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• Coalition signals five-year 'tent city' processing plan for Nauru
• Eurozone crisis live: Spanish recession eases as Italy awaits Berlusconi tax fraud case ruling
• Pakistan: Taliban prison raid leaves police injured - video
• Gladstone Harbour dredging project linked to mud crab disease
• Marshall Islands calls for leadership from Australia on climate change
• NSW Labor corruption inquiry to report findings
• Asylum-seeker deaths at sea total nearly 1,000 in just over a decade
• The tycoon, the dictator's wife and the $2.5bn Guinea mining deal
• Beny Steinmetz: Israeli diamond dealer who likes to keep a low profile
• Guinea: country profile in numbers
• Driver dies in Switzerland train crash
• Propane explosions rock Florida town
• Taliban attack Pakistan prison
• Explosions at propane base plant in Florida - video
• Lundy bird populations soar after rats eradicated
• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: we have to become smarter on women's issues | David Smith
• Russia boycotts Los Angeles Olympics: From the archive, 30 July 1984
• Middle East peace talks under way
• ACCC expresses concern at petrol discounts on shopper dockets
• The killing of Abdelsalam al-Mismari, and the triumph of fear in Libya | Hisham Matar
• Two men shot dead in Sydney night of violence
• After surviving nuclear tests, can the Marshall Islands survive the great climate experiment? | Graham Readfearn
• Nauru chief justice says 'significant funding' required for rioters' defence
• New Zealand mountaineer and son feared dead on K2
• The Secret River wins Helpmann best play award

Coalition signals five-year 'tent city' processing plan for Nauru Posted: 30 Jul 2013 06:26 AM PDT Tony Abbott states that 'Nauru is by no means an unpleasant place to live' as Scott Morrison reveals details of asylum plan Tony Abbott has declared Nauru "by no means an unpleasant place to live" as his immigration spokesman announced plans for a new "tent city" on the island to process asylum seekers. The shadow immigration minister, Scott Morrison, said the five-year processing plan included providing tent accommodation for a further 2,000 people on Nauru. The policy, which seemed to contain some elements in common with Labor's Papua New Guinea resettlement deal, was revealed by News Limited publications. Morrison later released a statement providing details. "If elected, the Coalition will begin with an immediate, short- and medium-term increase in accommodation facilities," he said. "The first step will quickly increase capacity at Nauru by 2,000 places in tented accommodation. More steps will follow. "The expanded capacity on Nauru is part of our long-standing commitment to genuine offshore processing and will complement the expansion of processing capacity on Manus Island to ensure we finally have genuine offshore processing. "The five-year plan will also see the establishment of a major post-assessment accommodation village that will be placed on new and existing leased sites. I have also been able to confirm that there is capacity to further significantly increase accommodation facilities at other identified locations, including the State House site." He said detainees "will be provided assistance to pursue resettlement options in countries other than Australia". Abbott said on breakfast television that there had been no consultation with other players in the region prior to Tuesday morning's news reports, and in a media conference later in the morning said the plan had not been discussed by the shadow cabinet. The proposed expansion on Nauru follows a commitment last week by the Coalition to put a "three-star general" in charge of Australia's border protection effort – a policy which was criticised by the Australian Defence Association for breaching the legal chain of command. The immigration minister, Tony Burke, said the new Coalition initiative was a tacit admission by Abbott that the boats would not stop. He said he had no argument in principle with expanding capacity on Nauru, but the specific initiative was "childish" and contained "fairly dire errors". The first error, Burke contended, was putting a public figure on total capacity. This was a mistake, and gave people smugglers intelligence about how to "game" and "overwhelm" the policy. Abbott later said the Coalition would expand capacity on Nauru as required. Burke said the Coalition had also left a window open for detainees on Nauru to end up back in Australia. The Coalition policy said only there was "no guarantee" of resettlement. Burke said this introduced a level of ambiguity in the policy which would prove counterproductive. He said Morrison had obviously rushed "to an announcement without thinking things through. Some of what he's put forward will have the exact opposite consequences to what he would want." Burke also remarked that Abbott and Morrison evidently enjoyed the politics of boat arrivals. "I do not," he said. The immigration minister said Labor had also had talks with officials on Nauru, including the president, about expanding capacity on the island. A riot on the island nearly a fortnight ago badly damaged processing facilities there. Shadow foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop told Sky News the new Coalition policy was not a formal treaty with Nauru, but an understanding. Bishop said it was not possible for oppositions to reach binding agreements with governments, but "Scott is very confident we'll be able to achieve what he's set out today." Bishop was asked why the Coalition needed a processing policy spanning five years when Abbott has promised to stop the boats during his first term in office. Australian parliamentary terms are three years. She reasoned that the two commitments were not inconsistent. The additional capacity would deal with a backlog of people pursuing refugee claims. On the government's contention that asylum seekers could end up back in Australia based on what Morrison had pledged on Nauru, Bishop said the Coalition's policy was to "encourage resettlement in third countries". In a media conference on Tuesday morning, Burke declined to confirm that the first transfer of asylum seekers to PNG under Labor's hardline processing and resettlement policy would occur later in the day. "I'm keeping it in a policy frame rather than a deadline frame. You can't send people until their health checks are complete," Burke said. "There needs to be appropriate accommodation and there needs to be appropriate services." He said their arrival on PNG would not be a secret. "Everyone will end up being sent offshore," Burke said. "But I'm not getting into arbitrary timeframes." After a significant upsurge in boat arrivals immediately after Labor unveiled the PNG policy, there have been fewer arrivals over the past few days. Burke said he read nothing into that development. He argued the government's belief remained that people smugglers would test Labor's resolve. The Greens immigration spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, attacked the quality of the current political debate on asylum seekers. Nauru "seems more like a slum solution than anything else', she said. "This is the race to the bottom, out of control," she said. Australian immigration and asylum Australia Nauru Refugees Asia Pacific Coalition Tony Abbott Liberal party Australian election 2013 Katharine Murphy theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Eurozone crisis live: Spanish recession eases as Italy awaits Berlusconi tax fraud case ruling Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:26 AM PDT Italy's top court may decide today whether to uphold Silvio Berlusconi's conviction and sentence for tax fraud, potentially destabilising the country's coalition Graeme Wearden

Pakistan: Taliban prison raid leaves police injured - video Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:20 AM PDT Security and police officers lie injured in hospital beds in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, after the prison came under attack from Taliban militants

Gladstone Harbour dredging project linked to mud crab disease Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:11 AM PDT Guardian Australia: A new report says almost 40% of mud crabs collected in the Queensland harbour show signs of shell disease Oliver Milman

Marshall Islands calls for leadership from Australia on climate change Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:11 AM PDT Vice-president of Pacific island nation says more needs to be done to avoid countries being swamped by rising sea levels Australia needs to take more of a global leadership role on climate change action to help its Pacific island neighbours avoid being swamped by rising sea levels and triggering a surge in climate refugees, according to the vice-president of the Marshall Islands. Tony de Brum, the minister-in-assistance to the president of the Marshall Islands, said that major emitters need to "re-think their ambition levels" over climate change and urged Australia to focus on the benefits of emissions trading. De Brum is in Australia to drum up support for a Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership, which would demand more urgent action on cutting emissions. The Marshall Islands, a collection of low-lying coral atolls within the Micronesia group, considers itself particularly vulnerable to sea level increases due to melting ice as the planet warms. Christopher Loeak, president of the Marshall Islands, recently wrote an open letter to US secretary of state John Kerry that stated "we are fighting a war for the survival of my country". The sea walls of the capital, Majuro, were breached by the tide in June, closing the nation's main airport, while a state of emergency was called over a drought the government said was driven by climate change, prompting aid to be sent by Australia. De Brum told Guardian Australia that the Marshall Islands looked upon Australia as a regional "big brother" that needed to do more to help its islander neighbours. "We think Australia should take more of an active and globalist role in climate change and as president of the UN security council, they will be in a unique position to engage with other nations to ease off on their emissions," he said. "I hope Australia will take more of a leadership role. They are the biggest country in the region and we've always looked at them for leadership. This is now the most critical challenge we face." De Brum said that Australia should look at the positives of tackling emissions, warning that failure to do so will see large numbers of people displaced as they flee the rising tides. "Only 10 countries emit more than Australia so we are disappointed that the country hasn't taken more of a leadership role and realised the opportunity in the carbon market and renewable energy jobs," he said. "We realise that it's an election time and these issues are tossed back and forth, but regardless of who leads Australia, we will look to them for action." "Large emitters have the luxury of time and to have other considerations. We don't. We're disappointed by the lateness of the American response and so we welcome the recent announcement by Barack Obama to look at the problem." "We hope Australia realises that climate change is a very real threat. What are we going to do if two million people in the Pacific islands need to move? We are already seeing people displaced in the Marshall Islands. Australia will be hosting the G20 summit soon, so it will need to use its influence to help us." Climate change Australia Marshall Islands Oliver Milman theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

NSW Labor corruption inquiry to report findings Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:01 AM PDT Icac to hand over reports dealing with allegations against powerbroker Eddie Obeid and former minister Ian MacDonald A corruption investigation into whether the family of a Labor party powerbroker made tens of millions of dollars through rigging a coal mining process will come to a close on Wednesday with the findings being handed to parliament. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) is preparing to hand down the reports into three inquiries into the dealings of New South Wales Labor politicians when their party was in state government. Operation Jasper examined the creation of the mining tenement Mount Penny south-west of Sydney in the Bylong Valley in 2008 by then mining minister Ian MacDonald. The family of MacDonald's colleague, Labor party powerbroker Eddie Obeid, as well as friends, had bought up vast tracts of land in the months before and after the tenement was created. The family made about $30m from selling the land and their investment in a company, Cascade Coal, which eventually won the mining exploration licence. Icac examined claims that Obeid and his family had inside knowledge the tenement was going to be created and also influenced the mining licence process in the area. Operation Jarilo heard allegations ex-boxer Lucky Gattellari and developer Ron Medich offered Macdonald rewards or inducements in return for favourable treatment from the government. It was alleged that Medich had given MacDonald his pick from a group of girls and he had chosen a prostitute known as Tiffanie who he met up with in a Four Seasons hotel room. It was accepted the pair did not have sex. Operation Indus investigated allegations that former roads minister Eric Roozendaal received a $10,800 discount on a Honda from Obeid's family in return for favours. The NSW opposition leader, John Robertson, said the hearings, which were spread over six months, had meant Labor had suffered in the polls and distracted from focus on the performance of the state's current Liberal government. He said he was looking forward to the reports being handed down. "The fact is that Icac is not there to allow [premier] Barry O'Farrell off the hook," he said. "It will be good to get this report on the table so that Barry O'Farrell has got nowhere to hide." Icac will hand its findings to the NSW parliament on Wednesday morning and they will then be made public. New South Wales Labor party Australia Australian politics Bridie Jabour theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Asylum-seeker deaths at sea total nearly 1,000 in just over a decade Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:00 AM PDT Crime commission reports 964 people have died since October 2001 in boats that foundered in Australian waters In a little over 10 years, nearly 1,000 asylum seekers have died at sea while trying to reach Australia by boat, a new report says. The Australian Crime Commission's biannual report into organised crime says 964 people died, or are presumed to have died, between October 2001 and June 2012. The figures do not include the recent spate of asylum seeker deaths on boats that foundered in Australian waters or on their way here. Of the 964 deaths cited in the report, 605 died since October 2009 – more than one every two days. The Organised Crime in Australia 2013 report says most asylum seekers arriving from boat hail from Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and Pakistan or are stateless. While most of the boats depart from Indonesia due to its proximity to Australia, the report suggests the problem is both regional and global. "People smugglers use highly organised international networks to make logistical arrangements for the travel of irregular migrants and typically demand exorbitant fees for their services," the report says. "The impact of people smuggling extends beyond domestic law enforcement and border protection capability and dealing with it requires mutual cooperation and international engagement." The deaths included the sinking of an unseaworthy vessel off the Indonesian island of Java in 2001, with the loss of 350 lives, and a vessel that crashed into rocks at Christmas island in 2010, claiming 50 lives. The report shows 111 boats arrived in Australia in 2011-12, compared to 23 in 2008-09, 117 in 2009-10 and 89 in 2010-11. There were 8,092 asylum seekers on the boats that arrived in 2011-12, compared to 985 in 2008-09, 5,327 in 2009-10 and 4,750 in 2010-11. The report also notes asylum seekers arriving by boat accounted for 51% of all applications for protection in 2011-12, up from 5% between 2002-03 and 2007-08. Australian immigration and asylum Australia Refugees theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The tycoon, the dictator's wife and the $2.5bn Guinea mining deal Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:00 AM PDT FBI investigating Beny Steinmetz's company BSGR after lucrative deal to extract iron ore from Simandou mountain range In Conakry, a gleaming hotel looms over the filth of the city. Behind it a small coastal cove acts like a floating rubbish dump, collecting brightly coloured detritus from the murky Atlantic and distributing it in piles in stubbly black rock pools on the beach. A group of gangly young men sit by an abandoned fishing boat, looking despondently out to sea. But in the gleaming, chandelier-lit hotel lobby it is easy to forget the scenery outside. Here, European, Australian and Brazilian mining executives, in jeans and suit jackets, sip rosé as they check emails. African businessmen huddle in groups, discussing shareholdings and the possibility of chartering planes to reach remote sites. Businessmen think nothing of hiring private aircraft to reach Guinea's abundant reserves of diamonds, gold, uranium, aluminium ore and bauxite, because the returns are unparalleled. The country is an almost textbook example of what some refer to as the "paradox of plenty": it sits atop some of the most significant untapped mineral reserves in the world while its people live in squalor, without clean water, electricity, education or infrastructure. In years past, during the dying days of Lansana Conté, the army general who ruled Guinea with an iron grip for almost all of hisa quarter-century tenure, an Israeli-French billionaire could be spotted similarly holding court at Conakry's once popular Novotel. Beny Steinmetz, one of the wealthiest men in the world, came here, sources say, with a clear mission. "Beny Steinmetz wanted to make sure he was the closest white man to President Conté," said one former presidential aide of the president. The tycoon also wanted, and successfully obtained, the rights to mine Simandou – a mountain range in Guinea's remote south-east containing millions of tonnes of iron ore of the highest grade. According to some estimates, the ore from Simandou could generate around $140bn over the next 25 years, more than doubling the country's GDP. Until now Guinea's riches have been exploited in a haphazard manner, one that benefited a tiny number of people in the country. Responsibility for this state of affairs lay with Conté, whose government was characterised not only by "state-sponsored abuses and repression", but by "an increasing criminalisation of the state" in which assets were seized and exploited by his close associates, according tosays a Human Rights Watch report. Steinmetz is reckoned to have amassed a personal fortune of more than $4bn. Some say he has more than twice that. What appeared certain, however, was that when his firm, BSGR, secured the rights to extract half the Simandou iron ore, he was about to became a lot richer. The Conté regime had originally granted the rights to the Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto in the 90s. In 2008 those rights were stripped from Rio Tinto and then – in what is said to have been one of the dictator's final acts of government before his death – half were granted to BSGR. The deal was notable not only because BSGR's expertise was in mining diamonds, rather than extracting and exporting iron ore, but because the glittering prize of Simandou had cost the company so little: rather than paying the government of Guinea for the concession, it had invested $165m in an exploration programme in the area. This may not be unusual practice in the industry, and BSGR insists it made that investment "with no guarantee of success". But the region was known to be rich in iron ore, and the value of the concession became clear in April 2010 when BSGR announced it was selling 51% of its stake – effectively a quarter of the mountains' iron ore – to Vale, a Brazilian mining firm. The two formed a joint-venture company, VBG, which would produce about 2m tonnes of ore a year, and which pledged to spend $1bn building a railway that would carry the ore to the coast. The price paid by Vale: $2.5bn. Even within the buccaneering world of African mining, the deal was regarded as stupendous. For an investment of just $165m, Steinmetz's BSGR had secured an asset worth around $5bn. One veteran of African mining was quoted in the financial press as saying that Steinmetz had hit the "jackpot". Many in the region were incredulous, however. The reaction of the African telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim was not untypical: "Are the Guineans who did that deal idiots or criminals?" he demanded to know. "Or both?" The president's wives During Conté's period in power mineral prospectors resorted increasingly to accessing the president through his four wives, bestowing lavish gifts and bribes to gain favours, according to others who were involved in business at the time. "All of Lansana Conté's wives were involved in mining and business deals," said Abdoul Rahamane Diallo, Guinea programme co-ordinator for the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, and a commerce specialist at the US embassy during Conté's rule. One wife in particular was favoured by the ageing president: his fourth and youngest bride, Mamadie Touré. "Mamadie was regarded as the most influential wife – she lived in the home town where Conté lived, she is young, she was close to him, she had real influence," said Diallo. "Whatever people wanted to bring into Guinea, whatever they wanted to take out, they went through one of his wives." After the country's first fully democratic elections in December 2010 the new president, Alpha Condé, pledged an end to the years of corruption and misrule; he also promised to scrutinise closely some of the controversial deals his predecessors had struck with major mining companies. Before long, the US justice department had joined Guinea's government in examining whether the most lucrative and controversial deal of all – the Simandou concession – had resulted in breaches of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-money-laundering laws. That, in turn, led to Steinmetz coming under investigation by the FBI. He firmly denies paying any bribes, or any other wrongdoing. So does BSGR, a Guernsey-registered company that he controls through family trusts. The allegations against him are "preposterous", Steinmetz insists. They are rooted, he says, in envy of his great success. The people's outrage The epic proportions of the Simandou story are not lost on ordinary Guineans, who have been following the saga with varying degrees of outrage. "Yes, yes, yes, people are interested in what happened with BSGR, and they are mobilised," said Abdoulaye Bah, a journalist at the popular current affairs website Guinée News. "They are speaking about it on the radio, reading about it in the papers. No one really understands what happened, but they are sure, with Simandou and all the other mining contracts, there was big corruption. Everyone knows that when the deal was done Conté was sick, and he wasn't in control." At Sanfil, a neighbourhood in central Conakry where children sprawl across car bonnets and women busy themselves with the arduous task of washing and cooking despite infrequent water and electricity supplies, residents say they know of Simandou's fabled wealth. "Simandou is a very important mine," said Ibrahima Barry, 62, a civil servant, bathed in yellow light from the plastic sheeting that acts as makeshift walls in a roadside tea and egg shack. "If they exploited it the way they are supposed to, then it could really help the country. "But instead, these rich foreigners come, they buy Simandou, they do hardly any work, they sell it, and they pocket the profits. It's not right." Further down the road in Sanfil, Rougui & Zee hairdressers is closed for Ramadan, but a group of women congregate in the owner's living room. They laugh when asked whether they are happy with the mining deals that have been done. "Of course we are not happy – we do not profit at all," said Françoise Katty, a 22-year-old maths graduate who wears a black hijab and striped green and purple maxi dress, and who says it is almost impossible for graduates to find jobs in Guinea. "We know about the diamonds and the iron, but we don't even know what they are doing to exploit it," said Adama Camara, 20, a student in political science at the university in Conakry. "It's not that we are against foreign companies coming here. It's a question of whether they come and go, or whether they want to stay and develop the country. Just look at the poverty and filth around you – just look!" Guineans speak fluently and emphatically about the state of their country, and the French words they use to encapsulate their condition – la misère (misery), la galère (hard times), la pauvreté (poverty) – can almost take on the power of a motto in Conakry. It is a far cry from the ideal – liberté, égalité, fraternité – that France claimed to impart to its former colonies. But even by the standards of other Francophone African countries – many of which are among the poorest in the world – Guinea is faring particularly badly, and many blame France for abandoning the country when its first post-independence leader, Ahmed Sékou Touré, essentially stuck two fingers up at the former colonial master, famously telling Charles de Gaulle in 1958: "We would rather have poverty in freedom than riches in slavery." "France retaliated by cutting off all ties with Guinea, withdrawing all of their aid and technical assistance," said Diallo. "If you think of Ivory Coast, or Senegal, which have huge French presence and investment, it shows the relative lack of interest France has had in Guinea." Ties were restored under Jacques Chirac, and France is now Guinea's biggest bilateral aid donor. But neither foreign aid nor government spending is reversing the fortunes of its 11 million people, an increasing number of whom are flocking to the capital in search not only of opportunities, but of food and the basic means of survival. Widespread poverty "We came here looking for money," said Kadiatou Diallo, 30, whose albino skin is wrinkled and covered with blistering moles, giving her the appearance of someone twice her age. Diallo stands on a thin wedge of pavement in front of Conakry's main Faisal mosque with her sister, Mariama Kesso Diallo, 28, and Mariama's eight-month old daughter, Assatou Baïlo Diallo – they sleep, eat, wash and beg here, hemmed in between large pools of stagnant rainwater as the rainy season pummels the town, incessant traffic and their makeshift tent – a single side of plastic sheeting that provides neither shelter nor privacy. "Our parents are dead. We did not have the means to farm, we had nothing. We don't have enough to eat here either – passersby occasionally give us money or rice. That is more than we could hope for back home," she said. "We know there is great mineral wealth here. But the government refuses to share it with us to relieve our misery. It's not fair." The Diallos, who travelled from Labé, around 280 miles north-east of Conakry, suffer from malaria, stomach problems and other health issues, like many who live and sleep in the grime of Conakrycapital's streets. It is Ramadan, and large gatherings of Guineans – 85% of whom are Muslim – create a space amid the rubbish and puddles to lay down their mats to pray beside the road. People in Guinea's hinterland where most of its natural wealth is to be found are even poorer. "People everywhere in Guinea are very poor. The further you travel inside the country, the worse the situation is," said Dr Faya Millimono, leader of a new opposition party, the Liberal Bloc, who comes from the forest region not far from Simandou. "The things they are asking for are so basic: schools for their children, hospitals for when they are sick." There are hospitals, but the way they are, you might go in with malaria, you will come out with two or three other diseases. Those in Conakry who are rich enough to leave fly to Dakar for medical treatment. Those in the interior, they die." Condé has said repeatedly – echoing the mantra of other internationally popular African presidents in nearby countries such as Ghana and Liberia – that the key to lifting people such as the Diallo sisters out of poverty is a radical transformation of the country's mining sector, so that the proceeds can be used for the good of all Guineans. His pledge comes as deals between mining multinationals and governments in the developing world come under scrutiny. The past year has seen the US, the European Union and the UK push for greater disclosure of payments made by mining and oil firms. In the runup to the G8 summit in Northern Ireland in June David Cameron wrote that the time had come to insist on greater transparency from resource-extracting companies, in order to "lift the veil of secrecy that too often lets corrupt corporations and officials in some countries run rings around the law". While trying to rebuild his country, Condé has sought the advice of Tony Blair's African Governance Initiative, and of George Soros, the wealthy investor and philanthropist. With western governments across the west all singing from the same hymn sheet and with Blair and Soros pledging public support, the new president clearly had some powerful allies. Condé's government produced a new mining code, one that was intended to combat corruption and offer greater environmental protection. After several revisions, one investor in Conakry said the new code was "excellent". With the help of Soros, Condé hired US lawyers and investigators with experience of looking into corrupt deals. These individuals assisted a committee of inquiry established in Conakry. By last January the FBI had been persuaded that it, too, should investigate the Simandou deal, to establish whether any US laws had been broken. As the committee of inquiry's work progressed, reports emerged in the Financial Times and, subsequently, the New Yorker, of allegations that a number of luxury gifts and payments had been handed to relatives and associates of Lansana Conté before his death, as well as to senior figures in the short-lived military dictatorship that followed him. They included claims that a gold- and diamond-encrusted miniature Formula One car was given to a former government minister. BSGR responded to this allegation by saying that the car was worth no more than $2,000, and had been given to the mining ministry, not an individual, in a ceremony that was held in public. The committee, its investigators and the FBI began to search for documentation that would shed light on the way in which the Simandou deal had been sealed. They were not the only people hunting down documents. An arrest in the US In March an associate of Steinmetz, French national Frederic Cilins, 50, contacted Conté's widow, Mamadie Touré, at her home in Jacksonville, Florida. What Cilins did not know was that Touré had already been approached by the FBI, and had agreed to co-operate with its investigation. The phone call was being recorded, and when Touré met Cilins at a cafe at Jacksonville airport on three subsequent occasions, she was carrying a wire. After the final meeting, just as he was about to board a flight to Miami, Cilins was arrested. He is now awaiting trial. When Cilins appeared in court for a preliminary hearing, it became clear that the FBI was attempting to discover whether BSGR had paid bribes to officials in Guinea in order to secure the rights to Simandou's riches. The US justice department accused Cilins of attempting to obstruct that inquiry by disposing of some of the evidence. According to evidence submitted at a preliminary hearing, he was captured on tape offering Touré a substantial bribe to destroy a number of documents. "We need to urgently, urgently, urgently destroy all of this," he is alleged to have said. Cilins denies he was trying to pervert the course of justice – an offence that carries sentence of up to 20 years in jail. He insists he was merely attempting to destroy forged documents that were being used in an attempt to blackmail him and BSGR. On hearing of his arrest BSGR sought to play down any connections between the company and Cilins. Ian Middleton, Steinmetz's spokesman at Powerscourt, a London PR firm, said: "Cilins is not an agent for Steinmetz's company." Subsequently, however, Powerscourt conceded that Cilins had previously been engaged by BSGR in Guinea. In court the prosecution alleged that Steinmetz and Cilins are close friends: the latter's attorney says she does not know whether this is true. After Cilins's first court appearance, the FBI lodged a formal complaint with the court that set out the reasons for his arrest. This document makes clear that another individual was also under investigation. It describes one phone conversation during which Touré is alleged to have asked Cilins whether an individual identified as "CC-1" had agreed to the payment she was to receive. Cilins is alleged to have replied: "Of course." Earlier tIn the past month both the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot and the New Yorker reported that they believed CC-1 – or co-conspirator number one – to be Beny Steinmetz. A number of individuals who are familiar with the investigation have told the Guardian that this is correct. Furthermore, the Guardian has seen documentation that shows that by the time Cilins was arrested the FBI was already investigating Steinmetz in an attempt to establish whether he played any role in the alleged wrongdoing. Asked about this aspect of its investigation, the US justice department said: "The department declines comment." Steinmetz and BSGR both vigorously deny paying any bribes and any other wrongdoing. In an interview with Yedioth Aharonot in June, he dismissed the accusations that he faces as "preposterous rumours", prompted by envy. "There are no skeletons in the closet," he said. "The company pays nothing to anyone." Steinmetz has recently been spending time in Israel. He also holds French citizenship, and has spent time recently on the Côte d'Azur. Asked about the US investigation and Steinmetz's whereabouts, Middleton, his spokesman at Powerscourt, responded by threatening the Guardian with a libel action. "Your line of questioning risks defaming Mr Steinmetz and may give rise to legal action," he said. A few hours later the Guardian received a warning letter from Mishcon de Reya, one of the London law firms that represents Steinmetz. Middleton also issued a statement saying: "We have no reason to believe that Mr Steinmetz is under investigation in the US or elsewhere. Mr Steinmetz is a hugely respected businessman who has operated in dozens of countries for 35 years and has faced no evidenced allegations anywhere." A subsequent statement said: "He has not been approached by the authorities and he denies any knowledge of wrongdoing." Middleton added that the Guardian's questions about the US investigation were the direct result of what he described as a "desperate smear campaign" against Steinmetz, one that he said was being led by Condé in an attempt to divert attention from domestic political problems. This is a claim the Guinean president denies. Earlier this month Cilins's attempt to obtain bail was rejected, and his trial has been fixed for December. BSGR's Guinea director, Asher Avidan, has been banned from entering Guinea, and two of the firm's local managers – Sory Touré and Issaga Bangourain – have been arrested and are being detained in its central prison. Momo Sacko, one of four Guinean and two French lawyers representing the pair, said their incarceration was "disturbing" and a violation of their rights and Guinea's constitution. Powerscourt issued a statement on behalf of BSGR complaining that the pair had been "illegally detained" by what it described as an "illegitimate government", and that BSGR had also been targeted as part of a blackmail plot. But Guinea's government is not backing down. It is devoting what insiders say are "substantial resources" to investigating the BSGR contract – an investigation one government source said was necessarily shrouded in secrecy. "They are investigating people in the government – they didn't even know that they were involved until they started investigating," said one source, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the inquiry. "So [the investigating committee] has to proceed carefully." "Of course the progress of this case is important to the nation," said Kerfalla Yansané, Guinea's finance minister – an economist who responded to the call to return to Guinea from Congo, where he worked as a World Bank adviser, "out of duty", he said, "because my country needed me". "When you are in a country like Guinea where you are sitting on big mining potential, but at the same time you are still poor, you don't have infrastructure, there is no water, electricity, good schools or hospitals, then you rightly should be concerned with why your wealth is being hijacked by a few people," Yansané added. "The more people are getting from our mining sector, the less I'm getting for our budget." Across town from the ministry of finance, Nava Touré has the physical presence of a man swamped. He met the Guardian at 9pm in a harshly lit office, beset, ironically, as it is the HQ of the national electricity firm, which he runs, with power cuts.. Touré heads the technical review committee, charged by the government with scrutinising mining contracts awarded under previous governments. He says the BSGR case has been a priority from the start. "We have looked at all the mining contracts and title issues – 18 in total," he said. "BSGR really stands out. They got an almost free title, saying they would spend $150m, then they made a deal of $2.5bn. The government didn't gain anything from that. This is very frustrating." BSGR, Touré said, will soon be summoned to appear at an oral hearing before the committee because of an alleged failure to answer properly a series of written questions to the latter's satisfaction. Touré expressed his frustration at what he said was BSGR's repeated lack of co-operation with the process. "I would not say BSGR has been co-operative, they have been obstructive at every stage," said Touré. "Now they have decided to instruct lawyers to contest the legality of the review committee. They have paid for legal advice from French specialists on constitutional law to try to prove that the whole process is illegal. "The objective of the committee is to help the government manage the mining sector, to get a better outcome from our natural resources. It is not against Mr Steinmetz personally or any specific company. We have to start somewhere; the first case was BSGR." After BSGR's spokesperson was asked to respond to Touré's comments, the Guardian received a second letter from Steinmetz's lawyers threatening a libel action. It is understood that the position of BSGR and Steinmetz is that the allegations of corruption are baseless and this will be borne out when BSGR and Steinmetz are cleared of any wrongdoing. The Simandou project has stalled. At the offices of VSG – the joint venture formed between Vale and BSGR – there was little activity but heavy security. The offices lie in central Conakry at the Cité Chemin de Fer, a complex of dozens of high-rise buildings tiled pink and white, flanked by rows of 4x4s and drivers reclining lackadaisically on staircases, whiling away the hours of the Muslim fasting season Ramadan until nightfall, when they could break their fast with dates and tea. The Guardian was not invited inside the VSG office, and the director declined to answer questions. A spokeswoman for Vale said it was deeply concerned by the allegations against its joint-venture partner. "Vale is monitoring the case and is at the full disposal of the US government to co-operate with the investigations," she said. There were a handful of staff milling around, the walls decorated with at least half a dozen "no guns allowed" signs, and guarded by security company G4S. Vale has paid $500m of the sum it had agreed to give to BSGR, and says it will hand over the outstanding $2bn only when the work progresses. Where the US and Guinean investigation will lead is unclear. Whether Steinmetz and his joint venture will ever be able to exploit Simandou's vast riches remains equally uncertain. For the time being, one of the world's richest men must wait to discover whether he is to become even more fabulously wealthy. In Conakry, events at the FBI and in Guinea's own criminal investigation team are being closely followed by the businessmen who congregate in the city's air-conditioned hotel lobbies. "This inquiry is very worrying for those of us who have been in the mining industry for a long time," said the source close to former president Conté. "I worry that they are looking for simplistic outcomes – black and white. Will they be brave enough to say that there is an overlap? The directors that have been running the mining industry are close friends with the people who are still the decision makers in this country to this day." The source added: "Things are changing here, and it is good for the country. But it is still possible to pay for a mining concession. These days you just have to be a lot more careful about how you do it." Israel Mining Middle East and North Africa Guinea Africa United States FBI France Europe Ian Cobain Afua Hirsch theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Beny Steinmetz: Israeli diamond dealer who likes to keep a low profile Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:00 AM PDT Tycoon prefers to stay out of the limelight and has fired off legal warnings against those looking into his business interests Beny Steinmetz, whose wealth is estimated at more than $4bn (£3bn), is the most secretive of Israeli tycoons. He has given few media interviews in his 36-year business career and rarely appears at public events. His official website acknowledges that he "seeks to maintain a low profile". But among his associates are some of the world's top lawyers, who have not been slow to fire off warnings of legal action against those looking into his business interests. Recently, however, there was an exception to Steinmetz's characteristic media shyness. On 30 June, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, carried a long and sympathetic interview-cum-profile in which Steinmetz rebutted allegations of corruption in relation to his company BSGR's Guinea mining deal. "There are no skeletons in the closet," Steinmetz told Yedioth. "The company doesn't pay anything to anyone, not one penny to politicians; we simply don't do this kind of thing." But, according to one observer of BSGR, Steinmetz's desire to stay out of the limelight stems from his engagement with "crony capitalism" – business deals sealed in the corridors of power in the capitals of developing countries. According to this observer, "No one knows what the other bits of the empire are up to. Only Beny knows what's going across the whole business." Steinmetz was born in 1956 in Netanya, Israel, the fourth child of Rubin Steinmetz, who had established a successful family diamond trading business. At the age of 21, after completing his military service, Beny left Israel for Antwerp to work for a leading diamond dealer. Later he joined forces with his brother, Daniel, to create Steinmetz Diamonds Group and subsequently the Beny Steinmetz Group. Steinmetz – who holds a French passport along with his Israeli citizenship – has described himself as an "international Israeli". He spends part of the year at his home in Arsuf, an exclusive cliff-top community overlooking the Mediterranean, north of the coastal city of Herzliya, which contains some of the most expensive real estate in Israel. He also has a home in Geneva, and a yacht moored mainly in the south of France. He and his wife, Agnes, met as teenagers and have four children. They run a philanthropic foundation, active in educational and welfare projects for youngsters. In his interview, Steinmetz said that his tax affairs were legitimate and stressed that he did not live permanently in Israel. He also said he had no official role in BSGR, but was an "adviser". "I don't make decisions in BSGR," he said. His choice of paper for the interview was significant, say some. Yedioth is politically associated with Steinmetz's friend, former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who was forced out of office amid a string of corruption charges. Olmert is believed to be Steinmetz's closest political ally in Israel. In the interview, Steinmetz reflected briefly on his psyche, saying: "It's hard for me to characterise myself. I think I'm balanced. Some people might say I'm cold-hearted." He acknowledged "no interest" in media coverage. "It's not because I'm shy or scared, it's just not my style. I don't need it. It angers me that a timed, planned and paid smearing campaign is run against me in the press. We will fight it and we have already won the lawsuit we filed in London." He was referring to an out-of-court settlement last month in a case he brought against former British minister Mark Malloch-Brown and his PR company, FTI. Under the deal, Malloch-Brown paid €90,000 (£77,000) but admitted no liability. FTI insisted claims that it had colluded with George Soros, a leading critic of BSGR, while representing Steinmetz's business, were baseless. His legal reflex appears to belie his rare on-the-record comments. "The truth is," he told Yedioth, "that I don't really care what everyone thinks." Mining Guinea Africa Israel Middle East and North Africa Mining Harriet Sherwood theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Guinea: country profile in numbers Posted: 30 Jul 2013 12:00 AM PDT The Beny Steinmetz mining deal put the West African country of Guinea in the spotlight. Here are the key numbers that have helped to shape the country's past, present and possibly its future • Get the data With over a dozen languages and two dozen ethnicities, Guinea appears to be a country which might be characterised by deep divides. We look at seven of Guinea's key statistics to find out. 1958 In 1958, Guinea's joined the growing list of African countries from Cameroon to Côte d'Ivoire gaining independence from France. The country has continued to wrestle with economic and political issues ever since. Despite sharing its Portugese name with it's smaller neighbour Guinea Bissau as well as Equatorial Guinea (located in Middle Africa) and Papua New Guinea (north of Australia), the countries share little else. Each gained their independence after Guinea and each did so from different colonial powers - so their languages, traditions and economic successes have taken very different paths. 178th place Each year, the UN looks at life expectancy at birth, average years of schooling and compares average incomes to the cost of living so that it can calculate a score for each country in the world. The Human Development Index ranks all of those results and shows the gap in quality of life between the world's countries. Last year, Guinea's population of 11.5 million people had one of the lowest scores in the entire world, coming behind Afghanistan and Ethiopia in 178th place out of 186 countries. That's partly because life expectancy is so low - just 54 years for men and 56 years for women. Infant mortality is also a problem with 12.6% of children not living to the age of five. 16% mineral rents Mineral rents are the difference between the value and cost of producing minerals like tin, gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate. In 2011, mineral rents made up 16% of Guinea's GDP - the 7th highest proportion in the world. That ranking is due largely just one mineral - bauxite - an aluminium ore which Guinea holds in abundance. Though there is the potential to diversify the economy, a lack of infrastructure is holding back the country's agricultural sector. 31% of Guinea's population live on less than $2 a day. 12 killed, 89 wounded In the space of just three days in May this year, Amnesty International documented 12 Guineans being killed and 89 others wounded during demonstrations that culminated in the Minister of Security being removed from his post. The incidents are not isolated - Amnesty claims that security forces routinely have impunity about the excessive use of force. In its assessment of the situation in Guinea in 2013, Human Rights Watch said: a full transition to democratic rule and greater respect for the rule of law were undermined by continued delays in organizing parliamentary elections, rising ethnic tension, endemic corruption, and inadequate gains in strengthening the chronically neglected judiciary 0 change Sometimes however, a focus on more flagrant abuses can obscure a more complex story on human rights. This year, Guinea moved 0 places on the international rankings of press freedom, its position however - in 86th place of 179 countries may come as a surprise. The security situation is often inseparable from basic freedoms as latest news demonstrates - more than 15 journalists were physically attacked during clashes between demonstrators and security forces last month. 41% literacy Guinea has one of the lowest literacy rates in the entire world (only Mali and Chad fare worse) with just 41% of the population aged over 15 able to read and write - a figure which falls to just 30% for the female population. That gap might not close quickly given that there are 85 girls for every 100 boys enrolled in primary school. 1.3 online Just 1.3 of every 100 Guineans are Internet Users - the 7th lowest proportion in the world. 7% of Rwandans use the Internet, 21% of Iranians, 57% of Italians and 82% of Brits Data • Download the full spreadsheet Can you do more with this data? • Email us at data@guardian.co.uk • Follow us on Twitter • Like us on Facebook • Post a comment below More open data Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian Development and aid data • Search the world's global development data with our gateway Guinea Governance Mona Chalabi theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Driver dies in Switzerland train crash Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:54 PM PDT Regional services collide head-on at Granges-pres-Marnand, killing a driver and injuring passengers, authorities say Two trains have collided in Switzerland, killing one of the drivers, according to authorities. The crash happened at Granges-pres-Marnand in the canton of Vaud as one of the trains headed to Lausanne and the other to Payerne. Between them they had been carrying 46 people, of whom 26 needed hospital treatment. Vaud police spokesman Jean-Christophe Sauterel said: "These are regional trains. The speeds are a little lower and even if one deeply regrets the likely loss of life of one person as well as five serious injuries, the situation could have been much more catastrophic." Authorities said they had recovered the body of a driver after separating the wreckage of the two trains. The crash happened near the station of Granges-pres-Marnand shortly before 7pm local time on a regional line about 31 miles (50km) south-west of the capital, Bern. Photographs from the site showed the two regional trains locked together, partly lifted off the tracks by the force of the collision. Last week a high-speed derailment in Spain killed 79 people. Train crashes Switzerland theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Propane explosions rock Florida town Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:41 PM PDT Seven injured amid huge blasts and multiple fires at Blue Rhino gas cylinder depot in Tavares A series of explosions rocked a propane gas plant in central Florida, north-west of Orlando, authorities said. Local media reported that homeowners living within a mile of the facility were evacuated. Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders said the first blasts occurred inside the Blue Rhino plant and blew the roof off. Authorities initially said up to 15 people may have been missing after the blasts, which began at about 11pm local time in the town of Tavares, Florida. John Herrell of the Lake County sheriff's office said early on Tuesday that all the workers at the Blue Rhino propane plant had been accounted for and that no fatalities had been reported after explosions hit the plant late Monday night. Seven people were injured and transported to local hospitals. Herrell earlier had said 15 workers were unaccounted for after the blasts but all were later found safe. Emergency crews were on the scene battling the fire. Florida United States theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Taliban attack Pakistan prison Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:28 PM PDT Heavily armed militants thought to have been trying to free associates when they stormed Dera Ismail Khan jail Dozens of Taliban militants armed with guns, grenades and bombs have attacked a prison in north-west Pakistan, freeing more than 250 prisoners, including 25 "dangerous terrorists", according to officials said. The militants killed six policemen, six Shia Muslim prisoners and two civilians during the attack on Monday night in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, said the town's commissioner, Mushtaq Jadoon. One of the Shias was beheaded, said Jadoon, and 15 policemen were wounded. Around 70 militants arrived at the prison by car and motorcycle at around 11.30pm and their assault lasted for about four and a half hours until most of the fighters escaped, said intelligence officials. The attack began with a huge explosion that one resident, Sharafat Khan, said was so loud "it rattled every house in the neighbourhood". The militants then detonated dozens of smaller bombs at different points along the prison walls, causing them to collapse, Jadoon said. They also used rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades during the attack, he said. Security forces engaged the attackers, at least eight attackers of whom wore police uniforms and entered the prison on motorcycles adorned with Taliban flags. They used megaphones to call out the names of specific prisoners for whom they were looking. The militants broke open the cells and freed 253 prisoners, including 25 "dangerous terrorists", said Jadoon. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the attack, saying 150 militants took part and about 300 prisoners were freed. Eight of the attackers wore suicide vests and two detonated their explosives, Shahid told the Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location. Authorities captured nine prisoners who escaped and were searching for the others, as well as the militants, said Jadoon. Army soldiers were called in as reinforcements. A curfew had been imposed in Dera Ismail Khan and the nearby town of Tank while the search contented, said Amir Khattak, Dera Ismail Khan's deputy commissioner. The town is located near Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaida militants in the country. Officials had received a letter threatening an attack on the prison but didn't expect it so soon, said Khalid Abbas, head of the prison department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. In April 2012 Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in the city of Bannu in north-west Pakistan, freeing close to 400 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as "very dangerous" insurgents. One of the militants freed in that attack, Adnan Rasheed, recently gained attention by writing a letter to teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012. Rasheed said he wished the attack hadn't happened but told Malala that she had been targeted for speaking ill of the Taliban. Taliban Pakistan theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Explosions at propane base plant in Florida - video Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:08 PM PDT Fires and explosions have erupted at a depot where gas cylinders are filled and distributed in the town of Tavares, central Florida

Lundy bird populations soar after rats eradicated Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:00 PM PDT Findings will give encouragement to a similar project due to get under way this autumn on two of the isles of Scilly A project to eradicate rats from a rocky island off Devon has resulted in a tenfold increase in the population of an endangered burrowing seabird that nests there, conservationists have revealed. Wildlife charities are delighted that the removal of rats from Lundy, in the Bristol Channel, has apparently led to a dramatic boost to the number of Manx shearwaters and other birds on the island. A similar project costing £750,000 is due to get under way this autumn on two of the isles of Scilly, St Agnes and Gugh, to wipe out the descendants of brown rats that swam to shore from shipwrecks. But while residents and bird lovers are celebrating the success on Lundy and the plans for Scilly, some animal rights activists are angry that rats are being killed. They accuse those behind the cull of targeting the rodents to boost the tourist industries on the islands, which depend to a large extent on birdspotters. Survey teams from the RSPB who returned to Lundy 10 years after the launch of the seabird recovery project found that the number of breeding pairs of Manx shearwaters had leapt from 300 to 3,000. Puffin numbers had increased from just five birds to 80, while razorbills and shags had also made substantial gains. Helen Booker, RSPB senior conservation officer in the south-west of England, said: "This is such an exciting result, better than we expected, and the rate of increase is an indication of just how important rat-free islands like Lundy are as breeding site for seabirds." David Bullock, head of nature conservation for the National Trust, which owns Lundy, said "Once the rats had gone from Lundy, the number of pairs of shearwaters went from hundreds to thousands in matter of a few years." He said such a rapid recovery must have been aided by birds from other colonies, probably including those on islands off the Pembrokeshire coast, settling to breed on Lundy. The results will provide encouragement for a similar project on St Agnes and Gugh, 28 miles off the south-west tip of mainland Britain. Here an estimated 3,100 brown rats are blamed for preying on Scilly shearwaters as well as storm petrels, terns and the Scilly shrew, a rodent found only on the archipelago. From this autumn, poison bait will be laid for the rats as part of a 25-year Isles of Scilly seabird recovery project, which is being run with cash from the National Lottery, the EU's Life fund and other sources. It follows a 25% fall in bird numbers in recent years. The project is deemed feasible because the islands are surrounded by deep water, and so it is thought unlikely once the rats there are removed that others will be able to repopulate it. It is deemed particularly important because St Agnes and Gugh are close to the uninhabited island of Annet, which has significant colonies of seabirds. Jaclyn Pearson, project manager for the Isles of Scilly recovery project, said it had the backing of the 75 residents of St Agnes, though some of the children had taken some convincing. She said the bait stations were designed to be accessible only to rats, and a stock of the antidote had been ferried across in case a cat or dog got to the poison. The islanders will cull the extra rabbits likely to be hopping around once the rat population decreases. The Animal Aid charity accused the Lundy and Scilly projects of condemning rats to an "awful death" for commercial reasons. It suggested that other factors – including too many tourists – could be causing the falls in seabird numbers. Its director, Andrew Tyler, said: "Rats don't sell tourist tickets but birds do. They are making a judgment that the birds are important and rats are disposable. We do not accept that premise." Birds Wildlife Animals Conservation Marine life Steven Morris theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: we have to become smarter on women's issues | David Smith Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:00 PM PDT If women are not at the centre of the fight against poverty, we won't achieve what we want to, warns new head of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has just witnessed blatant sexism on her doorstep. The Zimbabwe president, Robert Mugabe, castigated Lindiwe Zulu, a top South African diplomat, as an "idiotic street woman" and urged his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, "to stop this woman of theirs from speaking on Zimbabwe". Far from challenging Mugabe's crude chauvinism, Zuma publicly distanced himself from Zulu and gagged her. "I thought it was really unfortunate because she's there as a professional," Mlambo-Ngcuka says. "Her gender is neither here nor there." And South Africa's response? "I think they should have nuanced it differently," she replies, diplomatically. Formerly the deputy president of South Africa, Mlambo-Ngcuka takes the helm next month at UN Women, a three-year-old agency still striving for enough funds, recognition and a chance to make its mark. The 57-year-old replaces Michelle Bachelet, who resigned in March to run for another term as president of Chile, at a time when some perceive a global backlash against women's rights. "I don't know if it's a clear backlash," Mlambo-Ngcuka says, during an interview at the Umlambo Foundation, which she set up in 2008 to support schools in poor areas of South Africa. "I think we're competing with many other issues. Maybe there's a little bit of fatigue. "At the same time, women's issues have become more complex. If you look at new violations against women, like cybercrime-related gender-based violations, if you look at human trafficking, that is very well organised and well-funded, and it's a push-of-a-button money exchange. There's a sense in which we have to become smarter about how we fight these women's issues and recruit new people. For instance, the law enforcers in many of our countries might not have moved as fast to identify these new crimes and deal with them as effectively as possible. So there's a lot to learn, also for us as the women's movements." But Mlambo-Ngcuka is also likely to face older barriers of tradition, religion and culture, including from those who are quick to denounce feminism as a western ideology that is being imposed from outside. She believes the days of such excuses from the powerful are numbered. "I don't think there are many governments who have a leg to stand on as far as that is concerned, which doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but they don't have the courage to stand up and say that," she says. "The fact that, in many countries, sexism can be criminalised means that it is very difficult to be a leader and public representative and be blatantly sexist." In countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Pakistan, Somalia and South Africa itself, however, there remains a yawning chasm between legal theory and the daily reality of women's lives on the ground. The new UN Women executive director says: "Rape has become, for instance, one of the weapons in war situations that is used specifically against women, with impunity. That tells you there are deep-rooted traditional attitudes towards women. "If we also look at the problem that is still with us, of child brides, which happens in full view of communities, you've got parents of one family actually giving up a child to another family to take as a wife way before that child is ready to be an adult. Those campaigns against child brides still remain a very important part of the struggle for women's rights. We do need to make the fight visible and we do need to look at how we support governments and NGOs, which are a crucial part of taking these battles forward. You need to support them to have their voice heard, and louder. "You also need to engage with traditional institutions. In many countries there are organised traditional authority institutions; one needs to engage with them head on because not all members of those institutions are backwards in their thinking. There's still some people you could actually win over and they become the inside voice in those institutions to advocate for a more gender-responsible approach." Mlambo-Ngcuka arrives at the UN as the millennium development goals (MDGs) near their culmination and debate begins in earnest on development agenda after 2015 when the MDGs expire. UN Women says the MDGs have spurred significant progress, but yielded uneven results, including lack of progress on reducing maternal mortality. About 800 women die every day due to childbirth and other pregnancy-related complications. The agency has proposed a stand-alone gender equality goal in any future development targets, which would include indicators to monitor performance. "I don't think post-2015 we can have an emphasis around women that is less strong than what we had in the MDGs as we have them now," Mlambo-Ngcuka says. "We have not arrived at where we want to go. The MDGs continue to be concerned about poverty more than anything else. If you do not put women at the centre of this fight against poverty, we just won't achieve what we want to achieve." The former teacher, who led a gender-equality organisation during the racial apartheid era, also wants a strong emphasis on education. "Education for me is a cross-cutting priority. It is the equaliser, not only for girl-children but for all the women who need second chances." As deputy to president Thabo Mbeki, Mlambo-Ngcuka was the most senior female politician in South African history. When Mbeki was ousted by his own party, the African National Congress, it spelled an abrupt departure for Mlambo-Ngcuka too. She does not believe her gender was a factor. Last year, another South African woman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, was elected chair of the African Union, but still only two of the continent's 55 countries have female presidents: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Joyce Banda of Malawi. "Still a long way to go," Mlambo-Ngcuka says with a sigh. "It is a lonely club. Thank God they are such strong women themselves – it will take a lot of strong men to really put them down. But I also know that the issues closest to their hearts have not been able to top the agenda." New kid on the block UN Women is the new kid on the block, with everything still to prove. Mlambo-Ngcuka contends that the agency should not be judged too harshly. "There hasn't been enough time for all the things it has started to be proved decisively … you can never look at funding as the only thing on which you could implement and build your programmes. "Collaboration is essential because within the UN you've got different institutions who have a critical mandate that impacts on women. UN Women must not try and be the health experts but we must be able to work with the WHO [World Health Organisation] in such a manner that we even enhance the impact that they have on women. The same with [UN Children's Fund] Unicef." Mlambo-Ngcuka believes the struggle for gender equality is still a work in progress, and what women share in common is more important than their differences. "Let's face it, when a rapist stands in front of you and there's two women – one is rich, one is poor, one is educated, one is not – you are in danger in the same way and it just takes away whatever divides for you. That is why for me it is very important for women … in different political parties, different institutions [to] fight these ills together." Some gender activists blame a lack of leadership for South Africa's attitudes towards women, noting that Zuma is a polygamist with four wives, has stood trial for rape after having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman (he was acquitted) and once remarked that it is "not right" for women to be single. Mlambo-Ngcuka goes into diplomatic mode again for this topic. "I leave the people to judge," she says, laughing. "Let me reflect on it. I'll get back to you on that one." United Nations South Africa Gender Women David Smith theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Russia boycotts Los Angeles Olympics: From the archive, 30 July 1984 Posted: 29 Jul 2013 11:00 PM PDT Russia, having refused to send its team to the USA, is scathing of LA Games. Their action is in retaliation for American boycott of Moscow games after Soviets invaded Afghanistan The Soviet Union, which is leading a boycott of the Olympics, yesterday condemned the opening of the Games as a Hollywood-style propaganda show heralding an unrepresentative competition. Soviet television and radio virtually ignored the opening ceremony, but a report from Los Angeles by Tass described it as an "obvious political spectacle." "This show, in the worst traditions of Hollywood, had it all: cowboys, wagons, and bare-legged girls with many American flags but no place for the Olympic ideals of sport and international friendship," Tass said. Tass said athletes from Nato allies were greeted by the crowd with a roar of welcome produced at the instigation of official cheerleaders while a grim silence met delegations from those countries hostile to US policy. Reading on mobile? Click here to watch video The Games are being used shamelessly by the American authorities as propaganda for their anti-Soviet course and as an advertisement for the present incumbent of the White House, Tass said. Moscow radio's world service said more than half the outstanding performers at the world championships in track and field events, boxing, gymnastics, wrestling, pentathlon, and rowing were not attending the Games. In weightlifting, where one of the Games' first gold medals will be awarded, Moscow radio said not one of the medal winners at the world championships last year would be present. Athletics Russia United States theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Middle East peace talks under way Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:57 PM PDT Negotiations begin in earnest, with Obama and Kerry praising Israeli-Palestinian summit but warning of big challenges Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are beginning intensive talks in Washington on Tuesday aimed at reviving the moribund Middle East peace process amid warnings that this could be the last chance to reach an agreement to end the historic conflict. As the two teams met on Monday evening for an iftar meal hosted by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, to mark the end of the Ramadan fast, the preliminary talks were welcomed in the first formal, albeit cautious, statement from President Barak Obama since the two sides agreed 10 days ago to sit down together. "This is a promising step forward, though hard work and hard choices remain ahead," Obama said. "The most difficult work of these negotiations is ahead and I am hopeful that both the Israelis and Palestinians will approach these talks in good faith and with sustained focus and determination." US sponsorship of the renewed talks, along with Kerry's personal drive and commitment, has been a critical factor in persuading the two sides to meet. Obama stressed that the US "stands ready to support them throughout these negotiations". Tuesday's preliminary talks will focus on the remit, scope, location and timeframe of formal negotiations. If sufficient progress is made Kerry hopes to be able to announce the first face to face meeting between the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanayhu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, for almost three years. Both sides have agreed to refrain from making public comments on the substance of the talks. However Abbas said in Cairo that a final agreement between the two sides must include a total Israeli military and civilian withdrawal from the territory of a future Palestinian state. "In a final resolution we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands," Abbas said in a media briefing. Israel has previously said it wants to keep a military presence in the Jordan Valley to create a security buffer between a Palestinian state and neighbouring Jordan. Any formal negotiations that follow Tuesday's talks are expected to focus initially on the issue of borders. The Palestinians and the US want the pre-1967 line to be the basis for negotiations, with agreed land swaps to compensate for deviations. Israel has so far refused to commit to this. Other, even more difficult, issues – such as the future of Jerusalem, which both sides want as a capital, and whether any of the 4.9m Palestinian refugees can return to their former homes, now in Israel – would have to be addressed over the coming months. Obama's statement on Monday warmly endorsed Kerry's choice of Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, as the US "envoy" during the talks, saying he brought "unique experience and insight to this role". In announcing Indyk's appointment Kerry said: "He knows what has worked and he knows what hasn't worked. And he knows how important it is to get this right." The secretary of state added: "Going forward it is no secret that this is a difficult process – if it was easy it would have happened a long time ago. It's no secret therefore that many difficult choices therefore lie ahead for the negotiators, and for the leaders, and as we seek reasonable compromises on tough, complicated, emotional and symbolic issues." Indyk, a fellow at the Brookings Institution policy thinktank, said the objective of the talks was eventually to allow for "two states living side by side in peace and security". He described the goal as a "daunting and humbling challenge". Indyk will be assisted by Frank Lowenstein, a former Senate foreign relations committee chief of staff who has aided Kerry in recent months in his concerted effort to persuade Israel and the Palestinians to get around the table, and Philip Gordon, a senior White House official. The Israeli negotiating team is led by justice minister Tzipi Livni plus prime ministerial aide Isaac Molcho. Veteran negotiator Saeb Erekat is leading for the Palestinians, assisted by Mohammed Shtayyeh. Tuesday's talks are expected to resume as early as 8am and conclude in the afternoon. The state department has described the meeting as "an opportunity to develop a procedural workplan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months". Jen Psaki, the department's spokeswoman, said that both sides had agreed to a "timetable" of nine months, although she stressed it was "not a deadline". She added: "Time is not our ally, which is why we are working so hard on this issue now. As time passes, the situation on the ground becomes more complicated. Mistrust deepens and hardens, and the conflict becomes even harder to resolve. It allows vacuums to be filled by bad actors who want to undermine our efforts." A hurdle to the negotiators' meeting was cleared on Sunday when the Israeli cabinet agreed to release 104 long-term Palestinian prisoners , a decision which was highly controversial in Israel.   The first of four groups of prisoners are expected to be released shortly before Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan next week. The rest will be freed at staged intervals over the next nine months, assuming progress is made in negotiations. Kerry referred to the "courage" of leaders in both Israel and Palestine overcoming reservations about the talks. He said of Netanyahu and Abbas: "I salute both of them for their willingness to make difficult decisions and to advocate within their own countries and with their own leadership teams." Kerry then corrected himself: "Countries – the Palestinian territories," he said. It is the second time in the space of a week that Kerry has inadvertently referred to the Palestinian territory as a "country". Kerry said it had taken "many hours and many trips" to resume the talks between the negotiating teams, which were on flights to Washington. "I know the negotiations are going to be tough," he said. "But I also know that the consequences of not trying could be worse." Middle East peace talks Israel Palestinian territories US foreign policy Obama administration Harriet Sherwood Paul Lewis theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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ACCC expresses concern at petrol discounts on shopper dockets Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:44 PM PDT Chairman of watchdog says Woolworths and Coles docket offers likely to harm petrol retail industry The ACCC has expressed "significant and further concern" that petrol discounts on shopper dockets could damage competition and lead to higher fuel prices in the long term. The competition watchdog's chairman, Rod Sims, said Coles and Woolworths shopper dockets were offering discounts on petrol of up to 45 cents per litre, which might benefit consumers in the short term, but were likely to harm the petrol retail industry. "Even at the level of eight cents, it would be difficult to see how an unsubsidised fuel retailer could compete on a sustainable basis. Now, the discounts are substantially higher," said Sims at an Australian Institute of Company Directors' Leaders' Edge lunch in Melbourne on Monday. "If Coles and Woolworths wish to offer their customers a discount, it should be off supermarket products, not petrol. The ACCC believes this activity is likely to have a negative effect on competition in the petrol industry. Over time, higher petrol prices could be the result." A spokeswoman for Woolworths told Guardian Australia that the company had offered petrol discounts on their shopper dockets for 17 years, at a standard offer of 4 cents off per litre. "The petrol discounts we offer are popular with customers who value the savings they can make on their fuel purchases. Petrol is a significant part of the family budget and many of our customers find these discounts helpful in managing their weekly expenses," she said. The spokeswoman said the highest discount Woolworths had ever offered was 45 cents, but that was through a four-day promotion, sent by targeted email to customers. From tomorrow a 20 cent discount will be available to consumers who purchased a particular brand of product. A spokeswoman for Coles also said their petrol discounts, along with the prices of groceries, helped "hard working families deal with the rising cost of living". "We think customers should have lower prices on groceries and be able to save on fuel," she said. The ACCC is nearing the end of its year-long investigation into discount petrol dockets, including looking at whether the discounts have an effect on the underlying price levels of petrol. Australia Retail industry Supermarkets Helen Davidson theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The killing of Abdelsalam al-Mismari, and the triumph of fear in Libya | Hisham Matar Posted: 29 Jul 2013 10:00 PM PDT Under Gaddafi we were afraid of the state; now its weakness imperils all we have achieved The assassin waited in a car opposite the way. El Ghola mosque is in the old district of El Berka, in the heart of Benghazi, where the 44-year-old father of six, Abdelsalam al-Mismari, lived. After Friday prayers ended, Mismari remained with a friend in the private silence that fills a mosque once worshippers have left. When the two men wandered out into the sunlight, they were still engaged in conversation. The unknown car came closer. One bullet was fired. It pierced Mismari's chest. His friend drove him to hospital. Mismari died on the way. A human rights lawyer, Mismari confronted Muammar Gaddafi's oppressive regime and the criminal opportunism of the armed militias that have, since the overthrow of the Libyan dictator, been attempting to hold the country hostage. Mismari was one of the early leaders of the February revolution. When Benghazi was liberated, he was chosen to recite the declaration of the revolution. His voice rang out as he read the demand for a democratic state governed by the rule of law. It should be against the rules of physics that a bullet worth the price of a few cigarettes is capable of ending such a life. The murder of Abdelsalam al-Mismari brings the number of political assassinations in Benghazi since the end of the civil war to 61. In other words, what happened last Friday has been happening on average every 12 days. Unless something changes, the number will continue rising. Libya's second city – and the birthplace of the revolution – has become a very dangerous place, particularly if you are a champion of democracy, the rule of law, the independence of civil society institutions and, most of all, the creation of a national army that is answerable to the elected government. In the early days, the government had no choice but to rely on the militias to guard national borders and assets. Very quickly, though, these militias became grotesquely large and powerful, with some of them boasting hundreds of tanks. They began imposing their own agendas. And because they do not wish to lose any of the power that they have gained, they have been obstructing the government's plans to train troops. Several officials will tell you in private that the plans to build a national army are a total shambles. In practical terms the government today has very limited powers. It is working under incredibly difficult circumstances. It is not uncommon, for example, that armed men will storm a minister's office, demanding money or influence on a particular decision. The leadership is caught between threats from militias and the legitimate frustrations of the terribly exhausted and impatient populace that elected it. The only reason the government in Tripoli has not completely collapsed is because the influence of militias has so far remained regional. However, to complicate matters further, this situation has strengthened the position of the federalists who wish to break Libya up into regional states. It is not clear who killed Abdelsalam al-Mismari. It could be any one of several groups fighting against the positions that Mismari advocated. It could be a militia or remnants of the old regime exacting revenge on one of the bright lights of the revolution. Whoever it was, their aim was not only to silence Mismari but also to frighten civil society. A few hours after the assassination, an anonymously published list of names of those next in line appeared on the internet. Mismari's funeral on Saturday became an occasion for protests against violence, but the turnout was not as large as many expected. Perhaps it was hopelessness; perhaps fear. The following day, in an act that demoralised the nation even further, the courthouse in Benghazi – that iconic building where Mismari and a small group of lawyers had risked their lives in February 2011 – was attacked. Among the first casualties of the February revolution was fear. Back then you often heard demonstrators chanting: "No more fear." Libyans used to be afraid of a brutal state; now they are afraid of the absence of the state. Without an army and a police force to protect the people and guard the independence and authority of civil servants and elected officials, a new conflict is brewing. It could plunge the country into a war even longer and bloodier than the last. Libya Middle East and North Africa Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Hisham Matar theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Two men shot dead in Sydney night of violence Posted: 29 Jul 2013 09:47 PM PDT Shooting of man believed to be affiliate of bikie gang and of 35-year-old in Earlwood not thought to be linked, police say

After surviving nuclear tests, can the Marshall Islands survive the great climate experiment? | Graham Readfearn Posted: 29 Jul 2013 09:44 PM PDT Marshall Islands Vice President challenges Australia to lead the region on climate change and help save his nation. In March 1946, the United States dropped the first of 67 nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands, a tiny nation of scattered atolls in the northern Pacific Ocean. The Republic of the Marshall Islands US Embassy website documents the testing program that ended in August 1958 - how some Marshallese were evacuated from their homes to allow the bombs to drop and how radioactive dust fell on half the nation. The slow but inevitable emergence of tumours, the sharp spikes in cancers, the displacement of communities - all documented in a shocking timeline. The largest of the bombs – the Bravo shot detonated in 1957 – was 1000 times more powerful than the "Little Boy" dropped by the United States on Hiroshima 12 years earlier. The U.S Navy gave the various testing rounds names. There was Operation Ivy, Castle, Redwing and Hardtack. Ironically, in 1951, there was also "Operation Greenhouse". The Marshall Islands Vice President is Senator Tony de Brum. He was born the year before the testing started and grew up on the Marshall atoll of Likiep. He is visiting Australia this week to talk to politicians, government officials and pretty much anyone else, about another experiment which he says his people are now suffering from. That is, human-caused climate change. Another Operation Greenhouse. The Marshallese people fear they will be among the world's first climate change refugees, with rising sea levels threatening their nation's existence. Senator de Brum told me he sees the similarities between those post World War Two nuclear tests and the islands precarious existence now. The parallels are of course there. We had to cope with the mass displacement of communities and populations from one atoll to another. The testing program did leave many of our citizens as exiles in their own country – unable to return to their homelands which had been their homes for in some cases as long as 12,000 years. The underlying link is that climate change is happening to us, but it is not of our doing. We are vulnerable to climate change but we are not major emitters and polluters of the world. In the case of the testing program, our consent was not sought but we are still feeling the effects. The Marshall Islands - population 68,000 - consists of 22 communities living on 70 square miles (180 square kilometres) of land on 34 atolls spread across 750,000 square miles (1.9 million square kilometres) of ocean. The average height of the islands above sea level is just two metres. On Monday, Senator de Brum delivered a public lecture at the Australian National University in Canberra, with the arresting title "Climate change is destroying my country". In September the Marshall Island capital of Majuro will host the Pacific Islands Forum where the theme will be "Marshalling the Pacific Response to the Climate Challenge". Senator de Brum told me that after former US Secretary of State Hilary had attended last year's forum, there was hope that current Secretary John Kerry would do the same. "We very much expect that Secretary Kerry will join us in Majuro. Other wise it would be like the US reversing its pivot to the Pacific." At the forum, the hosts will propose a "Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership", which is still being drafted, to "galvanize more urgent and concrete action on climate change from governments, business, and other stakeholders". Senator de Brum says his country is feeling the effects of climate change chiefly from rising sea levels causing flooding and inundation of crops. There is also a state of emergency currently in force in northern and central atolls, where drought is threatening food supplies and drinking water is running out. A 2011 report (pdf link here) prepared into climate change in the Marshall Islands by Australia's science agency CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology found that since 1993, satellite measurements showed sea levels were rising at a rate of about 7mm a year, well above the global average. There was "high confidence" that the sea levels would continue to rise. Given how slowly the climate will respond to cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, I asked Senator de Brum if it was already too late for the Marshall Islands and its people. That does cross your mind. It would be unnatural for that not to. But if I did not believe that there was a possibility and potential to turn this back at some scale then I would not be here doing what I am doing. We have to hold out for some confidence and optimism that we can in fact turn this thing around. If we don't then it's not just the demise of the Marshalls that's up ahead but it's the demise of the world as we know it and the planet as we know it. We are merely the canary in the mine, as it were. While the current drought and flooding was a pressing issue, Senator de Brum said it was the longer term issues of sea level rise which were the most concerning. If the pollution continues in the same way then we will not limit ourselves to two degrees of global warming by the end of the century. That concerns us because that does predict some rather dire actions that must be undertaken to cope with displacement. It's an enormous undertaking and it does spook politicians and planners and the private sector just thinking about the enormity of the problem and what we must do about it. It is for us a question of survival, as it is with Kiribati and Tuvalu and other similarly situated states. We see a moral responsibility as well for those who feel that it is more important to concentrate on current economic issues and how climate change plays out in that arena rather than in how to make sure that people survive this onslaught. I asked how a Marshall Islands Senator viewed plans to boost Australia's exports of coal and gas. We understand the concerns of developed and developing countries to make sure their economies are robust and on a good track. But we also see that it's necessary that Australia and New Zealand – Australia especially – as the biggest Pacific country that we are involved with, should take leadership in this and consider what happens if people blindly pursue economic development at the expense of creating more drastic climate change. Senator de Brum says climate change is very much a live issue among the people on the islands. Within my lifetime I have seen islands disappear off the face of the Earth. We have shorelines being eroded where World War Two ammo once declared safe and of no concern to human safety are now being exposed and need to be dealt with again. We are running out of drinking water. The bananas and limes and grapefruits are dying because the water underneath them is salty. It's real and the people cannot help but talk about it. As they line up for their drinking water, I'm sure that's all they are talking about. Climate change Marshall Islands Australia Graham Readfearn theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Nauru chief justice says 'significant funding' required for rioters' defence Posted: 29 Jul 2013 09:06 PM PDT Judge says criminal defence resources 'probably insufficient' to deal with over 100 people charged following riot The chief justice of Nauru has indicated that "significant funding" is needed by the Nauruan government to meet the defence costs of over 100 asylum seekers charged following a riot earlier this month inside the regional processing centre on the island. Speaking to Guardian Australia, Geoffrey Eames said that criminal defence resources on Nauru were "probably insufficient" to deal with the cases, indicating that it was likely that support would need to involve Australian government and pro bono assistance. Eames, who is a retired Victorian court of appeal judge and visits Nauru on circuit for 21 days three times a year, said: "With the best will in the world, it [Nauru] is a small jurisdiction and a poor jurisdiction. Some 150 additional cases on top of its ordinary workload presents major challenges and the court will have to receive assistance." Eames added that at present all criminal defence work on the island is being handled by "five or six" pleaders – advocates who are not trained lawyers and that there were no graduate lawyers able to offer criminal defence on the island. Under article 10 of the Nauruan constitution, anyone charged of a criminal offence must be afforded a fair hearing in a reasonable time and is entitled to free legal representation. It is understood that 23 of those 152 initially charged following the riot, which erupted on 19 July, have had their charges dropped. Nonetheless, processing the remaining 129 cases in line with the Nauruan constitution will present a huge logistical challenge. The Australian Department of Immigration, which last week told Guardian Australia the proceedings were a "matter for the Nauruan government" now say the issue of funding lies with the attorney general's department, which was not able to reply to questions about legal funding in time for publication. There are now two Australian legal practitioners offering pro bono assistance to the 129 accused. But Sam Norton, one of those offering the assistance, told Guardian Australia that the cases were "not a one or two man job – this is going to be an enormous task". He added: "The reality though is that these hearings aren't going to work unless there's funding made available for people to go over there and assist." The bail hearings of those charged are currently ongoing in the Nauruan district court with men being seen in batches of 10 since the end of last week. The charges relating to those alleged to be involved in the incident are of rioting, unlawful assembly as well as some arson on public building charges. Some of the more complex charges will undoubtedly have to be heard in Nauru's supreme court, making the processing of these cases much longer. Last week, the former justice secretary of Nauru, David Lambourne, raised concerns that the accused were unlikely to receive a fair trial as a result of the limited legal facilities on the island. Australian immigration and asylum Australia Refugees Nauru Oliver Laughland theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

New Zealand mountaineer and son feared dead on K2 Posted: 29 Jul 2013 08:17 PM PDT Marty Schmidt and his son Denali overdue from attempt on world's second-highest mountain after signs of avalanche

The Secret River wins Helpmann best play award Posted: 29 Jul 2013 07:52 PM PDT Sydney Theatre Company adaptation of Kate Grenville book takes six awards, while Legally Blonde also wins big Helen Davidson

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