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Syria forces ‘fire on protesters’

BBC map

Syrian security forces have opened fire on protesters in the central city of Homs, killing at least three people, activists and witnesses said.

Protests reportedly broke out in several towns and cities, including in Baniyas, Deraa and Qamishli, after Friday prayers.

It is the latest in a wave of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

At least 850 people have been killed in weeks of demonstrations in the country, human rights groups say.

An eyewitness in Homs told BBC Arabic there was heavy gunfire in the Dier Baalba area, injuring several people.

Meanwhile, the coastal city of Baniyas witnessed one of its largest demonstrations yet, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Demonstrations were also reported in the mostly Kurdish north-eastern town of Qamishli.

Rights organisations said protesters in Baniyas had bared their chests to show they were not armed.

Protests and army crackdowns have also been reported this week in the town of Tal Khalakh, near the Lebanese border, where activists say at least 27 people were killed.

Reports from Syria are hard to verify independently, as foreign journalists are not allowed into the country.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Europe needs ‘common’ IMF choice

John Lipsky

John Lipsky says the IMF will deal with the leadership issue “expeditiously”

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Germany’s finance minister says Europe will decide soon on a common candidate as its choice to lead the IMF.

“We need a common European candidate and we are looking for the one who is best qualified and has the best chance,” said Wolfgang Schaeuble.

A division has opened between the developed and developing world over who should replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who has resigned.

Emerging powers are keen to break Europe’s traditional hold on the post.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down after being charged with sexual assault, was the fourth Frenchman to have held the IMF’s top job.

Another French national, finance minister Christine Lagarde, is seen as the favourite to be the next IMF managing director, and has been praised for her credentials by the interim head of the IMF, John Lipsky, the Italian government and the Swedish finance minister.

“If Europe can get the Americans on their side, then another European will replace Strauss-Kahn”

Read Stephanie’s blog in full NY court grants Strauss-Kahn bail

Germany has not put forward any suggested candidate and Mr Schaeuble said it had “not given up on presenting a candidate of its own”, but he said it was in favour of European countries taking a joint decision on whom to present.

South Africa, Thailand and Russia have all said the new head should come from the developing world.

Singapore’s finance minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, has attracted support from both the Philippine finance minister and his Thai counterpart.

Other potential candidates from developing countries include South Africa’s Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, and Turkey’s former minister of economic affairs, Kemal Dervis.

Possible IMF successors

IMF frontrunners

There is a range of possible contenders for the top job at the International Monetary Fund. Find out about some of them

Christine LagardeChristine Lagarde

French finance minister

France

If the post goes to a European, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, 55, looks like the leading candidate. A flawless English speaker, she was voted best finance minister in Europe by the Financial Times in 2009. Counting against her is her nationality since so many previous IMF chiefs have been French.

Peer SteinbrueckPeer Steinbrueck

Former German finance minister

Germany

Mr Steinbrueck, 62, is a long-shot to become IMF chief, in part because he alienated allies of Germany with his fiery rhetoric while serving as finance minister in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “grand coalition” from 2005 to 2009. He also alienated the United States by openly blaming it for the global financial crisis.

Axel WeberAxel Weber

Former head of Bundesbank

Germany

Mr Weber, 54, stunned Europe by announcing in February that he would be stepping down early from his post as head of the German central bank, the Bundesbank. Like Mr Steinbrueck, Mr Weber has a reputation as something of a loose cannon, who speaks his mind without regard to political or diplomatic constraints.

Kemal DervisKemal Dervis

Former economy minister

Turkey

Mr Dervis is credited with bringing Turkey back from the brink after a disastrous 2001 financial crisis, by pushing through tough reforms and helping secure a multi-billion dollar IMF bail-out. He had previously risen to vice-president at the World Bank. Seen as a leading candidate if the IMF post goes to someone outside central Europe.

Trevor ManuelTrevor Manuel

Ex Finance minister

South Africa

Mr Manuel, 55, is well-respected in global financial circles, having served as finance minister of South Africa from 1996 to 2009. Born in Cape Town under apartheid, he was imprisoned repeatedly by the South African government for political activities in the late 1980s.

Agustin CarstensAgustin Carstens

Governor Bank of Mexico

Mexico

Mr Carstens, 52, has spent most of his professional career as an economic policymaker in his home country, becoming governor of the Bank of Mexico in January of last year after previously serving as the bank’s chief economist. He had a successful stint at the IMF from 2003 to 2006.

Gordon BrownGordon Brown

Former UK Prime Minister

British

The 60-year old former UK prime minister and finance minister has long been seen as a candidate for the IMF job or another big international financial post. But his successor David Cameron – whose support he would need – has dismissed him as a “deficit denier”, adding that it was time to look beyond Europe.

Stanley FischerStanley Fischer

Israel’s central bank governor

Israel/United States

Mr Fischer, 67, knows the IMF well having served as the first deputy managing director at the fund from 1994 to 2001. A world-renowned economist, he has written more than a dozen books and headed the prestigious economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Montek Singh AhluwliaMontek Singh Ahluwlia

Economic adviser to India’s PM

India

Mr Ahluwalia, 67, is an influential economic adviser to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and has been a key figure in the country’s economic reforms from the mid-1980s onwards. He supports open markets and has pushed the government to end fuel price controls and remove barriers to foreign business. His age may count against him.

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No individual has yet said they are interested in the job.

Ms Lagarde herself has not expressed an interest, but has backed the single candidate idea, saying that “any candidacy, whichever it is, must come from Europeans jointly, all together”.

In order to become managing director of the IMF individuals must be proposed by one of its 187 member countries.

All 10 of the IMF’s managing directors since its inception in 1944 have come from Europe, and Europe together with the US have almost 50% of the votes.

But the rules are being altered to reflect the rising power of emerging markets, and the US has not yet taken a position on who to back – nor from where.

The IMF is a crucial part of the world financial system, along with the World Bank.

It represents the interests of its 187 member countries and has played a central role in the eurozone crisis, lending billions of dollars to help bail-out Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

For this reason many senior politicians in Europe have said they believe the next head of the IMF should hold a European passport.

Interviewed by the BBC’s economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, Mr Lipsky, who was Mr Strauss-Kahn’s deputy until stepping up as interim head, would not be drawn on the battle that is emerging between central European and emerging economies over who should get the top job.

“This is an institution that works best in a collaborative, co-operative way. Most decisions are taken by consensus at the level of the executive board.

“So I’d expect, in the end, there will be general agreement around a talented, effective new managing director.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Obama faces tough Netanyahu talks

Barack Obama

Barack Obama: “Let’s get started on a conversation about territory, and about security”

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US President Barack Obama is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington shortly amid sharp differences on the way forward for the Middle East peace process.

Mr Obama has said a future Palestinian state must be based on the borders that existed prior to the 1967 war.

He said “mutually agreed swaps” would help create “a viable Palestine, and a secure Israel”.

But Mr Netanyahu said the pre-1967 borders were “indefensible”.

An estimated 300,000 Israelis live in settlements built in the West Bank, which lies outside those borders.

The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

In a keynote speech on Thursday on the future of US policy in the Middle East, President Obama said: “The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine.

Analysis

In many ways the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, should be a man content with his lot. He is on a high-profile visit to Washington where he will be met with a firm handshake and warm words from President Barack Obama.

In a historic address to a joint-session of Congress next week, he can expect to be repeatedly applauded as he describes how his government tirelessly searches for peace.

And at the annual conference of Aipac – the American pro-Israel lobby – he will be feted as a hero and beacon of light in an otherwise hostile region.

But at home, in a dramatically changing Middle East, the Israeli leader appears increasingly out-manoeuvred and out of step with the attempts of others to resolve the frustrating and long-standing stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mid-East upheaval heaps pressure on Netanyahu

“The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognised borders are established for both states.”

In a statement, Mr Netanyahu’s office said he appreciated Mr Obama’s “commitment to peace” but that for peace to endure, “the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state”.

The statement called on Mr Obama to reaffirm commitments made to Israel by the US in 2004.

“Among other things, those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines,” it said.

“Those commitments also ensure Israel’s well-being as a Jewish state by making clear that Palestinian refugees will settle in a future Palestinian state rather than in Israel.”

The BBC’s Wyre Davies in Jerusalem says that while Mr Netanyahu will be warmly welcomed in the US, he is coming under increasing international pressure to ease his objections to a Palestinian state following the unity deal signed between rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah earlier this month.

If the unity project holds, says our correspondent, Mr Netanyahu could find himself foundering while other countries embrace fresh Palestinian initiatives.

“Obama didn’t say anything about the suffering of the Palestinian people, who are suffering for more than 63 years”

Mohamed Awad Hamas Foreign MinisterObstacles to peace: Borders and settlements

Israel’s claim to being the only democratic state in the region has also been undermined by the dramatic developments of the “Arab Spring” anti-government uprisings, our correspondent adds.

The push for democracy began with the overthrowing of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January. Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was later toppled in Egypt, with demonstrators in Libya currently working to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.

Similar uprisings are also taking hold in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.

The Palestinian leadership is split between the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the Fatah political faction and governs the West Bank, and the Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is due to meet colleagues to decide on the next move, with senior officials saying they have been ordered not to speak to reporters beforehand.

A senior member of Hamas, Foreign Minister Mohamed Awad, told the BBC that tangible steps were needed from the US president, not mere slogans.

“Obama didn’t say anything about the suffering of the Palestinian people, who are suffering for more than 63 years,” he said.

“He didn’t say that the peace process had already reached a dead end… He tried to please everyone but he didn’t try to please the Palestinian people.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK soldiers ‘unlawfully killed’

From top left: Guardsman Jimmy Major, Sgt Matthew Telford and Warrant Officer Darren Chant. From bottom left: Cpl Steven Boote and Cpl Nicholas Webster-SmithThe five soldiers had been mentoring and living with the Afghan police
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A coroner has said the UK failed in its duty to five British soldiers who were shot and killed by a rogue Afghan policeman in 2009.

The gunman, who has been named only as Gulbuddin, fled a checkpoint in Helmand province’s Nad Ali region afterwards.

David Ridley, the Coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “The state had failed in its role to avoid risk”.

He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

He said the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) should have been able to remove Afghan officers, like Gulbuddin, who raise concerns.

The coroner said Warrant Officer Darren Chat – one of those who died – did not have such a power and Mr Ridley said the state had failed in its role.

Several of the victims’ families expressed amazement their loved ones had been put in harm’s way.

Gulbuddin escaped afterwards and has never been brought to justice.

The inquest heard the attack could have been linked to a “blood feud” between an Afghan National Police (ANP) commander and the Taliban.

It was suggested Gulbuddin could have been a rogue officer acting on behalf of the Taliban.

Three of the soldiers killed were Grenadier Guards – Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37 and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18.

The other two killed were Royal Military Police – Corporal Steven Boote, 22 and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24.

Six British soldiers and two Afghan policemen were wounded in the attack.

The coroner said it was known there were problems with the ANP Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Walker had described them as “rotten to the core”.

He said WO Chant had raised concerns about Gulbuddin’s behaviour, discipline and drug taking before the attack.

Mr Ridley said WO Chant discussed these issues with the ANP commander before the attack and was told they would be addressed.

The coroner says WO Chant was highly regarded and if he had not been killed he would have been considered for the top sergeant major position in the British Army at Sandhurst.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Ex-MP Morley jailed over expenses

Elliot Morley arriving in court prior to pleading guiltyElliot Morley was a government minister under Tony Blair
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Former Labour minister Elliot Morley has been sentenced to 16 months in jail for dishonestly claiming more than £30,000 in parliamentary expenses.

He pleaded guilty last month to making excessive claims for mortgage costs from 2004 to 2007 and claiming for a mortgage that had been paid off.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Saunders said he had “thrown away his good name and good character”.

Morley, MP for Scunthorpe since 1987, stepped down at the general election.

As a former environment minister, he is the most senior politician to plead guilty to expenses fraud.

When the allegations against him first surfaced, he claimed it had been a genuine mistake and said he would prove that he was not guilty of deception.

But the Crown Prosecution Service said Morley’s behaviour had been “blatantly dishonest”.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Saunders said: “I am satisfied from the nature of the mortgage transactions and the correspondence that the excessive claims were made deliberately and are not explicable even in part by oversight.”

The 58-year-old pleaded guilty to two charges of false accounting under the Theft Act.

He claimed £15,200 in mortgage claims – when he was only entitled to £1,572 – and submitted claims for £16,800 towards a mortgage on a property near Scunthorpe – after it had been paid off.

He wrongly filled out a total of 40 forms relating to mortgage payments.

Mr Justice Saunders acknowledged that Morley had been “a positive force for good” during his time as a minister and had done “a great deal to promote the green agenda”.

He described it as “a tragic case” for the defendant and said Morley had “thrown away his good name and good character”.

He said he accepted the fraud in Morley’s case was not as “sophisticated” as that of another former Labour MP, David Chaytor, and therefore, his sentence was slightly lower.

Chaytor was jailed for 18 months in jail in January for fraudulently claiming more than £20,000 in expenses by submitting bogus invoices for IT consultancy work and claiming rent he never paid.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “Elliot Morley had already been suspended from the Labour Party and following his custodial sentence he has now been excluded from the party.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Police probing Westminster thefts

Keith VazMr Vaz was elsewhere in Westminster at the time of the theft

An iPad and laptop have been stolen from the Westminster office of Labour MP Keith Vaz.

His staff said the theft took place on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Vaz, who is MP for Leicester East, said he was astonished and called for a “more robust approach” to security inside parliamentary buildings.

A spokesman for Parliament said police were investigating “a number of reports of the theft of laptops across the Parliamentary estate”.

Mr Vaz’s office is within the Norman Shaw North building on Victoria Embankment, close to the Palace of Westminster.

Following the theft, the MP, who is also chairman of the home affairs committee, said in a statement: “I am astonished by the thefts taking place from within the parliamentary estate.

“A great deal of effort is taken to protect the outside of building but we need a more robust approach to security inside the building. This is important at any time but especially with the visit of President Obama next week.

“We need to ensure the security of the building is not compromised.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Met pays damages to slavery women

The Metropolitan Police has been ordered to pay damages to four women for failing to investigate allegations they had been forced into slavery.

The women – who had arrived in London from Nigeria as children – said they were beaten and emotionally abused by families they were forced to work for.

The High Court said the women were “victims of the failure to investigate”.

The victims, now in their mid 20s, will each get £5,000 in damages.

The Met had argued it could not carry out an investigation because the women would not co-operate.

But the court dismissed this as “untenable”.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams said in his judgment the Met Police “did nothing to commence an effective investigation”.

“Their names were known to the police, they wanted their complaints to be investigated,” he said.

“They were directly affected by the failure to carry out an effective investigation.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Singer Doherty jailed over drugs

Pete Doherty arrives at Snaresbrook crown court on FridayPete Doherty was due to play in Glasgow later

Singer Pete Doherty has been jailed for six months for possessing cocaine.

The 32-year-old was charged after an inquiry into the death of filmmaker Robin Whitehead in January 2010. He pleaded guilty to possessing drugs.

Ms Whitehead was making a documentary on Doherty when she was found dead in a flat in Hackney, east London.

Doherty, of Camden, north London, was due to be playing Glasgow Barrowland on Friday evening.

Last year, the singer said he was “shocked and saddened” by Ms Whitehead’s death.

He has twice been jailed after admitting drugs offences.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.