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US Congress passes Obama tax deal

Barack ObamaPresident Obama had said that a compromise was needed to win Republican support
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The US House of Representatives has passed a compromise tax bill averting a New Year rise in income taxes for millions of Americans.

The deal forged by the White House and Republicans also extends benefit payments for some of the longer-term unemployed for 13 months.

The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday but its chances of passing the lower chamber had been seen as less certain.

Some Democrats have been angry about tax breaks for wealthy Americans.

However, President Barack Obama had said that a compromise was needed to win Republican support.

The $858bn (£542bn) package was passed by 277 votes to 148 in the House of Representatives.

Under a proposal that the White House crafted with Republicans and announced last week, tax cuts enacted by President George W Bush in 2001 and 2003 and set to expire this year would be extended at all levels – including for the highest earning Americans.

Provisions of the tax cut compromiseA two-year extension of income tax cuts for all Americans enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President BushA 13-month extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployedA reduced 35% tax for two years on the estates of the deceased worth more than $5mA one-year payroll tax holiday that would see the rate drop from 6.2% of pay to 4.2%Allowing businesses to write off all their capital investments for tax purposes during 2011

Some unemployment benefits would also continue, inheritance tax would be lowered, and payroll taxes would be cut for a year in a bid to spur consumer spending.

Mr Obama and his Democratic allies had vigorously opposed allowing low tax rates for wealthy Americans to continue at a time of massive budget deficits, but Senate Republicans rejected Mr Obama’s preferred approach and the president said he saw no option other than compromise.

When Mr Obama announced the deal last week he said it was the only way to avoid the damage to American families and the economy that would ensue if taxes were allowed to rise and long-term unemployment benefits were not extended.

As liberals in Washington have railed against the deal, a growing number of conservatives have also taken up opposition.

They note the bill adds to the US budget deficit, while also objecting that the low tax rates – which have the biggest impact on the deficit – are only temporary.

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

Travel warning as snow hits north

Aberdeen at rush-hourThe snow hit Aberdeen as rush-hour began on Thursday

Drivers are being warned of dangerous road conditions in the north and north east of Scotland after heavy snowfalls.

Police in the Highlands are urging motorists not to travel unless it is essential. The main A9 trunk road has been closed between Thurso and Brora.

North east roads are bad, as are routes in Orkney and Shetland. The snow is also closing schools across the area.

Aberdeen and Inverness airports have suspended flights and Aberdeen to Inverness trains are disrupted.

Northern Constabulary said driving conditions had been atrocious overnight in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

Police and coastguard teams have been patrolling roads to check no-one has been stranded.

Northern Constabulary said they had to rescue several people near Halkirk in Caithness.

The A99 Wick to Latheron road is closed and officers say there are no diversion routes for the 53-mile section of the A9 closed between Thurso and Brora.

Drifting snow has affected many north east roads, with some routes shut and some only passable with care.

The A96 between Elgin and Fochabers and from Huntly through to Aberdeen is only just passable in some places.

Weather and travel infoFrequent travel updates on BBC Radio Scotland – 92 to 95 FM and 810 MWDo you know of a problem? Call the travel hotline on 08000 929588 (call only if it is safe to do so)BBC Travel online updates Scotland-wide travel updates National rail enquiries BBC weather updates Met Office weather warnings Traveline Scotland Scottish Water advice on protecting pipes

The A90 and A93 are also experiencing problems.

More than 130 schools are closed in Aberdeenshire, about 30 have shut in Aberdeen, along with 30 in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles) and 10 in the Highlands.

The snow also caused disruption at Aberdeen Airport on Thursday where the runway was shut between 1500 GMT and 2000 GMT, leading to cancellations.

It suspended flights again on Friday morning to clear snow and ice.

A BAA spokesman advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

Forecasters predicted frequent snow showers throughout the day and temperatures will struggle to reach above zero.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for the whole of the country, warning of heavy and drifting snow in Grampian, the Highlands, northern and western isles, and widespread icy roads across the rest of Scotland.

The Scottish government has secured further relaxations of the enforcement of EU drivers’ hours rules to help ensure deliveries get to stores, supermarkets and petrol stations across Scotland.

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

Hate crimes double in five years

Unidentified manBBC Wales used the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many hate crimes are being reported
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The number of recorded hate crimes in Wales has more than doubled in five years, according to figures revealed to the BBC.

In the same period the number of people being convicted of hate crimes has risen 9.3%.

In 2009-10 alone, 1,140 crimes were recorded in which the offence was motivated by prejudice.

Equality campaigners welcomed the increase but said around 90% of victims do not report the crimes to police.

BBC Wales publishes its figures on the same day that the Crown Prosecution Service nationally reveals conviction rates for hate crime in 2009-10.

It comes only a day after a 23-year-old Cardiff man was jailed for a year for anti-Semitic affray after threatening four Jewish worshippers as they walked towards their synagogue in the Lakeside area of the city.

In the four years ending March 2010, more than 53,600 defendants in the UK were prosecuted for hate crimes.

The conviction rate rose from 77% in 2006-07 to 82% in 2009-10. This compares with 73.3% and 82.6% in Wales in the same years.

Judith Edwardsm the equality and diversity officer for CPS Wales, said the service was encouraged by the fact that the number of cases being prosecuted in Wales has risen 26% in five years.

But she said more needed to be done to improve confidence among the vulnerable who are often targeted because they are a minority.

She said: “The figures have increased not because more crimes are being committed but because more people are reporting them and we are getting better at recording the data.

“We now have hate crime specialist prosecutors in each of the four CPS areas in Wales as well as hate crime coordinators and there are a raft of measures in place to improve reporting.

“Among these is an extensive programme of community engagement, hate crime scrutiny panels where community members give their input and views on hate crime cases and special measures for victims and witnesses, such as reporting restrictions or screens if they are worried about testifying.”

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wants more people in Wales to tell police about their experiences of such crime.

Wales director Kate Bennett said: “We have seen figures from the police in Wales which suggest that in the last couple of months the reporting of hate crime has shot up.

“What we want to see is that incidents are identified before they start building up.

“The police are keen to get reporting levels up and early intervention is important. Investigating a small incident and nipping it in the bud is far preferable to waiting for the crime to escalate.”

BBC Wales used the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many hate crimes are being reported each year and of those how many are making it to court.

The four forces came back to us with incidents where prejudice had been a factor in crimes like assault and harassment, as well as instances where it was the sole offence.

Several of the crimes had various elements of prejudice, meaning they were classed as several different types of hate crime at once.

Overwhelmingly racially motivated crimes made up the majority of the total (3,598 out of a five-year total of 4,034.)

This is because there was a change in the way racially-motivated crime was recorded following the Macpherson report into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1999.

The other crimes revealed to us were classified as sexual orientation (554) ; religion/faith (58); disability (66) and transgender (30).

Mark Williams of community safety group Safer Wales welcomed the increase in reported crimes but said they were not a “true reflection” of the situation.

He said: “This is supported by research work from Stonewall and Race Equality First who both evidence that only 1 in 4 hate related incidents are reported to the police.

“We are aware of a wide variety of reasons why people do not report to the police including that they do not consider what has happened to them to be a hate crime; that they don’t think it’s worth reporting to the police (as it happens so regularly) and they are concerned how they will be treated by the police.”

Mr Williams is currently holding anti-hate crime training sessions in schools to educate youngsters on the need for tolerance when encountering difference.

Next week BBC Wales focuses on the victims of hate crimes in Wales and what can be done to encourage them to report the abuse.

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

Newspaper review

Papers

The release on bail of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange features prominently in many of the papers.

The Times asks whether he is a “lone cowboy, pied piper or dictator?”

The Guardian concludes that his freedom is likely to be short lived and that he is “almost certain” to be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges.

The Independent says his 600-acre bail address is so vast that he “will have to restrict himself to the house” or risk setting off his security tag.

For the Daily Mirror it is one thing for Sweden to want to question Mr Assange about sex allegations, but it is quite another “for the US to threaten to string him up over embarrassing leaks”.

In his column for the paper, Kevin Maguire claims that “Assange should get a medal for his revelations” because we now have “a better understanding of what’s going on in the world”.

He says David Cameron “should not play poodle to Uncle Sam”.

“Expats really do have the good life” according to the Daily Mail.

The paper says a survey of more than 4,000 people in 100 countries ranked Britain bottom of places to live.

The Times says that Andy Warhol’s phrase, coined in 1968, that everyone had the ability to achieve “15 minutes of fame”, is truly out of date.

It reports on a study in the journal Science that says people are becoming famous younger and quicker – but for a shorter length of time.

The Daily Telegraph reports on the apparent decline in popularity of the works of author Enid Blyton.

It says she has dropped out of the top 10 of children’s books for the first time in decades because “youngsters cannot relate to her language”.

The paper says her writings were revamped in August with phrases such as “golly”, “rather” and “awfully” being cut.

Deputy literary editor Lorna Bradbury says the truly remarkable thing is how long the books have endured.

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

Fears of fresh Ivory Coast unrest

Fire burning in street

Supporters of Alassane Ouattara had planned to march on the offices of state TV, which has praised Laurent Gbagbo

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Supporters of one of the two rival presidents in Ivory Coast say they intend to take to the streets again, a day after gun battles in the main city of Abidjan left at least 20 dead.

On Thursday Alassane Ouattara’s backers tried to march on the headquarters of state TV, but clashed with troops loyal to his rival, Laurent Gbagbo.

Each man claims to have won last month’s presidential election.

The UN Security Council has expressed deep concern over the violence.

It warned that all sides would be held accountable under international law for any attacks against civilians, as fears rose the country could slide back towards civil war.

Rival presidents

Left: Laurent Gbagbo Right: Alassane Ouattara

Laurent Gbagbo (left): 65-year-old former history teacher, southern Christian; president since 2000; backed by security forces

Alassane Ouattara (right): 68-year-old economist, northern Muslim; prime minister 1990-1993; backed by former rebels, UN, African leaders and the West

Q&A: Ivory Coast election crisis

Mr Ouattara has been staying at a hotel in Abidjan since the disputed polls.

His supporters, including his nominated prime minister Guillaume Soro, were trying to leave the hotel compound and march to the TV station on Thursday when fighting broke out.

A spokeswoman for Mr Gbagbo said 10 protesters and 10 members of the security forces had died.

Officials from Mr Ouattara’s camp put the number of dead at 30 or more.

Most of the violence was reported in Abidjan, but on Thursday afternoon it appeared to be spreading, with reports emerging of unrest elsewhere.

Former rebels from the New Forces fighters – who back Mr Ouattara – apparently tried to storm positions held by the military near the town of Tiebissou, just south of the ceasefire line agreed in 2003 to end the country’s year-long civil war.

The sides exchanged fire and civilians fled the town, reports say, but there were no confirmed casualties.

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The trouble stems from last month’s run-off election, which the Electoral Commission said Mr Ouattara won by 54% to 46%.

Mr Gbagbo refused to admit defeat, and the Constitutional Council then annulled some results from the north and declared Mr Gbagbo the winner.

The UN has about 10,000 peacekeepers in Ivory Coast; it has made it clear it wants Mr Gbagbo to stand down.

In Washington, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said a combined delegation from the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) would be in Abidjan soon “to continue to encourage President Gbagbo to step aside”.

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

Obama says Afghan effort on track

Vice-President Joseph Biden, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary ClintonMr Obama, flanked by Joseph Biden and Hillary Clinton, cited “significant progress” in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama has said the US is “on track” to achieve its goals in Afghanistan, following publication of the US annual strategy review.

The review said al-Qaeda’s leadership was at its weakest since 2001.

And it added that the US had made enough progress to start a “responsible reduction” of forces in July 2011.

“This continues to be a very difficult endeavour,” Mr Obama said. But he added that US would remain “relentless” in pursuit of al-Qaeda.

The US plans to end combat operations in 2014 and transfer responsibility for the country’s affairs to Afghans.

The White House review comes at a time when civilian casualties are at their highest since the US-led invasion of 2001. This year has also been the bloodiest for foreign troops since 2001, with the US taking the brunt of the casualties.

At the White House, Mr Obama said he wanted to remind Americans that America was in Afghanistan to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda.

Analysis

Running through both President Barack Obama’s remarks and the administration’s strategy review is a mixed and uneasy message.

There are assertions of limited progress, but also that it’s far from decisive. And, reading between the lines, the tensions that remain in this strategy are clear to see, even as Mr Obama insisted it was on track.

There is the clear military message that more time is needed, but also a recognition of the growing political pressure to show the end is in sight. And, on top of that, there is the implicit acknowledgement that success is by no means entirely in Washington’s or the West’s hands.

The review underlines that Pakistan is central to the strategy and that progress with Pakistan to eliminate extremist safe havens is vital.

It contains no outright criticism of Islamabad, but Mr Obama made clear that that progress had not come fast enough.

So, there’s likely to be a renewed focus on that relationship in the next few months, perhaps renewed pressure from Washington on Islamabad, and therefore probably further tensions too.

And there remains the difficult relationship with the government in Kabul.

“It was Afghanistan where al-Qaeda plotted the 9/11 attacks that murdered 3,000 innocent people. It was the tribal regions along the Afghan-Pakistan border from which terrorists have launched more attacks against our homeland and our allies.

“And if an even wider insurgency were to engulf Afghanistan, that would give al-Qaeda even more space to plan these attacks.”

He said al-Qaeda’s leadership was “hunkered down”, but said it would continue to take time to defeat an enemy he described as “ruthless and resilient”.

Mr Obama spoke hours after the White House released a five-page summary of a review of the war strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The review by White House national security staff said al-Qaeda’s senior leadership, based in Pakistan, was weaker and under more pressure than at any other point since it fled Afghanistan in 2001 following the initial US invasion.

It said Washington is “laying the foundation for a strategic partnership [with Pakistan] based on mutual respect and trust” and said Pakistan had made progress in tackling al-Qaeda’s “safe havens” but admitted the alliance remains “uneven”.

The review continued: “In Afghanistan, the momentum achieved by the Taliban in recent years has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in some key areas, although these gains remain fragile and reversible.

“While the strategy is showing progress across all three assessed areas of al-Qaeda, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable.”

BBC correspondents say the bigger picture is of an insurgency fighting to the death in Helmand and Kandahar and expanding in places like Ghazni and Kunduz.

The review comes as Americans’ patience with the war in Afghanistan appears to be waning. According to a new poll by ABC news and the Washington Post, 60% of Americans say the war has not been worth fighting. That is up seven points just since July.

Meanwhile, 14 people – many reportedly members of a family travelling to a wedding – were killed when a roadside bomb struck. A national security officer attributed the attack to the Taliban.

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

US Democrats drop spending bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry ReidSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would seek to extend funding on a temporary basis instead
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Democrats have dropped a government spending bill in the US Senate combining close to $1.3tn (£831bn) of unfinished budget proposals.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said lawmakers would instead work to extend funding on a temporary basis.

Democrats had hoped to pass the 1,924-page bill, which would have funded everything from national defence to scientific research, before January.

The move is being seen as a chance for Republicans to enact big spending cuts.

The measure was introduced earlier this week and would have set funding levels for government programmes until 30 September 2011 – the end of the fiscal year.

Mr Reid gave up efforts to pass it after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and eight other Republicans decided not to back the measure.

The Republican backing probably would have provided enough votes for the bill – which contained more than 6,700 smaller projects, known as earmarks – to pass.

Mr McConnell said he could not believe Democrats would try to pass legislation that typically would take months to debate in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday.

Mr Reid said he would work with Republicans to produce a funding bill to keep the federal government running into the beginning of 2011.

The move reflects the power the Republicans gained in November’s mid-term elections, when they won control of the House as well as extra Senate seats.

Congress is also being pushed to pass a compromise tax cut deal backed by President Barack Obama, and a nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

Time is running out to get legislation passed during the lame duck session of Congress, which refers to the time between November’s congressional elections and the January start of the new Congress.

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

Call to end police chief bonuses

Police lamp
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A chief constable has backed calls for an end to bonuses for senior officers.

Surrey’s top officer Mark Rowley said he supported the view of his police authority chairman Peter Williams that the annual payments should be scrapped.

Mr Rowley will turn down his bonus, saying they are inappropriate in the current financial climate and can harm the credibility of senior officers.

Police chiefs are eligible for annual bonus payments of up to 15% at the discretion of their police authority.

Mr Rowley will tell a police authority meeting on Friday that he and the force’s three other chief officers will refuse to take their annual bonus.

Mr Williams said: “Surrey Police has excellent leaders and I welcome their decision to turn down the quite substantial bonuses to which they are entitled.”

He added: “Police authorities are required by law to participate in the national bonus scheme and offer bonuses to chief officers when their performance exceeds expectations.

“Indeed we are required to consider making such payments even when the officers themselves have made it clear that they will not accept them.

“It is my hope that the national review into police pay that is currently under way will see this system of bonus payments for chief officers come to an end.”

Mr Rowley has been Surrey’s chief constable for nearly three years and in that time falling crime figures and increasing public confidence have seen him offered the maximum bonus, and turn it down both times.

He said: “I run Surrey Police in the best interests of the public, irrespective of financial incentives.

“By declining any bonuses I maintain my credible impartiality. The current financial climate makes this doubly invidious.”

The head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Sir Hugh Orde, has described bonuses as an “anathema to policing”.

Police chiefs refusing their bonuses include of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Stephenson.

Earlier this year Sue Sim, chief constable of the Northumbria force widely criticised for its handling of the case of fugitive gunman Raoul Moat, accepted a bonus of more than £33,000.

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

Japanese knife attack injures 13

Map
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Japanese police have arrested a man after a knife attack outside a train station that left at least 13 people injured.

The man boarded two buses and attacked passengers – who were predominantly school children – in the city of Toride, some 40km (25 miles) north-east of Tokyo, reports say.

Four people were stabbed, and others were injured as they fled, police say.

The 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

One of the victims would need to remain in hospital for several weeks, while the others were not seriously injured, said a spokesman for the local fire department.

Correspondents say the attack has brought back memories of an incident in central Tokyo in 2008, in which a man armed with a knife killed seven people.

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