World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Eyewitness: London
Mongolians target success on the darts world stage
Eritrea's human rights record comes under fire at United Nations
Kenyan deputy president must attend trial, ICC rules
Suspected '3D printed gun' found in Manchester gang raid, say police
Disturbing book on Northern Ireland killings demands greater coverage
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang – review
Fatal explosion at Mexico sweet factory
Germany and France demand talks with US as spying row escalates
Scott Morrison gives no details on Manus Island sexual assault report
More frequent bushfires? Fears are being realised, says emergency council
Fate of boy who killed neo-Nazi father to be decided
Australian bushfires not down to climate change, says Tony Abbott
Hey thanks, Triple J: I kind of dig Dig
High court could rule on ACT same-sex marriage in early December
Heroes of swimming: Duke Kahanamoku
Bushfire aftermath: the devastation a 'tornado of fire' wreaks on a community
NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts
Clive Palmer's $6bn China First coalmine faces last two hurdles
Bo Xilai's appeal rejected by Chinese court
A week is a long time in Australian climate change politics
My best Beyoncé impression: visit to Brunswick sparks a wave of imitators
Oxfam poised to axe 125 UK jobs as global strategy shift looms
World gender gap index 2013: see how countries compare
World gender gap index 2013 mapped

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:51 AM PDT

Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series

Mongolians target success on the darts world stage

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:49 AM PDT

Darts federation hopes to woo players away from traditional sports of wrestling, riding and archery – and defeat the English

Mongolians have long prided themselves on their prowess in the three "manly" sports: wrestling, riding and archery. But now they are sweeping to victory in a new field, where sharp eyes and competitive focus are every bit as crucial – darts.

"When we first began participating, people would say: 'How can you guys play? We thought you lived in gers [felt tents] and rode horses; do you even have buildings?'" said Erdene Mandakh, president of the Mongolian Amateur Darts Federation.

"Now they have stopped asking; they just see us as competitors. But this is only the beginning."

Britain's own manly sport takes little room, uses cheap equipment and is suited to Mongolia's fierce winters, when temperatures can sink to -40C.

"In China, ping-pong is pretty much the national sport. We want to bring darts to that level," said Odbileg Khayankhyarvaa, who co-founded the federation in 2009.

The two men were among the earliest to discover the game, in the early 1990s. "My generation of Mongolian darts players didn't know anyone other than John Lowe, Eric Bristow and Dennis Priestley," said Erdene.

These days, novices have it easy: they can watch their fill of matches via the internet. "But back then, said the 35-year-old, "you would get one video that someone brought back from Russia, maybe. That would be a huge deal. There was no colour TV and hardly anyone had a video player. You would finally find a machine and everyone would gather and you would sit and watch it all night."

In those days, dartboards were usually found in markets, with people betting on the outcome. Baatar Tsend tried her hand one day and discovered she was a natural. Soon it became an obsession. "There is nothing bad about darts," said the 49-year-old, twice national women's champion. "If I compare it to a person – I would say I am in love with darts."

Her passion is such that she played on even when a nearby stove set fire to her fur coat, too absorbed to notice until a strange smell wafted to her nostrils. On the verge of going into labour, she persuaded friends to smuggle her a dartboard through a hospital window so that she could train. Last year, she insisted on competing one day after her appendectomy, although unable to stand up straight to throw. Hovering at the oche at an Ulaanbaatar leisure centre, darts in hand, she analysed the roots of her devotion. "Since ancient times our people have been practising archery and ankle bone shooting," she said. "They've got great aim, so maybe this is in our genes or something: our special Mongolian genes."

History does not record whether Genghis Khan cried salt tears when he realised there were no more worlds to conquer. But Baatar wept with joy when she saw her friend Erdenechimeg Dondou, just 38, clinch the women's gold medal at the Darts World Cup in Shanghai this August.

"I was so joyful and excited I didn't even realise I was jumping up and down on the podium," recalled Erdenechimeg, who trains before and after her work at a power plant each day. Just a few months earlier, Erdenechimeg and Erdene took gold in the mixed doubles at the Asian Darts Tournament. "My dream is that, in the near future, I'll go to the birthplace of darts and compete against British players," she added.

The players offer numerous explanations of the game's appeal: it teaches calmness and focus, improves your mental arithmetic, suits all ages and statures and even boosts your health. "They say that with billiards, you walk five kilometres in an hour. In darts, you do probably more. Ten kilometres," Odbileg claimed.

That seems a generous estimate. But the players are certainly less portly than one might expect, perhaps because they have shunned beer for soft drinks in the hope of winning government backing.

China is another darts latecomer but has a specialist school already, they point out. They are also seeking commercial support and new ways of wooing potential players to supplement the 2,000 already converted. They have promoted the game at the annual Mongolian scout jamboree and at outdoor events in the snow; through companies and government departments; and most of all, to their nearest and dearest.

Erdene's wife and two elder sons are enthusiasts and even his toddler has his own set of darts. "He laughs and smiles when he sees the board," his father said proudly. "Inside my home it's darts - and outside the home it's darts … My life is all about darts.

"Of course, our dream is to play against English people and beat them. Our dream is to defeat the English. Our dream is to become world champions."

Tania Branigan

Eritrea's human rights record comes under fire at United Nations

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:43 AM PDT

East African nation strongly denies 'shoot-to-kill' policy as general assembly hears over 300,000 have fled in past decade

Human rights abuses in Eritrea are forcing between 2,000 – 3,000 people to flee the east African nation every month, despite a "shoot-to-kill policy" targeting those attempting to leave, a UN investigator said on Thursday.

Sheila Keetharuth, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Eritrea, said the UN refugee agency was concerned about 305,723 Eritreans who have fled over the past decade.

"The most serious human rights violations are being committed" in Eritrea, Keetharuth said, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, extended incommunicado detention, torture, indefinite national service, and lack of freedom of expression, assembly, religious belief and movement.

She told the general assembly's human rights committee that "excessive militarisation" in the country and indefinite national service for all Eritreans aged 18 – 50, often without adequate remuneration, "causes countless Eritreans to desert from their positions and flee the country".

Eritrea, a former Italian colony, gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war. It has been feuding over its border with Ethiopia ever since, including a war from 1998 – 2000 in which about 80,000 people died.

Eritrea has also disputed its border with the tiny port nation of Djibouti. Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki has been in power since the country broke away from Ethiopia in 1991.

Eritrea's ambassador to the UN, Arya Desta, rejected the report and Keetharuth's portrayal of the country, saying human rights issues are being used "as a tool of political pressure".

He accused unnamed countries of spearheading the imposition of "unfair and unjust" sanctions and of holding the entire population "in a state of 'no war, no peace'." Desta also "categorically" denied there is a shoot to kill policy for illegally crossing the border and said youths are not required to stay for extended military service and are offered wide educational opportunities.

Eritrea has barred Keetharuth, a human rights lawyer from Mauritius, from visiting the country but she said she spoke to Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, Djibouti and elsewhere in preparing her report. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have also issued highly critical reports of human rights in Eritrea, calling it an oppressive state.

Keetharuth pointed to the number of Eritreans on board the two boats of migrants that tragically sank off the coasts of Italy and Malta in October. "It demonstrates the desperation of those who decide to flee, despite the extreme dangers along escape routes and an unknown future," Keetharuth said.

She said that nearly as many Eritreans – 7,504 – as Syrians – 7,557 – have arrived in Italy by sea from 1 January to 30 September this year, citing figures from the UN.

Kenyan deputy president must attend trial, ICC rules

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:24 AM PDT

International criminal court overturns decision excusing William Ruto from appearing on charges of election violence

The international criminal court has overturned a decision excusing Kenya's deputy president from attending his trial on charges of orchestrating deadly violence after his country's 2007 election.

The decision on Friday by appeals judges means William Ruto must appear at his trial but can still be excused by judges on a "case by case" basis.

The ruling may deepen tensions between the court and African leaders, who accuse it of unfairly targeting their continent. It could also set a precedent for Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta, whose trial on similar charges is scheduled to start next month.

Appeals judges reversed a ruling by trial judges earlier this year that allowed Ruto to miss most of his trial. Prosecutors appealed and Ruto has so far attended much of his case.

Suspected '3D printed gun' found in Manchester gang raid, say police

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:13 AM PDT

Greater Manchester police analyse 3D printer and suspected components in what's thought to be first ever seizure of next generation weapon

Component parts for what could be the UK's first ever 3D printed gun have been seized by police in which they called a "really significant discovery".

Police believe the parts represent the "next generation" of firearms, which can be created by gangsters in the privacy of their own homes and smuggled with ease because they can avoid X-ray detection.

The gun parts were discovered, along with a 3D printer, when officers from Greater Manchester policeexecuted warrants in the Bagley area on Thursday.

Police found what is thought to be a 3D plastic magazine and trigger which could be fitted together to make a viable 3D gun.

If they are found to be viable components for a 3D gun, it would be the first ever seizure of this kind in the UK, police said. The parts are now being forensically examined by firearms specialists to establish if they could construct a genuine device.

The raid was part of Challenger, the largest ever multi-agency operation to target organised crime in Manchester.

Detective Inspector Chris Mossop, of Challenger's Organised Crime Co-ordination Unit, said: "This is a really significant discovery for Greater Manchester police.

"If what we have seized is proven to be viable components capable of constructing a genuine firearm, then it demonstrates that organised crime groups are acquiring technology that can be bought on the high street to produce the next generation of weapons.

"In theory, the technology essentially allows offenders to produce their own guns in the privacy of their own home, which they can then supply to the criminal gangs who are causing such misery in our communities. Because they are also plastic and can avoid X-ray detection, it makes them easy to conceal and smuggle."

He added that more work was needed to understand the scale of the problem.

"I would strongly urge anyone who has information about the whereabouts of a gun in their community to call us."

A man has been arrested on suspicion of making gunpowder and remains in custody for questioning.

The technology works by allowing anyone who has a 3D printer – which can be bought on the high street for about £1,200 – to download designs for guns or components.

The printers themselves squirt molten plastic to produce 3D shapes of whatever design has been downloaded.

The model parts can then be converted to become a genuine firearm capable of firing bullets.

Disturbing book on Northern Ireland killings demands greater coverage

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:00 AM PDT

One of the most important books about the dirty war fought in Northern Ireland during the 30 years between 1968 and 1998 has just been published.

Lethal Allies: British collusion in Ireland* offers "indisputable evidence of security forces collusion" with loyalist paramilitaries.

It alleges that members of the police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), were part of a loyalist gang that killed more than 100 people in just one small area in the 1970s.

As I reported last week, the book's author, Anne Cadwallader, said: "It's truly ironic that as a journalist I could never have done this kind of journalism because no-one would have commissioned me."

Instead, she carried out the work after quitting journalism to join the human rights organisation, the Pat Finucane Centre, as a researcher.

It was there she met Alan Brecknell, who had carried out painstaking research into widespread collusion after investigating the controversial circumstances surrounding the 1975 murder of his father, Trevor.

Cadwallader quickly recognised the value of his work and she was able to dovetail it with documentary evidence from the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), a unit set up by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in September 2005 to investigate unsolved murders committed during the troubles.

Cadwallader's book reveals how RUC officers and members of the UDR were part of a gang operating from two farms in south Armagh and Tyrone. It was responsible for the deaths of 120 people between 1972 and 1976.

"It can be demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that there was systemic collusion in these cases," she said.

She relates a series of killings that point to collusion, such as the murders of four people in attacks on two pubs in Charlemont, Co Armagh, in May 1976 and an attack on the Catholic-run Rock Bar in Co Armagh, also in 1976.

The Guardian's Henry McDonald, in his report on the book, centres on the Rock Bar incident. He tells how only one serving police officer was found guilty of the attack, which the HET report said "beggars belief."

It described the original police inquiry into the attack as "unforgivable" and made a damning indictment in a document quoted by Cadwallader:

"A busy country pub frequented by honest, decent working people was a target for a sectarian attack; a member of the public in the street outside was callously gunned down without warning; a powerful explosive, wrapped in nail and metal fragments to ensure maximum numbers would be killed or maimed, is detonated at the door; the police investigation is cursory, ineffective and even fails to interview the only witness, who survived being shot down."

Another HET report also claimed that the RUC had advance knowledge of an attack in which two people died in August 1976 at the Three Steps Inn in Keady, Co Armagh.

According to the book, the RUC knew a bomb was being stored at a farmhouse owned by a serving police officer and asked the army to put it under surveillance. But the surveillance was lifted and the bomb was then used in the attack.

It further claimed that RUC Special Branch knew the identities of four people involved in the bombing, but that no arrests were made.

The noted Dublin-based journalist, Vincent Brown, has called Cadwallader's book "a revealing and forensic insight".

But will it be taken seriously by the British political class? Sadly, McDonald's report appeared online, but not in print, as he would surely have wished.

Though it will therefore be read by more people, because of the paper's higher digital audience, there is no doubt that - at present - what appears in print in national newspapers in Britain has a greater chance of producing a political effect.

Without pressure on the government, the likelihood of action being taken is remote. The families of at least two victims - 38-year-old Elizabeth McDonald and Gerard McGleenan, 22 - have lodged complaints with the Northern Ireland police ombudsman. Others may follow suit.

But what does Westminster have to say about British security forces collaborating with death squads in Northern Ireland?

More newspaper editors, especially those given to telling us how they require the maximum amount of freedom to hold power to account, should be headlining Cadwallader's disturbing book.

In fact, has any editor thought of serialising it? If not, why not? And why has the BBC's Belfast outfit not seen fit to make a documentary based on it?

*Lethal Allies: British collusion in Ireland by Anne Cadwallader (Mercier Press)

Sources: Private information/Newshound/BBC/The Guardian

Roy Greenslade

Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang – review

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 01:00 AM PDT

Is a vigorous defence of a ruthless ruler, and murderer, justified?

In her concluding judgment on the character and achievements of Cixi, the Qing dynasty's legendary empress dowager, Jung Chang observes: "In some four decades of absolute power, her political killings, whether just or unjust … were no more than a few dozen, many of them in response to plots to kill her."

Life at any court is a rough game: the combination of intimate emotions and absolute power generates a special form of cruelty in those who survive. A woman who began her adulthood as a 16-year-old grade-three imperial concubine in 1852, and rose to hold supreme power in the Manchu empire for the best part of 40 years, is likely to have a few unpleasant traits.

Nevertheless, a few dozen political murders – without counting the deaths further afield in suppressed rebellions and more distant wars – is not nothing. Her victims included the emperor Guangxu's son's favourite concubine, thrown down a well, and Guangxu himself, by then deposed by her, dispatched with arsenic on the eve of her own death to ensure that he made no comeback.

This approving biography advances a vigorous defence of a woman whom history has often demonised as a venal reactionary: one who murdered without a second thought to protect her own interests, who squandered the national treasury on her own pleasures and who set back reform in China to preserve herself. History often has trouble giving powerful women their due and correctives are in order, but Chang's admiration for her subject can sometimes seem a little unqualified: the empress dowager in these pages was an enlightened, even caring ruler who drove through a modernisation programme. Had she lived just a little longer, China might have become a stable constitutional monarchy. As it is, Chinese citizens still cannot vote.

Where does the truth lie in Cixi's much told story? Her talents were highly regarded by many statesmen and officials who encountered or served her. She managed to steer the increasingly leaky ship of the Qing state through serious internal rebellions, foreign incursions and wars, trying to make the best of a weak position. Though protocol confined her to palace life and limited ritual journeys, she was eager to learn about foreign countries, customs and fashions and cultivated a shrewd strategic understanding of the world. That Cixi was a remarkable woman is not in doubt.

Born in 1835 into a family of Manchu government officials, she entered the Forbidden City as a concubine to the emperor Xianfeng. Although graded third rank, her standing in court improved in 1856 when she bore a son, a helpful move for a woman in China, even today. The young emperor Xianfeng was facing enormous problems: the Taiping rebellion was to last 10 years and take millions of lives, the treasury was bleeding, foreign powers were rudely knocking down the empire's closed doors. Cixi began to offer the emperor unwanted advice, inspiring in him the prophetic fear that she might interfere in state affairs after his death. To keep her under control, on his deathbed he set up an eight-man regency to run China.

Formally, Cixi had no power, but she succeeded in mounting a coup against the regents with Empress Zhen, the late emperor's principal wife, before he was buried. Cixi falsely accused the regents of forging the emperor's will, and in the first of what would be a substantial list of Cixi fatalities, ordered the suicide of the most important two. Her son was crowned Emperor Tongzhi, and Cixi's extraordinary political career was launched.

Since she could never sit on the throne herself, her continued power depended on the emperor being a child. In this, one might say, she had a lot of luck. Her own son died as a teenager in 1875 and another child, her three-year-old nephew, succeeded as Emperor Guangxu. Cixi promptly adopted him, though, bizarrely, she instructed him to address her as "my royal father". It was not a warm relationship. The death of the former empress Zhen, which some would add to Cixi's account, left Cixi in sole charge and her reluctance to hand over the reins on the boy's maturity was palpable. She reluctantly "retired" in 1889 and devoted herself to building a pleasure ground on the outskirts of Beijing.

It was not the last of her. She came out of retirement to help with the trauma of a lost war against Japan in 1894, after which she retained an active role in state affairs, a position that left her well placed for her next coup.

In 1898, Guangxu, who had good reason to dislike his "royal father" launched a radical reform programme under the guidance of two former imperial scholars, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, and against the resistance of the more conservative elements at court. Kang – portrayed here one-dimensionally as a scheming upstart – persuaded the emperor that Cixi was an obstacle that had to be neutralised.

Cixi moved first: by September 1898, she had deposed and imprisoned Guangxu and taken the reins again herself. Those reformers who did not escape were executed. Also executed were two entirely innocent men, whose trials Cixi had stopped to prevent the emperor's role in the plot to assassinate her becoming public.

The last few years of Cixi's career were no less dramatic and mirror the contradictions in her record. Her biggest mistake was to encourage the disastrous Boxer rebellion, a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian movement that culminated in a bloody siege of the foreign legations in Beijing. That ended in a punitive foreign rescue and huge indemnities to the countries concerned. China, and Cixi, paid a heavy price for what she later admitted was a mistake. She herself had to flee the capital, pausing only to order the killing of Guangxu's favourite concubine. When she returned to the capital she was chastened, and set about making friends with the ladies of the Legation quarter, the wives of the resident diplomats, in a belated effort to restore her reputation in the world. She launched her own reform programme within two years, using the exiled Kang Youwei's blueprint.

She died in 1908, having poisoned Guangxu with arsenic the day before, thus creating what was to be the final vacancy on the Dragon throne. It was filled by the child Pu Yi, the last emperor: in 1911 the empire fell and Pu Yi abdicated the following year. China began the long, bloody and unfinished process of trying to become a modern republican state. In 1927, under the KMT (nationalist) government, Cixi's tomb was dynamited by robbers, her jewels and her teeth stolen and her body left exposed.

Although most of Cixi's previous biographers have demonised her, others have been more measured. This is a spirited, if partisan contribution. Her role in crushing the reforms of 1898 and her support of the Boxer rebellion remain her most controversial actions. Did the reformers' plot against her excuse the dismantling of reforms that she was to borrow wholesale just a few years later? Jung Chang praises these as proof of Cixi's progressive character; others have judged them as too little too late, grudging concessions that failed to save the rule of the Manchu – outnumbered 100 to one by their Chinese subjects.

The times that Cixi dominated were critical to the shaping of modern China, a country that resembles the Qing autocracy in many ways, though without the empire's relatively free press and anticipated suffrage. The top echelons of Chinese politics remain as male-dominated and vicious as ever, and Cixi remains as gripping a subject.

Isabel Hilton

Fatal explosion at Mexico sweet factory

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:57 AM PDT

At least one person dead and scores injured after blast inside factory in border city of Ciudad Juarez

An explosion inside a sweet factory in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez has left one person dead and at least 40 injured.

The blast took place on Thursday night on the second floor of the Dulces Blueberry factory and caused the floor to collapse, injuring people working downstairs, said factory worker Ismael Bouchet.

"I was able to help five people who walked out of the building but as soon as they were out they went into shock and fainted," he said outside the factory, which produces gummy bears, and jelly beans.

Authorities said the cause of the blast had notbeen determined but Bouchet said a steam boiler had been installed recently in the area.

The Ciudad Juarez civil protection director, Fernando Mota, said firefighters found a body inside and that six of the at least 40 injured were in serious condition. Several workers were missing and could be trapped inside the building, he added.

Firefighters and rescue crews continued to search the building for further victims.

Bouchet said people could smell acid in the area where the explosion occurred.

"Since the morning, several co-workers said there was a bad smell, that it smelled of acid and because it was a new area we thought it was normal," Bouchet said.

Photographs of workers being helped by paramedics showed people with injuries that resembled chemical burns.

Dulces Blueberry employs 300 people and the candy is sent to a distributor based in El Paso, Texas, which lies across the border from Ciudad Juarez.

Ciudad Juarez is a manufacturing hub and the assembly plants there employ many of its residents.

Germany and France demand talks with US as spying row escalates

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:55 AM PDT

German chancellor Angela Merkel says allies need to rebuild trust after reports her phone was monitored by US spies

The French and German governments have demanded talks with the US by the end of the year as the row over the spying activities of the US National Security Agency intensifies.

Their calls follow reports that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had her phone monitored by the NSA and reports that the agency eavesdropped on calls made by members of the French administration.

The revelations are threatening to create a major rift between the US and its European allies. The former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that such activities had to be curtailled. "There is no reason to spy on Angela Merkel. It's a real scandal," he said. "A new agreement is needed between the EU and the US; this cannot continue.

Others, however, were less shocked by recent reports. "I can't believe anyone is terribly surprised," Kurt Volker, a former US ambassador to Nato, told the same programme. Volker said every government tried to collect the best possible information, adding: "As a government official for many years I assumed that my cellphone and email account were susceptible to spying."

The controversy deepened on Thursday when the Guardian revealed the NSA had monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department. The latest claims, which emerged from a classified document provided by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, have further overshadowed this week's EU summit in Brussels.

Despite US efforts to placate Merkel – including a phonecall made by the US president, Barack Obama, on Wednesday – she has refused to conceal her anger over the issue. "We need trust among allies and partners," Merkel told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. "Such trust now has to be built anew. This is what we have to think about."

Although the US and Europe were allies facing the same challenges, she said, "such an alliance can only be built on trust. That's why I repeat again: spying among friends, that cannot be." She added: "It's become clear that for the future, something must change – and significantly.

"We will put all efforts into forging a joint understanding by the end of the year for the co-operation of the [intelligence] agencies between Germany and the US and France and the US, to create a framework for the co-operation."

Her sentiments were echoed by the French president, François Hollande. "What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States," he said. "They should not be changed because of what has happened. But trust has to be restored and reinforced."

The latest confidential memo provided by Snowden reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its "customer" departments – such the White House, State and the Pentagon – to share their "Rolodexes" so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems.

The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately "tasked" for monitoring by the NSA.

After Merkel's allegations became public, the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, issued a statement that said the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor" the German chancellor's communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring her phone in the past.

Earlier, it was reported that the US had denied ever spying on the British prime minister, David Cameron. Caitlin Hayden, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told the Daily Telegraph: "We do not monitor PM Cameron's communications."

Asked if the US had ever spied on Cameron in the past, she replied: "No."

The prime minister's official spokesman refused to comment, saying: "I'm not going to comment on matters of security or intelligence."

Britain and the US – along with Canada, Australia and New Zealand – are members of the so-called Five Eyes group, who share signals intelligence and are supposed not to spy on each other.

Sam Jones

James Ball

Scott Morrison gives no details on Manus Island sexual assault report

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:42 AM PDT

That is 'something I would report on at an appropriate time’, says immigration minister, of report due 23 September

Paul Farrell

More frequent bushfires? Fears are being realised, says emergency council

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:41 AM PDT

Climate change link has been on the agenda since 2009, despite Tony Abbott believing it is 'hogwash'

Lenore Taylor

Fate of boy who killed neo-Nazi father to be decided

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:37 AM PDT

Attorneys argue over future of 10-year-old who shot dead white supremacist Jeff Hall while he was sleeping

The blond boy was 10 when he put a gun to the head of his sleeping neo-Nazi father and pulled the trigger.

It was over in an instant for Jeff Hall, but deciding the fate of his son has been a two-and-a-half-year journey that approaches its final stage on Friday in a hearing to determine where he'll spend his teens and, possibly, his early adult years.

The judge hearing the case must decide not how to punish a child for second-degree murder, but how to rehabilitate someone who grew up in an abusive home, attacked his school teachers and was indoctrinated in the beliefs of white supremacy.

Attorneys have sparred for months over what is best for the boy. He has been living in the county's juvenile hall since the killing but spent about three months at a state youth detention centre where he was evaluated to see whether a placement there could serve his needs.

In the meantime, the small child who scribbled on a notepad and looked bored during his trial as prosecutors displayed photos of his father's blood-splattered body has grown into a gangly teenager.

He attends class, gets regular therapy and has made progress in controlling the violent outbursts that got him kicked out of almost every school he attended. He has even won the affection of the prosecutor who got him convicted.

"I have grown attached to him in an odd way. I enjoy watching him grow and change but I am convinced he has done better in a quasi-military penal environment," said the deputy district attorney, Michael Soccio. "He seems to like it, he knows what the rules are and what is expected and he is treated with dignity."

That's why Soccio believes the boy, now 13, would do best in the state's juvenile justice system, where he would go to school and live in a dorm-like setting at a high-security facility for young offenders, possibly until age 23.

Defence attorneys, however, say he has serious emotional disabilities that the state is not equipped to handle. They want to see him placed in a residential treatment centre, where security would be lighter and the therapy would be more intense.

Punam Patel Grewal, the boy's defence attorney, said he would also be at risk in a state facility because of his father's neo-Nazi beliefs. "It is a very dangerous place for him. He's got a lot of vulnerability here," she said. "When he comes out at 23, we've got a huge problem."

Murders by defendants as young as the one in Riverside are extremely rare and usually involve children who have mental health issues and have lived through extreme physical and psychological trauma, said Sarah Bryer, the director of the National Juvenile Justice Network.

"If the end goal is rehabilitation, then that youth's mental health concerns are going to have to be front and centre," she said. "I think the judge has to ask the question, when this kid walks out – and this kid will walk out eventually – how is this kid going to be better?"

Hall's killing on 1 May 2011 attracted national attention – and not just because of the defendant's age. Hall, an out-of-work plumber, was also a regional leader of the National Socialist Movement who organized neo-Nazi rallies at synagogues and day labour sites and had hosted a meeting of the group at his house the day before he died. Hall, 32, ran unsuccessfully for a water board in 2010 and alarmed voters with his white supremacist rhetoric.

Prosecutors said the boy shot his father behind the ear at point-blank range as he slept on the sofa after coming home from a night of drinking. The child took the .357 Magnum from his parents' bedroom and later told police he was afraid he would have to choose between living with his father and his stepmother, who had been fighting and were headed for a divorce.

The boy's stepmother initially told police she had killed her husband, but later recanted and said she was trying to protect her stepson. His sister testified that he told her of his plan the day before.

During the trial, the boy's defence attorney portrayed him as a victim of both his father's racist beliefs and of his violent upbringing.

The boy's stepmother told authorities that Hall had hit, kicked and yelled at his son for being too loud or getting in the way. Hall and the boy's biological mother had each accused the other of child abuse during a protracted custody dispute. Social service workers visited 20 times but never removed the boy or his siblings from Hall's custody.

The child had a history of being expelled from school for violent outbursts, starting aged five when he stabbed a teacher with a pencil on the first day of kindergarten. He also tried to strangle a teacher with a telephone cord.

Australian bushfires not down to climate change, says Tony Abbott

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:19 AM PDT

Fires around Sydney follow dry winter and hot spring but prime minister dismisses media claims linking them to global warming as 'hogwash'

The Australian government has staunchly rejected arguments that wildfires ravaging parts of the country's east after a record hot start to the current spring season are the result of climate change.

The blazes around Sydney in New South Wales state follow an extraordinarily dry winter and the hottest September in the region on record, and have rekindled the climate change debate in both Australia and around the world.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dismissed as "hogwash" links reported in the media between global warming and the fires that have razed more than 200 homes and left two people dead.

The environment minister, Greg Hunt, backed his prime minister, saying no individual event can be linked to climate change.

Hey thanks, Triple J: I kind of dig Dig

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:07 AM PDT

The national youth broadcaster was never chasing those of us no longer in the 19-24 age group. We just wanted it to

Helen Davidson

High court could rule on ACT same-sex marriage in early December

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:07 AM PDT

Court will determine if ACT legislation is consistent with federal Marriage Act and Family Law Act

Katharine Murphy

Heroes of swimming: Duke Kahanamoku

Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:00 AM PDT

Second in our series on the greatest swimmers of all time is an unassuming kid from Hawaii who went on to conquer the world – and pioneer the sport of surfing

What's the best way to encourage children to feel confident in the water? A shallow, warm pool? Floats and arm bands? One-to-one lessons? The old Hawaiians were made of sterner stuff. When Duke Kahanamoku was a small boy, his uncles paddled him out into Honolulu harbour in an outrigger canoe and threw him in. Sink – or swim.

Duke swam – and he never really stopped. In fact, Duke would go on to be the greatest swimmer the world had ever seen. His skills as a waterman would earn him the friendship of presidents and heiresses. Duke rubbed shoulders with royalty. He became a film actor, playing alongside another "Duke", John Wayne, among others. President Kennedy learned the "Kahanamoku kick" as a way of improving his front crawl. Throughout Duke's whole life, though, he remained a humble, self-effacing man who never lost the chance to remind people that he wasn't a real duke at all – it was just a name, not a rank.

Kahanamoku was born in Hawaii in 1890. The islands were then an independent country, but within three years the last Hawaiian ruler, Queen Lili'uokalani, had been deposed by a coalition of American businessmen. Native Hawaiians found themselves largely powerless, with little land and few opportunities. What did remain to them was the ocean, where Hawaiians remained peerless watermen, in command of their environment in a way no haole could match.

In Honolulu, the Hawaiian "beach boys" staked claim to Waikiki, offering surfing lessons and canoe rides to the tourists who had begun to arrive in the Hawaiian islands. As soon as he was old enough, Duke dropped out of school and joined them. Fed a daily diet of ocean swims, surfing and canoeing, he gew to be 6'1" tall, broad shouldered and long legged. Like many great swimmers, Duke also had whopping feet: the size 13 flippers attached to the end of his legs can't have slowed him down much. It wasn't long before Duke could swim faster than any other beach boy. Just how fast he could go, people were about to discover.

In 1911, a 21-year-old Duke entered a swimming contest in Honolulu harbour. He won the 100 yards freestyle pretty much as expected. What may not have been expected was his time: 55.4 seconds. Duke had shaved 4.6 seconds off the world record. The reaction from the mainland ranged from initial sarcasm – "Did you use alarm clocks to time him?" they asked – to denial. The course must have been too short. The timing was inaccurate. Ocean currents must have aided his speed. In the end, the officials on the mainland simply refused to believe that an island boy could swim that quickly.

A year later, at the US Olympic trials, Duke broke the 200m freestyle world record despite making what one commentator called an "unconcerned" start, diving in a couple of seconds after everyone else. He was on his way to the Stockholm Games. There, he duly won the 100m freestyle – though not before falling asleep ahead of the final and having to be woken up to race. The start had to be delayed while a bleary-eyed Duke pulled on his costume and made his way to poolside.

Stockholm was only the start of Duke's Olympic career. The first world war meant there were no Games in 1916, but in 1920 in Antwerp he took gold in the 100m freestyle once more (beating a fellow Hawaiian, Pua Kealoha). In the 1924 Paris Games Duke had to settle for silver behind Johnny Weissmuller. Later, he liked to tell people, "It took Tarzan to beat me." Duke's brother Samuel won bronze, making it a clean sweep for the Americans. Even then the story wasn't over. At the age of 42, Duke played for the US water polo team at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. "I didn't do too well," he said, "but I guess you begin to slow down a little around 40."

All this would have been remarkable enough for someone who was fully focused on swimming – but Duke's first love was arguably surfing. He travelled the world giving surfing demonstrations, and is said to have brought the sport to Australia. Duke also rode one of the biggest, longest waves in surfing history in 1917, in a week when the rare giant waves known as "bluebirds" arrived in Hawaii. Duke, riding an old-school wooden olo board, 16 feet long and almost too heavy to carry, caught a huge bluebird off Waikiki and rode it for over 1,000 yards.

Duke later became sheriff of Honolulu and a worldwide ambassador for Hawaii and the aloha spirit. He died in Hawaii in 1968 at the age of 77. After a church service, a large crowd of mourners made their way across Honolulu to Waikiki. His ashes were scattered on the ocean. Today, if you're visiting Waikiki and want a surfing lesson, one of the best places to head for is Kahanamoku Beach.

Paul Mason

Bushfire aftermath: the devastation a 'tornado of fire' wreaks on a community

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:54 PM PDT

Most of the homes on the left side of Sunny Ridge Road, Springwood, seem untouched. On the right is looks like a war zone with a blackened bushland backdrop

Number 23 Sunny Ridge Road, Springwood, is a burnt-out skeleton. Its bricked foundations remain intact, but the black timber strewn across the floor and the sheets of corrugated iron twisted in impossible directions allude to the quick, violent bushfire that engulfed it a week ago.

Adam Schweinsberg lumbers through the remains, detritus crunching under his feet. "I was five minutes too late," he says, "If I'd got back a little earlier, just as the flames were starting to burn the house, I would have been able to put it out."

The fire struck early afternoon last Thursday. Schweinsberg heard about it at work, a few kilometres down the road, and rushed back. He tried desperately to stop the flames but by the time he rigged a pump to the swimming pool it was too late. He filmed what happened next.

Michelle Smith, who lives across the road, describes "a tornado of fire" – she saw the Schweinsberg house go up and watched as the sparks jumped the road, engulfing her front garden and starting to run up the side of her house. Firefighters got to it in the nick of time. Her in-laws live next door; their shed burnt down.

Most of the homes on the right side of Sunny Ridge Road went up in flames. The street has become a poignant juxtaposition: seemingly untouched small-town houses on the left; on the right what looks like a war zone with a blackened bushland backdrop.

Many of the road's right-hand residents have left for the time being, but Schweinsberg, 41, comes back each day to restore what little order he can.

He has started stacking charred bricks, scanning the rubble hoping to salvage artefacts of a past life.

He lived at No 23 with his mother. His father designed and built the house four decades ago. "I definitely want the block to remain in the family," he says. "I tend to get over major traumas pretty easily. It's not the end of the world. Build another one; start again."

There is no doubt the entire area is in shock. There were 193 homes destroyed and 109 properties damaged in the Springwood fire, which was sparked by powerlines in strong winds.

By 5pm on Thursday eight emergency warnings – the highest level of alert – were issued for fires across the state. There were 100 fires – from the Blue Mountains to the central coast and into the Hunter valley – and 1477 firefighters. Those in the thick of the Blue Mountains fires described blinding winds and suffocating smoke. The sky over Sydney turned orange and ash fell over skyscrapers.

In the evacuation centre at Springwood Sports Club, staff and volunteers are coming to terms with what happened. The frantic pace of evacuations has slowed: 375 people passed through on Wednesday, compared with 1800 last Thursday. There is a tentative calm, albeit one that is constantly punctuated by the blare of sirens and the drone of helicopters.

Sue Roden, a Red Cross volunteer and Springwood resident, says everyone in the community knows someone who has lost a home. Her boss, the president of the local branch, lost hers earlier in the week. "She's too fragile to talk," says Roden, "but so many homes have been lost you wonder who'll be next. It's a long time since we've seen fires like this."

Authorities have described the fires as the worst in New South Wales in 45 years. They have also come unseasonally early, which has kicked up intense debate around the world about their relationship to global warming. A war of words has broken out between the Australian government, amid its attempt to repeal the carbon pricing scheme, and climate change experts.

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has described talk of any link between climate change and the fires as "complete hogwash", setting himself in opposition to the UN climate change chief, Christiana Figueres. Figueres drew an indirect link between the two, saying it was "absolutely clear" that there are "increasing heatwaves in Asia, Europe, and Australia; that these will continue; that they will continue in their intensity and in their frequency".

It is fair to say many Springwood residents are not keen to talk about climate change. But one resident, Cameron (who would not give his last name), is happy to. He lives on another street where half the houses were destroyed last Thursday.

When Abbott visited to inspect the ruins Cameron decided not to see him.

"People from the Blue Mountains acknowledge where they live; we live in a sacred space," he said. I like to see myself as part of that environment, and part of that is fire.

"We're people who live within a risk. Once every 50 or 100 years we have a significant event and that's been the pattern. What needs to happen now is to make that link between this and the obvious questions involved: is climate change involved in that?

"The politicians are around for the easy events, where they show up and support people, and that's important because you need to reassure them in a time of need. The big picture is the harder picture, the longer time view …"

Some Blue Mountains residents appear unfazed. At 192 Chapman Parade, Faulconbridge – a frontline against the Springwood fire that still burns in the valley below – 72-year-old Tony Bles takes a walk in the bush around his plot.

Firefighters backburned the area that backs directly on to Bles's plot on Tuesday to get rid of bushfire fuel. Smoke lingers, some stumps smoulder lightly, but he insists we walk on so he can show me a vantage point overlooking the fires.

Both his next-door neighbours have evacuated, but Bles stayed put. He has lived in the mountains since 1962. "I've got used to the bush and the problems it may open up," he says. "When it gets in the trees, that's when you worry. The lower the impact the better."

Eventually we come to a cliff face and look down on the fire that throws up thick smoke. I would hazard a guess that it is no more than a kilometre away.

Authorities have used a range of tactics to tackle what was one of the largest firefronts ever faced in New South Wales, including joining two of the major blazes – the State Mine and Mount Victoria fires – to try to contain them and prevent them joining the Springwood fire.

Bles recalls the fires of 1968. "In those days there were no helicopters," he says. In 1994 "fireballs came off the house".

A helicopter flies past, dropping thousands of litres of water on the fire below. It is a deafening whirl. Bles looks up, unperturbed. The quiet returns and he turns to the scorched trees behind. "With a couple of days of rain in the autumn, this will be green," he says.

Further up Chapman Parade volunteer firefighters are assembled. They are briefed to protect the Norman Lindsay gallery, a building dating from the 19th century and the eponymous home of the Australian artist and writer's works. The exhibits have been removed.

"It's a historic, wonderful old building. It'd be a shame to lose it for sure," says Gary McQuade, a firefighter with the Country Fire Authority of Victoria.

McQuade and his Wonga Park brigade arrived on Monday. He had been itching for the call to help the rural fire service, NSW's volunteer force.

"It's like a mate helping a mate. These guys do it tough. We come up and help them. When we do it tough, they come [down] and help us," says McQuade, who is a journalist for local radio in Melbourne.

The NSW rural fire service members have been lauded as heroes. The volunteer brigade is made up of people from a range of professions: wakeboard instructors, shop assistants, security professionals. Even an adult store franchise owner. When asked why they joined up the answer is often the same: "The sense of camaraderie."

As the sun begins to set over the valley, the Springwood fire has been downgraded to watch and act – still a serious risk.

Further down Chapman Parade two trucks from the rural fire service line the roadside. It's the Faulconbridge brigade, weary from a day on the frontline where their local expertise is invaluable.

Sam Tucker, 19, is fighting his first fires. It is a deeply personal affair. His first job, earlier in the week, was to backburn behind one of his best friend's house. His grandparents have been evacuated, their home partially destroyed.

Does he think about that when he's on the job?

"Yes and no. You have to concentrate on the fire. The adrenaline takes over."

Tucker, an apprentice carpenter, is captained by 43-year-old Geoff Booth – who was also his woodwork teacher at high school.

That question again: what inspired you to sign up?

"It's a sense of community spirit," says Booth – the rest of the brigade are goading him, saying he owes them a crate of beer for talking to the media. He chuckles: "But sadly that's the honest truth. I live on Linksview, where last Thursday's fire began. It was on my road."

Booth's house survived. He was lucky this time.

Oliver Laughland

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

NSA monitored calls of 35 world leaders after US official handed over contacts

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:50 PM PDT

• Agency given more than 200 numbers by government official
• NSA encourages departments to share their 'Rolodexes'
• Surveillance produced 'little intelligence', memo acknowledges

The National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another US government department, according to a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The confidential memo reveals that the NSA encourages senior officials in its "customer" departments, such the White House, State and the Pentagon, to share their "Rolodexes" so the agency can add the phone numbers of leading foreign politicians to their surveillance systems.

The document notes that one unnamed US official handed over 200 numbers, including those of the 35 world leaders, none of whom is named. These were immediately "tasked" for monitoring by the NSA.

The revelation is set to add to mounting diplomatic tensions between the US and its allies, after the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday accused the US of tapping her mobile phone.

After Merkel's allegations became public, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement that said the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor" the German chancellor's communications. But that failed to quell the row, as officials in Berlin quickly pointed out that the US did not deny monitoring the phone in the past.

Arriving in Brussels for an EU summit Merkel accused the US of a breach of trust. "We need to have trust in our allies and partners, and this must now be established once again. I repeat that spying among friends is not at all acceptable against anyone, and that goes for every citizen in Germany."

The NSA memo obtained by the Guardian suggests that such surveillance was not isolated, as the agency routinely monitors the phone numbers of world leaders – and even asks for the assistance of other US officials to do so.

The memo, dated October 2006 and which was issued to staff in the agency's Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), was titled "Customers Can Help SID Obtain Targetable Phone Numbers".

It begins by setting out an example of how US officials who mixed with world leaders and politicians could help agency surveillance.

"In one recent case," the memo notes, "a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders … Despite the fact that the majority is probably available via open source, the PCs [intelligence production centers] have noted 43 previously unknown phone numbers. These numbers plus several others have been tasked."

The document continues by saying the new phone numbers had helped the agency discover still more new contact details to add to their monitoring: "These numbers have provided lead information to other numbers that have subsequently been tasked."

But the memo acknowledges that eavesdropping on the numbers had produced "little reportable intelligence". In the wake of the Merkel row, the US is facing growing international criticism that any intelligence benefit from spying on friendly governments is far outweighed by the potential diplomatic damage.

The memo then asks analysts to think about any customers they currently serve who might similarly be happy to turn over details of their contacts.

"This success leads S2 [signals intelligence] to wonder if there are NSA liaisons whose supported customers may be willing to share their 'Rolodexes' or phone lists with NSA as potential sources of intelligence," it states. "S2 welcomes such information!"

The document suggests that sometimes these offers come unsolicited, with US "customers" spontaneously offering the agency access to their overseas networks.

"From time to time, SID is offered access to the personal contact databases of US officials," it states. "Such 'Rolodexes' may contain contact information for foreign political or military leaders, to include direct line, fax, residence and cellular numbers."

The Guardian approached the Obama administration for comment on the latest document. Officials declined to respond directly to the new material, instead referring to comments delivered by Carney at Thursday's daily briefing.

Carney told reporters: "The [NSA] revelations have clearly caused tension in our relationships with some countries, and we are dealing with that through diplomatic channels.

"These are very important relations both economically and for our security, and we will work to maintain the closest possible ties."

The public accusation of spying on Merkel adds to mounting political tensions in Europe about the scope of US surveillance on the governments of its allies, after a cascade of backlashes and apologetic phone calls with leaders across the continent over the course of the week.

Asked on Wednesday evening if the NSA had in the past tracked the German chancellor's communications, Caitlin Hayden, the White House's National Security Council spokeswoman, said: "The United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of Chancellor Merkel. Beyond that, I'm not in a position to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity."

At the daily briefing on Thursday, Carney again refused to answer repeated questions about whether the US had spied on Merkel's calls in the past.

The NSA memo seen by the Guardian was written halfway through George W Bush's second term, when Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state and Donald Rumsfeld was in his final months as defence secretary.

Merkel, who, according to Reuters, suspected the surveillance after finding her mobile phone number written on a US document, is said to have called for US surveillance to be placed on a new legal footing during a phone call to President Obama.

"The [German] federal government, as a close ally and partner of the US, expects in the future a clear contractual basis for the activity of the services and their co-operation," she told the president.

The leader of Germany's Green party, Katrin Goring-Eckhart, called the alleged spying an "unprecedented breach of trust" between the two countries.

Earlier in the week, Obama called the French president François Hollande in response to reports in Le Monde that the NSA accessed more than 70m phone records of French citizens in a single 30-day period, while earlier reports in Der Spiegel uncovered NSA activity against the offices and communications of senior officials of the European Union.

The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, this week backed proposals that could require US tech companies to seek permission before handing over EU citizens' data to US intelligence agencies, while the European parliament voted in favour of suspending a transatlantic bank data sharing agreement after Der Spiegel revealed the agency was monitoring the international bank transfer system Swift.

James Ball

Clive Palmer's $6bn China First coalmine faces last two hurdles

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:47 PM PDT

Environment minister Greg Hunt will have the final word on whether mega-mines in the Galilee Basin pose a threat to water

Lenore Taylor

Bo Xilai's appeal rejected by Chinese court

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:46 PM PDT

Former Communist party boss claimed verdict was formality as he mounted fiesty defence against corruption convictions

A court in eastern China has rejected an appeal by the ousted Chinese leader Bo Xilai and upheld his life sentence for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Bo, the 64-year-old former Communist party head of the south-western metropolis of Chongqing, was once known for his charisma, elaborate anti-crime campaigns, and neo-Maoist politics. He fell from grace last year after his second-in-command fled to the US consulate in a neighboring city, exposing his wife's murder of a British businessman in a Chongqing hotel.

Last month, the Jinan intermediate people's court in thecoastal Shandong province sentenced Bo to life in prison for accepting £2.1m in bribes, embezzling more than £500,000, and abusing his position by blocking an investigation into the murder.

After a brief session on Friday, the Shandong high people's court upheld the lower court's decision, China's state newswire Xinhua reported via its official microblog. It did not provide further details. Bo will not have another chance to appeal.

Bo mounted a feisty defense at his trial, turning what many had expected to be a brief, staid affair into a five-day drama full of cutting dialogue and lurid revelations. He denied all of the charges.

Analysts said that while the Chinese government was keen to present the trial as evidence of the country's rule of law, authorities tightly controlled the proceedings and determined his verdict well in advance.

Bo's former second-in-command, Wang Lijun, is serving a 15-year prison sentence for a raft of charges, including defection. His wife, Gu Kailai, was found guilty of murder last year and received a suspended death sentence – effectively life in prison.

Bo's sentence was the harshest for a current or former member of China's politburo, the country's top decision making body, since 1981, when Mao's widow Jiang Qing received a suspended death sentence for overseeing atrocities during the Cultural Revolution.

Bo Zhiyue, an expert on Chinese politics at the National University of Singapore, called the rejected appeal unsurprising. "Politically I think [Bo] is finished," he said. "But Chinese politics are not predictable. You never know – something may happen down the road."

Jonathan Kaiman

A week is a long time in Australian climate change politics

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:30 PM PDT

Two people died, flora and fauna were decimated and hundreds of homes lost in NSW, but the firestorm didn’t end there

Oliver Milman

My best Beyoncé impression: visit to Brunswick sparks a wave of imitators

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:12 PM PDT

When a superstar is photographed braving chilly Melbourne in a leotard, social media springs into action

Oliver Milman

Oxfam poised to axe 125 UK jobs as global strategy shift looms

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:00 PM PDT

Major development projects in middle-income countries to be scaled back as reforms promise focus on policy and advocacy

Oxfam GB expects to cut 125 jobs in the UK as part of a revamp in which the charity will scale back the delivery of large development projects in middle-income countries to focus on policy and advocacy.

The charity had been planning a shift in strategy, but the timing has been accelerated because of financial pressures. It plans to stop working in several countries in the Caucases and Asia in the next three years, although no countries have been specified .

Oxfam GB employs 5,300 people worldwide and works with more than 22,000 volunteers. Its income to the year ending in March was £367.9m, compared with £385.5m the year before.

"Our restructuring is a combination of what we think is right and the need to save money in the short term and spend it differently in the long term," Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam, said. "We would have wanted to do this without the financial pressure, which has determined the sequencing."

The changes will be implemented in two stages. First, services will be reformed including human resources, finance, business support and campaigns and policy at Oxfam's headquarters in Oxford.

The charity said this would enable it to balance its budget and, in due course, provide additional funds to invest in programmes. The proposed plan is expected to result in the loss of 125 posts in the UK and the closure of some regional offices in England.

From 2015, Oxfam will make changes to its international programmes, working closely with the 16 member organisations around the world. The resulting savings will be reinvested in policy and advocacy work.

Jane Cotton, the charity's human resources director, said: "This is the start of a consultation process with staff. We will make every effort to keep the number of redundancies to a minimum and where possible we will redeploy people and help colleagues find work elsewhere if this is not practical."

Goldring added that it was too soon to say how many jobs would go abroad as it would depend on discussions in the next few years. "We are spread too thin, working in too many countries," he said. "In middle-income countries, we can't make a large impact through delivery but by gathering and sharing information. Extractive work is a good example – how does it impact Zambia? A lot of our work is focused on the UK, the EU and international financial institutions. We want to reduce our focus there and seek to influence governments in the south."

Goldring said Oxfam wanted to concentrate on women's rights, food, climate and inequality in countries in the south, with more reports on policy and strategy produced in developing countries to influence thinking by those governments.

Oxfam works in 94 countries as part of the Oxfam International confederation. For every £1 donated, 84p is spent on emergency, development and campaigning work, 9p is spent on support and governance, and 7p is invested to generate future income.

This year Oxfam started to fund UK food banks for the first time. Asked whether the charity should be operating in the UK, given that it normally focuses on humanitarian disasters and extreme poverty in developing countries, Goldring said it was important that Oxfam responded to injustice, poverty and suffering no matter where they occurred.

Mark Tran

World gender gap index 2013: see how countries compare

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:00 PM PDT

Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world by the World economic Forum. See how countries compare on the gender gap index 2013
• Get the data

Iceland has been named the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world, for the fifth consecutive year, by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The annual gender gap index places Iceland in first place with Finland following in second.

Norway, Sweden and the Philippines take third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the index which looks at four key areas – health (life expectancy, etc), access to education, economic participation (salaries, job type and seniority) and political engagement.

According to the report, Iceland's overall score was strengthened due to improvements in the 'economic participation and opportunity' and the 'political empowerment' subindexes whereas Finland held onto second place despite slight losses in its overall score due to a decrease in its 'economic participation and opportunity' score.

The UK ranks 18 out of 136 countries - the same position as last year. The WEF stress that this "highlights some important points that the UK must address if it is to truly tackle its gender gap as there are worrisome points across all four pillars."

Overall the UK is given a score of 0.744, putting it above Austria, Canada and Luxembourg but below Cuba, Lesotho and South Africa. Of the four pillars used for assessment, the UK is ranked 29th for political empowerment, 31st for educational attainment, 35th for economic participation and opportunity and 92nd for health and survival. Click on the image above to explore the interactive heat map created by the WEF.

Regional performance on the overall index score and by subindexes is also covered in the report. In the overall index score, North America takes first position having closed 74% of its gender gap according to the WEF. The Middle East and North Africa region take last place having closed almost 59% of its gender gap. If you look at regional performance across the four indicators then North America comes top for economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment and health and survival. Asia and the Pacific, however, lead the way in the political empowerment subindex according to the latest release.

The table below shows how each country is ranked in the 2013 gender gap index overall and by subindex. The downloadable spreadsheet has data over time and regional breakdowns. For methodology of the index visit the WEF website.

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Ami Sedghi

World gender gap index 2013 mapped

Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:00 PM PDT

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Iceland as the country with the smallest gap between the sexes, for the fifth consecutive year in a row. Explore the interactive heat map which allows users to click on an individual country to see rank and score by indicator

Ami Sedghi