he added that there should be no complacency.
"We must address problems which could, if left unchecked, threaten to undo much of the hard work that has been done," he said.
"Football must do more to be inclusive, in order that the beautiful game is truly open to all players, managers, coaches and supporters. Today's announcements mark a further step towards this goal. We will continue to work in partnership to confront discrimination within the sport."
The government promised to invest £3m in the FA's new St George's Park national coaching centre in order to help broaden access to people of all backgrounds.
A new bursary scheme funded by the football authorities will help meet the cost of Uefa coaching licences and provide mentoring opportunities at Football League and Premier League clubs.
The meeting was attended by the FA chairman David Bernstein, as well as representatives from the Football League, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers' Association and the League Managers Association.
Campaign groups including Kick It Out, Show Racism the Red Card and the Gay Football Supporters' Network were represented, as well as former players including John Barnes, Paul Elliott and Graeme Le Saux.
Amal Fashanu, the niece of the late Norwich City striker Justin Fashanu who recently made a BBC documentary on the subject of football and homophobia, also attended.
Elliott, the former Chelsea and Celtic defender who has become a prominent campaigner, said the debate was "very productive and engaging".
He added: "What was evident there was leadership and the collective effort by football. Cameron is more than well justified in bringing all these parties together. The important thing is that we don't rest on our laurels and look to the challenges ahead."
The Premier League said it would work with the Metropolitan police e-crimes unit to better monitor the levels of racist abuse on Twitter, other social networks and internet message boards and prosecute offenders where possible.
The government also called on football authorities to take more proactive action to combat homophobia in its response to a recent select committee report.
Following the summit, Football League chairman Greg Clarke signed a government charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia on behalf of its 72 clubs. The Premier League signed the charter last year.
Meanwhile, José Mourinho was the subject of a complaint by a gay rights group after he allegedly used a Spanish homophobic insult about match officials. The Real Madrid manager was accused by the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) of referring to officials as "maricones", which translates as "faggots" in English, before the Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow.
Louise Englefield, co-president of the EGLSF, called on Uefa to take action over the comments, which were shown on the Spanish television channel Quatro.
She said: "Homophobia is unacceptable from anyone in football, much less from one of the game's most senior figures. We are deeply disappointed that Mr Mourinho is casually using homophobic terms of abuse in his workplace."
Covering the story for ITV, reporter Richard Pallot twice referred to black footballers as "coloured". The remarks led to dozens of comments on Twitter and prompted the broadcaster to issue an aoplogy.
An ITV News spokesman said: "ITV News apologises for the inappropriate use of the word 'coloured' in a report on racism and football in today's News at 1.30pm. We take this error very seriously and we regret any offence caused."
Premier LeagueRace issuesPoliceInternetDavid CameronGay rightsOwen Gibsonguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
In praise of … Marie Colvin
22 Feb 2012 at 9:54pm
For more than 30 years, Colvin filed tough, humane, highly intelligent reports from the world's frontlines
When hundreds of Syrians have already died under the relentless bombardment raining down on the city of Homs, it might seem invidious to single out one woman. Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times was not even the only foreign journalist killed in what was supposed to be a safe house. So, too, did a young French photographer, Remi Ochlik, while others were gravely wounded. But for more than 30 years Colvin had filed tough, humane, highly intelligent reports from the world's frontlines, the last only hours before she died. She nearly died in Sri Lanka in 2001, when she lost an eye: eight years later she was the first to report on the apparent murder of the last surviving Tamil Tigers despite their attempt to surrender. Just over a year ago, she addressed a service honouring colleagues killed in the wars of the first decade of the 21st century. She knew the risks. She believed that to bear witness, it was worth it.
SyriaMiddle East and North AfricaMarie ColvinJournalist safetyguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Somalia: chronicle of failure
22 Feb 2012 at 9:45pm
A succession of western-backed transitional governments have failed to unify south and central Somalia
History repeats itself, nowhere more so than in Somalia. As was widely predicted at the time, the Ethiopian intervention in 2006 did little more than galvanise radical Islamism. Clans who had fought each other for years united against the foreign invader, one which they had little difficulty in portraying as Christian. Five years later, after a series of bombings and cross-border kidnappings, Kenya deployed thousands of troops in Somalia's Juba valley in an invasion that was ill-thought out, ill-prepared, and with loose military objectives.
It was initially called an operation of hot pursuit; that became a mission to weaken al-Shabaab militants; and finally the deployment became open-ended. Kenyan troops are still there. Bogged down amid heavy rains and undependable Somali clans, despite some successes the force remains some way from taking the port city of Kismayo, where al-Shabaab earn its revenue. Faced with superior conventional firepower, al-Shabaab has melted away and used guerilla hit and run tactics. To cap this chronicle of failure, Britain and other EU countries are considering conducting airstrikes on al-Shabaab camps, particularly where the militants co-exist with pirates. The two problems are being conveniently conflated. Armed helicopters are being flown in from warships acting on unreliable local intelligence. It is a recipe for civilian casualties, which al-Shabaab would skillfully exploit.
Human Rights Watch in a new report this week documents the increasing use of child soldiers by all sides, but particularly al-Shabaab. This may reflect the military pressure they are under, or their loss of local support. But it also means that some of the soldiers at camps targeted in special operations could be children. Adult fighters who have shown no compunction abducting children from playgrounds, and throwing them into the frontline, will not shy from inviting such attacks.
Al-Shabaab is not a unified force, but an affiliation of militias. It could unravel in the right conditions. The one political organisation that was able, briefly, to unify south and central Somalia by transcending clan loyalties was the Union of Islamic Courts. But they were declared the enemy, and their forces defeated by the Ethiopian invasion. A succession of western-backed transitional governments, all dependent on foreign armies, have failed. The current transitional federal government is corrupt and its writ does not run far even in Mogadishu. When its mandate expires in August, it should not be renewed.
Somalia's root problem is governance. A federal structure that is to work will be loose and constructed from the bottom up. The donors and the UN agencies who will be represented at Thursday's London conference, who have spent decades working with discredited governments in Mogadishu, do not know which clan leaders to talk to. Somali clan politics work by consensus, and through representatives who establish a proven track record. Legitimacy is not built by elections. The donors are beholden to the countries that finance them, not the Somalis they supposedly serve. The two cycles of the emergency and of the western response are permanently out of sync with each other. At worst, the money that pours in as a result of the drought feeds the corrupt government that produces the next disaster.
Freelance military operations by foreign armies should end. If security is to be provided against al-Shabaab, it should come from Amison, the African Union Mission in Somalia, but that then needs resources. Military action cannot be taken without the support of local clan leaders. Further militarising the conflict could well see it spread to the north-east province of Kenya, where there are now 500,000 Somali refugees. MI5 fear a Somali-linked bombing campaign in London could follow. After two decades of war, Somalia can only find its feet under a coalition of regional groups and an absence of foreign armies. Drones and helicopter strikes are not equipped with political night-vision. A certain level of disengagement might be what Somalia needs.
SomaliaMiddle East and North AfricaAfricaguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Virginia governor Bob McDonnell in U-turn over controversial abortion bill
by Karen McVeigh
22 Feb 2012 at 9:43pm
Bob McDonnell requests amendments to bill, with requirement for women to undergo vaginal ultrasounds removed
Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has performed a U-turn on a controversial bill which would have forced women seeking first trimester abortions to undergo an invasive transvaginal ultrasound.
McDonnell had previously said he would sign the bill if it was passed by the general assembly. But on Wednesday morning, faced with growing opposition to the measure, he recommended a number of amendments to fellow Republicans that softened the bill by removing the mandate for the invasive procedure.
Critics had pointed out that the bill, if passed in its original form, would have obliged doctors to carry out a procedure that risked breaking a state sex crime statute known as object sexual penetration.
State lawmakers passed the amended bill on Wednesday afternoon. It now requires women seeking an abortion to have an transabdominal ultrasound. This is still likely to face opposition as it mandates a medical procedure by law, rather than at the discretion of doctors.
In his statement, McDonnell said: "Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure."
This week, Virginia has come under increasing national scrutiny for moves to pass the legislation, the first of two of the most controversial anti-abortion bills in recent history proposed by state Republicans.
The reason for the governor's change of mind is unclear, although two officials told the Washington Post that some of the bill's supporters were apparently unaware of how invasive the procedure could be.
Before Republican amendments were tabled, Charniele Herring, a Democratic delegate who tried to kill the bill on Tuesday, said it was "disappointing" if the bill's supporters were unaware of what they were voting on.
She said: "In the full questions of justice committee where it went through first, everybody got a very graphic picture of what a transvaginal ultrasound is. A picture showed exactly what it was. I'm not in the Republican caucus but it's possible that those who saw it did not share it with their Republican colleagues. It is very disappointing because we are legislators and we should know what we are voting for."
She believes that McDonnell's change of heart is politically motivated.
"He is trying to paint himself as a moderate and this is extreme. There is a clamour among Virginians for him to say that he will not sign it in its current form."
VirginiaAbortionUnited StatesKaren McVeighguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Eight more bodies recovered from Costa Concordia - video
22 Feb 2012 at 9:38pm
Eight more bodies have been recovered from the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which collided with rocks on the shore of Giglio on 13 January. The confirmed death toll is now 25, but seven of the 4,200 passengers and crew members still remain unaccounted for. The newly discovered bodies were found in a submerged section of the fourth deck, not previously searched due to poor weather.
Rick Santorum v Barack Obama: America's clash of civilisations | Michael Wolff
by Michael Wolff
22 Feb 2012 at 9:32pm
If Santorum is nominated, we will get an almighty, but perhaps welcome referendum on the kind of country we want to live in
The most practical – or, at least, the more practical – Republican candidate is, after all the high jinks, supposed to win, which has been the singular case for Mitt Romney. But it is now suddenly quite possible that the least-practical, most far-fetched figure, will pull it off.
This is a level of implausibility not just in the context of this campaign, but in history. There has never been a major party candidate as far from the norm as Rick Santorum – unless, that is, he's about to redefine the norm. Not even Barry Goldwater, the rightwing hawk whose 1964 loss remains the Republican party's biggest ever, was this far from the mainstream.
If Santorum wins next week in Michigan and Arizona, now distinct possibilities, that would come close to assuring this fabulous outcome. It's a kind of development that the earnest and process-oriented political media – believing that politics, by its nature, reflects the norm – seem so far unable to characterize effectively. Even the hysterical and shambolic nature of the Republican field over two cycles has not seemed to prepare anyone for how to account for Rick Santorum's possible nomination. Everybody is still quite deadpan. Nobody's yet officially gobsmacked.
There's almost a kind of private joke aspect to what's happening here: the liberal press seems to have cagily and humorously exercised its bias by not piling on Rick Santorum, hence helping him and hurting the Republicans. Or the joke all along has been Romney: a candidate so perversely unlovable that every clown has been able, however briefly, to be his contrast gainer.
This is what we know: the anti-Romney ideal is much stronger than Romney himself. The combined anti-Romney numbers have won handily in every primary so far (even in New Hampshire, Romney's only big win, Gingrich, Paul, and Santorum beat him). And because politics is timing it is the last anti-Romney standing who could slay him—and that's Rick Santorum.
But perhaps there is an even greater, historic logic at work.
The Republican party, at least since its Ronald Reagan-era reconstitution, has cultivated its blood grievance against liberal values and lifestyle (in spite of Reagan's own personal lack of heart for this fight). Of the Republican party's two main themes – the other being anti-tax and anti-state control – the social fight has been the more animated and, arguably, the more heartfelt.
The true antagonism in the country is not about the administration of government, but about how we live, between new and evolving, and old and fixed standards of conduct. It's the most fundamental western debate: secular or not, reason or ritual.
It is hard to imagine a candidate who might more completely personify the God-driven, anti-scientific, father-centered, my-way-or-the-highway, throwback life than Rick Santorum. Even the most conservative politicians tend to live a pretty modern-world, yuppified life. Not Santorum. Part of his appeal, particularly against the ever-shifting and mollifying Romney, is that his shtick is real. Mind-blowing, but real. Not only does he have far more children than any modern, striving, trying-to-do-better American has, but he home-schools them. Home-schooling is one of those things I think most Americans understand: a true and arduous commitment, albeit one for weirdoes. You get it all with Santorum: the Christian nation; the traditional family; the sexual aversions (including one against contraception); the homemade theology.
It even seems likely that he wouldn't run from his primary-playing wedge campaign during the general election: what we're seeing now is what we'd probably get, no matter how cockamamie and dumbfounding.
In other words, this would be a campaign starkly pitting the two competing strands of American culture against each other. It's a remarkable opportunity: finally, a referendum on all things that have so upset the conservatives and have been so embraced by everybody else – abortion; gay marriage; sexual license; the new family (or non-family) life. How could it not be? These are Rick Santorum's issues, his reason for being here. This is the debate, however futile, he seems to believe God made him for.
But what if? Elections are like jury trials. The outcome is necessarily unpredictable. What if Europe goes over the abyss and with it the nascent US recovery? What if Israel goes after Iran and gas goes to eight bucks a gallon at the pump? What if the unforeseen happens, and President Obama fumbles his response?
Then … President Santorum? And a preposterous chapter in American history?
But then again, the compelling, if also train-wreck, aspect about Santorum is that it really does seem like he'd rather be right than be president. His wealthy Super Pac supporters seem similarly hell-bent (and rich enough not to need to worry about actually winning an election). No matter what happens and how much the Democrats might find themselves up against it, Santorum seems determined to make this an up-or-down vote for the way he is living and wants others to live, as opposed to the way most Americans have actually chosen to live.
That vote, by sheers numbers of people living by modern conventions, seems preordained.
The prospect of a defeat of this magnitude is obviously as horrifying to Republican leaders and stalwarts – all who seem to be lining up in a panicky defense of Romney – as Santorum's actual election would be to liberals. Although I'm not sure it should be. What happens to the Republicans after Romney tries to fashion a middling and, to conservatives, quisling general election position and is defeated (and who is expecting otherwise)? In four years, another round of eccentricity and exaggeration?
An up-or-down vote on far-out rightwing lifestyle prescriptions – is the country for or against, and what by what proportion?—is as good for the Republicans as for liberals. It marginalizes the margin.
Everybody has avoided this issue. The passion of the committed has been too great to face. They are a minority whose limited future has oddly fortified them.
So, finally, in a likely landslide of teachable-moment proportions, we can vote for how we want to live. That'll be a vote everybody will want to cast.
Rick SantorumRepublicansRepublican presidential nomination 2012US politicsUnited StatesUS elections 2012Barack ObamaRonald ReaganGay rightsAbortionContraception and family planningReligionChristianityMitt RomneyMichael Wolffguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
British man sentenced in US over bribes to Nigerian government
by Rob Evans
22 Feb 2012 at 9:26pm
Wojciech Chodan one of several Britons to have been tried in US under extradition treaty that is now to be reviewed
A Briton has been sentenced to a year's probation and fined $20,000 by a Texas courtroom for conspiring to channel bribes totalling $180m (£115m) to politicians and officials in an international corruption scandal.
On Wednesday, Wojciech Chodan, a 74-year-old retired sales executive from Somerset, was sentenced for his part in paying bribes to secure huge engineering contracts in Nigeria.
Another Briton, Jeffrey Tesler, a London lawyer, is due to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty last March to his role in the bribery.
The prosecutions of the pair have been controversial as both were extradited from Britain under contentious legal arrangements between the UK and the US.
A series of suspects have been sent to the US under a legal regime which has been criticised for being unfair to Britons.
Chodan's conviction came on the same day the prime minister announced that Theresa May, the home secretary, will conduct a "proper, sober, thoughtful review" of Britain's extradition treaty with the US.
Chodan and Tesler were extradited to Texas after losing legal battles in the UK. Once in Houston, they pleaded guilty to conspiring covertly to bribing top-ranking Nigerian politicians and officials.
Both worked for an international consortium of construction firms seeking contracts worth $6bn to build a gas plant on Bonny Island off the coast of Nigeria.
Chodan, whose home is in the Somerset village of Nunney, was employed as a sales executive for a subsidiary of Kellogg Brown and Root during the conspiracy. He recommended Tesler as the consortium's middleman to pay the bribes.
Chodan and other conspirators "met with successive holders of a top-level office in the executive branch of the Nigerian government" to discuss how the bribes were to be paid, according to US prosecutors.
Tesler, 63, who operated from run-down offices in Tottenham, north London, admitted that he acted as a middleman for the consortium and routed the payments through bank accounts in Monaco and Switzerland between 1994 and 2004.
US prosecutors discovered that Tesler arranged for $1m in $100 notes to be loaded into a pilot's briefcase and then passed on to a politician's hotel room to finance a political party in Nigeria.
The authorities have seized $148m from Tesler's bank accounts. Chodan has agreed to forfeit $726,000 as part of his punishment.
The sentencing this week is expected to mark the end of a protracted effort to prosecute the conspirators for the corruption allegations, which surfaced more than eight years ago.
The Serious Fraud Office decided to step aside and let the US government prosecute the two Britons.
The Guardian is fighting a legal battle to gain access to official documents which were used to justify the extradition of the pair, but this move has been resisted by the British and American governments.
Over the past three years, US prosecutors have forced five companies from the US, France, Holland and Japan to pay penalties totalling $1.7bn for participating in the Nigerian bribery scheme. An American executive, Jack Stanley, is also due to be sentenced on Thursday in what is expected to be end of US prosecutions over the scandal.
In recent years, the American government has made great efforts to prosecute firms and their executives for paying backhanders to officials and politicans in other countries to land contacts.
Even firms whose corruption has only been slightly connected to the US have been prosecuted by the American authorities.
ExtraditionUK criminal justiceUnited StatesNigeriaAfricaRob Evansguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Somalia can be reborn as a country of progress and prosperity
22 Feb 2012 at 9:16pm
For all the difficulties it has faced, Somalia has the resilience, talent and natural resources to shape a better future
The term "failed state" was coined by President George W Bush to be the byword of US policy in Somalia. The country was put on the list of those associated with terrorism and, thereafter, any country that risked relations with Somalia was subject to American sanctions.
As a result, the internationalcommunity was dissuaded from having dealings with Somalia, and it became isolated. America's attitude encouraged north-east African powers to perpetuate their strategy of destabilisation, giving them licence to settle accounts with Somalia under the pretext of combating terrorism. They hoped to demoralise the Somalis, to plunge them into a state of despair from which they would never again try to rise.
Yet Somalia is not a failed state. It was defeated by the weight of the resources at its adversaries' disposal, but never succumbed. And it is still fighting for emancipation and self-determination.
Yes, there is warlordism, terrorism, piracy, and a history of natural disaster. Yes, displacement, refugees and a lack of state authority are problematic. But these issues result directly from sustained foreign intervention and the deliberate fragmentation of the country into fiefdoms, enclaves and tribal territories.
That the conflict in Somalia has a local dimension – rooted in oppression, nepotism, exclusion, injustice, lack of economic opportunity and civil disobedience – is impossible to ignore. But without foreign interference, local issues would be less critical; they could be managed and controlled. The reality is that the big powers have relied on Ethiopia, their major ally in Africa, to decide their strategies in the Horn of Africa.
William Hague, the UK foreign secretary, implicitly conceded as much in a speech before the Somali community at Chatham House earlier this month. He said: "We know the international community has not always got it right in the past and that we can easily make mistakes, even when our intentions are good."
Irrespective of the lack of government regulation and protection, Somalis have formed networks – both within the country and across borders and continents – that are bound together by ties of family and trust. Two major financial institutions that emerged out of the ashes of the destruction are Dahabshiil international bank and Salama bank. Both have their head offices in Djibouti for legal and security reasons. Their services cover all Somalis and all regions to the tiniest village, a feat that would have been impossible under the old government.
With the help of such initiatives, Somali capital has migrated to Kenya and Dubai, where Somalis excel in every field. In Dubai, they are the biggest re-exporter after the Iranians. In Kenya, they have competed successfully with the Asian business community and achieved significant results in telecommunications, money transfers, transport and real estate. Their business networks extend to the Middle East, South Africa, Tanzania, South Sudan, Congo and Central Africa. The private sector and non-governmental organisations have supplanted the administration in offering services such as education, health and manufacturing.
"Somalis worldwide provide more than $1bn in remittances back to Somalia each year – more than the international community provides in aid," Hague pointed out in his Chatham House speech.
What's more, Somalis inject $1bn annually into the economy of Kenya. This is variously due to the high returns offered by Kenya's economy, partnerships with Kenyan Somalis, the sharing of 800km of common border, and Kenya's role as an outlet for Somalia's informal economy.
Livestock and agriculture were the mainstays of the Somali economy before the collapse of the state, accounting for around 50% of GDP. And despite the lack of regulation and government protection – and the chaos, natural disasters and fierce competition from highly advanced economies such as Australia and Argentina – Somalia's livestock exports have doubled in comparison to 1990 levels.
Neither are the positives confined to economics and agriculture. Somalis in the diaspora have impressive entrepreneurial skills and are highly educated and talented. Nuruddin Farah, a novelist and university professor in South Africa, was a candidate for the Nobel prize for literature. Dr Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is a judge at the international court of justice. A song by the world famous rapper K'naan was chosen as the official anthem of the football World Cup in South Africa. And distance runner Mo Farah, who is also a British citizen, is the 5,000-metre world champion.
Moreover, Somalia has enormous natural resources. It has two as yet untapped rivers. It has 8m hectares of cultivable land. It has a 3,000km coastline, the longest in Africa, full of marine resources. It possesses huge deposits of uranium and other precious minerals. Last but not least, Somalia has substantial reserves of oil and gas; in fact, its reservoir of black gold is understood to be the second biggest in Africa.
Clearly, despite the challenges encountered by Somalia over the past 20 years, the country has a lot to offer. It is capable of a rebirth and will one day stand on its feet again to pursue the march of progress, restoring its dignity and assuming equal status with other members of the international community.
• Mohamed Sharif Mohamud is the former ambassador of Somalia and the Arab League
SomaliaAfricaguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Could the high price of gas hurt Obama's re-election prospects? | Poll
22 Feb 2012 at 9:03pm
Just when the economic news was looking promising for President Obama, a barrel of crude oil is back over $100 and, in places, petrol is more than $4 a gallon. Will the price of gas hurt Obama at the polls?
World News
Assad forces bomb Syria's Homs (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:28pm
Reuters - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces rained rockets and bombs down on opposition-held neighborhoods of the city of Homs on Wednesday, reducing buildings to rubble and killing more than 80 people, including two Western journalists.
U.S., French journalists killed in Syria (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 12:26pm
Reuters - American correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when rockets fired by government forces hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said.
Iran defiant as U.N. nuclear talks fail (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 8:25pm
Reuters - The U.N. nuclear watchdog ended its latest mission to Iran after talks on Tehran's suspected secret atomic weapons research failed, a setback likely to increase the risk of confrontation with the West.
U.S., European security officials discount Iran-Al Qaeda links (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 9:55pm
Reuters - U.S. and European officials are downplaying allegations that Iran and al Qaeda have recently stepped up cooperation in preparation for possible attacks on U.S. and other Western targets.
Karzai urges calm as six die in Afghan Koran protests (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:40pm
Reuters - Afghan President Hamid Karzai appealed for calm Wednesday after officials said six people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country.
Grasping at Straws: The Syrian Opposition Appeals to Russia (Time.com)
22 Feb 2012 at 8:15pm
Time.com - In the face of continuing bloodshed in their homeland, one anti-Assad group courts the regime's allies in the Syrian business community and Moscow. Is it all in vain?
Russia warns against 'hasty conclusions' over Iran (AP)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:20pm
AP - Russia said Wednesday the world should not draw "hasty conclusions" over Iran's most recent rebuff of U.N. attempts to investigate allegations the Islamic Republic hid secret work on atomic arms, but the U.S. and its allies accused Tehran of nuclear defiance.
Shelling kills 2 Western journalists in Syria (AP)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:09pm
AP - Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist — two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.
Argentine train slams into station, killing 49 (AP)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:21pm
AP - A train packed with morning commuters slammed into a downtown station on Wednesday, killing 49 people and injuring hundreds as passenger cars crumpled and windows exploded around them. It was Argentina's worst train accident in decades.
NH jury chosen in Rwanda genocide case (AP)
22 Feb 2012 at 9:53pm
AP - The trial of a New Hampshire woman charged with lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide is expected to transport jurors back almost 18 years to a roadblock outside a family owned hotel in Butare where prosecutors say the defendant decided who would live and who would die.
Aussie foreign minister encouraged to challenge (AP)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:38pm
AP - Former foreign minister Kevin Rudd says he is encouraged by support from government colleagues to challenge Prime Minister Julia Gillard for the leadership of their Labor Party.
Air Canada mechanics, baggage handlers reject labor (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:16pm
Reuters - Air Canada's about 8,600 mechanics, baggage handlers and cargo agents have rejected a tentative labor agreement with the country's biggest airline, a union spokesman said on Wednesday.
Australia PM battle looms after foreign minister quits (Reuters)
22 Feb 2012 at 10:13am
Reuters - Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned on Wednesday, saying he could no longer work with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, igniting a new and bitter leadership crisis for the struggling minority government.
Islamist attacks draw Nigeria and US military closer (The Christian Scie...
21 Feb 2012 at 7:44pm
The Christian Science Monitor - With an Islamist militant group on a killing spree in its northern reaches, Nigeria would appear to be just the kind of country that the US militaryâs Africom was designed to help out.
Syria: War Reporter Marie Colvin and Photographer Remi Ochlik Are Killed ...
22 Feb 2012 at 8:15pm
Time.com - A celebrated American-born war reporter and a young French photographer were killed on Wednesday morning when Syrian forces bombed a makeshift media center in the besieged city of Homs
The latest stories from the Home section of the BBC News web site.
Argentina train crash 'kills 49'
22 Feb 2012 at 9:50pm
A commuter train crash at a station in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, kills 49 people and leaves at least 600 injured, officials say.
Western journalists die in Homs
22 Feb 2012 at 7:27pm
American Marie Colvin of the UK's Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik are among 60 people killed as Syria steps up its clampdown.
Somalia militants lose key town
22 Feb 2012 at 6:25pm
Ethiopian and Somali troops capture Baidoa, a strategic stronghold of al-Shabab Islamist militants, as the UN approves extra African Union troops for Somalia.
US dismay at IAEA Iranian visit
22 Feb 2012 at 10:09pm
The White House expresses disappointment on the barring of UN nuclear inspectors from a site in Iran, calling the visit a "failure" for Tehran.
Karzai urges calm over Koran row
22 Feb 2012 at 10:18pm
Afghan President Hamid Karzai urges Afghans "not to resort to violence" after protests over the burning of the Koran at a US airbase near Kabul.
EU court to rule on Acta legality
22 Feb 2012 at 1:03pm
A controversial anti-piracy agreement is to be referred to the EU's highest court due to concerns surrounding internet freedoms.
Male extinction theory challenged
22 Feb 2012 at 6:39pm
A new study comparing chromosomes in humans and rhesus monkeys suggests genetic decay of the male sex chromosome has all but ended.
Cherie Blair starts hacking case
22 Feb 2012 at 6:57pm
Cherie Blair has started legal proceedings over phone hacking, her solicitor confirms.
Obama seeks US corporate tax cut
22 Feb 2012 at 6:26pm
US President Barack Obama proposes a cut in corporate tax and an end to tax loopholes, as part of his election-year strategy on the economy.
Strauss-Kahn released by police
22 Feb 2012 at 8:55pm
Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is released after two days of questioning over an alleged prostitution ring but will be quizzed again next month.
More bodies from Concordia found
22 Feb 2012 at 5:02pm
Search teams in Italy find eight more bodies in the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia which capsized on 13 January as the inquiry spreads.
Time link to sudden cardiac death
22 Feb 2012 at 6:07pm
How the time of day can increase the risk of dying from an irregular heartbeat has been identified by researchers.
VIDEO: Is Somalian capital on the mend?
22 Feb 2012 at 10:40pm
Ethiopian and Somali troops have taken a strategic stronghold of Islamist militants in south-western Somalia.
VIDEO: Colvin's mother: 'She was committed'
22 Feb 2012 at 7:03pm
Rosemarie Colvin, mother of the killed journalist Marie Colvin, has said her daughter was totally committed to what she did.
VIDEO: Apple iPad hearing begins in China
22 Feb 2012 at 6:26pm
A Chinese company is fighting Apple Inc. over its use of the iPad trademark in China.
