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- Nick Clegg's monthly press conference: Politics live blog
- Japanese business confidence hits six-year high, Tankan survey shows
- French recession fears grow as private sector contracts again - business live
- Modern slavery bill to be published
- People who don't know what Mandela looked like were responsible for 8% of tweets about his death
- Israeli troops shoot two Lebanese soldiers in border skirmish
- Queensland reforms may criminalise children in care, legal experts warn
- Tony Abbott winds back code of conduct to let ministers keep shares
- Indian state moves to debunk black magic
- Asylum seekers living in Australia forced to sign code of conduct
- Lebanon-Israel border shooting sparks tensions
- Why do Americans write the month before the day?
- The best TV of 2013: No 8 – Top of the Lake (BBC2)
- Roger Waters and the antisemitism question | Keith Kahn-Harris
- Victim to paedophile priest: 'May God have mercy on your soul – I don't'
- Lapses in air traffic control led to near miss between 737 and paratroopers
- Women on screen aren't allowed to grow old erotically | Lynne Segal
- Ethiopian women pay high price for US aid abortion restrictions
- 16. Sixteen prophetic dreams of Queen Trishala
- Church does not check a transferring priest's reputation, abuse inquiry told
- Tony Abbott points the finger at Labor while managing to keep a straight face
- Regional airline collapses after competition and regulatory woes
- Same-sex marriage: Abbott plays down chances of conscience vote
- Coal's grim forecast: projects may be 'stranded' by falling Chinese demand
- Can the security and intelligence services answer the accountability question? | Chris Mullin
| Nick Clegg's monthly press conference: Politics live blog Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:26 AM PST Rolling coverage of all the day's political developments as they happen, including Nick Clegg's monthly press conference and Theresa May, the home secretary, giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee       |
| Japanese business confidence hits six-year high, Tankan survey shows Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:12 AM PST  Fourth straight quarter of improvement as companies benefit from robust domestic demand and weak yen Japanese business confidence improved over the three months to December to its highest level in six years, a central bank survey showed, suggesting prime minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics stimulus policies are gaining broader traction across the economy. The Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey showed sentiment brightened not just for big firms but also for smaller companies, which had been slower to reap the benefits of a recovering economy. Small manufacturers' sentiment hit a six-year high and the small non-manufacturers' index turned positive – which means optimists outnumbered pessimists – for the first time since 1992. The Tankan reinforces the BoJ's view that the economy is recovering moderately and likely allowing it to hold off on expanding stimulus in coming months, analysts said. "The economy is moving in line with the BoJ's forecasts, which means the central bank will keep monetary policy steady at least next week and in January," said Junko Nishioka, chief Japan economist at RBS Securities. The headline index for big manufacturers' sentiment improved 4 points from the previous quarter to +16, the Tankan showed on Monday, slightly above a median market forecast of +15. It was the fourth straight quarter of improvement and the highest level since December 2007, as companies benefited from robust domestic demand and a weak yen that gives their goods a competitive advantage overseas. Service-sector mood also improved as consumers rushed to beat a sales tax hike next April. The big non-manufacturers' index was up 6 points to +20, better than a median forecast of +16 and the highest level since December 2007. "Figures in the services sector were especially bright, and the positive mood is a sign that optimism is finally spreading into domestic demand-sensitive sectors from exporters," said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. Japan's economy outpaced its G7 counterparts in the first half of this year as Abe's stimulus policies boosted business and household sentiment. Growth slowed in July-September on soft exports, but analysts expect it to accelerate again in the run-up to the sales tax increase. Public works spending is also likely to offset the continued weakness in exports, thanks to a fiscal stimulus package aimed at softening the blow of higher sales tax. The BoJ has said the economy can handle the pain from the sales tax hike and still meet the bank's goal of achieving 2% inflation in roughly two years, due in part to the effect of its aggressive monetary stimulus launched in April. The central bank is thus widely expected to keep monetary settings unchanged at its next rate review on 19-20 December. The Tankan gave the BoJ few reasons to ponder imminent easing. Companies see less slack in jobs and expenditure, and are enjoying rising profits due in part to the weak yen. Big manufacturers revised up their dollar/yen projections for the current fiscal year ending in March to ¥96.78 from ¥94.45 three months ago. That is still a conservative forecast considering the dollar is now moving around ¥103. Some analysts now discount heightening market speculation that the central bank will ease again in April, when household spending will take a hit from the sales tax hike. "I don't think the BoJ will rush in easing, given the economy is on track and how its forecasts already take into account the tax hike impact," said Nishioka of RBS. "Of course, the BoJ may act if external factors, such as a yen spike, hit business sentiment. But I don't think the chance of an April action is high." A Reuters poll conducted earlier this month found that almost two-thirds of Japanese firms expect the BoJ to increase its stimulus in the first six months of 2014. There are factors that cloud the outlook, such as weakness in emerging economies that have capped export growth. Big manufacturers and non-manufacturers both expect business conditions to worsen slightly in the three months to March, the Tankan showed, highlighting their uncertainty on whether the economy will sustain its momentum. Big firms are seen raising capital spending by 4.6% in the current business year to next March, down from 5.1% seen in the previous Tankan. That was less than a median market forecast for a 5.5% increase, underscoring the difficulty the BoJ faces in trying to nudge firms into boosting spending. 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       |
| French recession fears grow as private sector contracts again - business live Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:09 AM PST Activity across France's private firms is falling again at the fastest rate in seven months, threatening to push it into a double-dip recession       |
| Modern slavery bill to be published Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:06 AM PST  Automatic life sentences to be given to human traffickers who already have convictions for serious sexual or violent offences Anti-slavery laws that will see human traffickers given maximum life sentences in jail are being published on Monday, the Home Office has confirmed. The modern slavery bill contains provisions to give automatic life sentences to offenders who already have convictions for very serious sexual or violent offences. The draft bill, announced by the home secretary, Theresa May, at the Conservative party conference in September, pulls together into a single act the offences used to prosecute slave drivers. Human trafficking charity Hope for Justice said ensuring victims were properly supported was essential to successfully prosecuting offenders. Charity founder Ben Cooley said: "We've learnt from experience that victim welfare is inextricably linked to the prosecution of perpetrators. When victims are supported from rescue right through to the courtroom, their testimonies make all the difference in seeing justice served. Sadly, we don't always see that happen in the UK and Hope for Justice exists to stand in those gaps. "This bill is a critical step towards ending slavery in our country but going forwards we must all ensure that victims are supported so they don't disappear on the other side of initial after-care provision just to be re-trafficked." The bill also introduces Trafficking Prevention Orders to restrict the activity and movement of convicted traffickers and stop them from committing further offences A new anti-slavery commissioner will be appointed to hold law enforcement and other organisations to account. 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  |
| People who don't know what Mandela looked like were responsible for 8% of tweets about his death Posted: 16 Dec 2013 01:00 AM PST Analysis in the wake of Nelson Mandela's death shows that a third of all tweets about the former South African president spoke about the need to continue his legacy       |
| Israeli troops shoot two Lebanese soldiers in border skirmish Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:56 AM PST  Shooting took place hours after Israeli soldier was killed by Lebanese sniper on Sunday Israel's army says its troops have shot two Lebanese soldiers, hours after a Lebanese army sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Army spokeswoman Lt Libby Weiss says the shooting took place in the early hours of Monday morning. She said Israeli forces identified "suspicious movement" along the border and shot two members of Lebanon's armed forces. Weiss said the shooting took place near to where a Lebanese army sniper killed an Israeli soldier late on Sunday. Weiss had no details on the condition of the Lebanese soldiers. Calls to Lebanese army officials went unanswered. The UN peacekeeping force along the Israel-Lebanon said it had no information about a shooting on Monday. Speaking on Sunday evening in response to the death of the Israeli soldier, Israel's defence spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, said: "The IDF has protested this outrageous breach of Israel's sovereignty with Unifil and has heightened its state of preparedness along the border. We will not tolerate aggression against the state of Israel, and maintain the right to exercise self-defence against perpetrators of attacks against Israel and its civilians." In the past year, six Israeli soldiers have been injured in explosions along the Lebanese border although it was not clear whether the incidents were accidents. In a separate incident, a Lebanese soldier was killed on Sunday when a bomb was thrown at the checkpoint he was manning outside the southern Lebanon city of Sidon. The shootings raise the possibility of renewed fighting in the volatile area, which has remained mostly quiet since a month-long summer war in 2006. 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       |
| Queensland reforms may criminalise children in care, legal experts warn Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:47 AM PST Child protection overhaul welcomed, but law society urges caution on institutionalising children who present a risk of harm       |
| Tony Abbott winds back code of conduct to let ministers keep shares Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:36 AM PST Rules to avoid conflicts of interest allow shareholdings in public companies that were banned under Rudd and Gillard  |
| Indian state moves to debunk black magic Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:29 AM PST  Police in Maharashtra get powers to investigate religious fraud, extremism and human sacrifice after death of campaigner Politicians in western India have passed a bill aimed at debunking black magic and prosecuting religious charlatans after the death of an activist who campaigned for nearly two decades for the legislation. Maharashtra is the first state to pass such a measure in multicultural and secular India, where witch doctors and Hindu holy men enjoy huge popularity and can amass millions in tributes from followers or fees for promised miracles and health cures. The anti-superstition legislation allows police to investigate religious fraud, extremism and human sacrifice. It was passed over the weekend following an 18-year debate and intense lobbying from Narendra Dabholkar, who was shot on 20 August after receiving death threats for encouraging villagers to embrace secular and scientific reason. Two people were arrested over the killing. 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 seekers living in Australia forced to sign code of conduct Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:25 AM PST Code of conduct threatens cancellation of visa and transfer to offshore processing if asylum seekers fail to meet obligations  |
| Lebanon-Israel border shooting sparks tensions Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:20 AM PST  Israeli soldier killed by a Lebanese soldier who opened fire across the border into Israel The Israeli and Lebanese armies are on high alert after an Israeli soldier was killed by a Lebanese soldier who opened fire across the border into Israel. Reports from Lebanon said a Lebanese soldier was missing, believed captured, by the Israeli army. Israel complained to the United Nations force in Lebanon which said it would investigate the incident. The incident happened at around 8.30pm local time near the Israeli village of Rosh Hanikra and the Lebanese village of Naqoura. The Israeli army said it had confirmed that the sniper is a member of the Lebanese armed forces and identified the killed soldier as Shlomi Cohen, 31, from the northern Israeli city of Afula. Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for UN forces in southern Lebanon, said the UN was informed of a "serious incident along the blue line around Ras Naqoura". He said the UN is in contact with both the Lebanese and Israeli armies, and that they are co-operating. "The incident happened on the Israeli side of the blue line," he said, referring to a UN-drawn line demarcating the border between the two states, which have remained technically at war since 1948. Tenenti said the UN interim force in Lebanon, Unifil, was trying to determine exactly what happened. Israel's defence spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, said: "The IDF has protested this outrageous breach of Israel's sovereignty with Unifil and has heightened its state of preparedness along the border. We will not tolerate aggression against the state of Israel, and maintain the right to exercise self-defence against perpetrators of attacks against Israel and its civilians." In the past year, six Israeli soldiers have been injured in explosions along the Lebanese border although it was not clear whether the incidents were accidents. In a separate incident, a Lebanese soldier was killed on Sunday when a bomb was thrown at the checkpoint he was manning outside the southern Lebanon city of Sidon. 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       |
| Why do Americans write the month before the day? Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:17 AM PST We explore the possible reasons for this mad anomaly and hear your explanations  |
| The best TV of 2013: No 8 – Top of the Lake (BBC2) Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:00 AM PST  Jane Campion's unsettling six-parter told a dark story, but there was humour inside its bleak heart, and the cast was simply outstanding This was the year in which the small screen became truly big. As well as indulging its cinematic ambitions in beautiful, vast shows such as Breaking Bad and Utopia, 2013 saw directors of films come running to television, attracted by the languorous pacing and scope. Sean Durkin made Southcliffe for Channel 4. The Coen brothers signed up to make a mini-series of Fargo. Jodie Foster turned her hand to Netflix hit Orange is the New Black. And Jane Campion, the director of The Piano, made the gorgeous Top of the Lake. This strange, grim six-parter was a co-production between the BBC, Australia's UKTV and the Sundance Channel, and it told a dark story with increasing devastation. Elisabeth Moss, previously so great as Mad Men's Peggy Olson, took the lead as Robin, a local girl who had flown the coop of her small New Zealand town amid secrets and implied terrors. While home to care for her dying mother, Robin, now a detective, takes on an investigation into the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old girl. What follows is a bleak unravelling of small-town life. It is a mystery thriller that's rotten to the core. Moss plays Robin as a lost, damaged woman who repeatedly loses her footing. In the last episode, GJ, played by Holly Hunter, asks her: "Are you on your knees?" Such was the grubby power of this show that the viewers were right there with her. Hunter's otherworldly guru led a camp of women at the ironically named beauty spot Paradise, and often their scenes proved that there was a gallows humour inside Top of the Lake's dark heart. The campers were mostly rich women indulging their neuroses; GJ did little more than insult them or offer misanthropic asides. It was as funny as it was unsettling. But Campion's strength was in conveying a very real sense of fear and menace. It has been a gloomy year for television, but the sense of foreboding here was particularly suffocating. Peter Mullan played Matt Mitcham, the local druglord – and father of the disappeared girl Tui – with spitting fury. It was a remarkable performance and arguably the strongest of a very strong cast, while David Wenham's detective Al was a different sort of villain, though no less frightening for it. It had its detractors, of course. Some viewers felt its male characters were one-note misogynists, that it was too slow and indulgent, that Elisabeth Moss's wandering accent didn't ring true. But I was entranced by its beauty and its horror. I enjoyed its visual intricacy and the repeated motifs: the stag's heads, the religious allusions. Its strange, eerie tone worked its magic on me each week, and it stuck with me long after its final scenes. 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       |
| Roger Waters and the antisemitism question | Keith Kahn-Harris Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:00 AM PST  The Pink Floyd singer is certainly guilty of talking about Israel in a predictable and unhelpful way It's happening increasingly often: a prominent public figure makes a vituperative criticism of Israel, accusations of antisemitism follow and then come emphatic denials. This time it's Roger Waters, the Pink Floyd vocalist, who has fanned the constantly glowing embers of controversy. Among other things, he has claimed that the "parallels [between Israel's actions against the Palestinians] with what went on in the 1930s in Germany are so crushingly obvious", that the Israeli rabbinate views Palestinians as "sub-humans", and that the "Jewish lobby" is "extraordinarily powerful". This comes on the back of Waters' long history of pro-Palestinian activity, including supporting a cultural boycott of Israel. In response, Waters has been accused of antisemitism by firebrands such as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and more measured voices such as Karen Pollock of the Holocaust Educational Trust. Waters vociferously denies antisemitism, complaining that defenders of Israel "routinely drag the critic into a public arena and accuse them of being an antisemite". So who is right? Is Waters guilty of antisemitism? The problem with viewing the Waters controversy through the lens of the antisemitism debate is that it becomes a zero-sum game: whether his words were antisemitic or not. If they were not, then the assumption is that they would be acceptable. Yet there are other ways to analyse discourse on Israel. What would happen if one temporarily (and, yes, artificially) removes the question of antisemitism and looks at Waters' remarks the way one might look at other forms of political discourse? This leads to other questions: was Waters' intervention useful? Were his words proportionate and reasonable? Should we take what he says seriously? Accusations that Israel is behaving in a Nazi-like manner are hardly novel. In fact they are something of a cliche not just in the controversy over Israel but in a wide range of other debates. Godwin's Law draws attention to the wearisome regularity with which Nazi Germany is invoked; for some, its corollary is that in any debate the first one to mention the Nazis has lost. Not only is comparing Israel to Nazi Germany predictable, even the harshest reading of Israel's actions shows that the analogy is completely over the top. Israel can arguably be accused of subtle and not-so-subtle forms of discrimination and even ethnic cleansing of Palestinians over its history, but it has never committed systematic mass murder and the existence of Palestinian citizens of Israel (albeit often marginalised) is something that no genuinely neo-Nazi regime could tolerate. Waters' other arguments are similarly cliched and disproportionate. It's a lazy commonplace to dismiss Jewish concerns of antisemitism as the cynical suppression of pro-Palestinian campaigners. It's similarly predictable to attribute US support for Israel to Jewish lobbying. So there are multiple reasons to condemn Waters' interventions in the Israel-Palestinian debate. Whether or not he is guilty of antisemitism, he is guilty of being trite, predictable and using disproportionate language. There is something about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that sucks people in and brings out the worst in them. In Waters' case it is his penchant for grand gestures and narratives, which work brilliantly in the musical sphere but can easily tip over into the boorish and hackneyed in the political. Waters isn't alone in this. Both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian campaigning too often consists of a self-perpetuating set of constantly repeated, unsubtle formulas. The antisemitism debate has also been drawn into this vortex. It may be too much to hope for a calmer, more nuanced discussion of Israel-Palestine and antisemitism, but perhaps it's possible for protagonists to find new ways to talk about their concerns. The first step could be calling out instances of banal interventions in the debate. Even if you don't believe Waters is guilty of antisemitism, he is certainly guilty of perpetuating a tiresomely unhelpful way of talking about a vitally important issue. 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       |
| Victim to paedophile priest: 'May God have mercy on your soul – I don't' Posted: 15 Dec 2013 11:58 PM PST Three women speak of childhoods destroyed by Father Finian Egan at sentencing hearing in Sydney       |
| Lapses in air traffic control led to near miss between 737 and paratroopers Posted: 15 Dec 2013 11:14 PM PST Safety regulator releases report into incident where civilian jet was cleared to fly underneath RAAF parachute drop       |
| Women on screen aren't allowed to grow old erotically | Lynne Segal Posted: 15 Dec 2013 11:00 PM PST  If older women are given TV and film roles at all, their bodies are still subject to one of the last sex taboos Diane Keaton recalled her mother's advice – "don't grow old" – as useless, however pertinent for Keaton's chosen career as an actress. It's a truism that interesting roles for older actresses are hard to come by. While signs of physical ageing are routinely played down in leading male actors, who regularly take roles as still vigorous and desirable characters (whether heroes or villains), the opposite applies to older actresses, if they are allowed to appear on screen at all. Are things changing? It was Keaton herself who seemed to herald a shift when she played in the popular 2003 film about love in later life, Something's Gotta Give. At the time she expressed astonishment at being offered the role of romantic heroine, at 58, despite being partnered by Jack Nicholson, already a decade older. Yet, in Hollywood, the films that portray older women as desirable remain sparse, with Meryl Streep one of the precious few still allowed to play a romantic lead. Meanwhile, when not excluded, one of the notable ways that older actresses make it on to the screen is playing a character with dementia: Judi Dench in Iris (2001), Julie Christie in Away From Her (2006), Streep in The Iron Lady (2011), Emmanuelle Riva in Amour (2012). However, if cinema remains grim and forbidding territory for older actresses, television is finally starting to offer them more. To be sure, the majority of shows remain youth obsessed, and older women – with The Golden Girls a striking exception – remain perceived as beyond playfulness and sexual passion. Still, with a third of our population over 50, and 10 million over 65 – and half of them women – the media has had to give a little. Now along comes the second series of the BBC's Last Tango in Halifax, with its portrait of the late-life romance of two septuagenarians, Celia and Alan. The channel is planning something similar for next year with Grey Mates, involving a friendship network of pensioners, starring Alison Steadman, Stephanie Beacham and Russ Abbot – all in their mid-60s. Noting the success of Last Tango, I have been pondering what it tells us about attitudes to bodies, old and young. Celia and Alan may be in the throes of romance, but we typically see them, particularly Celia, in her overcoat. The dynamics of their romance are mostly played out in the kitchen or the countryside, with warm smiles and hugs. There is no reference to their sexual concerns, and the bedroom stays off limits. This is all the more striking because their adult children's affairs mean there is a continuous focus on sex. Last Tango upholds one of the last taboos around sex, ageing and the body. Intentionally or not, it suggests that though in love, these oldies are past sexual concerns. Yet our culture has little problem presenting older men's sexual desire. Nor do older men refrain from eagerly proclaiming this, whether in empirical surveys or in their own words. Much of the most esteemed writing by men mourns not the passing of sexual passion, but possible difficulties in its performance. Whether in the work of Ireland's illustrious poet WB Yeats or America's celebrated novelist Philip Roth, older men's chief fear could be summed up as that of a creature sick with desire, but fastened to a dying animal – the threat of penile failure. Older women's erotic life, however, is barely registered, save in certain genres of pornography. In the wake of Germaine Greer or agony aunts Irma Kurtz and Virginia Ironside, the most influential women's voices tackling old age tend to suggest they are contentedly post-sexual, "free at last" from erotic passion. Given the complexities of desire, I am sceptical about this apparent gender contrast. I see the media's endless production of eroticised, young female flesh as feeding a sense of shame attached to older women's bodies. Any eroticisation of our aged female bodies remains taboo and this is one reason older women, in huge numbers (70% of us over-65s) live alone. Tackling our sexual yearnings, or registering our bodies with anything other than disgust, would indeed be radical. I wait to see it. 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       |
| Ethiopian women pay high price for US aid abortion restrictions Posted: 15 Dec 2013 11:00 PM PST  Reproductive health has risen up aid donors' agendas, but USAid rules mean NGOs are shying away from abortion work Just 1km away from the African Union conference centre, and the international evangelical church in Addis Ababa, the Kirkos health clinic feels far from the politicking and religious opposition that continue to stalk abortion – one of the most contentious global health issues. Outside, a blue and white sign displays the range of services on offer. Safe abortion tops the list, stenciled in big bold letters, followed by HIV testing, family planning and infertility treatment. Inside, the clinic's orderly waiting room is already full. It's 8.30am. Most visitors are young, between 18 and 25 years old, and nurses talk candidly about sex. While abortion remains a radioactive issue in the US, a number of developing countries have liberalised their abortion laws in recent years, often citing alarming public health statistics. Globally, the World Health Organisation estimates that 47,000 women die from unsafe, "back-alley" abortions each year, and millions more are left temporarily or permanently disabled. In 2005, Ethiopia legalised abortion in cases of rape or incest for all young women under the age of 18, and in a number of other situations. Guidelines from the ministry of health in 2006 went further, expanding the range of health facilities allowed to provide abortion services and instructing health workers that women seeking abortions do not have to provide proof of rape or incest, or of how old they are. The Kirkos clinic, run by the NGO Marie Stopes International (MSI), saw up to 13,000 patients last year, more than 8,500 of whom seek abortions. Being able to offer and advertise a range of services is critically important, says Shewaye Alemu, area manager for MSI in Addis, the Ethiopian capital. It means women can walk into the clinic without disclosing to the world whether they are seeking an abortion, she says. But despite having one of the most liberal abortion laws in Africa, progress on expanding access to services has been slow, particularly in rural areas. If the Kirkos clinic shows what is possible under Ethiopia's new law, it is still the exception rather than the norm. Some 200km from Addis, in the West Arsi zone of Ethiopia's Oromia region, the Buta health post stands in a small valley. Inside, the walls of the small, two-room building are covered with hand-drawn tables charting community progress on vaccinations, malaria treatment, use of contraception, and other targets. Staffed by a small team of community health workers, the Buta post serves more than 4,000 people in nearby villages and is one of thousands of such facilities built by the government to extend services into rural areas. But while women visiting the health post can get their children vaccinated, have contraceptive implants fitted and deliver babies a woman seeking an abortion would have to travel dozens of kilometres to find someone to carry out the procedure. Staff at the health centre, 8km away, the next rung up in Ethiopia's multi-tiered healthcare system, say the person trained to provide abortions left a year ago and has not yet been replaced. Women who arrive looking for abortion information and services are referred to the public hospital or NGO clinic in the towns of Awassa (19km away) or Shashamane (26km). Figures from 2008, the most recent statistics, suggest just 27% of abortions were safe procedures carried out in health facilities. Many women remain unaware of their rights, and where they can access services. Stigma around abortion also persists, particularly for young and unmarried women, and the quality of care available varies dramatically across the country. In 2008, only two-thirds of health facilities were sufficiently equipped to provide basic abortion care, treatment for post-abortion complications, and antibiotics; just 41% of the primary care facilities on which most rural women rely offer basic abortion services. According to some human rights lawyers and public health NGOs, Ethiopia is a prime example of how controversy about abortion in the US continues to limit women's access to safe services, even in countries where it is legal. While reproductive health issues and efforts to end maternal deaths have risen up the agenda of aid donors, very few are willing to fund abortion. The largest global health donor, the US Agency for International Development (USAid) attaches anti-abortion restrictions to all of its foreign assistance. "There is increasing recognition by the international community of the impact of unsafe abortions on maternal mortality. But funding does not reflect this," said Manuelle Hurwitz, senior advisor on abortion at International Planned Parenthood Federation. US funding flawsThe Gotu health post is part of a massive USAid programme, which aims to reach more than half the country's population and help reduce maternal and child mortality by supporting integrated family healthcare. The programme does not fund safe abortion – though it does support some services for women suffering health complications following unsafe abortions. Pathfinder, the US NGO that implements the USAid programme in Ethiopia, says this is a "missed opportunity" and that it is actively looking for other sources of funding so that abortion services can be offered too. "Any primary health clinic that doesn't provide abortions is a missed opportunity," said Demet Güral, a physician and vice-president of programmes at the NGO. Even if women have access to contraception, there are always failure rates, says Güral, and it is essential they can access safe abortion if needed. "Especially for youth; most are not married, they have a future. How can you talk about family planning for youth and not talk about abortion? It's nonsense." While US president Barack Obama repealed the 'global gag rule', which prohibited foreign NGOs from receiving US funding if they performed or promoted abortion, anti-abortion restrictions remain attached to US foreign assistance through a relatively obscure and often misunderstood amendment, attached to the US foreign assistance act. The Helms amendment, first enacted in 1973, says no US aid can go towards abortion "as a method of family planning" or to "motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions". What this means is open to interpretation, however. In practice, USAid has implemented the Helms amendment as an absolute ban on abortion. Liz Maguire, CEO of IPAS, a US-based NGO, says Ethiopia is "one of the best examples" of how these restrictions can impact on women's lives. "Abortion is the most neglected area in women's health," said Maguire, who worked for USAid for decades and was head of its population assistance programme during the Clinton administration. "Here, what's sad is that women are being discriminated against because they live in areas with USAid funding." Güral said it is a sad fact that most of the world's deaths due to unsafe abortions happen in developing countries, where US foreign aid is a critical resource. Many NGOs shy away from working on abortion because they fear the 'global gag rule' could return, or are confused about which specific services are allowed under the Helms amendment, she added. "On the ground ... we have a 'let's not go there' feeling. That's the chilling effect," said Güral. "Of course this is affecting the lives of women." • Claire Provost travelled to Ethiopia with Pathfinder Comments for this piece will be switched on at 10am 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       |
| 16. Sixteen prophetic dreams of Queen Trishala Posted: 15 Dec 2013 11:00 PM PST  Today in Rogerson's festive countdown we explore 16 dreams onset by the conception of a Jain monarch's son
Queen Trishala is the mother of Mahavira, the last of the revered prophet teachers of the Jain. She was one of a family of seven princesses and one of her sisters became a Jain nun, while the other five married kings. Her husband was King Siddhartha, to whom she explained an extraordinary series of 16 powerful dreams (14 in some accounts). Advised by seers, the king was able to tell her she was about to give birth to a strong, courageous son full of virtue. Tomorrow: the hidden 17 of the Bektashi • Taken from Rogerson's Book of Numbers by Barnaby Rogerson 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       |
| Church does not check a transferring priest's reputation, abuse inquiry told Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:55 PM PST Catholic bishop of Lismore says there were no specific reputation checks comparable to reference checks for other jobs       |
| Tony Abbott points the finger at Labor while managing to keep a straight face Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:37 PM PST PM may be justifiably grumpy but it does not mean his first economic statement is, in its entirety, the work of the other side       |
| Regional airline collapses after competition and regulatory woes Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:21 PM PST Receivers call for expressions of interest in Brindabella Airlines as up to 140 workers face redundancy       |
| Same-sex marriage: Abbott plays down chances of conscience vote Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:21 PM PST PM appears reluctant to intervene as Cory Bernardi and Malcolm Turnbull offer opposing views       |
| Coal's grim forecast: projects may be 'stranded' by falling Chinese demand Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:10 PM PST Oxford report finds Australian mines could become uneconomical and end up being 'mothballed or abandoned'       |
| Can the security and intelligence services answer the accountability question? | Chris Mullin Posted: 15 Dec 2013 10:00 PM PST  The Snowden revelations are a test for the newly transparent intelligence and security committee When the home secretary, Theresa May, appears before the home affairs committee on Monday, she is liable to be grilled as to why she is refusing to allow the head of MI5 to give evidence to the committee about Edward Snowden's revelations. She will probably give the committee short shrift. None of your business, she is likely to reply. A matter for the intelligence and security committee (ISC), which is already conducting its own inquiry into the subject. In theory at least she is on strong ground. As of this year, the ISC is no longer a creature of government, but a committee of parliament. Its members are not appointed by the prime minister (although he retains a veto), but by parliament, and the committee does not report exclusively to the prime minister, but also to parliament. In addition, the committee has some welcome new powers and a wider remit. The struggle to render the security and intelligence services accountable to parliament has been a long one. When I first joined the home affairs committee 20 years ago, I asked the then home secretary, Ken Clarke, if we could interview the then head of MI5, Stella Rimington. Clarke refused. However, it was rumoured that Rimington, in an effort to improve the image of the service, had been privately briefing newspaper editors. I rang a couple who confirmed they had met her. How come, I asked Clarke, when he next came before the committee, the head of MI5 was permitted to meet with the unelected, but not with the elected? At which point he came out with his hands up. Half a dozen of us were invited to lunch with her. Much excitement was generated. Cars were sent from MI5 to collect us. Inevitably, word of the meeting leaked and a posse of photographers chased us across central London. The meeting itself was banal enough. No secrets were imparted, but the ice had been broken. For the first time there had been dialogue between the head of MI5 and elected members of parliament. In the years that followed, successive heads of MI5 made a point of meeting informally with members of the home affairs committee, but until this year the principle of accountability to parliament was never conceded. In 1994, for the first time in our history, the security and intelligence services were placed on a statutory footing, and the intelligence and security committee, headed by the former defence secretary Tom King, was set up to monitor them. This was not the result of a sudden burst of transparency by the government, but a requirement of our membership of the European Union. The great weakness of the committee was that it was a tool of government, not of parliament, with limited powers. After Labour was elected in May 1997 I continued to pursue the matter. When I suggested to Tony Blair that the committee should be accountable to parliament and not to him, he laughed and said: "I suppose that was the line we took in opposition." It was indeed. In the end he did make one small concession – parliament would have an annual debate on the security services. In the event it was left to David Cameron and the coalition to go where New Labour feared to tread and grant the ISC some long overdue new powers. The current inquiry, prompted by the Snowden revelations, will be the first test of these new arrangements. It remains to be seen whether the committee – and indeed the intelligence agencies – will rise to the occasion. If they don't, then ministers must not be surprised if they face renewed demands from the home affairs committee – and perhaps from the foreign affairs committee – for their own inquiries. 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       |
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