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	White House 'will not shy away' from pushing for ...	The Guardian
	United States determined to persuade Israel into substantive peace talks with Palestinians, Obama administration source saysPresident Barack Obama and the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, are on a collision course today in a row described by a senior Israeli diplomat as the worst crisis between the two countries for more than three decades.An Obama administration source told the Guardian that the White House and US state department are intent on pushing Israel into substantive peace talks with the Palestinians and will not shy away this time as they did when the last effort ended in embarrassing failure in September."No one gets anywhere by accusing each other. We are hoping to lay the foundations for negotiations," the source said. In order to get negotiations under way, the US is demanding that Netanyahu cancel or freeze plans to build 1,600 planned Jewish homes in Palestinian East Jerusalem. But Netanyahu, speaking at a meeting of his own Likud party, showed no signs of backing down. "The building in Jerusalem, and in all other places, will continue in the same way as has been customary over the last 42 years," he said.The Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, in a weekend telephone call to other Israeli diplomats, expressed alarm about the extent of the confrontation.The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted the normally cool Oren, an academic-turned diplomat, as saying: "Israel's ties with the United States are in their worst crisis since 1975 … a crisis of historic proportions."Oren was called to the state department last week in a rare rebuke for a diplomat from a country the US normally regards as one of its strongest allies.The crisis began last week when the US vice-president, Joe Biden, travelled to Israel in the hope of securing a start to the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. But his hopes were dashed when Israel announced the new construction in East Jerusalem.The Palestinian cabinet reiterated today that it will not enter into talks while such construction is planned.The White House has steadily built up the heat on Israel over the last few days, with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, berating Netanyahu in a 45-minute call on Friday and David Axelrod, the chief White House adviser, describing Israeli behaviour as an insult yesterday.The US wants Israel not only to backtrack on the East Jerusalem building plans but to enter into talks with the Palestinians on substantive issues and not just talks about talks, as Israel wants. Washington also wants Israel to make gestures towards the Palestinians, such as releasing Palestinian prisoners and withdrawing more Israeli forces from Palestinian territory. The US special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the former senator George Mitchell, is to visit Israel this week in the hope of hearing that Israel will bow to at least some of the US demands.Netanyahu is scheduled to address a meeting in Washington early next week of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), the powerful Israeli lobbying group. The US does not yet know whether he will attend in person or make a televised address.The Israeli prime minister faces the problem of whether to offer the US a concession, such as a short freeze on house-building in East Jerusalem, a move that might lead to the break-up of his coalition government. Clinton will address the Aipac conference in person, a potentially dramatic occasion if she opts to repeat her calls for Netanyahu to back down.Yesterday Aipac issued a statement critical of the Obama administration and today embarked on an intensive lobbying exercise to secure the backing of Jewish or strong Israeli-supporting members of Congress.The more liberal Jewish lobbying organisation, J Street, said the US should use the crisis to push for peace talks. Its executive director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, said: "Too much time has already been lost in getting the two sides into negotiations. We must not lose further time allowing a single development, as objectionable as it may be, to derail progress."The US magazine Foreign Policy posted a report on its website yesterdaythat in January top US commanders briefed the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, that US failure to stop Israel continuing with settlement building on the West Bank damaged US relations with the Arab world. Judith Kipper, a Middle East specialist at the Washington-based Institute of World Affairs, said there had long been a divergence between the US and Israel over various issues and a recognition of this fact was overdue.She did not expect the US to threaten to withhold financial or military aid or intelligence and that going public was sufficient as a big stick.Paul Scham, an academic at Washington's Middle East Institute, said: "What is interesting is that US has chosen to make a big deal of it. The reason for doing this is, it seems, to be ready to pull out some version of the peace offensive Obama has been promising for a year. Hopefully, it will not die down as it did last year."US politicsUS foreign policyIsraelUnited StatesPalestinian territoriesObama administrationBinyamin NetanyahuBarack ObamaEwen MacAskillguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth	The Guardian
	Hit F5 for updates or turn on the automatic widget below. Alan will be here from 7.30. In the meantime email alanrgardner@gmail.com with ideas on how either of these clubs' seasons could get any worseThoughts: Well, that was an accomplished display from Liverpool, who played like they team of thorough-bred professionals they surely are. Rafael Benitez's side bounce back up to fifth, after finding that is taking candy really isn't so hard to do if you try, and Portsmouth can only console themselves with the fact that Ricardo Rocha avoided a red card for the second time in his four-match career. Though given that the other time he made it through the whole 90 minutes Pompey lost 5-0 to United, maybe that's not such an encouraging sign.Alberto Aquilani was the man-of-the-match, and he deserved it too after a fine display. However, just to temper the Red rejoicing, I'll leave the final word with David Keith: "Are we talking a Rio four-game ban kind of violent conduct from Stevie G? Cos I would always like to see Liverpool weakened for a visit to OT. Any chance?"Peep! Peep! Peep! It's all over, and Scousers everywhere can exhale once again.90+3 min: Tonight's crowd is the lowest Premier League attendance at Anfield in three years. Bet they're glad they stayed away now. Reina saves from Owusu-Abeyie ...90+1 min: Genesis disrespect = red rag to Steven Gerrard. "Do you think that the fact that Phil Collins was not being played through the Anfield sound system had anything to do with Gerard's behavior?" wonders Daniel Mortensen, perhaps facetiously.90 min: Reina and Carragher were absolutely furious at the concession of that Pompey goal – which I guess is encouraging for Liverpool fans. Dindane is penalised for putting an arm in Mascherano's gob.GOAL! Liverpool 4-1 Portsmouth (Belhadj 88) There's absolutely no way Pompey are going to sco– Ah. Danny Webber was allowed to go on a little tour of the left wing, his journey culminating in a chipped cross to the back post where Piquionne whupped a low, skimming volley across the face of the goal for Belhadj to turn in from a few yards out.86 min: Dindane finds himself through on goal with just Reina to beat ... but the ref pulls things back for a dubious foul on Carragher. I feel like I've typed that sentence before.84 min: Portsmouth substitute: Danny Webber comes on for Jamie O'Hara. And Aidan Gibson is concurring with ESPN's studio pundit Craig Burley: "Why is it that England players like Gerrard (who got away with the elbow and the flick), Terry, Rooney etc get away with a lot that would have any other player sent off? Come on referees, get a bloody grip."81 min: Portsmouth win a corner after an Insua clears from inside his six-yard box but let's be serious, Pompey aren't going to score tonight. Robin Hazlehurst wants to spread the love. "One very big plus of Liverpool playing well is that LFC-supporting Ian Copestake's zingers are much funnier when he is in a good mood. The descent of his emails into the slough of despond when Liverpool were doing badly had a morbid fascination, but it is nice to see him back on form now that they are doing better. So play up Fernando, so that one of the MBM's wittier correspondents retains his readability."80 min: Torres is removed before he can do any more damage to Pompey (as opposed to Gerrard who was removed before he could do any more damage to Michael Brown). David Ngog comes on. And Quincy Owusu-Abeyie has come on for the visitors.78 min: Aruna Dindane picks up the game's first yellow for complaining about a decision in the build-up to the goal. At least Ricardo Rocha looks like he might make it through the full 90, eh.GOAL!: Liverpool 4-0 Portsmouth (Torres 77) Just as I was contemplating writing that Liverpool seemed disinclined to score a fourth, Torres show his pedigree by rippling the net for the second time tonight. He was given far too much time by Rocha, it has to be said, but Torres fairly smashed it into the corner after stepping back inside.73 min: Liverpool substitution: Steven Gerrard off for Yossi Benayoun. Benitez perhaps does the sensible thing and whips his captain straight off. Brown is still complaining to the ref about the incident.72 min: Steven Gerrard has just swung a careless, shall we say, elbow into Michael Brown's head off the ball. That didn't look good.71 min: Liverpool substitution: Martin Kelly replaces Glenn Johnson at right-back.69 min: O'Hara initiates an attack down the right, which is then spread left before O'Hara, again, nearly releases Mokoena into the box with a cute backheel. Liverpool manage to scramble it away. "Let's not get carried away here," cautions Simon Hoyle. "No disrespect, but this is Portsmouth - hardly a Premier League powerhouse. There'll be a fairly brutal reality check this weekend, I fear."66 min: Now that it a good shout for a penalty. Johnson went past Belhadj in the box on the right-hand side, and the Algerian dived in, sending the England right-back tumbling. He may have shaved a couple of atoms off the ball in the process, but it was tight like a tiger.65 min: Jamie O'Hara can't bleedin' believe it, guv'nor, you're 'avin' a laugh after Attwell fails to award Pompey a corner. Looked like he passed it straight off to me.63 min: "If there are any more school ground remarks I'm going to get my dad to fight your dad," threatens Ian Copestake. Yeah, I know you are, you said you are, but what am I?62 min: Aquilani, who seems to have a roaming brief tonight, combines with Glenn Johnson down the right, who is then fouled. From the the free-kick, Piquionne demonstrates his striker's hunger for goals by trying to beat his own keeper with a header. Ashdown denies him by catching comfortably, though.60 min: It's got a very big set-up, Gary Naylor, but is the pay-off worth it? "Never mind Beckham, it's a real footballing tragedy how quickly new owners, with little feel for a grand old club, with its old-fashioned proper football stadium on the coast supported by loyal, knowledgeable fanatical support who tasted success so recently, with big European ties lighting up the whole city, have turned all that into dust. I feel sorry for Portsmouth too."58 min: Ryan Babel's cross from the left is just too high for a leaping Torres. "In fairness to Joe Royle," says knight-in-shining-armour Ronan Hayes, "and I'm typing as a Liverpool fan, Aquilani does still have a huge amount to prove regardless of his decent performance tonight. I reckon Bendtner could look good against this shower." Agreed. But he had looked very good so far tonight. Oh, and Bendtner is good.56 min: Welcome to the swings, Lexie Patten: "I'm a Liverpool fan … and I actually enjoy the school ground remarks. Am I the only one?"55 min: Brilliant save from Reina to deny Michael Brown. Belhadj weaved his way into the area from the left and found his captain arriving at pace, but Reina stuck up a firm-wristed paw to divert Brown's fierce effort over.53 min: Stevie want a goal! Babel went gamboling clear on the left, checked, pulled the ball back for Gerrard arriving centrally some 20 yards out ... but his curler hasn't got enough curl on it and it whistles over and wide.52 min: Ashdown actually got a touch to that Babel effort, but Liverpool fail to carve out their 367th chance from the corner.50 min: Joe Royle still thinks Alberto Aquilani has a lot to prove. As his riposte, Aquilani strolls through the Portsmouth defence, via a one-two with Ryan Babel and when someone does manage to get a boot on it, the ball squirts out to Gerrard, who is unable to beat Ashdown from six yards or so. Aquilani is then involved again as Babel hammers an effort against the bar. Still got a lot to prove, the Italian lad.49 min: "Amazing what a few goals do. I'm already a lot more confident about our next two games than I was an hour ago. I know it's Pompey but that's the best 45 minutes we have played all season. Very like the way we were playing at the tail end of last season." Is that hubris, I smell, Anthony O'Connell?48 min: Glenn Johnson is tugged back, handing another dead-ball opportunity to the home side. Daniel Agger, that notorious footballer, lines up a screamer, but merely clips the wall with his effort.46 min: Marc Wilson loses the ball to Steven Gerrard some 30 yards from his own goal, nearly precipitating another chance for Liverpool – but Gerrard isn't quite able to take it on. Stevie want a goal!Peep! Peep! Portsmouth get to attack the Kop this half. I wonder if it will have the same effect on them?Assorted half-time emails from my inbox bulging with missives expressing surprise, bafflement and wonder: "I hope Rafa has a red face what with his persistence with the turgid Lucas and treacle-toed Dirk "diggler" Kuyt." David Lipworth vents."If Liverpool keep playing like Arsenal someone is going to get their leg broken. Rafa needs to sort it." Zinger o'clock from Ian Copestake."I'd really like to know why someone of Maxi's quality was not greeted more with more hype upon his arrival – especially as Liverpool got him for free! This, by the way, is a genuine question, as opposed to one designed to humiliate and undermine you for your lack of knowledge ..." Humiliate and undermine away, Ethan Dean-Richards. I think he'd gone off the boil after a few seasons in La Liga. Anyone like to contradict me?"Good to see Liverpool playing with pace and tempo," writes Mark Taylor. "I dont dislike either of them by any means, but what chance Lucas and Kuyt will be back in the side for the next league game at Manchester United? Despite Liverpool's good recent record against them I can see them reverting to type and becoming rather slow and lumbering again, probably losing without scoring and undoing all confidence built tonight and any against Lille." I wonder if Dirk is being punished for giving the ball away against Wigan last week – a horrendous pass which lead directly to Rodallega's goal. Has Rafa cut one of his favourite sons loose?Chris in Toronto thinks we shoudn't forget to rib Liverpool fans, despite this evening's respite: "It's tough being a Liverpool supporter when for most of the year they've been out-played, out-managed and can't kick a hole in a wet Liverpool Echo. Such delicate, fragile, misunderstood souls." Martin Barrett, I think that's aimed at you.So does Mike Page. "I'm bored with the miserable whining from the Liverpool fans when remarking on Guardian articles. Grow a pair lads and learn to take yourselves less seriously. It's dull."45+1 min: Stuart Attwell expels the contents of his lungs through the little bit of plastic in his mouth, and the teams trudge in for half time. Sheesh, that was actually pretty good!45 min: Portmsouth have the temerity to have another attack, Piquionne stabbing wide. Rob likes the way Ryan Babel rolls: "Lovely toe punt. Always the way to get the most dangerous velocity on the ball, sod the direction. A kick used for inflicting pain." And my, does it hurt for Pompey.43 min: Piquionne drills a shot narrowly wide of the post as Pompey make a rare foray into the Liverpool half. Everyone then takes the opportunity to have a bit of a breather by knocking it around in midfield.41 min: That corner nearly leads to a fourth, though it had nothing to do with the competency of the delivery itself. After being half-cleared to the edge of the box, Carragher tries to delicately loft the ball into the net ... and it only loops this far wide. Champion reckons it was a mishit, but I say it's another example of the joga bonito Liverpool are currently purveying.39 min: Hreidarsson hacks at the heels of Rodriguez, and Aquilani's dangerous set-piece delivery is diverted wide for a corner by Marc Wilson.37 min: "I'm bored with the miserable sarcasm from the Guardian when reporting on Liverpool games," writes Martin Barrett. "Grow up lads and report the game without having to resort to school ground remarks. It's dull." Apologies if you detected some ennui from this corner, Martin, but I'm quite happy to state that Liverpool are bossing this one now. And they're playing some sparkling stuff ...36 min: That Torres effort was quite marvellous, by the way. Nando was free on the left, but with little to aim for in the box, so he checked and swirled a low right-footed affort across Ashdown which came juddering back off the upright.35 min: Torres hits the post! And then Gerrard belts a shot just wide from Rodriguez's cutback.34 min: This seems like a good time to publish Rod Tucker's email: "You haven't mentioned Torres is he sulking in a corner or running around like a chicken with his head cut off?"GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Portsmouth (Aquilani 32) The Italian has been something of a menace so far, popping up all over the pitch, and this time he's the man in the box to sweep home the third goal in six minutes! Torres was again the provider, backheeling the ball into the area from near the byline on the left, with Gerrard's dummy allowing Aquilani to finish adroitly into the bottom corner. That's his first goal in English football.31 min: After controlling so much of the posession in the open quater of the game, Liverpool are suddenly rampant, teasing and probing the hapless visitors ...GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Portsmouth (Babel 28) Goodnight Pompey. The crowd had barely settled back into their seats when a cross was sent in from the right-hand side, the ball finding its way to Torres at the back post. His attempt to dupe Wilson succeeded in putting the Portsmouth defender on his backside, and the Spaniard then cut the ball back for Babel, who basically toe-punted it into the far corner.GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Portsmouth (Torres 26) Jamie Ashdown has his head in his gloved hands after his attempted clearance was charged down by Gerrard, the ball spinning free in the area for Rodriguez who lays it across the box for Torres to sweep home the opener. It has been coming, but that's no way to concede.24 min: Red-card magnet Rocha does well to get in front of Torres to clear Rodriguez's cross ...23 min: Piquionne latches on to a long ball into the box and is suddently one-on-one with Reina ... but hold up, the ref's given a free-kick for a foul by Piquionne on Carragher as he chased the ball. It was but the gentlest of caresses on Carragher's heels if it was anything.21 min: Gerrard is then rather clumsily bundled to the ground inside the box by Michael Brown, but all referee Stuart Attwell gives is a corner, which comes to naught. Yes, it is that Stuart Attwell.20 min: The Anfield crowd are shaken from their stupor by another penalty appeal, the ball striking Hreidarsson's arm from a Gerrard cross. Nothing doing.19 min: A Ryan Babel-instigated move ends with Torres running a little wide on the right, inside the area, but his low cross is cut out. Liverpool have looked encouragingly spritely so far.17 min: A first decent affort on the goal come from Aquilani, who hooks a right-footed volley a foot or so wide of Ashdown's right-hand upright. The Italian showed good technique to hit that as the ball dropped over his shoulder. Here's Alix Sharkey: "That's a very attacking Liverpool formation alright, but if Pompey score first my money's on them adding at least two more. The Reds have a serious confidence issue."15 min: A slick one-touch passing move involving Rodriguez, Aquilani and Torres culminates in Gerrard being teed up some 25 yards out, but his attempted net buster heads off into orbit. Yes, I did just write "slick one-touch passing move" in an entry about Liverpool.13 min: Rodriguez's attempt at a cross deflects off for a corner, but Gerrard's delivery again fails to find a man in the middle. Surprised? Not much.11 min: A neat move from Liverpool nearly sets Torres through on the goal, Rodriguez's pass flicked on by Gerrard but in the end with too much pace for the Spanish striker. Who else is in the running to succeed Benitez (should it ever come to that)? Brown could certainly do a turn as an 'English waiter', so to speak. Or at least a mobile phone salesman. Alan Curbishley? Alex McLeish?9 min: Emilanio Insua, who does like a sighter, pings one from distance that is nowhere near troubling Ashdown. "Looking at theat team sheet I'm thinking Benitez has been sacked and replaced by Kevin Keegan, or Phil Brown perhaps?" Mark Judd toys with the idea of who will be next in the Anfield hotseat.8 min: Frederic Piquionne is allowed freedom in the centre of the pitch to run all the way to the edge of the Liverpool box fomr the middle of his own half unchallenged, but after nearly losing control of the ball he woofs a shot well over from 20 yards.7 min: O'Hara's corner flies over everyone in the middle and goes out for a goal kick on the other side.6 min: Another free-kick on the Liverpool right drifts all the way across the box and finds Jamie Carragher on the left. His cut-back hits a Portsmouth body, and goes out for a corner ... which leads to nothing.4 min: Pepe Reina make a complete horlicks of punching Jamie O'Hara's free-kcik away, but Aruna Dindane can only hoick the loose ball over the bar. Early action at both ends here.3 min: Maxi Rodriguez is confidently eased off the ball by Herman Hreidarsson – only for the linesman to signal for a free-kick for shirt pulling. Gerrard again delivers from the right, and, after Torres pokes the lose ball goalwards, it hits Ricardo Rocha's hand leading to loud appeals from the men in red. Nothing given, and it looked pretty accidental to me.1 min: Marc Wilson pulls Fernando Torres's shirt on the right just outside the box, allowing Gerrard to whip in a delivery that is cleared via the head of that man, Wilson.Peep! Liverpool in the traditional red of victory and indebtedness kick off, playing from left to white. Portsmouth, in white, have a throw-in after 30 seconds.You'll never walk alone ... Though you may have to sit by yourself if you're at Anfield tonight, with the ground less than packed. Lowest Premier League crowd of the season, reckons commentator Jon Champion.Problems with the English perception of the game No347: Mark Wright doesn't appreciate the fact that Daniel Agger "likes to play football". Apparently he should be concentrating on defending, which is a different can of beans.Pre-match emails: "The collective consciousness has been heard," reckons Rowan Blades. "Lucas and Kuyt dropped, a five-man attacking unit in place. Now lets see if we dispose of this relegation fodder as we should, and not do our best impression of a sunday league pub side. A big V for Victory from Stevie G tonight please!""If I was a psychologist I would venture a theory that Liverpool's success in making such hard work of getting to fourth is an expression of self-loathing (the inept failure against Wigan being the strongest manifestation). Perhaps it is because they know they are not worthy of the high expectations placed on them that they fear success." Ian Copestake is tonight's shrink.This from Robin Hazlehurst: "Portsmouth have a unique chance here to really break scouse hearts. If they win tonight they will have done the double over Liverpool, worth six points. If they then go bust their results will be wiped out, potentially lifting Liverpool into the coveted fourth place. But if they are saved from bankruptcy in the nick of time at the end of the season, Liverpool could miss out on fourth and the glory that goes with it. Maybe the Red Knights should wait until they can snap Portsmouth up for nothing at the last moment ..."Preamble: Evening people. Tonight Liverpool should be licking their lips at the prospect of taking candy from Portsmouth, the Premier League's bottom team and designated crisis club. And, whisper it quietly, it looks like Rafa Benítez may thinking the same, leaving out Lucas Leiva and the hearty endeavour of Dirk Kuyt in favour of £20m-man Alberto Aquilani and perenial expectation-dasher Ryan Babel. Attacking or what.Portsmouth, however, don't seem too perturbed that they're widely perceived as a dead team walking, and will take heart from the memory of their 2-0 win over the Reds at Fratton Park in December. They line-up without goalkeeper David James, who is struggling with injury, handing Jamie Ashdown his fourth start of the season and with Ricardo Rocha at the back – a man who has been sent off twice in three appearances for Pompey.The last time Portsmouth won at Anfield: 1951How much Liverpool like Mondays: Not veryTonight's teamsLiverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Aquilani, Mascherano, Maxi, Gerrard, Babel, Torres.Subs: Cavalieri, Benayoun, Kyrgiakos, Kuyt, Lucas, Ngog, Kelly.Portsmouth: Ashdown, Finnan, Wilson, Rocha, Hreidarsson, Brown, Diop, O'Hara, Dindane, Piquionne, Belhadj.Subs: O'Brien, Mokoena, Mullins, Owusu-Abeyie, Webber, Hughes, Kanu.Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire)Premier LeagueLiverpoolPortsmouthAlan Gardnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Winslet and Mendes have separated	The Guardian
	Celebrity partnerships have a habit of imploding in public, with the messy details playing out in tabloids or gossip sites. But actor Kate Winslet and film director Sam Mendes, for all their fame and fortune, were never your typical showbusiness couple.The pair married in secret and split on the sly. Today the Oscar-winning duo confessed that they had actually ended their relationship some months ago.The closing credits were confirmed in a brief statement from their lawyer. "Kate and Sam are saddened to announce that they separated earlier this year," said Keith Schilling. "The split is entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement. Both parties are fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children."Winslet and Mendes have a son, Joe, who was born in December 2003. Winslet also has a nine-year-old daughter, Mia, from her first marriage, to film-maker Jim Threapleton.The actor and director met in 2001 and married on a whim in May 2003, while on holiday in Anguilla. "We hadn't been planning to do it," Winslet said at the time. "But we thought it was rather a good idea, so we just did it." The couple went on to divide their time between a family home in the Cotswolds and a luxury apartment in New York.Despite being regarded as the power couple of British film, Winslet and Mendes appeared keen to preserve a sense of normality behind closed doors."As a family we do normal things that other families would," the actor told one interviewer. "It's important to us that the children are just regular kids, so we go to the park, kick a ball around, go to a museum, watch a movie together or just hang out at home playing Monopoly."Originally acclaimed for his stage work, Mendes won an Oscar for directing his debut feature, American Beauty, back in 2000. His other films include The Road to Perdition, Jarhead and the low-budget road movie Away We Go.After five Oscar nominations, Winslet scooped the best actress award last year for her performance as an illiterate Nazi in Stephen Daldry's drama, The Reader.Kate WinsletSam MendesCelebrityXan Brooksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Police investigate Sudan links in lawyer's killin...	The Guardian
	Detectives investigating the murder of a respected human rights lawyer are looking into whether there are links between his work helping torture victims in Sudan and his killing.Abdelsalam Hassan Abdelsalam, a lawyer and intellectual who had promoted human rights in Sudan for 30 years, was found stabbed to death in his south London flat early on Saturday morning.Police sources said they are probing any connections between his death and his work promoting human rights in Sudan and helping torture victims seek redress.Abdelsalam had been the victim of repeated criminal incidents in the months before his death, including burglaries, antisocial behaviour and harassment. This apparent targeting of the lawyer, who weighed 22 stone and walked with two sticks, is also being investigated."We are looking at every aspect of his life, including his work as a human rights lawyer," said one police source. "He was quite a vulnerable individual as he walked with two sticks and weighed 22 stone and there were issues with where he lived."Detective Chief Inspector Damian Allain from the homicide and serious crime command at Scotland Yard said: "This was a brutal attack on a defenceless man, made more tragic as Abdel had devoted much of his life to combating abuse of human rights upon others."At least one address in the block of flats where he lived was known to police for its links to drugs and antisocial behaviour.Abdelsalam, 56, a divorced father of one, was found by a neighbour on Saturday in the hallway of his flat in Boone Street, Lewisham. The neighbour saw the door of his flat open at around 7am, and he was lying in the hallway, a source said.Abdelsalam had been repeatedly stabbed, police said. There were wounds to his stomach and torso, and defence wounds to his arms suggesting he put up a fierce struggle with his killer or killers.His death was caused by a stab wound to his leg which severed his femoral artery.For the last three years Abdelsalam had worked as Sudan expert for Redress, a south London rights organisation which helps torture victims around the world. He had fought for human rights in his country for more than 30 years.Colleagues at Redress said they had been concerned about his personal safety after he told them of the many criminal incidents he had suffered.Carla Ferstman, director of Redress, said: "There was a lot of concern here about his personal safety. He talked to us about what had been going on a great deal. He had been burgled and broken into several times. He talked to his colleagues about it a lot, he was not happy where he was living and his colleagues were concerned for him."The work he did for us involved him working with civil society and the government in Sudan to promote law reform. But he was involved in the much more sensitive work of helping individual victims of torture to seek redress."His friends at work last saw Abdelsalam on Thursday. They were told of his death on Saturday afternoon."We are like a family here. Everyone is shocked and devastated. We have known him for 10 years, and he is incredibly well respected in Sudan for his work."He has helped many people through his work with torture victims."The lawyer was last seen on Friday afternoon and telephone records show he spoke to someone from his flat at 9pm on Friday night.It is understood Abdelsalam was known to social services in Lewisham and home help visited him once a week because of a leg injury he had suffered.Alex de Waal, an Africa expert at the Social Science Research Council in New York, who knew Abdelsalam well, said: "He was one of a remarkable generation of Sudanese intellectuals, who grew up and gained a first-rate education in provincial towns and who possessed a vivid curiosity about the complexities and paradoxes of their country. He was an unflinching advocate for human rights with a keen sense of the social and political context for making those rights real. He studied Islam deeply and mocked both the excesses of Islamist zealots, and those intimidated by them."CrimeHuman rightsSudanLondonSandra Lavilleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Supreme court considers soldiers' right to sue	The Guardian
	Ministry of Defence challenges appeal court ruling that it says allows troops to sue over battlefield decisionsThe extent to which British soldiers on any military operation in any country will be able to sue the government under the human rights act will be decided by a landmark case which opened in the supreme court today before nine of the country's most senior judges.The Ministry of Defence is challenging an appeal court ruling which, it claims, will have a serious impact on commanders by allowing troops to sue even as a result of decisions made in the heat of battle.Opponents argue the ministry's fears are exaggerated and that soldiers must be protected by the act as "they are subject to UK law wherever they operate in the world".The case was triggered by the death of Private Jason Smith, 32, of the Territorial Army, who died of heatstroke in Basra in 2003. At the inquest, in 2006, Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire, said his death was caused "by a serious failure to recognise and take appropriate steps to address the difficulty that he had in adjusting to the climate".The inquest heard that Smith had repeatedly told medical staff he was feeling unwell because of the heat – sometimes over 50C – before reporting sick in that August that year. He was found lying face down and taken to hospital, but suffered cardiac arrest.The coroner said a lack of care amounted to a breach of Smith's human rights.The MoD agreed in previous court hearings that British soldiers inside a British base are covered by both the protection and the obligations of the act. But the appeal court ruling laid down broader principles. It argued that as British soldiers were subject to British jurisdiction wherever they went, there was no reason why the link between soldier and the UK only existed inside British bases and not outside as well.James Eadie QC, for the MoD, said the ruling meant the government would have to guarantee human rights protection to soldiers "on duty wherever they are in the world, even though the UK has no executive, legislative and judicial functions in those places or sufficient control of territory". He said it "would impose an obligation upon the UK to be able to ensure that a British soldier on duty a market in Kabul, Afghanistan, can enjoy [European] Convention rights without hindrance, even from those Afghans over whom the UK has no legislative or practical control and where the territory is not controlled by the UK".He added: "The imposition of some form of legal duty of care would create a major and disproportionate risk that military decision-making would be made more cumbersome and would be skewed in the light of it." He said it could lead to commanders becoming less effective when it came to tactical decision-making and would have an impact on operational effectiveness.However, Jocelyn Cockburn of law firm Hodge Jones & Allen, representing Smith's mother, Catherine, said "How can it be right for servicemen and women to lose their human rights when they are sent abroad to fight on our behalf? A lot of misinformation and scaremongering has been put out about the implications of this judgment, for instance that it will make our soldiers more vulnerable or hamper military operations. This is absolutely untrue." The Human Rights Act required the government to take reasonable steps to protect the lives of soldiers and a court would not second guess "in any circumstances what a commander decides to do in the heat of battle", she said.She added: "One can only wonder whether we would be hearing the constant complaints of lack of equipment for service personnel if the government had recognised their 'human rights' from the start. Rather than appealing this case the secretary of state [Bob Ainsworth] should be prioritising the safety of his troops."The supreme court hearing is listed for three days. The outcome will affect future inquestsinto the deaths of soldiers and how they are conducted.MilitaryLawIraqDefence policyRichard Norton-Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Brown dragging Labour down – poll	The Guardian
	Unpopular Gordon Brown lags behind David Cameron on every question in today's surveyThe prime minister's deep unpopularity is continuing to harm Labour's election chances, according to today's Guardian/ICM poll, which shows the gap between the two main parties has grown to nine points.Voters remain unconvinced by the Conservative alternative, with 29% thinking a clear Tory victory would be best. Only 18% think Britain would be best served by a strong Labour win this spring. Both groups are outnumbered by the 44% who want a hung parliament in which the government works with smaller parties such as the Liberal Democrats.Only 38% of people who voted Labour in 2005 want to see the party win a strong majority now, while 43% would prefer a hung parliament.One explanation is that many voters, even Labour ones, dislike Brown. He lags behind Cameron in every question in today's poll. The Tory leader is 15 points ahead of the prime minister as the man who most want to win and 20 points ahead as the leader best campaigning for "the votes of people like you".Cameron has a 14-point lead as the most competent prime minister, and an 11-point lead as the man most likely to lead Britain in the right direction.He also has a 31-point lead as the man who most has the support of his party – which may indicate the harm done to Brown's standing by Labour rows and plots.Today's poll puts the Conservatives on 40%, which should be enough to give the party a small majority if marginal seats outperform the rest. Uniform national swing calculations suggest the Tories would fall slightly short.The latest figures call into question recent excitement about a Labour fightback. The Tories are up three on the February Guardian poll, and up two on another more recent ICM poll last weekend.Labour, at 31%, are up one on the February poll and unchanged since the weekend survey. The party's advance seems to have stalled.The Liberal Democrats are on 20%, unchanged since the last Guardian/ICM poll, while support for other parties is 9%.Public opinion seems fixed in roughly the place it reached before Christmas. Conservative support has been within three points of 40% in all ICM polls since October. Labour support has been within two points of 30% since November. Liberal Democrats have been within two points of 20% since October. Westminster dramas over such subjects as Lord Ashcroft's tax status and the prime minister's alleged bullying have made little difference.Today's figures are an almost exact reverse of the March Guardian/ICM poll in 2005 before the May election. Then, Labour was on 40%, the Conservatives on 32% and the Lib Dems on 20%. The only difference between then and now is that the Conservative lead is one point bigger than Labour's was in 2005.• ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,002 adults by telephone on 12-14 March 2010. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rulesOpinion pollsLabourConservativesGordon BrownDavid CameronGeneral election 2010Julian Gloverguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	FedEx fossil arrives 300m years late	The Guardian
	A fossil amphibian has come to light on land owned by FedEx and has been named Fedexia striegeliFossil hunters have named a 300m-year-old amphibian in honour of the courier service FedEx, after unearthing the creature on land owned by the company near a US airport.The remains of the ancient amphibian, which lived 70m years before the first dinosaurs, were recovered in 2004 from a slab of rock near Pittsburgh International Airport by Adam Striegel, an amateur fossil enthusiast on a geology field trip.Researchers at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh described the creature on the basis of its remarkably well-preserved 12cm-long skull, which survived fossilisation without being crushed.A group led by David Berman, curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the museum, identified the amphibian as a new genus and species, Fedexia striegeli, in the institution's journal, Annals of Carnegie Museum.Fedexia belongs to a family of extinct amphibians called trematopidae, which lived at a time when the Earth's climate was in the throes of a dramatic transition. The planet's oceans were increasingly becoming locked up in polar ice, causing sea levels to drop and vast swathes of land to become drier and warmer.Gradually, some groups of amphibians, including the trematopids, left their mostly aquatic environments and became more adapted to a terrestrial habitat, returning to the water perhaps only to mate or lay eggs.The remarkable preservation of its skull allowed palaeontologists to identify Fedexia as a trematopid, mainly by a hallmark feature of the group: an elongated external nasal opening.When it died, what is now Pittsburgh was situated near the equator and experienced huge downpours, making an ideal environment for amphibians to flourish."What is particularly amazing about this discovery is that it was made by an amateur who had no prior experience in recognising vertebrate fossils in the rock, a talent that usually takes years to develop," said Berman.FossilsZoologyEvolutionUnited StatesIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	BA vows to fly 60% of passengers	The Guardian
	Unite union says it will suspend walkouts if BA puts a previous offer back on the table for negotiationBritish Airways has pledged to fly six out of 10 passengers to their destinations as the looming cabin crew walkout escalates into a political row between the Unite trade union and Gordon Brown.Unite has offered to suspend the strikes due to begin next Saturday if BA resubmits a peace offer. Tony Woodley, the joint general secretary of Unite, told Sky News: "If the offer is back on the table there is no reason why the strikes cannot at least be suspended."BA has so far declined to reinstate the offer, which includes a partial repeal of the staffing cuts at the heart of the dispute and a three-year pay deal. "The union made the offer invalid by announcing strike dates," said a BA spokesman.BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, has vowed to operate a significant proportion of BA's services during the first phase of the dispute starting this weekend. The airline aims to fly about 45,000 passengers per day using a volunteer cabin crew workforce of 1,000 people and 22 hired jets complete with crew. Thousands more passengers are being put on to other airlines, or BA flights on different dates. Overall it plans to fly at 60% capacity.More than 500,000 passengers will be affected by the seven days of strikes. BA has already offered full refunds to anyone booked to travel between 19 March and 31 March."We are deeply sorry that our customers are the innocent victims of this cynical attack on their travel plans by the leaders of Unite," said Walsh. "Due to the numbers of cabin crew who have called in to offer their services over the weekend, the schedule will be slightly larger than we had originally anticipated. Despite the desire of Unite's leadership to ground the airline, the flag will continue to fly."No details were provided of BA's plans for the second strike, a four-day walkout due to start on 27 March.BA's plans were announced shortly after Woodley hit back at government criticism of Unite. Responding to the prime minister's labelling of the walkout as "unjustified and deplorable", Woodley said: "It's amazing, isn't it, how many people at interesting political times jump on how many bandwagons to condemn workers."Speaking on the World At One show on BBC Radio 4, Woodley also hit back at the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, who had said he "absolutely deplored" the planned strikes."For an unelected person who hasn't got a clue about this dispute I think he would have been much better to keep his counsel," Woodley said. "We have got a man here who might be transport secretary but has no industrial experience whatsoever and didn't want to pick up the phone and find out exactly what the problem's about."Woodley accused BA of seeking a showdown with its largest single group of workers. "This company doesn't want to accept an offer, I feel. It wants a war. It wants to take on our members. I hope I'm wrong but I don't think I'm wrong," he said.Sources close to the dispute say Brown's broadside followed direct communication with Woodley over the weekend, when it is understood the discussion was less confrontational and based on finding possible solutions, including the union reconsidering the BA offer.The condemnation of Unite came from both sides of politics. The shadow chancellor, George Osborne, said: "In the end it's a question of leadership for Gordon Brown. He has to cut off the links with the Unite union, which is a party within a party now for the Labour party."Adonis rejected this and said the BA strike was an "industrial and not a political dispute".The Labour MP Jim Sheridan, joint chairman of the parliamentary Unite group, told the World At One that Adonis was "naive" to blame Unite. "The prime minister and Lord Adonis and everyone else should just take a step back and have a measured approach to this. These inflammatory comments that Lord Adonis has made are extremely unhelpful, and if the prime minister is saying the same thing then that is extremely unhelpful."Woodley has been meeting with representatives of Unites cabin crew branch, Bassa, to plan the strike. Bassa officials met police at Heathrow to discuss picket lines. It is understood there will be pickets in about seven places around Heathrow, such as Hatton Cross tube station.Bassa has sent its 12,000 members a critique of the now-defunct BA offer, which included a partial repeal of cabin crew staffing cuts that triggered the strike, alongside a three-year pay deal and a proposal to put new, lower-paid recruits on to a separate fleet of aircraft.Unite's proposal includes a one-off 2.6% pay cut this year, which matches a similar move by BA's pilots, and the return of about 700 cabin crew to BA aircraft. More than 1,100 cabin crew posts have been removed by BA since November following a voluntary redundancy scheme and a part-time working programme."In our opinion it was far from a good offer, some nice words but not much substance," said Bassa.British AirwaysTrade unionsTransportAir transportGordon BrownDan Milmoguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	America wakes up to the Coffee Party	The Guardian
	At the New York meeting to mark the first National Coffee Party Day, there was anger, frustration – and a little hopeThe stubborn weekend downpour was little match for a crowd of 40 or so chatty strangers, men and women mostly in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who met on the second floor of a nondescript deli in the shadow of the Rockefeller Centre, in midtown Manhattan. After a casual round of introductions, and group adherence to a "civility pledge" (" … I value people from different cultures, I value people with different ideas, and I value and cherish the democratic process"), the inaugural National Coffee Party Day was called to order."The Civility Pledge was language we came up with on a national level," Wayne Jacques, one of the facilitators of the meeting, told me. "We wanted to make sure this thing doesn't dissolve in to a shouting match. The country is in such a moment of crisis, and we've had plenty of that already."This particular gathering of frustrated and progressive-minded New Yorkers was just one out of over 400 similar meetings that were unfolding simultaneously across the country. From a phenomenon that only existed on Facebook a few weeks ago (now at 150,000 fans and counting), to a juggernaut that has been covered far and wide by the mainstream media (including the Guardian), the Coffee Party movement is only the latest twist in the bizarre emergence of competing beverage-based social movements in the United States. It is hard to think of a more telling sign of the extent to which our dysfunctional legislative process, atrophied two-party system and horror-show economy are alienating ever-expanding swaths of the citizenry. "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," wrote Yeats. It is uncertain if the Irish poet was a partisan of coffee or tea."I'm just tired of feeling hopeless, like we don't have any influence over the government," 19-year-old psychology student Matthew Collura tells me during the meeting. "This seems like a new format. We're doing this out of a gut reaction, a need for discourse."In normal times, a group of liberal-leaning New Yorkers meeting at a place called Le Monde Café to discuss the politics of the day would hardly count as news: armchair liberals to the barricades! But these are far from normal times. "There's just so much dysfunction in government right now. Just look at New York State. We have a $9bn deficit, schools and senior centres are closing down, and yet our politicians aren't talking to each other like adults," says PJ Kim, an NGO consultant who lives in lower Manhattan, and who helped spearhead and facilitate Saturday's meeting.Like most other Coffee Party adherents I spoke with on Saturday, Kim doesn't claim to have jumped in to this out of commitment to any one particular burning issue. Rather, Saturday's many and varied conversations appear largely driven by a feeling of anger about a governing process completely overrun by corporate cash (with near unanimous condemnation of the recent supreme court decision that opened the floodgates even further), and frustration that the shrill voices of a newly energised grassroots right (ie the so-called Tea Party) are getting all the attention."It's so polarised, that's why I came here," says Katherine Bernstein of Hell's Kitchen, who I find arguing, albeit civilly, with fellow Manhattanite Richard Borkowski. Richard takes a tougher line on the role that corporate lobbyists should have in crafting policy (none), whereas Katherine, who has worked in the corporate sector for 30-plus years, thinks these things should be judged on a case-by-case basis. While the two aren't able to reach any consensus on this particular issue, they do come to an agreement on at least one other – healthcare. They both agree that insurance companies shouldn't be able to kick people off their plans due to pre-existing conditions. The Coffee Party's live and let live, pro-dialogue creed seems especially suited for this "agree to disagree" kind of conversation for a multi-issue crowd. After two hours the meeting ended with plans for a second Coffee Day (27 March) and an upcoming lobbying blitz titled "Coffee with Congress" (29 March-11 April). There was talk of a summer march on Washington, and involvement in the Congressional elections this autumn. Before leaving I asked the youngest person there, aforementioned student Matthew Collura, if he'll be coming back for more coffee. "Hell yeah," he tells me. "It gives me a little bit of hope."New YorkTea Party movementUS politicsUnited StatesJoseph Huff-Hannonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
	Football Weekly: Brown out	The Guardian
	It's a sad day in podland, and not just because Phil Brown has been relieved of his duties at Hull City. On your brand new Football Weekly, we sing an ode to David Beckham, whose World Cup dream is over in the wake of a potentially career-ending achilles injury (although that cut under his eye looks fairly nasty too). James Richardson and a dangerously sleep-deprived Rob Smyth shed a tear. Before we get to that, proper journalist Owen Gibson looks ahead to Chelsea's Champions League clash with Internazionale. Plus, there's all the usual gubbins about the Premier League title race – could it all come down to goal difference? – and the fight for fourth place. Can Tottenham Hotspur really hang on in the face of the crumbling challenge from Liverpool, Aston Villa, and Manchester City?Finally, Sid Lowe tells us about a weekend of hat-tricks and theatrics in La Liga, and Rafa Honigstein rounds up all the action from the Bundesliga.Have a listen and post your feedback below. We're also on iTunes, Facebook and Twitter, and if you enjoy this type of thing, get your daily dose of fooball with our tea-time email, The Fiver.James RichardsonBen GreenRaphael HonigsteinSid LoweOwen GibsonRob Smyth
	New views of Poland	The Guardian
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