Mexico ‘peace caravan’ reaches US

Protesters in El Paso, Texas hold a banner saying "We are tired of your war" (11 June 2011)Marchers carried signs saying “we are tired of your war” and “we want peace”

A “peace caravan” which has spent a week travelling through Mexico to protest against drugs-related violence has crossed the border in the US.

Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, who led the convoy, said the US bore a “grave responsibility” for failing to tackle the drugs crisis.

He told supporters in El Paso, Texas that US citizens who used drugs were also partly to blame for the violence.

Mexico’s drugs gangs are battling for control of the lucrative US market.

Mr Sicilia and his convoy of about 20 coaches began their 2,500km (1,550 miles) journey in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, last week and have criss-crossed the country.

They arrived in the Ciudad Juarez, close to the US border, on Friday before moving across the border.

Ciudad Juarez has become the frontline of Mexico’s drug war, with about 3,100 violent drugs-related deaths in 2010.

“Americans have to realise that behind every puff of pot, every line of coke there is death, there are shattered families”

Javier Sicilia

Mr Sicilian, whose son was killed by a suspected drug gang hit-man in March, told crowds gathered in El Paso the US “must admit their responsibility in the violence in Mexico”.

He repeated his call that the US should end its Merida Initiative, which trains and supports the Mexican army in its war against drug traffickers.

“The US has a grave responsibility in all this, when its citizens remain silent, they are imposing war on us,” said Mr Sicilian.

He called on people in the US to put more pressure on officials to end the violence, but added that individuals also had a role to play in reducing the demand for narcotics.

“Americans have to realise that behind every puff of pot, every line of coke there is death, there are shattered families.”

Nearly 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon deployed the army in the fight against the cartels in 2006.

Mr Sicilia wants Mexico’s army to be withdrawn from the streets and for the more to be done to prosecute drug cartel members and seize their assets.

But Mr Calderon has said pulling the army out is not an option.

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Turkish voters due to go to polls

AKP supporters at rally. 11 June 2011The AKP wants to redraw Turkey’s military-drafted constitution
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Polls open soon in Turkey with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) seeking a third term in office.

After eight years in power, the AKP hopes for two-thirds of the seats in parliament to make promised amendments to the constitution.

The main challenger is the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP).

It is fielding a large number of younger candidates in an attempt to improve its appeal.

The conservative AKP, which has Islamist roots, has presided over strong economic growth and a more assertive foreign policy during its eight years in power.

It has also seen unemployment fall – down to 11.5% in March from 14.4% in the same period last year.

The AKP has put its impressive economic record at the centre of its campaign, promising an ambitious programme of new construction if elected.

Projects include a canal from the Black Sea to the Aegean, a new city outside Istanbul and new bridges, airports and hospitals.

BBC graphic

The BBC’s Jonathan Head in Istanbul says the party is relying heavily on the charisma of Mr Erdogan, who has proved a vote-winner in the past.

However he is facing a strong challenge from the CHP, which has not been in government for more than 30 years.

Under its new leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the party has ditched its image as a supporter of state and military intervention in politics, and is presenting itself as a champion of European social democratic values.

Campaigning has been intense and at times bad-tempered with party leaders trading insults.

Mr Erdogan has promised to draw up a new constitution if re-elected to replace the current military-drafted one.

If he can win a two-thirds majority in parliament he will be able to do this without consulting the opposition or the public – giving him a decisive influence over the future direction of Turkish democracy.

Turkey is a member of Nato and is a candidate for membership of the European Union.

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Man, 73, charged with wife murder

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A 74-year-old man is still being held by police on suspicion of the murder of his wife.

Shirley Rumbold, 73, was found on Thursday in the bungalow she shared with her husband Keith in Prestatyn, Denbighshire.

An inquest has been opened by acting coroner John Gittins and a post-mortem examination conducted by Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers.

North Wales Police said they were not seeking anyone else over the death.

The provisional cause of death has been given as asphyxia due to external compression of the neck and external airway occlusion.

Det Chief Insp Iestyn Davies said: “The husband of the deceased was detained at the scene on suspicion of murder.

“We are not seeking anyone else in relation to this investigation.”

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Volunteers move in to clear up ski slopes

Skiers at Glenshee ski centreThe early winter snowfall increased visitor numbers at Scottish ski centres
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Volunteers will gather at Scotland’s ski centres later to help clean up litter left on the slopes by mountain users.

The Big Spring Clean event, organised by the Ski Club of Great Britain, is now in its fourth year.

It has been extended this year to cover Glenshee, as well as the CairnGorm Mountain and the Nevis Range.

The early heavy snowfall last November helped boost the numbers taking to Scottish slopes.

CairnGorm Mountain reported its second good season in a row, with more than 120,000 skiers and snowboarders.

The Ski Club works with resorts to ensure volunteers cover areas most frequented by winter users.

Club spokeswoman Emma Bebb said: “As part of our ongoing Respect the Mountain campaign we wanted to increase awareness of the environmental issues faced by resorts at the end of the season.”

“Extending the Big Spring Clean to Glenshee is a positive step to spread that message even further and the clear up operation really does help the resorts tackle the problem of winter waste.”

Last year 122 helpers turned out to gather up litter at CairnGorm and the Nevis Range with a total of 60 bags of rubbish collected.

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Meeting urged over energy bills

Gas flamesScottish Power’s price increases are expected to affect 2.4 million customers across the UK
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Finance Secretary John Swinney has called for an urgent meeting with Scottish Power over energy price hikes.

The utility firm announced last week that it was raising the cost of gas by 19% and the cost of electricity by 10%.

The move is expected to affect 2.4 million households in the UK.

Mr Swinney has also urged energy regulator Ofgem to bring forward action to protect vulnerable customers and make the energy market more transparent.

A spokesman for Scottish Power said the company always co-operated with parliamentary requests and looked forward to the meeting with Mr Swinney.

The company is blaming a sharp rise in the wholesale cost of gas for the price increases, which are due to come into effect in August.

The Scottish government has estimated that if Scottish Power’s price increases were replicated by other suppliers, more than 900,000 households would be in fuel poverty.

Mr Swinney said: “I am deeply concerned at the scale of Scottish Power’s price increases and I am seeking an urgent meeting to hear why they think increases of this scale are justified.

“Any fuel price rises have an impact, yet these increases will leave many households, in particular vulnerable consumers, in real, real difficulty.”

The finance secretary said the Scottish government was only able to do so much to mitigate price rises, and confirmed he had asked Ofgem to update the government on its actions to address the issue.

He added: “These latest price shocks yet again underline why it is vital to go faster and further to secure our future as a green energy powerhouse and source all of our electricity needs from renewables by 2020, creating a secure, diverse future energy mix.”

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Deadly blasts at Pakistan market

Map of Pakistan

At least 15 people have been killed after two explosions ripped through a market in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police have said.

Officers said they were investigating the cause of the blasts, which also wounded more than 40 people.

The number of attacks by militants in Pakistan has risen sharply since al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US commando raid last month.

On Thursday, a bombing on the outskirts of Peshawar left four people dead.

An explosive device was planted in a pile of rubbish by the roadside in the Matani area, police said. The victims included a woman and a child.

A senior police official in Peshawar, Dost Mohammed, told the Associated Press that there had been a small blast at a market area in the city just after midnight local time, drawing rescue workers and police to the scene.

Minutes later, a large explosion rocked the area, causing the fatalities.

Mr Mohammed said initial reports suggested the second blast was caused by explosives hidden in a vehicle and detonated by remote.

The source of the first explosion was still unknown, he added.

The explosions occurred across the street from the offices of the top political agent to Khyber, part of Pakistan’s volatile tribal region, according to AP. There is also housing for soldiers nearby.

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Syrian refugees mount in Turkey

Syrian displaced in Red Crescent camp in Altinozu, TurkeyTurkey says it might need international help if the crisis gets worse

At least 4,300 people have now fled violence in Syria to seek refuge in Turkey, a senior Turkish official says.

A BBC correspondent on the border says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher.

The Syrians have mainly been fleeing the town of Jisr al-Shughour, targeted in a government crackdown.

An eyewitness described a tank attack on a nearby village on Friday morning, in which people were killed and crops destroyed.

Syria’s government says its forces went into the town to restore order after the deaths of 120 security personnel.

Clashes throughout the country on Friday led to the deaths of at least 32 people.

Hundreds of people have been killed in a crackdown in recent weeks on anti-government protests, which began in March.

Analysis

An eyewitness to some of the events in north-west Syria on Friday said that Syrian troops used tanks to attack a village near Jisr al-Shughour.

He said the attack began at six in the morning when people were still in their beds. He said his village is 4km from Jisr al-Shughour and lies high on a hillside. The attack he saw was on the village beneath his own.

Forty tanks, he said, went into the village. They were surrounded by soldiers holding guns. The tanks fired at the houses and he said people were killed but he couldn’t say how many. He said the soldiers then burnt the wheat crops around the village and ripped up the olive groves.

Thinking his village would be next, he decided to flee and with his wife, 10 children and four horses. He walked to Turkey. The journey took four hours and he says he left his family on the Syrian side of the border while he sees whether it will be possible to move the horses into Turkey.

Meanwhile the US White House strongly condemned Syria’s “outrageous use of violence” against the protesters and called for an “immediate end” to the violence.

The BBC’s Owen Bennett Jones, in Guvecci on the Turkish-Syrian border, says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher than official total because many have slipped across the border unnoticed by the Turkish army.

Senior Foreign Ministry official Halit Cevik said Turkey would deal with the crisis as best it could.

“If they are coming, this is a humanitarian issue,” he said. “We will do whatever is needed within our means.”

He added that while Turkey could cope with the crisis at the moment, it might need international help if things got worse.

But Mr Cevik said that the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, would not be involved.

The Syrians involved were not seeking refuge in Turkey, he said, as their eventual aim was to go back home.

Soldier kicking prisoner

Unverified amateur video appears to show Syrian soldiers kicking prisoners.

Some of those arriving at temporary camps across the border inside Turkey have serious gunshot injuries, including a Syrian Red Crescent worker who said he was shot in the back as he tried to help the injured in Jisr al-Shughour.

Both state media and activists on the ground have reported troops and tanks advancing on the town. Most residents are believed to have abandoned it.

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The government blamed “armed groups” for the deaths of 120 security personnel in Jisr al-Shughour earlier this week, but some reports said the troops were shot after a mutiny.

Syrian TV said troops had reached the outskirts of the town after securing nearby villages, and that they had killed or captured a number of armed men.

Activists said they had blasted the town with tank fire, but it is unclear how much resistance the troops are facing in an area whose population has largely fled.

Witnesses said troops had been bulldozing homes and torching crops and fields.

Our correspondent says that with all this going on it is inevitable that the exodus into Turkey will continue.

Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there.

Turkey has also so far denied journalists access to displaced Syrians, but Mr Cevik said that when “all is in order” access would be given.

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Lewd photos US politician ‘seeks help’

Anthony Weiner in New York. 11 June 2011Anthony Weiner admitted sending photos “of an explicit nature” to several women
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Senior US Democrats have called for the resignation of a New York congressman who admitted sending lewd photos of himself to women.

National party chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said Anthony Weiner’s behaviour was “indefensible”.

Mr Weiner has admitted “inappropriate” communications including sending a photo of his crotch to an admirer.

He has been regarded as a rising star in the Democratic Party and a strong candidate for New York mayor in 2013.

Mr Weiner has previously said he will not resign over the scandal.

Ms Wasserman Schultz said the “sordid affair” had become an “unacceptable distraction”.

“It is with great disappointment that I call on Representative Anthony Weiner to resign,” she said in a statement.

“The behaviour he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner’s continued service in Congress is untenable.”

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, said Mr Weiner had recognised that he “needs help”.

“I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a member of Congress,” she said.

Congressman Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, also called for Mr Weiner to go, saying: “With a heavy heart, I call on Anthony to resign.”

Mr Weiner, who is married, originally claimed that someone had hacked into his Twitter account to post a photo of a man’s crotch in grey underpants.

However, he later admitted to online flirtations in an emotional press conference.

He said he had exchanged messages and photos “of an explicit nature” with about six women over three years.

On Friday he acknowledged that he had made online contact with a 17-year-old girl but said nothing inappropriate had taken place.

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Man, 31, dies in diving incident

A 31-year-old man has died in hospital after diving off the coast of Methil in Fife.

The alarm was raised shortly before 1430 BST by diving crew on board the Rob Roy.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the unconscious man was found and pulled from the water by two divers from a nearby catamaran.

He was then transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by an RAF helicopter, but died a short time later.

The MCA said the man got into trouble at the start of the diving expedition.

It said the man had gone into the sea but that his fellow divers had not seen bubbles rising in the water as would be expected.

They alerted the coastguard, which requested the rescue helicopter from RAF Boulmer to scramble.

Bob Abercrombie, Forth Coastguard watch manager said: “The dive boat contacted us as soon as they realised that their diver was in difficulty, so we were able to get lifeboats and a helicopter to them rapidly to assist the man.”

Fife Police has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the man’s death.

A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

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Man dies after crash near Antrim

A man has died following a road accident in Dunadry, near Antrim.

Alan Nesbitt, 55, from the Antrim area, died after three vehicles were involved in a collision on the Dunadry Road on Saturday morning.

Three people were taken to hospital for treament to their injuries. They have since been released.

Police have advised motorists of delays and asked them to seek alternative routes.

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