Friends

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/144847/this_was_the_decade_for_same-sex_marriage._who_knew

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/akmal-shaikh-execution-china-brown

Gordon Brown, ministers and the opposition condemn regime's treatment of Briton said to have been mentally ill

Gordon Brown and other senior British politicians have angrily condemned China for executing a British man said to have had mental problems. Akmal Shaikh, 53, was killed early this morning by lethal injection after being convicted of drug smuggling.

Despite frantic appeals by the Foreign Office for clemency, Shaikh was executed at 10.30am local time (2.30am British time) in Urumqi. Campaigners believe he is the first European in 58 years put to death in China.

Shaikh, a father of three from Kentish Town, north London, was found with 4kg of heroin in his suitcase in September 2007. His supporters say he had suffered a breakdown, was delusional and was tricked into carrying the drugs.

Shaikh learned only yesterday that he would be killed today. He was informed by two cousins, who flew to China seeking a reprieve.

"We are deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed at the news of the execution of our beloved cousin Akmal," said Soohail and Nasir Shaikh in a statement.

The two men said they were "astonished" that the Chinese authorities refused to investigate their cousin's mental health on the grounds that the defendant ought to have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind.

"We find it ludicrous that any mentally ill person should be expected to provide this, especially when this was apparently bipolar disorder, in which we understand the sufferer has a distorted view of the world, including his own condition."

Amid an angry exchange of words between London and Beijing, the British prime minister said: "I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken. At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences."

Brown had raised the case on several occasions, including during a meeting with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, at the Copenhagen summit and in a personal message in the past few days.

While British ministers have been careful not to promise any retaliation against the Chinese government, their statements demonstrate their anger at what they regard as Beijing's refusal to recognise Shaikh's basic human rights.

In Beijing the Chinese government said it resisted any interference in its judicial affairs. "We express strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British reaction," said Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman. "We hope the British side will face this case squarely and not put new obstacles in the way of relations between Britain and China."

Chinese judges and lawyers receive instructions from the Communist party on their handling of political cases, but Jiang claimed the country's courts were independent. "China judicial independence brooks no interference." China treated citizens of all nations as equals in dealing with drug-related crime, said Jiang.

The Chinese embassy in London insisted "Shaikh's rights and interests were properly respected and guaranteed" and disputed British claims about his condition. "The concerns of the British side were duly noted and taken into consideration by the Chinese judicial authorities.

"Out of humanitarian consideration visas were granted to the two cousins of Mr Shaikh on Boxing Day and they were given access to meeting Mr Shaikh in China. As for his possible mental illness which has been much talked about, there apparently has been no previous medical record."

Sally Rowen, the legal director of the human rights group Reprieve, said: "The death of Akmal Shaikh is a sad indictment of today's world, and particularly of China's legal system. ... We at Reprieve are sickened by what we have seen during our work on this case."

Britain had demonstrated its anger with Beijing over the treatment of Shaikh when it summoned the Chinese ambassador for a diplomatic dressing down.

In what was described as a "full and frank exchange of views", the Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis asked Fu Ying for clemency and outlined Britain's concern that China had not taken Shaikh's mental health into consideration.

Lewis told Radio 4's Today programme this morning: "It's a deeply depressing day for anyone with a modicum of compassion or commitment to justice in Britain and throughout the world."

He said it was "reprehensible" and "entirely unacceptable" that the execution had gone ahead without any medical assessment. "This execution makes me personally feel sick to the stomach but I'm not going to make idle threats.

"This morning is not the time for a kneejerk reaction. It's true we must continue to engage with China but it needs to be clear as that country plays a greater role in the world they have to understand their responsibility to adhere to the most basic standards of human rights. China will only be fully respected when and if they make the choice to join the human rights mainstream and incidents like this do not help the international community's respect or relationship with China."

Lewis said that there had been 27 ministerial representations to China about Shaikh's case in the last two years. Despite the increased international dialogue with China "all of those representations have been in vain and this is a very very different view of what constitutes universal human rights".

"Clearly Mr Shaikh has mental health problems. And whilst we differ with China anyway on the issue of the death penalty ... the biggest single issue here that causes us so much consternation is that they refused to even do a medical assessment knowing that there was evidence of mental health problems; that is what is unacceptable.

"In the context of a working relationship, a constructive positive relationship ... we expect our partners to behave differently and behave better."

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said: "The UK is completely opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. However I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration despite repeated calls by the prime minister, ministerial colleagues and me.

"These included mental health issues and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial.

"This is not about how much we hate the drug trade. Britain as well as China are completely committed to take it on. The issue is whether Mr Shaikh has become an additional victim of it."

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said: "There were serious concerns about Mr Shaikh's mental health. It is appalling that these concerns were not independently assessed during the more than two years Mr Shaikh was in custody and taken properly into account in the judicial process."

Chinese media have yet to report the execution, but the state-run news agency Xinhua carried a statement by the supreme court defending its judgment. "The evidence was certain and the facts were clear," it said.

The court defended its decision to refuse UK requests for a mental examination. "There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh's mental status," it said.

Legal activists disputed the assertion that the government could not intervene in the court system. "China's judiciary is not independent, it is totally controlled by the government," said the civil rights lawyer Teng Biao.

"This case shows the hardline stance of the government. China now can ignore pressure from international society and won't compromise even a little on the issue of human rights."

Shaikh's lawyer for the supreme court review, Zhang Qingsong, said he was not allowed to meet his client.

Following vocal British criticism of China's stalling tactics at the Copenhagen climate conference this month, the rhetorical relations between the two nations have arguably hit a low not seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. But experts said the long-term impact would be small.

"The two sides are just posturing for their own citizens," said Wu Qiang of Tsinghua University. "Akmal Shaikh is only an isolated case. Unless the UK raises the issue to the EU level I don't think there will be big influence on relations."

The execution delighted China's nationalists. Online comment was overwhelmingingly favourable.

"Well done! The man deserves the death sentence. China has finally shown it can be tough in front of foreigners," noted a post under a TV clip about the news.

On the website ifeng.com, Chahu18 wrote: "I can't believe the British government condemned this action ... Do they support drug smuggling? Britons, you think it is still 1840 when you could use opium to harm Chinese people? I am with Chinese government this time!"

Reprieve said it had medical evidence that Shaikh believed he was going to China in 2007 to record a hit single that would usher in world peace. It said he was duped into carrying a suitcase packed with heroin on a flight from Tajikistan to Urumqi.

Reprieve said the last European to be executed in China was an Italian, Antonio Riva, who was shot by a firing squad in 1951, along with a Japanese man, Ruichi Yamaguchi, after being convicted of involvement in what China alleged was an American plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking Communist officials.

Shaikh's family thanked Brown, Miliband and other British ministers for their efforts and asked the media for "space to grieve".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/28/us-failure-intelligence-plane-bomber

President orders new measures amid inquest over huge lapse of security

Barack Obama yesterday said the US would "not rest" until it has called to account those behind the attempted suicide bombing of a transatlantic flight over Detroit on Christmas Day.

The president said he has ordered new security measures and a review of the failings that allowed a Nigerian Muslim, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to carry explosives onto a US-bound flight.

But Obama added that America would do more than put up additional defences; he had directed his national security officials to "keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country".

"Those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will do more than simply strengthen our defences," he said. "We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and to defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia; or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland."

The president, speaking publicly for the first time since the failed attack, said he had ordered enhanced security screening and added more federal air marshalls to international flights. He also ordered a review of the watch list of known and suspected terrorists to review whether it is effective and, more specifically, how it was that Abdulmutallab could board a flight to Detroit even though his own father had reported him to American consular officials in Nigeria as a security risk.

Obama's comments came after Al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula said it was behind the failed bombing. A statement posted on a website said the attack was in retaliation for recent raids on its militants in Yemen which it said had been carried out by US jets and had caused civilian deaths.

"We tell the American people that since you support the leaders who kill our women and children ... we have come to slaughter you (and) will strike you with no previous (warning); our vengeance is near," the statement said.

According to ABC news Abdulmutallab has told his interrogators he had been one of many and there were more "just like him" being trained to attack the west.

Last night ABC released a picture of Abdulmutallab's burned underwear, said to contain traces of explosives.

British officials expressed fears that a number of Britons had travelled to Yemen to train at secret terrorist camps. Senior UK counter-terrorism officials said MI5 was aware of several nationals and British residents who had trained in Yemen's "ungoverned spaces" in the past year.

The US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, yesterday sought to head off accusations of complacency by acknowledging that security and intelligence failures allowed Abdulmutallab to come close to blowing up the Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit.

She conceded that despite billions of dollars spent on aviation security over the past decade, the US system failed to respond to alerts about Abdulmutallab, and failed to stop him getting any further when airport security in Nigeria and Amsterdam did not detect his bomb.

"Our system did not work in this instance," she told reporters. "No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way." On Sunday, Napolitano had come in for heavy criticism after saying that "the [US side of the] system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days".

Republican members of Congress questioned why US officials had failed to follow up warnings from Abdulmutallab's father, Umaru Mutallab, that his son was potentially dangerous.

Peter King, the top Republican on the House of Representatives homeland security committee, said airport security "failed in every respect".

Susan Collins, another senior Republican, demanded to know why the attempted bomber's US visa was not revoked after the warning from his father.

After Mutallab, a banker and former cabinet minister, alerted the US embassy in Abuja about his son's views, Abdulmutallab's file was marked for attention should he apply for another visa. But consular officials did not revoke the two-year multiple entry visa issued at the US embassy in London in 2008. He was added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide) watch list, which contains 550,000 names. But he was not put on the much shorter no-fly list.

Abdulmutallab has been charged with attempting to blow up an airliner, a crime with a maximum of 20 years in prison, but is likely to face additional charges. A court hearing on a request to obtain DNA samples from Abdulmutallab was postponed until 8 January. No reason was given.

He is now in prison after being released from a hospital near Detroit after treatment for burns to his leg which he suffered when part of his bomb ignited.

Although some security measures have been strengthened, the authorities have relaxed orders to prevent passengers from having blankets or personal possessions on their laps during the last hour of a flight to the US, and to disable electronic maps that tracked the flight path on in-seat television screens; these, and some other restrictions, will now be a matter for individual airlines to decide.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/british-tanker-pirates-somalia

Reports say vessel called St James Park captured in the Gulf of Aden en route to Thailand from Spain

A UK-flagged chemical tanker has been hijacked by Somali pirates, according to reports.

The reports said the vessel, the St James Park, was captured in the Gulf of Aden while on its way to Thailand from Spain and had since changed course for Somalia.

Nigel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre said the tanker issued a distress signal late yesterday after being attacked by pirates.

He said the IMB failed to establish communication with the ship but was told by its owner that it had been hijacked.

The St James Park is the first merchant ship seized in the area in more than six months.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Programme told the AFP news agency that the ship was believed to be travelling towards the northern coast of Somalia. "It is expected to arrive there later this evening," he said.

The last time a British vessel was captured by Somali pirates was on 23 October when Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized with their yacht off the east coast of Africa.

The couple remain in captivity in Somalia despite a reported deal this month to pay the pirates £100,000 in exchange for their release.

Nick Davis, the chairman of the anti-piracy Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, said on 5 December that he had arranged the deal, only for the Foreign Office to reject it, saying it would not allow payments to hostage-takers. The pirates' original demand was for $7m (£4.2m).

Frequent piracy has made the waters of the Indian and South Atlantic oceans increasingly dangerous.

The IMB's piracy reporting centre has reported five attacks in the last 10 days.

Many attacks are carried out by well-armed Somali pirates, often dressed in military fatigues and using satellite phones, GPS equipment, automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades.

It is estimated more than 1,200 Somalis are involved in piracy.

Recently they have started to stray further from their traditional hunting grounds, possibly as a result of increased patrols by warships off the coast of Somalia.

This month it was reported a helicopter dropped a ransom of $4m onto the deck of a Chinese coal ship hijacked by pirates in mid-October off the Horn of Africa. The De Xin Hai and its 25 crew had been carrying about 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to Mundra in India.

The PRC reported 306 incidents in the first nine months of 2009, up from 293 in the same period of 2008.

Somali pirates hijacked 32 vessels in the first nine months of 2009, with 533 crew members taken hostage. Another 85 vessels were fired upon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/29/unemployment-keep-rising-in-2010

• Jobless figure to peak at 2.8m, says Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
• Pay rises to stay under pressure, group predicts

Unemployment will continue to rise at least until the summer of 2010, peaking at 2.8 million, a leading business group predicted today.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned of a "sting" in the tail of the recession, with a winter rise in job losses as firms assess prospects for the economy in the coming year.

Employers are set to decide to raise productivity and reduce labour costs, leading to "tough times" ahead for UK workplaces, the group said.

The report estimated that the number of people in work will fall by 250,000 between the third quarter of this year and the second three months of 2010.

The 2.8 million unemployment prediction is much lower than an earlier forecast by the CIPD of 3.2 million, with the report adding that the coming year will be better for jobs than 2009.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser, forecast a continued squeeze on pay rises next year, adding: "This could be difficult to deliver following a recession during which many private sector employees have experienced pay freezes or pay cuts.

"A slower than expected recovery or stronger earnings growth would threaten to raise peak unemployment to at least three million.

"The impact on jobs of planned cuts in public spending and tax increases, especially the 1% hike in employers' National Insurance Contributions from April 2011, is expected to be felt after the peak in unemployment.

"However, if employers were to anticipate the rise in NICs when making staffing decisions and/or there was a more immediate cut in public spending, which could be the case if the Conservatives gain power at the general election due in the first half of 2010, unemployment might peak at a higher rate than we currently forecast."

Dr Philpott said private sector employers will seek to contain wage costs in the coming years, while public sector employers will have to cope with the consequences of "fast shrinking budgets and mass job downsizing".

Commenting on the prediction, work and pensions minister Lord McKenzie said: "We have invested £5bn over the last year to help people who have lost their jobs during the recession get back into work.

"This has helped create new jobs, brought in extra frontline advisers to Jobcentre Plus and expanded access to training and apprenticeships.

"Our investment is having a real impact, with unemployment more than 400,000 lower than experts predicted at the last Budget.

"But times are still going to be tough for many, even as we move into recovery, and it is vital that we keep supporting people, investing in their future, not abandoning them."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/quiz/2009/dec/29/1

From the recession to Susan Boyle to the Iranian election to Copenhagen. The quiz of the year of the decade that, by and large, ended badly

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/28/executive-pay

Big companies construct complex schemes that risk infuriating the government as it tries to crack down on tax avoidance

Britain's leading companies are devising pay schemes that enable top executives to escape the new 50p rate of income tax for high earners that takes effect in April, the Guardian has learned.

Some of the biggest companies in the country are constructing complex pay schemes that risk infuriating government ministers, who are determined to crack down on tax avoidance. Some of these schemes are "nakedly" intended to allow senior boardroom bosses to pay a tax rate of 18% instead of the 50% top rate, according to one industry expert.

The new schemes have come to light only weeks after Alistair Darling announced a new supertax on bankers' bonuses in the pre-budget report amid growing public anger about top pay.

The plans for complicated pay policies are being presented to senior institutional investors in the City who are briefed each year by remuneration consultants about pay schemes for major companies. Investors vote on executive pay schemes in an advisory capacity, but most companies try to gain their biggest shareholders' approval for pay changes.

Many investors had been braced for proposals that would have allowed boardroom executives to enjoy rises in their base salaries, which were largely frozen during 2009 because of the onset of the recession. However, they have found that the plans they are being asked to consider are extremely complicated and are being constructed to adapt to the changing tax environment from April when the government has announced income tax for high earners will rise.

Peter Montagnon, head of investment affairs at the Association of British Insurers, whose members control a fifth of the stock market, said: "We have noticed a lot of interest in tax efficiency. This is liable to produce some very complicated share schemes which shareholders will have to scrutinise closely."

When it was announced in April, the government said the new 50% band will be levied on the estimated 350,000 people with incomes above £150,000 a year – easily capturing the executives in the boardrooms of Britain's biggest companies.

A number of pay plans are currently on the drawing board and differ subtly from the current schemes used in Britain's biggest boardrooms. Many of them seek to re-classify executives' income as capital gains, which attract a lower tax rate.

Most pay schemes for FTSE 100 executives are currently based on awards of shares or options that are linked to performance criteria over three to five years. The income tax is paid when the shares or options actually "vest" (when the executive gains control of them).

But the new schemes being drawn up are based on a system known as restrictive stock. These seek to shift most of the tax liability to a capital gain on any profits made at the end of the three- to five-year period when the shares vest.

They use complicated financial instruments to minimise the income tax paid by the director when the stock is received and transfer some of the economic risk to the executive. While shareholders are not able to formally veto pay practices they dislike, they have a vote on remuneration reports at companies' annual general meetings (AGMs) each year although the outcome is only advisory.

Jon Terry, head of remuneration at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: "A number of these restrictive stock-type arrangements will come forward this AGM season."

Montagnon is also warning major companies that shareholders are unwilling to endorse pay plans that are overly complicated and purely designed to pass on the cost of the extra tax to the company from the executive who might otherwise be liable.

"We can't support schemes which end up costing the company more than would otherwise have been the case or simply shift the tax burden from the individual to the company. Shareholders recognise that schemes should be efficient in relation to tax implications, but there is a limit. Shareholders cannot support schemes which are nakedly for the purpose of avoiding tax," he said.

Darling's new supertax on bonuses led to threats that star bankers would leave the UK to live and work in countries with less punitive tax regimes. He announced this month that the tax would become effective immediately, last until the end of the current tax year in early April, and be paid by banks on bonuses over £25,000.

While it has been subjected to some refinements by Revenue & Customs – including clarifying the definition of a "bank" – the government is determined to press on with the payroll tax on bonuses and made clear it intends to clamp down on any avoidance techniques, such as deferring payments beyond the tax year.

Banks and City traders have earned a reputation for tax avoidance. Earlier this year, Royal Bank of Scotland found itself having to defend the way commodities traders in its Sempra division were being paid to minimise income tax and national insurance contributions. Sempra, now up for sale by the bank in which the taxpayer has a 84% stake, has also paid traders in jars of platinum sponge – one form of the valuable metal – or in gold bullion.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/29/tough-love-parents-graduate-unemployment

Guide tells parents to stop doing the ironing in order to empty the nest amid record graduate unemployment

With graduate unemployment at its highest for more than a decade, the lure of the parental nest has never been stronger.

But mollycoddling mothers and fathers should resist the urge to make home too comfortable for their recently qualified offspring, according to government guidance.

A manual published today instructs parents to show a bit of "tough love" as they try to encourage their children to get a job. That means making them do their own washing and ironing, emptying the fridge of student-friendly snacks and cutting back on handouts.

The guide, produced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, also has blunt advice for those with lofty ambitions. "Yes, some people will make it as actors and scriptwriters," it says, "but many just waste away the years."

"Do" and "Don't" lists aim to help anxious parents "motivate not alienate". Dos include allowing your child to relax once they graduate – though a few weeks with their feet up should not slide into a few months. Parents should also arrange a regular update of progress.

On the don't list is perhaps the worst sin: nagging. "It might work in some circumstances, but most young people want a job and know there is a lot of competition," the guide says. "Nagging can make young people feel more stressed and makes failure to get a job worse".

There are times when it doesn't pay to be "too supportive". "Sometimes, it really is necessary to show tough love," says the guide. "If you are making life too comfortable at home, why would they get a job? If you are providing free board and lodgings, a well-stocked fridge, washing and ironing done, plus an allowance, there's not much drive there. So cut back to help increase their motivation."

The guide may be well-timed. Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics revealed more people in their 20s or 30s were living with their parents than at any time in the past 20 years. Around 25% of men and 13% of women aged 25 to 29 still live with their parents. Although one in three "adult-kids" said they couldn't afford to buy or rent their own home, others were choosing to become "kippers" – kids in parents' pockets.

The authors of the ONS report dubbed graduates who returned home to live with their parents "boomerang children", saying their numbers were being swelled by growing student debt.

Last month research revealed graduate unemployment rose by 44% in 12 months and is now at its highest level for 12 years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/29/cold-weather-britain-snow

Heavy falls predicted for Wales, while south-east likely to be hit by rain

The cold snap returned to Britain today – just in time to disrupt the country's return to work after the Christmas break.

Train services were disrupted at Glasgow, Inverness airport was forced to close and roads across the country saw black ice cause accidents.

Snowfalls of up to 30cm (12in) have been forecast for high ground in Wales, prompting warnings to inexperienced hikers venturing onto the mountains of Snowdonia or the Brecon Beacons.

Snow showers have already hit parts of the west country, the Midlands – up to Dorridge and neighbouring areas south of Birmingham – and parts of the north-east.

Areas spared snow are instead likely to experience heavy rain, particularly the south-east.

"You can virtually draw a line from Suffolk to the Bristol Channel and say that, south of that, there will be no snow," Stephen Davenport, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said.

"Temperatures may be as mild as 10C (50F) in the south-west of England today, but in other areas, such as Scotland, they will struggle to get above freezing."

The Welsh Assembly said stockpiles of salt and grit had been built up in readiness and a contingency plan was in place to divert supplies from motorways if snow threatened to disrupt main roads.

An assembly spokeswoman said local authorities had agreed a "mutual help" plan if any found themselves struggling to cope.

Holiday engineering work is adding to the disruption caused by ice to rail services between Gasgow, Ayr, Largs, Ardrossan and Wemyss Bay.

On the roads, the A66 at Stockton-on-Tees, the A19 at Sunderland and the A42 in Leicestershire have all seen long delays caused by accidents.

The father of a man who went missing in freezing and snowy weather just before Christmas appealed today for his safe return.

Adam Passfield failed to return home after an evening out with football club friends in Chelmsford, Essex, ten days ago.

Police marine unit officers have resumed a search of the River Chelmer, which flows through the town centre.

The missing 22-year-old is described as white, approximately 6ft tall and of slim build with short, straight brown hair. He was wearing jeans, trainers and a red checked shirt with a black leather jacket.

His father, Kevin, said: "We were hoping that he would walk thorough the door on Christmas Day, embarrassed but safe and well. We can only hope the new year will bring good news."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/28/iran-protests-regime-opposition

• Clampdown follows arrest of senior political figures
• Opposition claims leader's nephew was assassinated

Government forces sought to reimpose an iron grip on Tehran and other cities yesterday, a day after Iran was convulsed by violence which left at least eight dead and the Islamic regime facing a crisis of authority.

Plainclothes agents and special police units were reported to be deployed in overwhelming numbers in four of Tehran's main squares – Enghelab, Haft-e Tir, Valiasr and Ferdowsi – which formed part of the focal point of Sunday's fierce confrontations. Three city-centre underground stations were also closed as authorities sought to block off gathering points for protesters.

But skirmishes were reported between opposition supporters and government forces in Haft-e Tir square. Teargas was said to have been fired at opposition supporters who had gathered outside Ebn-e Sina hospital, where the nephew of the reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was pronounced dead after having being shot on Sunday.

The clampdown followed the arrests of at least 10 senior political figures overnight, including three Mousavi aides and Ebrahim Yazdi, 78, a former foreign minister and one-time adviser to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Last night Barack Obama praised "the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people" while condemning the government for attacking demonstrators with "the iron fist of brutality". The US president said Iran's troubles were caused by its leaders' decision "to govern through fear and tyranny" and demanded "the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran".

The crackdown reprised the response to June's post-election protests, when many prominent activists were detained after mass demonstrations against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election. But they served only to emphasise Iran's devastated political landscape as opposition figures voiced outrage that Sunday's Ashura ceremony, a day of reverence for the Shia Islam martyr Imam Hossein, became steeped in blood after security forces allegedly opened fire on demonstrators.

While the government continued to deny that accusation yesterday, witnesses reported that plainclothes Basij militia members had hit protesters' heads with steel batons in an apparent attempt to inflict fatal injuries. Family and friends of many of the injured avoided taking them to hospitals, where security agents were waiting to identify and arrest casualties. Doctors were instead called to people's homes to administer emergency treatment.

The fatalities raised questions about the religious legitimacy of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who stood accused of breaking the basic tenets of Islam by permitting killing during the holy month of Muharram. Another reformist leader, Mehdi Karroubi, implied that Khamenei was worse than the former shah, whose troops never opened fire on Ashura. "What has happened to this religious system that it orders the killing of innocent people during the holy day of Ashura?" Karroubi said.

His comments were echoed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Paris-based Iranian film-maker and unofficial spokesman for Mousavi. He compared Khamenei to the 7th century Umayyad caliph Yazid, hated in Shia Islam as the slayer of Imam Hossein, and added: "I'm upset with myself for fighting against the shah. At least when he realised people didn't want him, he left the country."

Makhmalbaf's statement, posted on his website, went further by comparing Khamenei to Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi leader who is hated in Iran for invading the country in 1980. "Khamenei … we are going to pull you up from your Saddam-like well and shed light on your face – but not with the flashlight of an American soldier," the statement said.

Makhmalbaf also alleged that Ali Mousavi Khamane, the nephew of the reformist leader, had been targeted by state security agents who went to his house to assassinate him.

Suspicions multiplied when the dead man's relatives accused the security forces of removing his body from Ebn-e Sina hospital, purportedly for a forensic investigation. Opposition figures suggested the move was intended to prevent the Mousavi family from holding mourning ceremonies, which the government fears could turn into even bigger protests.

Sunday's violence spread far beyond Tehran. Disturbances were reported in other cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz and Tabriz, where a further four people were reportedly killed.

More ominously for the government's authority, clashes were also said to have occurred in smaller cities such as Babol, Arak and Orumiyeh.

Sunday's scenes evoked memories of the last days of the shah, when demonstrators took to the streets to confront the former monarch's forces. However, Hossein Bastani, an Iranian political analyst, warned against drawing parallels with the present situation. "The shah's regime collapsed when many members of the army, who were just doing their military service and were really supporters of Khomeini, rebelled and went over to the other side," he said. "This regime has learned from that. They have invested too much in creating their own dedicated forces. They may be a tiny proportion of Iran's population, but they are absolutely committed to the Islamic republic, very violent and very efficient."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/29/body-briton-myles-robinson-lauterbrunnen

Myles Robinson went missing last Tuesday while staying in Lauterbrunnen with family

Police have found a body in the search for the missing British graduate Myles Robinson at a Swiss ski resort.

The discovery was made yesterday afternoon in Lauterbrunnen, near Wengen, although formal identification has yet to take place, according to the Foreign Office.

Myles Robinson was last seen in the early hours of last Tuesday as he walked a family friend back to her hotel in Wengen from the Blue Monkey bar. The 23-year-old had been staying with his family at the Hotel Eiger a few hundred yards away.

Police searched with sniffer dogs at the hotel where the family were staying and the Swiss army searched the area by helicopter.

Robinson, who studied at Newcastle University and Charterhouse school, was happy, his mother Sarah said, and his girlfriend had been due to be flying out to celebrate the new year with him.

He was reportedly due to start a new job with a financial services company next week.

The Robinson family, from Wandsworth, south London, has visited the resort for 15 years.

Police said identification of the body would take place this morning at the earliest.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/dec/29/conservatives-inheritance-tax-labour

The Tories turn the tables on Labour today over the highly contentious area of inheritance tax by claiming that more than 4 million people in Britain now face an average liability of £60,000.

Labour has attempted to portray David Cameron as the champion of privilege after he pledged to raise the individual inheritance tax (IHT) threshold to £1m.

Gordon Brown, who faced accusations that he was sparking a fresh class war when he claimed that Tory economic policy was dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton, says Cameron's plans would benefit the richest 3,000 estates in the country.

The Tories hit back today, saying that the government's decision to abandon plans to raise the individual IHT threshold from £325,000 to £350,000 in the pre-budget report means that more than 4 million people will be hit. Analysis by the Tories of new figures from the Wealth in Britain report, released by the Office for National Statistics, shows that:

• About 5m households have wealth outside their pensions above the individual IHT threshold of £325,000.

• More than 4 million adults – one in 10 of the total – live in households where the average wealth outside their pensions is more than £325,000. This figure is reached after allowing for the number of people aged over 16 in each household.

• The average liability for the 4.3 million people in this bracket is £60,000 for every person.

Philip Hammond, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "These figures show that inheritance tax remains a threat for millions of families under Labour. Coming on top of the government's planned tax increase on anyone earning over £20,000 this reveals that the real victims of Labour's class war are middle-income families.

"If you aspire to save for your future and pass something on to your children then Labour is no longer the party for you. The Conservatives will restore inheritance tax to what it was designed to be – a tax on the very rich – and ensure that it is only paid by millionaires."

The Treasury, which says that fewer than 3% of estates pay IHT, will claim that the Tory figures give an unrealistic assessment of how the tax is levied. The Tories cannot guarantee that all 4 million people identified in their analysis would be liable. Many will live as married couples, allowing them to pool their wealth to double the IHT threshold.

The attempt by the Tories to show that inheritance tax hits people on middle incomes displays their determination to fight Brown's move to appeal to core Labour voters by portraying Cameron as the defender of the rich. The prime minister said last month that the beneficiaries of the Tories' tax plans, which would see the individual IHT threshold raised to £1m, "resemble the leader of the opposition's Christmas card list".

A Treasury source said: "The Tories' claim of 4 million is utter nonsense. This is just another Tory attempt to distract people from the fact they are cutting tax credits for families on modest incomes while giving a big tax cut to the 3,000 richest estates."

Since then the Tories have sensed weakness after Brown alarmed many members of the cabinet by appearing to resort to class war tactics with his jibe about Eton. Jack Straw, the justice secretary, and Tessa Jowell, the cabinet office minister, warned Brown over the weekend against pursuing a class war.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/28/karachi-sucide-bomb-attack

Procession participants turn on police and medical services after bomber evades heightened security to inflict deadly strike

At least 20 people have been killed and 60 injured, many critically, in a suicide bomb attack on a religious procession of Shia Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

Furious participants in the ceremony turned on police, soldiers and media after the blast which sent smoke billowing over the centre.

Film footage showed police and ambulances with broken windows, as Karachi's mayor, Mustafa Kamal, appealed for calm. The suicide bomber evaded heightened security during the traditionally tense month of Muharram when Shias mourn the death in a 7th-century battle of Mohammed's grandson Ali which led to their split with mainstream Islam.

Warnings of possible attacks had increased overnight after a suicide bombing yesterday killed eight and wounded 80 in Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. Scores of lesser incidents of violence between Shias and Sunni Muslims have been reported in the run-up to Ashura, the holiest day of Muharram, which the Karachi march was marking.

Witnesses in Karachi said that armed Shias in the procession fired shots in the air after the bomb blast, while others pelted police and medical teams with stones. Kamal warned that the attack could be related to wider terrorist activity and attempts to destabilise the country during the crisis over al-Qaida and Afghanistan.

He said: "I want to appeal to the people, to my brothers, my elders to stay calm. I am hearing people are clashing with police and doctors. Please do not do that. That is what terrorists are aiming at. They want to see this city again on fire."

Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, said the bomber detonated his explosives at the start of the Ashura procession, on the 10th day of Muharram. The provincial health minister, Sagheer Ahmad, warned that the death toll at the city's Civil hospital could increase because the victims' injuries were so severe.

The blast follows more than 500 civilian deaths in bomb attacks across Pakistan since mid-October when the country's army launched an attack on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban refuges in the border province of South Waziristan. Army commanders said shortly before the attack that security in centres such as Peshawar was "on red alert".

Extra paramilitaries had been mobilised in Karachi after an explosion yesterday injured 30, but was later attributed to a build-up of gas in faulty sewage pipes. In the eastern city of Lahore, all entry and exit points to Shia processions for Ashura were sealed and all participants had to queue for scanners.

The attack in Muzzafarabad shook the authorities as the city and region has a much better record of Shia-Sunni relations during Muharram than most other parts of Pakistan. Three police died in the blast, which comes at a time when Kashmiri militant groups have shown signs of turning their traditional focus on Indian-ruled Kashmir into a wider movement with ties to al-Qaida and the Taliban.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/yves-rocher-dies

The business world of France has paid tribute to Yves Rocher, who grew a global cosmetics empire out of the concept that plants could be used in beauty treatments, after he died in Paris on Boxing Day, aged 79.

Founder of the brand that carries his name, he set up his business at a local level in 1959, focusing its reputation on the idea of "beauty from plants". The Yves Rocher Group today has outlets in more than 80 countries and annual sales of more than €2bn.

In a statement, Nicolas Sarkozy said the Breton-born businessman had been "a great French industrialist, inventor of plant-based cosmetics and a pioneer of mail order sales". The president also paid homage to Rocher's "civic commitment", a political devotion that manifested itself throughout his life.

Yesterday the Breton village of La Gacilly, where Rocher was a rightwing mayor from 1962 to 2008, outlined plans for his funeral, which is to be held tomorrow. As many as 8,000 people are expected to attend.

Among the mourners will be France's industry minister, Christian Estrosi.

In his tribute to Rocher, Estrosi described him as a "visionary who, as a true pioneer of sustainable development, knew that, far from being the enemy of industry, respect for the environment would bring growth and employment for the well-being of everyone".

After taking his first steps in business at a humble level, by selling haemorrhoid ointment through the classified ads in a Parisian magazine, Rocher found his commercial calling in the making of cosmetics from the natural ingredients he saw around him in his native Brittany.

In 1965, he published a Green book of beauty, which has since been translated into more than 20 languages. The business which started with mail order and opened its first shop in 1969 now has annual sales three times as large as the Body Shop.

"He was an ecologist before everyone else," said Bernard Angot, president of Brittany International, an organisation promoting local businesses. "By creating cosmetic products that were affordable and good quality, he was really ahead of his time."

According to reports in the French media, Rocher's 31-year-old grandson Bris will be taking over the reins at the company.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/28/premier-league-manchester-city-wolverhampton

• Mancini says City are better than he initially thought
• Stephen Ireland injury doubt after 3-0 defeat of Wolves

Roberto Mancini, the new Manchester City manager, predicted his side could catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League after their 3-0 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers maintained his immaculate start as Mark Hughes's replacement.

After initially targeting a Champions League finish Mancini explained that he now believed winning the title was "always realistic" because the team he had inherited from Hughes was "better" than he had initially thought. "We have another 19 games, so all is possible," he said. "We have a good team and if we keep concentrating it's possible."

Two goals from Carlos Tevez and a free-kick from the substitute Javier Garrido mean City are 10 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand. The gap to second-placed Manchester United is five points, with both teams at the midway point of the season, and Mancini can be encouraged by the fact their next six games are all against teams from the bottom 10.

"We are not looking at the positions just yet," he said. "We must carry on playing well and winning. Then, in two months, we can look at the situation [in the title race]. It's important that we just play well and improve match after match. If we keep playing well, if we keep the ball on the pitch and play a short game, we can arrive in the top four."

Mancini, who dropped Robinho in favour of Craig Bellamy, reflected that his first week at City had been "fantastic", with two successive wins and no goals conceded, but he also reported Stephen Ireland might have joined an injury list that already includes Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nedum Onuoha.

"We have some problems and we also have Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor going to the African Cup of Nations so it is a problem for us," said the former Internazionale head coach.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/29/jose-mourinho-internazionale-premier-league

• Former Chelsea manager 'will not leave Inter mid-season'
• Hints he may consider future if Italian champions retain title

José Mourinho says he wants to return to English football but has pledged to remain with Internazionale, the Italian champions, until the end of the season.

"I want to come back to England. I'm not the kind of guy to keep his feelings hidden," the former Chelsea boss said after watching his old club beat Fulham 2-1 yesterday. "I have always said the same – I love it here, I love it here, I love it here."

Mourinho, 46, was sacked by Chelsea in September 2007 after three years in charge and took over at Internazionale at the end of the 2007-08 season.

"I won two titles in three years [at Chelsea] and all the other cups too," the Portuguese manager told the Sun. "I was very successful, so it is normal that other clubs here will want me. I won two titles with Porto, two with Chelsea and now I want to make it two, plus two, plus two by winning it again with Inter. That would be special.

"I don't leave any club in mid-season to go to another. So until the end of the season there's no chance that I will leave Inter."

Chelsea, now managed by Carlo Ancelotti, play Internazionale in the Champions League last 16 in February.

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2004

Following up on "The order of ancestors" (12/24/2009) and "Sexual orders" (12/27/2009), I need to note one other important recent paper: Sarah Benor and Roger Levy, "The Chicken or the Egg? A Probabilistic Analysis of English Binomials", Language 82(2): 233-278, 2006. And several readers have pointed me to an older tradition of corpus linguistics that comes to a different set of conclusions about binomial ordering: Mishnah Keritot 6:9, etc.

Here's the abstract of the Benor and Levy paper:

Why is it preferable to say salt and pepper over pepper and salt? Based on an analysis of 692 binomial tokens from online corpora, we show that a number of semantic, metrical, and frequency constraints contribute significantly to ordering preferences, overshadowing the phonological factors that have traditionally been considered important. The ordering of binomials exhibits a considerable amount of variation. For example, although principal and interest is the more frequent order, interest and principal also occurs. We consider three frameworks for analysis of this variation: traditional optimality theory, stochastic optimality theory, and logistic regression. Our best models—using logistic regression—predict 79.2% of the binomial tokens and 76.7% of types, and the remainder are predicted as less frequent—but not ungrammatical—variants.

B & L take their examples from a number of tagged corpora, using a method described as follows:

The corpus search was conducted on three tagged corpora: the Switchboard (spoken), Brown (varied genres, written), and Wall Street Journal (WSJ; newspaper) sections of the Penn Treebank III, available from the Linguistic Data Consortium (Marcus et al. 1993).1 These corpora were searched for constructions of N and N, V and V, Adj and Adj, and Adv and Adv, where both X and X were part of the same XP. The search yielded 3,680 distinct binomials. Using the beginnings and ends of each corpus’s search results, we took a total of 411 input binomial TYPES—distinct sets A, B for some binomial sequence A and B—for analysis. This total consisted of 120 nouns, 103 verbs (including gerunds and participals), 118 adjectives, and 70 adverbs. We did not include binomials formed from personal names, because idiosyncratic factors frequently determine the ordering of names in a conjunction (however, we did not exclude the names of political entities such as countries or states). We discarded binomials formed with extender phrases, such as and stuff, as they are not in theory reversible (i.e. politics and everything cannot be everything and politics). For each of these binomials, we noted whether we considered each to be frozen (for example, by and large and north and south are frozen; honest and stupid and slowly and thoughtfully are not). We then searched for all occurrences of each binomial and its reverse in all three corpora, and included all such occurrences in our final corpus, yielding 692 tokens. Like Gustafsson (1976), we found that very few of the binomials occurred more than once in the three corpora. Most of those that did are frozen binomials, such as back and forth, which occurred forty-nine times.

Their technique has several important advantages.  For one thing, the use of parsed corpora allows them to avoid apparent binomials like dogs and desserts from the string "…selling hamburgers, hot dogs and desserts", or dogs and columns from the string "a most unique newspaper, one that carries no headlines, photographs of cats and dogs and columns with names like 'The Downieville Dragnet.'".  And this approach provides a valid sample of the binomials (common or otherwise) that happen to occur in a chosen chunk of text.

It also has an important disadvantage: the amount of text analyzed is only about three million words.  692 binomial tokens is thus a rate of about 231 per million. This is pretty common — it's about the same frequency as the word America, or the sequence "from a".  But their observation that "very few of the [individual] binomials occurred more than once in the three corpora" is both expected, and telling.  The nature of LNRE ("large numbers of rare events") distributions guarantees that the resulting sample will present a very noisy picture of the population frequency and the population order statistics for individual binomials. And this guarantee is honored by the facts, as can be seen in the following table, which compares a random selection of their 411 binomial types with counts from some larger corpora:

(In each cell, the first number is the count for the cited order of the binomial, and the second number is the count for the reversed order.)

Given that their model assigns weights to 20 "semantic, pragmatic, metrical, phonological, and word-frequency factors that may affect the ordering of binomials", and that the patterning of these factors in their 411 binomial types is far from a factorial design (as expected in real-world linguistic data),  this amount of noise in type-token relations will certainly degrade the predictive power of the result.

As they observe, "Because our full logistic-regression model uses a large number of constraints relative to the size of the dataset, it is not possible to draw detailed conclusions from the specific values of resulting constraint weights". This would be true even if the estimated frequencies of binomial types were reasonably accurate — it's much more of a problem given that their counts are nearly all 1, and thus almost meaningless as a basis for predicting population frequency. (This is especially true if the model is tested via cross-validation — as far as I can tell, though, they tested on their training set, making the reported 77% performance surprisingly low. )

At the start of this post, I mentioned an older corpus-linguistics tradition that also must deal with the problem of binomial order in a small corpus (about half a million words).  This older tradition, without access to generalized linear models, draws a different sort of conclusion from the fact that binomial order is hard to predict and apparently variable.  Thus

“This is the same Aaron and Moshe to whom G-d told, ‘Take the Jewish people, all of their hosts, out of Egypt.’”  (Shemot 6:26)

The Tosefta at the end of Masekhet Keritot asks:  Why does Aaron precede Moshe in this verse, whereas Moshe usually precedes Aaron? […]

[T]he Torah, one verse after another, switches the order of their names.  When it speaks about the actual Exodus – “to whom G-d told, ‘Take the Jewish people, all of their hosts, out of Egypt” – where Moshe was central, it lists Aaron first – “Aaron and Moshe.” (Shemot 6:26) Then, in the next verse when it talks of speaking to Pharaoh – “They are the ones who speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt . . .” – it lists Moshe first – “this is Moshe and Aaron.” (Shemot 6:27) This switching of the names actually teaches a lesson. By listing Aaron first concerning the area where Moshe was central and listing Moshe first in the area where Aaron was central, it makes it clear that both had an equal role in the mission.

Or again:

Dealing with the duties and the relationship of the child to its parents:

a) Honor your father and your mother, (Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16)

b) Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father (Levit.19:3)

[In the matter of honor due to parents, the father is mentioned first; in the matter of reverence due to them, the mother is mentioned first. From this we infer that both are to be equally honored and revered. …]

And:

4. "You shall revere every man his mother, and his father"

Rabbi Yosi says that whoever fears their mother and father observes the Shabbat. He wonders why the mother is mentioned first, and Rabbi Shimon explains that the mother does not have the power to instill fear that the father does, therefore she is mentioned first. Rabbi Yehuda says that just as heaven and earth were created simultaneously, both parents are equal in fear and honor. Rabbi Shimon tells us about the sanctification below during mating and the supernal mating above.

Some similar arguments are advanced about sheep and goats, pigeons and doves, and perhaps other binomials.  But here, I think, we have an even more problematic instance of testing on a training set with small type and token counts.

http://www.alternet.org/water/144827/ric_o%27barry%3A_the_man_behind_the_crusade_to_save_japan%27s_dolphins_from_slaughter

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogrssfeed/~3/z3dnDPKFaVA/new-research-could-advance-research-field-critical-personalized-medicine-28797.html

http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/4821

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/us/29terror.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/us/29terror.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/health/policy/29lobby.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/health/policy/29lobby.html

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/vintages-in-paris-cars-not-wine/?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/vintages-in-paris-cars-not-wine/

http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/operation-chokehold/?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/operation-chokehold/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/akmal-shaikh-execution-china-brown

Gordon Brown, ministers and the opposition condemn regime's treatment of Briton said to have been mentally ill

Gordon Brown and other senior British politicians have angrily condemned China for executing a British man said to have had mental problems. Akmal Shaikh, 53, was killed early this morning by lethal injection after being convicted of drug smuggling.

Despite frantic appeals by the Foreign Office for clemency, Shaikh was executed at 10.30am local time (2.30am British time) in Urumqi. Campaigners believe he is the first European in 58 years put to death in China.

Shaikh, a father of three from Kentish Town, north London, was found with 4kg of heroin in his suitcase in September 2007. His supporters say he had suffered a breakdown, was delusional and was tricked into carrying the drugs.

Shaikh learned only yesterday that he would be killed today. He was informed by two cousins, who flew to China seeking a reprieve.

"We are deeply saddened, stunned and disappointed at the news of the execution of our beloved cousin Akmal," said Soohail and Nasir Shaikh in a statement.

The two men said they were "astonished" that the Chinese authorities refused to investigate their cousin's mental health on the grounds that the defendant ought to have provided evidence of his own fragile state of mind.

"We find it ludicrous that any mentally ill person should be expected to provide this, especially when this was apparently bipolar disorder, in which we understand the sufferer has a distorted view of the world, including his own condition."

Amid an angry exchange of words between London and Beijing, the British prime minister said: "I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken. At this time our thoughts are with Mr Shaikh's family and friends and I send them our sincere condolences."

Brown had raised the case on several occasions, including during a meeting with the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, at the Copenhagen summit and in a personal message in the past few days.

While British ministers have been careful not to promise any retaliation against the Chinese government, their statements demonstrate their anger at what they regard as Beijing's refusal to recognise Shaikh's basic human rights.

In Beijing the Chinese government said it resisted any interference in its judicial affairs. "We express strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British reaction," said Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman. "We hope the British side will face this case squarely and not put new obstacles in the way of relations between Britain and China."

Chinese judges and lawyers receive instructions from the Communist party on their handling of political cases, but Jiang claimed the country's courts were independent. "China judicial independence brooks no interference." China treated citizens of all nations as equals in dealing with drug-related crime, said Jiang.

The Chinese embassy in London insisted "Shaikh's rights and interests were properly respected and guaranteed" and disputed British claims about his condition. "The concerns of the British side were duly noted and taken into consideration by the Chinese judicial authorities.

"Out of humanitarian consideration visas were granted to the two cousins of Mr Shaikh on Boxing Day and they were given access to meeting Mr Shaikh in China. As for his possible mental illness which has been much talked about, there apparently has been no previous medical record."

Sally Rowen, the legal director of the human rights group Reprieve, said: "The death of Akmal Shaikh is a sad indictment of today's world, and particularly of China's legal system. ... We at Reprieve are sickened by what we have seen during our work on this case."

Britain had demonstrated its anger with Beijing over the treatment of Shaikh when it summoned the Chinese ambassador for a diplomatic dressing down.

In what was described as a "full and frank exchange of views", the Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis asked Fu Ying for clemency and outlined Britain's concern that China had not taken Shaikh's mental health into consideration.

Lewis told Radio 4's Today programme this morning: "It's a deeply depressing day for anyone with a modicum of compassion or commitment to justice in Britain and throughout the world."

He said it was "reprehensible" and "entirely unacceptable" that the execution had gone ahead without any medical assessment. "This execution makes me personally feel sick to the stomach but I'm not going to make idle threats.

"This morning is not the time for a kneejerk reaction. It's true we must continue to engage with China but it needs to be clear as that country plays a greater role in the world they have to understand their responsibility to adhere to the most basic standards of human rights. China will only be fully respected when and if they make the choice to join the human rights mainstream and incidents like this do not help the international community's respect or relationship with China."

Lewis said that there had been 27 ministerial representations to China about Shaikh's case in the last two years. Despite the increased international dialogue with China "all of those representations have been in vain and this is a very very different view of what constitutes universal human rights".

"Clearly Mr Shaikh has mental health problems. And whilst we differ with China anyway on the issue of the death penalty ... the biggest single issue here that causes us so much consternation is that they refused to even do a medical assessment knowing that there was evidence of mental health problems; that is what is unacceptable.

"In the context of a working relationship, a constructive positive relationship ... we expect our partners to behave differently and behave better."

David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said: "The UK is completely opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. However I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration despite repeated calls by the prime minister, ministerial colleagues and me.

"These included mental health issues and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial.

"This is not about how much we hate the drug trade. Britain as well as China are completely committed to take it on. The issue is whether Mr Shaikh has become an additional victim of it."

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, said: "There were serious concerns about Mr Shaikh's mental health. It is appalling that these concerns were not independently assessed during the more than two years Mr Shaikh was in custody and taken properly into account in the judicial process."

Chinese media have yet to report the execution, but the state-run news agency Xinhua carried a statement by the supreme court defending its judgment. "The evidence was certain and the facts were clear," it said.

The court defended its decision to refuse UK requests for a mental examination. "There is no reason to cast doubt on Akmal Shaikh's mental status," it said.

Legal activists disputed the assertion that the government could not intervene in the court system. "China's judiciary is not independent, it is totally controlled by the government," said the civil rights lawyer Teng Biao.

"This case shows the hardline stance of the government. China now can ignore pressure from international society and won't compromise even a little on the issue of human rights."

Shaikh's lawyer for the supreme court review, Zhang Qingsong, said he was not allowed to meet his client.

Following vocal British criticism of China's stalling tactics at the Copenhagen climate conference this month, the rhetorical relations between the two nations have arguably hit a low not seen since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. But experts said the long-term impact would be small.

"The two sides are just posturing for their own citizens," said Wu Qiang of Tsinghua University. "Akmal Shaikh is only an isolated case. Unless the UK raises the issue to the EU level I don't think there will be big influence on relations."

The execution delighted China's nationalists. Online comment was overwhelmingingly favourable.

"Well done! The man deserves the death sentence. China has finally shown it can be tough in front of foreigners," noted a post under a TV clip about the news.

On the website ifeng.com, Chahu18 wrote: "I can't believe the British government condemned this action ... Do they support drug smuggling? Britons, you think it is still 1840 when you could use opium to harm Chinese people? I am with Chinese government this time!"

Reprieve said it had medical evidence that Shaikh believed he was going to China in 2007 to record a hit single that would usher in world peace. It said he was duped into carrying a suitcase packed with heroin on a flight from Tajikistan to Urumqi.

Reprieve said the last European to be executed in China was an Italian, Antonio Riva, who was shot by a firing squad in 1951, along with a Japanese man, Ruichi Yamaguchi, after being convicted of involvement in what China alleged was an American plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking Communist officials.

Shaikh's family thanked Brown, Miliband and other British ministers for their efforts and asked the media for "space to grieve".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/28/us-failure-intelligence-plane-bomber

President orders new measures amid inquest over huge lapse of security

Barack Obama yesterday said the US would "not rest" until it has called to account those behind the attempted suicide bombing of a transatlantic flight over Detroit on Christmas Day.

The president said he has ordered new security measures and a review of the failings that allowed a Nigerian Muslim, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to carry explosives onto a US-bound flight.

But Obama added that America would do more than put up additional defences; he had directed his national security officials to "keep up the pressure on those who would attack our country".

"Those who would slaughter innocent men, women and children must know that the United States will do more than simply strengthen our defences," he said. "We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and to defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia; or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland."

The president, speaking publicly for the first time since the failed attack, said he had ordered enhanced security screening and added more federal air marshalls to international flights. He also ordered a review of the watch list of known and suspected terrorists to review whether it is effective and, more specifically, how it was that Abdulmutallab could board a flight to Detroit even though his own father had reported him to American consular officials in Nigeria as a security risk.

Obama's comments came after Al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula said it was behind the failed bombing. A statement posted on a website said the attack was in retaliation for recent raids on its militants in Yemen which it said had been carried out by US jets and had caused civilian deaths.

"We tell the American people that since you support the leaders who kill our women and children ... we have come to slaughter you (and) will strike you with no previous (warning); our vengeance is near," the statement said.

According to ABC news Abdulmutallab has told his interrogators he had been one of many and there were more "just like him" being trained to attack the west.

Last night ABC released a picture of Abdulmutallab's burned underwear, said to contain traces of explosives.

British officials expressed fears that a number of Britons had travelled to Yemen to train at secret terrorist camps. Senior UK counter-terrorism officials said MI5 was aware of several nationals and British residents who had trained in Yemen's "ungoverned spaces" in the past year.

The US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, yesterday sought to head off accusations of complacency by acknowledging that security and intelligence failures allowed Abdulmutallab to come close to blowing up the Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit.

She conceded that despite billions of dollars spent on aviation security over the past decade, the US system failed to respond to alerts about Abdulmutallab, and failed to stop him getting any further when airport security in Nigeria and Amsterdam did not detect his bomb.

"Our system did not work in this instance," she told reporters. "No one is happy or satisfied with that. An extensive review is under way." On Sunday, Napolitano had come in for heavy criticism after saying that "the [US side of the] system has worked really very, very smoothly over the course of the past several days".

Republican members of Congress questioned why US officials had failed to follow up warnings from Abdulmutallab's father, Umaru Mutallab, that his son was potentially dangerous.

Peter King, the top Republican on the House of Representatives homeland security committee, said airport security "failed in every respect".

Susan Collins, another senior Republican, demanded to know why the attempted bomber's US visa was not revoked after the warning from his father.

After Mutallab, a banker and former cabinet minister, alerted the US embassy in Abuja about his son's views, Abdulmutallab's file was marked for attention should he apply for another visa. But consular officials did not revoke the two-year multiple entry visa issued at the US embassy in London in 2008. He was added to the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (Tide) watch list, which contains 550,000 names. But he was not put on the much shorter no-fly list.

Abdulmutallab has been charged with attempting to blow up an airliner, a crime with a maximum of 20 years in prison, but is likely to face additional charges. A court hearing on a request to obtain DNA samples from Abdulmutallab was postponed until 8 January. No reason was given.

He is now in prison after being released from a hospital near Detroit after treatment for burns to his leg which he suffered when part of his bomb ignited.

Although some security measures have been strengthened, the authorities have relaxed orders to prevent passengers from having blankets or personal possessions on their laps during the last hour of a flight to the US, and to disable electronic maps that tracked the flight path on in-seat television screens; these, and some other restrictions, will now be a matter for individual airlines to decide.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/british-tanker-pirates-somalia

Reports say vessel called St James Park captured in the Gulf of Aden en route to Thailand from Spain

A UK-flagged chemical tanker has been hijacked by Somali pirates, according to reports.

The reports said the vessel, the St James Park, was captured in the Gulf of Aden while on its way to Thailand from Spain and had since changed course for Somalia.

Nigel Choong of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre said the tanker issued a distress signal late yesterday after being attacked by pirates.

He said the IMB failed to establish communication with the ship but was told by its owner that it had been hijacked.

The St James Park is the first merchant ship seized in the area in more than six months.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based Seafarers Assistance Programme told the AFP news agency that the ship was believed to be travelling towards the northern coast of Somalia. "It is expected to arrive there later this evening," he said.

The last time a British vessel was captured by Somali pirates was on 23 October when Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized with their yacht off the east coast of Africa.

The couple remain in captivity in Somalia despite a reported deal this month to pay the pirates £100,000 in exchange for their release.

Nick Davis, the chairman of the anti-piracy Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, said on 5 December that he had arranged the deal, only for the Foreign Office to reject it, saying it would not allow payments to hostage-takers. The pirates' original demand was for $7m (£4.2m).

Frequent piracy has made the waters of the Indian and South Atlantic oceans increasingly dangerous.

The IMB's piracy reporting centre has reported five attacks in the last 10 days.

Many attacks are carried out by well-armed Somali pirates, often dressed in military fatigues and using satellite phones, GPS equipment, automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades.

It is estimated more than 1,200 Somalis are involved in piracy.

Recently they have started to stray further from their traditional hunting grounds, possibly as a result of increased patrols by warships off the coast of Somalia.

This month it was reported a helicopter dropped a ransom of $4m onto the deck of a Chinese coal ship hijacked by pirates in mid-October off the Horn of Africa. The De Xin Hai and its 25 crew had been carrying about 76,000 tonnes of coal from South Africa to Mundra in India.

The PRC reported 306 incidents in the first nine months of 2009, up from 293 in the same period of 2008.

Somali pirates hijacked 32 vessels in the first nine months of 2009, with 533 crew members taken hostage. Another 85 vessels were fired upon.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/dec/29/unemployment-keep-rising-in-2010

• Jobless figure to peak at 2.8m, says Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
• Pay rises to stay under pressure, group predicts

Unemployment will continue to rise at least until the summer of 2010, peaking at 2.8 million, a leading business group predicted today.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned of a "sting" in the tail of the recession, with a winter rise in job losses as firms assess prospects for the economy in the coming year.

Employers are set to decide to raise productivity and reduce labour costs, leading to "tough times" ahead for UK workplaces, the group said.

The report estimated that the number of people in work will fall by 250,000 between the third quarter of this year and the second three months of 2010.

The 2.8 million unemployment prediction is much lower than an earlier forecast by the CIPD of 3.2 million, with the report adding that the coming year will be better for jobs than 2009.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economic adviser, forecast a continued squeeze on pay rises next year, adding: "This could be difficult to deliver following a recession during which many private sector employees have experienced pay freezes or pay cuts.

"A slower than expected recovery or stronger earnings growth would threaten to raise peak unemployment to at least three million.

"The impact on jobs of planned cuts in public spending and tax increases, especially the 1% hike in employers' National Insurance Contributions from April 2011, is expected to be felt after the peak in unemployment.

"However, if employers were to anticipate the rise in NICs when making staffing decisions and/or there was a more immediate cut in public spending, which could be the case if the Conservatives gain power at the general election due in the first half of 2010, unemployment might peak at a higher rate than we currently forecast."

Dr Philpott said private sector employers will seek to contain wage costs in the coming years, while public sector employers will have to cope with the consequences of "fast shrinking budgets and mass job downsizing".

Commenting on the prediction, work and pensions minister Lord McKenzie said: "We have invested £5bn over the last year to help people who have lost their jobs during the recession get back into work.

"This has helped create new jobs, brought in extra frontline advisers to Jobcentre Plus and expanded access to training and apprenticeships.

"Our investment is having a real impact, with unemployment more than 400,000 lower than experts predicted at the last Budget.

"But times are still going to be tough for many, even as we move into recovery, and it is vital that we keep supporting people, investing in their future, not abandoning them."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/quiz/2009/dec/29/1

From the recession to Susan Boyle to the Iranian election to Copenhagen. The quiz of the year of the decade that, by and large, ended badly