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Sudan Planes sow terror in Nuba elds

International, page 3

W Water Our global Ou Ponzi scheme Po

Re Review, page 25

Incorporating material from the Observer, Le Monde and the Washington Post

27

A week in the life of the world | 8-14 July 2011

Sell, sell, sell: Europes re sale

Airlines, airports and utility rms on block Lottery to be worlds biggest gambling rm
Guardian reporters
Across Europe, nations are in need of cash. Theres one obvious source, the family silver national assets, built often over generations, that could be snapped up by the private sector. The most ambitious sell-o is in Europes most indebted nation: Athens plans to sell 50bn ($72bn) of state assets by 2015. Looking at the sales list, it seems that very little has been left o. The governments stakes in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, 39 airports, a state lottery, a horse-racing concession, a casino, a national post oce, two water companies, a nickel miner and smelter, hundreds of kilometres of roads, a telecoms operator, shares in two banks, electricity and gas monopolies and thousands of hectares of land, including coastal stretches, are among the host of assets on oer. While a 50% stake in Athens international airport is probably the bestknown asset on the block, when it comes to sheer beauty the Anavyssos saltworks could prove dicult to beat. The saltworks, an hour south of Athens, shut down in 1969, and is situated on 2.5km of beach. However experts say the country will struggle to raise the hoped-for 50bn because investors are wary of the countrys bureaucracy, strong unions, corruption and lack of transparency. Barely a year ago, Greece itself

Everything must go ... many European countries are ogging national assets to escape debt Corbis estimated that privatisation could raise, at best, 1bn to 2bn a year. Portugal is also in stark need of money after accepting a 78bn bailout. Last week the newly elected centre-right prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, announced a rush sale of state holdings in the utility company Energias de Portugal and the power-grid operator REN by October. Passos Coelho recently told the Financial Times that he wanted to sell o up to 49% of water utilities as well as several state media interests, plus the national news agency Lusa. The state airline TAP and the airport owner ANA which runs airports in Lisbon, Faro, Oporto and the Azores are also due to be sold along with the insurance business of the state-run bank CGD, although the government had not given a time frame. Portugal will also be selling o real estate belonging to its civil governors oces, which are being scrapped. Spain is not as badly indebted as other European countries, but bond yields have soared and its socialist government, led by Jos Luis Rodrguez Zapatero, has set strict decit targets to avoid the fate of its southern European neighbours. The worlds biggest annual lottery payout, Spains famous Christmas El Gordo (Fat One) is to be partially sold. The 151-year-old El Gordo will become what may be the worlds biggest listed gambling company, valued at up to 25bn. The company recorded 3bn net profit in 2009 on sales of 9.8bn meaning the sell-o will reduce treasury income by about 1bn a year. British bank RBS recently won a contract to run the privatisation of up to 49% of Spains airports authority, AENA, which has a book value of 2.6bn. The government also plans to auction off Continued on page 2

Abu Dhabi AED10 Bahrain BHD1.25 *Cyprus 2.30 Czech Rep KC100 Denmark DKK26 Dubai AED10 Egypt EGP15 Hong Kong HKD35 Hungary HUF650 Iceland ISK500 *Republic of Ireland 2.25 Japan JPY600 Jordan JOD2 Kenya KSH220 Kuwait KWD1 Lebanon LBP4000 *Malta 1.95 Mauritius MR139 Morocco MAD25 Norway NOK35 Oman OMR1.25 Pakistan PKR200 Poland PLN9.50 Qatar QAR10 Romania ROL25.50 Saudi Arabia SAR11 Singapore SGD5.50 Sweden SEK37 Switzerland CHF6.20 Syria SYP145 Thailand THB250 Turkey TRY6.00

2 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

News
Sell, sell, sell: Europes re sale
Continued from page 1 Madrids Barajas airport and Barcelonas El Prat by the end of the year. In Britain, the government is in the process of selling off the 49% state stake in the air trac control service Nats. It has also put on the block decommissioned naval ships and its collection of ne wine. In the March budget the chancellor, George Osborne, set a target of raising 2bn ($3.2bn) from asset sales to nance a green investment bank. The bulk of that is coming from the sale of its remaining stake in Nats and the Tote, the government-owned bookmakers. The private bookmakers Betfred have been chosen to buy the Tote for a reported price of 200m. Ministers will decide this summer whether to proceed with the sale of the student loan book and in the March budget, the Treasury indicated that plans for a new Public Data Corporation would involve selling public data to the private sector. Plans in the budget to sell o government buildings have been stymied by the poor property market and many departments are opting to sweat their assets instead by squeezing more people into the buildings to get out of expensive leases elsewhere. But plans to sell off as much as 150,000 hectares of woodland in England in the biggest sale of public land for nearly 60 years were conrmed by MPs in October last year. The U-turn after a huge groundswell of public opposition came in February. In Ireland, while in theory the national airline, ports, power stations and even the Irish National Stud face being broken up or sold o under plans to get the country out of the red, theres doubt about many of the plans. A government-commissioned review of state assets in April said privatisation could raise about 5bn. Energy suppliers, transport and sporting assets, including Rosslare port, Dublin Bus and the governments 25% stake in Aer Lingus, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, were earmarked for divestment. However, the plans could end up in the shredder. The report was attacked in parliament and the government agreed there would be no re sale of assets and certainly no sale until market conditions improve. Joe Higgins, a Socialist member of parliament, branded the privatisation blueprint a neoliberal hucksters deal which will involve pawning the assets of the people to pay o moneylenders. Top of the governments wish list is the sale of its stakes in the ve bailedout banks, but until they emerge from the wreckage, buyers are unlikely to be found.
Greek plan seen as default, page 17

World roundup
Africa

Dozens killed in attacks in Nigerias north-east

Security forces in northern Nigeria this week were hunting for the perpetrators of a spate of bombings that left at least 30 people dead, including two girls killed at a customs post and 25 people killed by bombs tossed into a crowded beer garden. Suspicion fell on the shadowy sect Boko Haram, which wants Sharia law in the region.

Tanzania bows to park fear

Controversial plans by the Tanzanian government to build a road through Serengeti national park have been diluted following pressure from environmentalists and Unesco. The road will now be unpaved, with rangers controlling trafc with gates to avoid disturbing the annual migration of wildebeest.
Targeted rhinos are being massacred by South African poachers Jon Hicks/Corbis

Sulphur masking warming

An increase in coal-red power stations in China has masked the impact of global warming in the last decade because of the cooling effect of sulphur emissions, research shows. Scientists warn that rapid warming is likely to resume when the sulphur pollution is cleaned up.

Exxon pipeline ruptures

An Exxon Mobil pipeline under the Yellowstone river in Montana ruptured last Saturday, causing a 40km plume that fouled the riverbank. Up to 160,000 litres of oil escaped.

Rhino poaching grows

Poachers killed 193 rhinos in South Africa in the rst half of the year, with most lost at Kruger national park, where 126 died. WWF said more rhinos could die this year than in 2010, when a record 333 were killed in South Africa.

Europe

Aung San Suu Kyi warned

Burmas government has warned Aung San Suu Kyi her plans to meet supporters on a national tour could trigger violence. The junta also reminded her National League for Democracy that it remains banned.

Taliban free TV journalists

Two French television journalists, Herv Ghesquire and Stphane Taponier, held hostage in Afghanistan by the Taliban since December 2009 have been freed.

Asia/Pacic

German care faces crisis

Hospitals and care homes in Germany say they are facing stang crises following a drastic fall in volunteer numbers with the abolition of military conscription and the alternative community service for conscientious objectors on 1 July.

Treasure trove in Kerala

Investigators plan to pry open the nal vault hidden beneath a 16thcentury Hindu temple in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala state, where experts have entered ve of six vaults holding up to $20bn worth of gold and jewels.

Malaysian T-shirt swoop

Malaysian police have detained 14 opposition activists for wearing T-shirts promoting a planned rally against alleged electoral abuses in Kuala Lumpur on 9 July.

Beijings record bridge

China has claimed another worldbeater with the opening of the longest sea bridge. The 42km Jiaozhou Bay crossing connects the port city of Qingdao, south-east of Beijing, to the industrial district of Huangdao.

Americas

Middle East

Drug execution curb

The Danish drugs company Lundbeck will demand that US distributors sign an agreement stating that they will not make pentobarbital available for prison executions.

Female drivers detained

At least ve Saudi women have been arrested after defying a ban on women drivers, an activist said, after two weeks of well-publicised deance of the ban.

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The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 3

International news

Passing the parcel The US system of nuclear waste disposal is a farce Review, page 30

Khartoums planes sow terror as 70,000 ee to Nuba mountains

Region at Arab-African cultural border in crisis after disputed election
Matteo Fagotto Nuba mountains
Fourteen-year-old Jacomo Tia Jibril was washing clothes at the village borehole when he heard the plane overhead. I started running, he says. He tried to take shelter in a brick factory, but the bomb exploded before he could get inside. From his hospital bed in the Nuba mountains, Jibril is surprisingly calm as he recounts the day his village, Tes, was bombed by the Sudanese government. During the explosion he was struck by shrapnel on his left forearm and, when he reached the hospital 18 hours later, he was told his left hand had to be amputated. Just a few beds away, seven-yearold Viviana Issa lies lifeless, her upper back covered by a white bandage. Hit in the spine by a bomb fragment, she is paralysed from the chest down. I dont know what to do with this girl, says Tom Catena, the only doctor in the hospital. Since I came here three years and a half ago, this is the worst situation Ive ever been in. Around him, beds are full with some of the 130 people injured by the recent attacks by government planes in the Nuba mountains, which lie towards the southern edge of Sudans Arabised north. Clashes between government forces and opposition ghters in the region have displaced more than 70,000 people in less than a month. The injured come from towns such as Kurchi, Dalami, Umsardiba and Kauda, strongholds of the Nuba resistance to the northern Sudan government led by President Hassan Omar al-Bashir. From these secluded hills, Nubians spent 20 years ghting alongside the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) of southern Sudan against an Arab-led government whose policies were seen as discriminatory towards native Africans. But while south Sudan is preparing to celebrate independence, the Nuba mountains are experiencing yet another bloody chapter in this neverending crisis. Tensions ared up on 5 June after a controversial election for state governor. Amid claims of voterigging, Ahmed Haroun, candidate of Bashirs ruling National Congress party, who is wanted, like his president, by the international criminal court for alleged war crimes, narrowly defeated Abdul Aziz Adam al-Hilu, of the Southern SPLM party, the rebel armys political wing. Khartoum then ordered the Nuba rebels to give up their weapons and integrate into the Sudanese army. Clashes soon erupted. Government forces eventually took control of the state capital, Kadugli, prompting opposition fighters to retreat. Thousands of civilians ed, fearing reprisals. It took me three days to get to Kauda. I had to walk through the mountains to avoid the checkpoints manned by the Sudanese forces, says a 46-year-old carpenter, who asked not to be named. He says Khartoums forces have conned civilians to three places in the city. They plan to use them as human shields in case of an SPLA attack. In Kauda, headquarters of the Nuba SPLA, schools are closed and the market is almost deserted. People ed up the surrounding hills and come down early in the morning just to buy something, says Abil Abraham, 25, who keeps a small stand of vegetables. Government troops control just a few main population centres such as Kadugli, Delling and Talodi, but civilian areas are being bombed every day. Fields have been left unattended by tens of thousands of displaced persons who ed the warzone. If they do not get back to work soon, todays war might turn into next years famine. Fawzya Osman, 18, from the village of Kapuo, is among the few defying the bombs to work on her small plot of land. Just a few days ago, she saw a friend killed by a bomb. It was so shocking, I couldnt think or speak properly for two days, she says. Just outside the village, dozens of children emerge from hideouts in the rocks to see the foreign visitors. Their parents venture out to their elds during the day and come up the mountain twice a day to hand them food. Sixty-year-old Hussein Ngalokuri, traditional leader of the Otoro tribe, says the situation deteriorated after independence, when Khartoum started a programme of forced Islamisation and Arabisation of Nubians. Land was confiscated and given to Arabs and local languages were forbidden in schools. Reaching an agreement with the Khartoum regime is impossible, says a 35-year-old former SPLA ghter, Solomon Osman Lonna. Even if they talk about peace, they will send more troops. They have always done it and will keep on doing it.

Haven children of displaced Nubian families shelter in the hills Phil Moore

Disillusioned Nubians prepared to ght on

As southern Sudan prepares for independence on Saturday, residents of the Nuba mountains near the new border are pushing for a breakaway state rather than aliation with the north or south. Conict in the area bodes ill for the stability of Sudan after partition. There is no way for me to be part of the north any more, said 35-year-old Yohanes Mudier. I havent fought for so many years just to fall under the same government again. I am part of the SPLA, but I feel I have been left behind. Nubians are divided between those who want complete independence, and those who still support the SPLM/A, but are united in their determination to control their own destiny. One Nubian SPLM MP said: We would rather take our weapons again to achieve a just peace, than settle for the current situation. His opinion is shared by Mudier: If the south does not help us, we will have to ght the northern regime to the last man, he said. Maybe only our grandchildren will see that day. MT

4 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

East African drought

Creeping disaster prompts aid blitz

Chronic problem of food decit requires a long-term strategy
Xan Rice Nairobi Liz Ford
Aid agencies have launched multimillion-dollar appeals to address a mounting humanitarian emergency in east Africa, where severe drought and high food prices have left millions of people requiring assistance. Two successive failed rainy seasons in 12 months have led to the driest year since 1951 in some pastoralist regions of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda. Hunger levels have jumped sharply, with rates of severe malnutrition rising as high as ve times the emergency threshold. The drought has also decimated livestock, while cereal prices have soared. Oxfam launched its biggest-ever appeal for Africa on Monday, seeking $80m to help 3 million people. Christian Aid has also launched an appeal, as did Save the Children. The British government announced that it was giving $61m in emergency food aid to Ethiopia, following a warning from Josette Sheeran, the World Food Programme executive director, that desperate hunger loomed across the Horn, threatening the lives of millions. The latest creeping disaster, as the WFP calls it, threatens to eclipse other recent food emergencies in the region caused by failed rains as well as poor planning by governments and, in Somalias case, conict. This has all the makings of a really severe drought, said Stephen Gwynne-Vaughan, CAREs director in Kenya.The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) predicts that around 10 million people in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti will face chronic shortages and be in need of humanitarian assistance. Despite the aid, however, the shortterm emergency relief work has to be backed up with longer-term strategies to enable people in these regions to cope when shocks such as drought and failed harvests occur, says Nigel Harris, CEO of the NGO Farm-Africa. Our role is longer-term development partners, but we know that in this situation you need short and longterm solutions, says Harris. Emergency providers are vital... but this cant be a permanent solution. Changes to weather patterns in recent years have meant many farmers in east Africa are increasingly unable to predict when, or if, the rainy season will begin, and when the rains do come, whether there will be too little or too much rainfall either way can have devastating consequences. Farmers have to be supported to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, says Harris. Farm-Africa is working with communities in Kenya to advise on which crops to plant, for example, encouraging farmers to move away from maize, which doesnt grow well with too little or too much water, to millet, sorghum or pigeon peas, which are more resilient. It is encouraging schools to install rain harvesting tanks

Threatening the lives of millions ... at Kenyas Dadaab camp Getty Images and repair existing water sources. The NGO is also introducing drip irrigation schemes in Ethiopia to ensure water is better directed to the root of the crop to avoid the loss of excess water. But, as Claire Hancock, Tearfunds disaster management project ocer for east and central Africa, says: You cant forget this is sub-Saharan Africa, which is a challenging environment and this is going to keep happening for some of these people. And with climate change this is going to happen more frequently and will be worse each time. As well as two successive bad harvests in the region, food price rises and climate change, Hancock says it is important to look at the wider issues such as access to markets, and soil erosion and land tenure which, if addressed, could make farmers more food secure. Tearfund works in many communities where farmers and pastoralists do not have sucient access to land or land tenure and some Tearfund partners in some countries are lobbying for this to change. The NGO is joining a growing number of organisations pushing for an international commitment to address climate change concerns, but it is also encouraging its partners on the ground to press national governments to address the particular concerns of the communities in which they work.

Crisis in the Horn has many causes

Felicity Lawrence
Prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa is the immediate cause of the severe food crisis there. Rains have failed over two seasons, with a strong La Nia event having a dramatic impact across the east coast of Africa. Now this years wet season has ocially ended, there is little prospect of rain or relief before September. How far the current conditions, classied by the UN as pre-famine one step down from catastrophe can be attributed to climate change is not clear. The last intergovernment panel on climate change report suggested that the Horn of Africa would get wetter with climate change, while more recent academic research has concluded that global warming will increase drought in the region. However, according to aid agencies, the weather has become more erratic and extreme in recent years. The same area suered a drought in 2006 as well as ash oods. The structural causes of the crisis go deeper. The Horn of Africa has long been one of the most conict-riven areas of the world and a focus of geopolitical struggles from the days of the British empire, through the cold war, to todays the war on terror. Its strategic position at the opening to the Red Sea and its oil and mineral interests have attracted foreign powers for over 150 years, as Alex de Waal, programme director at the Social Science Research Council, points out. In 2007, the US launched air strikes against suspected al-Qaida cells in Somalia, and its fear that funds could be diverted to terrorist hands has seen the US cut food aid to the area. Northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia have been home to ethnic Somalis for generations, but the populations are marginalised by central governments. The protracted war in Somalia has driven more than 20,000 more Somalis into Kenya in the past two weeks, says the UNHCR. Thousands have also ed drought and ghting in southern Somalia into the equally water-starved border areas of Ethiopia. The Kenyan government has periodically tried to close its border, although it is now open with 1,200-1,550 refugees a day crossing, according to some reports. They are being drawn to the refugee camp complex at Dadaab, built in 1991 at the beginning of Somalias civil war. It has a maximum capacity of 90,000 but is now overwhelmed by in excess of 370,000 people. The World Food Programme has been feeding 4.3 million people in Ethiopia, but had to reduce rations in March as funding ran out. In Kenya, it and the Kenyan government are giving food aid to 2.4 million people.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 5

International news

Thai army accepts pro-Thaksin victory

Military stands aside as Puea Thai party reaches coalition agreement
Tania Branigan Bangkok
Thailands outgoing defence minister has said the army will not intervene after supporters of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra swept to another resounding general election victory. Thaksins younger sister Yingluck, who fronts the Puea Thai party, announced she had reached a coalition deal with four minor parties giving the new government 299 seats. Puea Thai won an absolute majority with 264 seats in the 500-seat parliament, according to preliminary election commission results that could still shift somewhat. But by moving fast to cement its triumph with outside support, it has made it harder for opponents to intervene. It paves the way for Yingluck to become the countrys rst female prime minister. Thaksin was toppled by a military coup in 2006 and lives in Dubai as a fugitive due to an abuse of power conviction that he says was politically motivated. His Thai Rak Thai party and its successor were disbanded and many of their leaders banned from politics yet he continued to command huge popular support, as the landslide showed. Puea Thai campaigned on the promise: Thaksin thinks Puea Thai does. Yingluck said her rst task was the roadmap to reconciliation after years of unrest. She also cited the need to tackle high prices, improve international relations and curb corruption. The outgoing Democrat prime minknow they made a mess of it. They are going to be very reluctant to make a move that puts them in the public eye in politics. They are going to pull the strings of the [anti-Thaksin, conservative and monarchist] yellowshirts and that sort of thing. I think we are more likely to see a formula of street demonstrations and judicial action [than coups]. Activist and former senator Jon Ungpakorn believed the scale of the Puea Thai win should oer protection against a coup even in the long term. Im not so concerned about the army now and more that the [anti-Thaksin] Peoples Alliance for Democracy and ultra-nationalist and monarchist sections of society may cause trouble. He predicted attempts to disband the party, perhaps because of the involvement of Thaksin, who is banned from political activity in Thailand. Democrats have made it clear that they will challenge Puea Thais wins in particular constituencies on legal grounds, but the sheer number of seats Puea Thai has won means that may not have much impact on the overall outcome. Jon Ungpakorn added: At the same time we need a lively criticism of the new government and not allow Puea Thai to behave like the old Thaksin government, trying to stie political opposition and criticism. Experts say that much will also depend on how carefully Puea Thai plays its hand. It campaigned in part on an amnesty for Thaksin, but knows that bringing him back too quickly could galvanise opposition. Speaking from Dubai, Thaksin told reporters: In Thailand, things are changing. I dont think a coup detat will happen again soon.

Winner Yingluck Shinawatra will be Thailands rst female PM Getty ister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, said he would quit as party leader, though his righthand man, Surichoke Sopha, a Democrat MP, said he believed the party still wanted Abhisit. He added: I dont think this [Puea Thai] government will last long ... They will have to compromise with the ruling class and at the same time satisfy the grassroots. The country has become polarised between Thaksin supporters, particularly the rural poor and new money, and the old elites that sought to keep him from power with the support of the urban middle classes. The split became wider when more than 90 people died as the military cracked down on Thaksin-supporting protesters in the centre of Bangkok last year. While redshirt leaders were jailed over the demonstrations, the government refused to acknowledge that the army had caused any deaths. General Prawit Wongsuwan, a former army chief close to leaders involved in the ousting of Thaksin, also said the military would not intervene or stop Yingluck forming a government. I can assure you that the military has no desire to stray out of its assigned roles, he told Reuters. The army accepts the election results. Political analyst Chris Baker cautioned: They always say they have nothing to do with politics and then they keep interfering. But he added: They are obviously feeling quite sensitive after the last five years. They

Fukushima children have ingested radiation

Justin McCurry Tokyo
Trace amounts of radioactive substances have been found in urine samples taken from children from Fukushima city, raising concerns that residents have been exposed internally to radiation from the stricken nuclear power plant 60km away. Tests were done in May on 10 children, aged six to 16, by a Japanese civic group and Acro, a French body that measures radioactivity. All tested positive for caesium-134 and caesium-137. Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said he was concerned and the government would examine the results. According to the survey, 1.13 becquerels of caesium-134 per litre of urine were found in an eight-yearold girl, the highest reading for that isotope. The highest reading for caesium-137 (1.30 becquerels) came from a seven-year-old boy, Kyodo news agency said. Richard Wakeford, an expert in radiation exposure from the Dalton Institute in Manchester, said he was not surprised that caesium had been found and, given the circumstances, the levels were not particularly alarming. He said ingestion could be prevented by avoiding contaminated food, but added that produce contaminated at levels acceptable to the government would inevitably go on sale. In separate tests, radioactive caesium and iodine were found in the urine of 15 residents from two towns up to 40km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. While none had exceeded the maximum allowable dose of 20 millisieverts a year, experts voiced concern over the presence of caesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years. This wont be a problem if they dont eat vegetables or other contaminated products, Nanao Kamada, professor emeritus of radiation biology at Hiroshima University, told reporters. But it will be dicult for people to continue living in these areas.

Fire at French nuclear plant

An explosion sparked a re at a French nuclear power station last Saturday, two days after the authorities found 32 safety concerns at the plant, a 900MW water-pressurised reactor built in 1974 and operating since 1980. EDF, which runs the plant in Drme in the Rhne valley, said the incident was in an electric transformer in the non-nuclear part of the plant and had not resulted in a radiation leak. Its statement raised worries as it did not mention the explosion or cause of the blaze. Kim Willsher

6 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

International news

US told to leave drone airbase

Declan Walsh Islamabad
Pakistan has stopped US drone ights from a remote airbase in the western province of Balochistan and ordered US personnel to vacate it, the defence minister has said. We have told them to leave the Shamsi airbase, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said last week, adding that US personnel had already started to shift equipment from the base. A US embassy spokesman declined to comment, referring queries to Washington. Shamsi is located in a remote valley 560km south-west of Waziristan, where most of the CIA-directed Predator and Reaper drone strikes against alQaida and Taliban targets take place. The closure of the base is a blow to a covert programme that has killed up to 2,500 people since its inception seven years ago and forms a cornerstone of President Obamas strategy to ush alQaida from its Pakistani havens. The US insists it will press ahead with the strikes. In unusually direct comments, Obamas counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said last week that the US would continue to deliver precise and overwhelming force against al-Qaida in the tribal areas. The attacks are likely to continue from CIA bases in Afghanistan the latest took place on 20 June in Kurram tribal agency. A Pakistani military ofcial said the US had not used Shamsi for several months and was already ying drones across the border. Senior civilian officials said they closed Shamsi in retaliation for an American reduction of coalition support funds, a multibillion-dollar subsidy for Pakistani military operations. The defence minister said US forces had already vacated Ghazi airbase, 65km north-west of Islamabad.

Nato supply route blocked by Beijing

Craig Whitlock Washington Washington Post
The Obama administration quietly tried to persuade China to open a major supply route to US forces in Afghanistan, according to diplomatic cables, but Beijing rebued the idea as military relations with Washington soured. In February 2009, the state department directed the US embassy in Beijing to make a formal proposal to Chinas ministry of foreign aairs to permit the overland transit of supplies to US and Nato troops, cables obtained by WikiLeaks show. The route would have followed railroads in China before crossing into Kazakhstan, where it would have linked up with supply lines that traverse Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, according to a 10 February 2009 cable from Washington signed by Hillary Clinton. China shares a small border with Afghanistan, but the stretch lacks adequate transit links. The cable noted that China had expressed interest in co-operating with the US for delivery of non-lethal aid to Afghanistan in 2006. It also said the Pentagon was seeking only to move non-lethal items such as food, tents, blankets and construction material through China. Private commercial carriers would have been used, and no US military personnel would have been present along the route. The decision by Washington to seek help from Beijing underscored the degree to which the Pentagon wanted to reduce its reliance on Pakistan to funnel war supplies to Afghanistan. The cable noted that a new Chinese route would provide an ecient and eective alternative to increasingly unstable Pakistani land routes, and could potentially cost less than new supply lines from Europe to central Asia. A cable sent in response three days later by the US embassy in Beijing reported that Chinas ministry of foreign aairs had agreed to consider the idea but was non-committal. Deng Hongbo, deputy director of the ministrys department of North American and Oceanian aairs, welcomed the proposal and promised the Chinese side would study the idea and respond as soon as possible, the cable stated. China kept quiet about the overture for months. Then in June 2009, a Chinese ocial raised Washingtons hopes during a meeting with a US diplomat in Kazakhstan, before suspending military relations in 2010.

Precise and overwhelming force... a rally in Karachi against drones Getty

Somalia struck by US drone

The US has conducted its rst drone strike on Islamist militants in Somalia, marking the expansion of the pilotless war campaign to a sixth country. The missile strike on a vehicle in the southern town of Kismayo, reported originally as a helicopter assault, wounded two senior militants with al-Shabab and several foreign ghters, according to the Washington Post. Armed Predator and Reaper drones already operate in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, where they are controlled by the US military or the CIA. The closure of Shamsi airbase is unlikely to end the strikes. The CIA has moved its drones to bases across the border in Afghanistan, and some strikes had already taken place from there, a Pakistani military ocial said. DW

A US official in Pakistan accused the government of engaging in diplomacy by headline but refused to comment further. The spat marks another low point in Pakistan-US relations after the raid to kill Osama bin Laden on 2 May and the furore over a CIA agent, Raymond Davis, who shot dead two men in Lahore in January. Pakistans military and the ISI intelligence service have sought to restrict CIA activities by seeking lists of spies, closing intelligence co-operation centres, and restricting visas for US personnel. The US, meanwhile, is trying to repair the relationship, recognising Pakistans importance in fighting al-Qaida. Although at least 120 military trainers have been ordered to leave the country, the US recently agreed to replace two Orion surveillance planes that were destroyed in a militant assault on a Karachi naval base in May.

Now the heat is really on for Pakistan

Declan Walsh
Oddly, Fahmida Riaz is lost for words. Pakistans leading feminist poet is helping compile a new Urdu dictionary. But whats stumped her is the fact that the electricity has gone o. Again. I cant describe what this is doing to the people of our city, she says from Karachi. Its driving them crazy. Theyre becoming psychopaths. For all its agonies at the hands of gunmen, inept politicos and swaggering generals, these days Pakistans national misery comes in the form of crushing electricity outages, known locally as load shedding. Sweat-soaked families wait for fans to whirr into life. Grumpy employees stumble into work, having barely slept. In some cities water supplies dry up because pumps are idle. Pakistans thin upper crust powers its air conditioners with petrol-guzzling generators, but the poor sleep on the rooftops. Once the sun rises they riot protests have erupted in several cities. This week it was reported that load shedding would continue until 2018. Things are worst in Karachi, where the electricity company and the unions are fighting over plans to fire 4,500 workers and gun-toting political mafias complicate the mess. Several people have died. Strikers cut o residents power and then demand bribes to x it while the power company is engaged in collective punishment: areas where few pay their bills suer the worst cuts. Meanwhile, the power is o. Riaz said she might channel her anger into writing if it wasnt so hot. Whats the use of writing poems about it, she snaps. We need to do something.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 7

International news French writer plans to start case against Strauss-Kahn

Kim Willsher Paris
The Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal took a new twist on Monday when a French writer announced she was filing a lawsuit against the former head of the International Monetary Fund for attempted rape and he responded by saying he would sue her for defamation. Tristane Banons lawyer, David Koubbi, said the legal proceedings would centre on the behaviour of Strauss-Kahn when she went to interview him in a Paris apartment in February 2002. Banon, who was 22 , later spoke about the alleged assault on French TV and described Strauss-Kahn, then a leading member of Frances Socialist party, as acting like a rutting chimpanzee. Strauss-Kahns name was censored out of the broadcast. The alleged incident went largely unreported in France until he was arrested in New York in May and accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a hotel chambermaid. The 62-year-old politician, who had been tipped to be the next French president, denied the charges. His passport was conscated and he was put under house arrest by a US judge. After questions were raised about the credibility of evidence given by the chambermaid, Strauss-Kahn was released without bail last Friday, but his passport was not returned. The apparent collapse of the case against him led some colleagues to suggest he could make a political comeback in France. In an interview with the French magazine LExpress, Banon said: I can no longer hear that I am a liar because I havent made a legal complaint. For eight years I have carried the weight of this incident alone, hearing rumours and lies about me. She added: For once I want to have control over what is happening to me. I want to be heard because perhaps, finally, theres a chance I will be listened to. She added: I want only one thing. That he [Strauss-Kahn] returns to France with his presumption of innocence so we can go before the court. At the time of the alleged incident, Banon was reportedly dissuaded from taking legal action by her mother, Anne Mansouret, who is a local councillor Dominique Strauss-Kahns lawyer said he would sue for slander over the planned legal case for his Socialist party. Mansouret later said she regretted talking her daughter out of making a complaint. After being told of Banons intention to start a lawsuit, Strauss-Kahns Paris lawyers said he would sue for slander. In a statement published in Le Parisien they said Strauss-Kahn had heard about Mme Tristane Banons intention to make a legal complaint against him and described her claims as imaginary. Before Koubbis announcement, France was divided on whether it wanted Strauss-Kahn back in public life. A poll released on Monday found that 51% of French people thought Strauss-Kahn no longer had a political future, versus 42% who thought he did. Another poll published last Sunday in Le Parisien showed 49% wanted Strauss-Kahn to return to French politics.

Making friends ... Vladimir Putin meets a family in Siberia Reuters

Putins supporters surprised by status

Mass sign-ups to Peoples Front draw protests and ridicule
Tom Partt Moscow
Kickboxers, reindeer herders, composers and the inhabitants of a whole suburban street have been recruited not all of them willingly to shore up Vladimir Putins crumbling United Russia party before Decembers parliamentary elections in Russia. The All-Russia Peoples Front, a nationwide coalition of public groups set up by Putin, also embraces trade unions, car-owners clubs, a beekeepers association and scores of other organisations. They have all rallied to the prime ministers ag and, this autumn, will help choose candidates for the parliamentary poll, which is a springboard to the presidential election in March next year. Putin has not said he will run for the presidency, but is still the frontrunner to be the ruling elites candidate, in front of the incumbent, Dmitry Medvedev. However, beyond the usual eusive coverage on state TV, his latest political gambit is coming under increasing criticism. The Peoples Front was ridiculed on blogs and in liberal media after it emerged that members of several of the organisations that signed up had not approved their entry; on the contrary, they were livid at being portrayed as supporters. Mikhail Arkadyev, 53, a member of the Russian Union of Composers, wrote a withering open letter to its leadership after learning from news reports that the union had joined the odious and baneful front without consulting him or others. Not only does this violate my individual rights and elementary democratic procedures, he wrote, but I do not in principle accept the political programme and social role [of the front] created by Putin exclusively for the simulation and profanation of the democratic process in Russia. The complaint came just a couple of days after a plenary session of the Russian Union of Architects voted to overturn its entry into the coalition, following a campaign by one vocal member, Yevgeny Ass. Joining one or another political organisation is the personal choice of each individual architect, as a citizen rather than a professional, Ass wrote. Speaking at a United Russia conference in Yekaterinburg, a city in the Urals, Putin tried to dampen the discontent. We are against people joining the front on somebodys order or that large-scale involvement and participation are articially drummed up, he said. The decision to join should be expressed by people themselves in the places where they live, he said. That promise rang hollow as several large organisations and unions including the Russian Railway Workers Union joined without balloting their members. Political analyst Alexei Mukhin said Putins overriding urge was to use the Peoples Front to garner nationwide legitimacy as support for United Russia slips it dipped below 40% in some areas for the rst time in regional elections in March. The fact that some members of these big organisations wont agree with being in the front is neither here nor there, Mukhin said. Their bosses will tell them what to do and they will obey.

Mladic removed from court

Adam Gabbatt and agencies
Ratko Mladic was removed from the UN war crimes court at The Hague on Monday after refusing to enter a plea and repeatedly talking while the judge attempted to read the list of charges. The presiding judge, Alphons Orie, briey adjourned the hearing to have Mladic removed, and formally entered not guilty pleas on the former generals behalf, in line with court rules for suspects who refuse to plead. Mladic argued he should be allowed to choose his own lawyers and refused to listen to the charges. Mladic had threatened to boycott the hearing because court officials have not yet appointed the Serbian and Russian lawyers he wants to represent him, although one of his desired lawyers has said he would not be able to represent Mladic as he does not speak English. Mladic repeatedly flouted courtroom regulations, donning a cap and gesturing to members of the public, in open deance of orders from Orie. The 69-year-old former general is accused of masterminding the worst Serb atrocities of Bosnias 1992-95 war that cost 100,000 lives.

8 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

International news Portugals cutbacks halt high-speed train to Spain

Sandrine Morel Le Monde
The Portuguese austerity plan presented by Pedro Passos Coelhos conservative government last week is not to Spains liking. It was particularly irked by the announcement that construction on the high-speed railway project between Madrid and Lisbon would be suspended. The highspeed train would have connected the two capital cities in two hours and 45 minutes by 2013, instead of nine hours at present. While conservative opposition to the project has regularly postponed work on the Portuguese side, work is well under way in Spain. Nearly 800m ($1.6bn) in public money has already been paid out from the total 3.8bn cost of the Spanish segment of the line. Although the former Portuguese prime minister, Socialist Jos Scrates, had made it a priority during his mandate, in the past two years the Portuguese track (estimated cost 3.3bn) has been facing vetoes from the centre-right opposition, which has criticised the high cost of the project at a time when the public decit (9.3% of GDP) calls for austerity measures. In exchange for a 78bn European bailout plan, the Social Democratic party (PSD), voted in on 6 June, has committed itself to a number of measures and reforms to reduce the public decit to 3% of GDP by 2013. But Passos Coelho, who has boasted that he will exceed the austerity targets agreed in the EU-IMF bailout, has added objectives that werent on the cards, including the postponement of the Iberian high-speed line. In Spain, that Portuguese zeal is not appreciated. The Spanish transportation minister, Jos Blanco Lpez, has described the Portuguese decision as a bad one and reminded his neighbour that the project has obtained European financing. Madrid fears that the European funds allocated to the railway will be scaled down if the Portuguese decide to pull out permanently. To press his point, Blanco has asked to meet his Portuguese counterpart at the earliest opportunity. In the Spanish regions that were to be covered by the high-speed train, there is concern about the local repercussions in terms of jobs and tourism, although according to the president of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernndez Vara, this decision wont aect the Spanish end of the line. Last week, the Portuguese prime minister announced that further budget cuts would be put before parliament.

On the up ... lanterns mark Polands EU presidency Czarek Sokolowski/AP

Polish PM lambasts Europes leaders

Ian Traynor Warsaw
Polands prime minister has accused western Europes most powerful leaders of hypocrisy and myopia in the midst of what is being called the EUs worst crisis. Assuming the rotating presidency of the EU for the rst time, Donald Tusk rounded on the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Britain over their handling of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, immigration, EU spending and the budget. He charged them with posing as European champions while pandering to a new form of Euroscepticism for personal political gain, and of using fears about immigration to curb freedom of travel in Europe. The passionate and optimistic defence of the EU from the Polish leader was completely at odds with the Polish PM Donald Trask said: The European Union is great. It is the best place on Earth to be born mood in Brussels and other EU capitals, where commitment to the union is being eroded by the rise of populist Brussels-bashing, squabbling leaders and soaring mistrust between member states. In deance of the gloomy European zeitgeist, Tusk said: The European Union is great. It is the best place on Earth to be born and to live your life. He said he would use his six-month presidency to try to restore some sense of common purpose and condence to a union in dire straits. Tusk is riding high in Poland, heading for victory in an October election that would make him the rst Polish prime minister to win a second term in 22 years of democracy. He leads the only country in Europe not thrust into recession by the nancial crisis, the fastest-growing economy in the EU, and where the EU enjoys high popularity ratings of more than 80%, not least because of the 10bn ($14bn) pouring in every year from Brussels, making Poland the biggest beneciary of EU largesse. He dismissed talk of the EU encroaching on the sovereignty of the nation states of Europe, referring to his own experience as a Solidarity activist in communist Poland under martial law and Moscows control. Until quite recently we saw a real restriction on our sovereignty, he said. We were truly occupied by the Soviets. It was truly an occupation. Thats why for us EU integration is not a threat to the sovereignty of the member states. Tusks buoyant message from a booming country sounded like a plea to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris and other EU leaders to shift course and try to reverse the sense of decline seizing Europe. I just want to resist the phenomenon of the new Euroscepticism that is everywhere, he said. He was not referring to the intellectual hostility to the EU that is the traditional British position, Tusk said, but a more insidious trend in countries long committed to Europe. The different phenomenon I am talking about is the birth of a type of Euroscepticism which does not declare itself. But its the behaviour, the words, the actions by politicians who say they are for the EU, support further integration, but at the same time suggest actions and decisions that weaken the community.
Greek debt plan, page 17

Italy agrees to 43bn in cuts

Philippe Ridet Le Monde
His government colleagues cant stand him and Silvio Berlusconi wishes he could do without his decit-obsessed nance minister who wont allow him to spend the money he hasnt got. Many Italian members of parliament blame him for the failure of the right in recent municipal elections and referendums. But Giulio Tremonti, who presented a 43bn ($62bn) austerity plan last week to balance the budget by 2014, believes that he is indispensable and without him, Italy would rapidly join the Pigs (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain). A former tax adviser, Giulio Tremonti, 63, has been nance minister in all four of Berlusconis governments since 1994. Respected by the church as well as in business circles, and liked by Italians, he is the antithesis of his boss, and is known to tender his resignation at the slightest disagreement. Berlusconi, quite aware that Tremonti is his best asset on both the domestic and international front, refuses it each time. To achieve his ends, Tremonti threatened to leave his ministry once again. Do you want Italy to take the same road as Greece? If thats what you want, Im leaving, was his reply to the complaints in his camp, notably by coalition Northern League MPs who would have preferred tax cuts. One minister even judged Tremontis plan worthy of a psychiatrist. Three meetings of senior government members were held before everyone nally agreed. In the end the ratings agencies, highly criticised by Tremonti, came to his rescue. By threatening to downgrade their ratings on Italy because of its massive budget deficit (120% of GDP) and poor growth (0.1% in the rst quarter), Standard & Poors and Moodys obliged Berlusconi and his allies to pass another painful austerity plan, following a 25bn one in 2010. Most of the 43bn budget savings will be spread over 2013 and 2014.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 9

International news

Favela reborn A renamed shantytown in Brazil rouses both hope and scorn Review, page 29

Supreme courts debating partners did not disappoint their backers

The supremes ... the consistency of the new justices may reect the greater scrutiny that they undergo Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Washington diary Robert Barnes

he supreme court term that ended last week lacked the blockbuster decisions of years past but appeared to make one thing clear: George W Bush and Barack Obama got what they hoped for when they nominated the justices who will shape the courts future. Presidents have been disappointed by their nominees when they reach the bench. But this year, the four youngest justices separated neatly into the courts ideological wings and then presented a unied front. Obamas choices, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, agreed 94% of the time this term, according to statisticians at Scotusblog.com. The only pair that agreed more were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, Bushs picks, who parted ways in only 4% of the courts decisions. Roberts joined the court in 2005, Alito the next year, Sotomayor in 2009 and Kagan last August and this term allowed the four to divide into debate partners. Alito and Sotomayor brought dierent lessons from their time as prosecutors and judges as they wrangled over criminal justice issues; he was more likely to

cite public safety, while she mentioned common sense. And it seemed like the opening act of what will be a very longrunning play when Kagan ended her rst term with a rare decision to read from the bench a rebuttal of Robertss opinion that struck down Arizonas campaign nance law. If conservatives never doubted Roberts and Alito, the left had questions about Sotomayors philosophy and the lack of a paper trail for Kagan. But Sotomayor has voted consistently with liberal justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, and Kagan has written two powerful dissents in cases controlled by the conservative majority. By now there should be no question that Justice Kagan was ready to be a supreme court justice, said Paul Clement, solicitor general for Bush. Washington lawyer Gregory Garre, who succeeded Clement in the Bush administration, said that the consistency of the new justices, on the left and the right probably shows the greater scrutiny that goes into vetting nominees these days. But he and others warned against drawing too many conclusions from a session that lacked standout decisions, such as 2010s Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, which loosened campaign nance restrictions on corporations and unions. First amendment cases dominated the courts agenda.

The justices overwhelmingly agreed that even hurtful speech on public issues deserves protection, ruling in favour of Westboro Baptist churchs right to picket the funerals of fallen troops. Alito was the lone dissenter. The court extended the protection to some forms of commercial speech, and said free speech rights mean that a state may not prohibit the rental or sale of violent video games to minors. And the conservative majority invoked political speech rights to strike down Arizonas law giving matching public money to candidates with well-funded opponents. The court looked and sounded dierent, with Kagan boosting the number of women on the bench to a historic high. Lisa Blatt, a Washington lawyer who holds the record for arguments before the court by a female attorney, noted the new triumvirate of Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan as sharp questioners in oral arguments.

This year, the four youngest justices separated neatly into the courts ideological wings

But some things dont change. Justice Anthony Kennedy remains the most inuential member of the court when ideological divides prevail. In the 16 cases decided by a vote of 5 to 4, he was in the majority in all but two. In the few cases in which liberals prevailed including a ruling that California must reduce the number of prison inmates or that children must be treated dierently when given Miranda warnings [made aware of their rights when arrested] it was because Kennedy sided with them. Twice as often, the Ronald Reagan appointee voted with the courts consistent conservatives. Perhaps reecting the nature of the cases this term, the percentage decided unanimously or with only one dissenting vote 63% was an all-time high for the court headed by Roberts. Harmony may be more illusive next term. The court already has agreed to decide the Federal Communications Commissions authority to police the airwaves for indecency, the governments power to track suspects with global positioning systems and unions ability to collect dues. Waiting in the wings are Arizonas immigration law, same-sex marriage, armative action in higher education and, depending on how quickly lower courts move, the Aordable Care Act. Clement said: Not all supreme court terms are created equal. Washington Post

10 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

International news

Tensions rise as US runs out of cash

Political lines drawn as Washingtons legal debt limit approaches
Dominic Rushe Observer
Not so long ago the Onion, Americas satirical newspaper, ran a story about what had happened to the real Barack Obama. You know, the one who was all about change and the audacity of hope. Apparently, he had been kidnapped by an imposter bent on destroying the president by turning him into a wishy-washy loser. But with another election looming and a nancial crisis brewing across the Atlantic, the old Obama seems to be back. By 2 August the US must raise the legal limit on its $14.3 trillion debt or face dire consequences, and Republicans and Democrats have been battling on Capitol Hill. Obama has hit out at Republicans, saying they favoured corporate jet owners over children and the elderly. Before we ask our seniors to pay more for healthcare, before we cut our childrens education, its only fair to ask an oil company or a corporate jet owner that has done so well to give up that tax break that no other business enjoys. The Republicans came back just as hard. Fired up by Tea Party newcomers, Republicans now control the House of Representatives. House speaker John Boehner said Obama was sorely mistaken if he believed he could muster enough votes to raise the debt ceiling and raise taxes. All the political posturing is about to have very serious consequences, say economists. Some are predicting a second recession if it doesnt get sorted out soon. But both sides seem to be toughening their stance. It takes two votes to keep Americas finances running: one vote to reached, the US could afford to pay interest on its debts. Of every dollar the US spends, about 60 cents comes from revenues, such as taxes, and 40 cents is borrowed money. If the US gets to August and has not raised its borrowing limits, it will have to decide where to cut that 40 cents. Not paying the interest on its loans is a nightmare scenario, says Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics. Markets could go haywire, with global consequences. But interest rate payments probably amount to 5-10 cents of that dollar, Ashworth says. Even with 60 cents you could pay that. But that means massive cuts to the rest of spending. Contractors, social security, unemployment, tax rebates. According to the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Centre, if an agreement is not reached soon the US wont be able to pay all its bills somewhere between 2 August and 9 August. The consequences would be harrowing. Federal spending would have to be cut by as much as 44% for the rest of the month as the treasury prioritises payments to stay under the debt limit. Choices would have to be made between paying $49.2bn in social security, $34.6bn for defence and $12.8bn in jobless benefits. Rating agencies would probably downgrade US debt. Double-dip recession, here we come. All we need now is an agreement on a broad outline on reductions in the decit, Zandi said. The election is the referendum on how to achieve that goal. With 17 months still to go, that election has already begun. A reinvigorated Obama is championing pensioners against the jet set; his Tea Party haters are calling for greater responsibility and an end to Obamas socialism. By the time summer hits its height, the consequences of this spat could be felt around the world.
Timothy Garton Ash, page 20

Target Obama is under pressure to make a deal on Capitol Hill Reuters pass budget bills, another to borrow the money. There have been plenty of rows about the borrowing limit in the past. But after compromises, the limit has always been raised before the US treasury ran out of cash. This year may be dierent. With US debt at levels unseen in 60 years, Republicans are insisting on at least $2tn in spending cuts over 10 years and no tax increases. If a deal cannot be reached before 2 August, the treasury says it will be forced to default on its debts. No one knows quite what that means. Will it choose to stop paying interest, a move that could trigger a global financial crisis? Or will pensioners, soldiers, contractors and other government workers nd Uncle Sam welching on his bills? Either way, economist argue, nancial markets could go into meltdown. When you start to voluntarily jeopardise the perceived integrity of your government in nancial markets, you are creating long-term difficulties, said David Levy, of the Jerome Levy forecasting centre. Last week 235 senior economists wrote to Washingtons bigwigs, warning: Reaching the limit on total outstanding debt could force a dramatic and sudden cut in federal spending that would destroy jobs and threaten the recovery. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, said: Our biggest problem now is the fragile nature of the recovery. Condence is lacking. If anything goes o track, people freeze. He predicts that if the row continues nancial markets distracted in recent weeks by Greece will start to get more and more unsettled. If we get to August, things will get a lot worse. Even if an agreement cannot be

Downturn has led to fall in fertility rates, EU report says

John Vidal
Highly educated young women in many rich countries have delayed having children because of the global recession, and may on average wait for a further ve to eight years if governments slash public spending, say leading demographers. A study for the European Union by the Vienna Institute of Demography shows a steep decline in fertility rates in the US and Spain in 2009-10, and stagnation in Ireland and most European countries. However, the report coincides with UK government gures that show Britains population rose by 470,000 in 2010, the highest annual growth rate for nearly 50 years. If this is the case, Britain joins the very few countries who are increasing their fertility rate despite the recession, said Tom Sobotka, one of the reports authors. It is possible this is because the educated women are choosing to delay having children while the less educated are having more. According to the report: Highly educated women react to employment uncertainty by adopting a postponement strategy, especially if they are childless. In contrast, less educated women often maintain or increase their fertility under economic uncertainty. But the patterns dier for men. Those with low education and low skills face increasing diculty in nding a partner or in supporting their family, and often show the largest decline in rst-child birthrates. Rising unemployment, failing consumer condence, tighter credit and falling house prices have all aected the birthrates, says the study. In the year before the recession started, 26 out of 27 EU countries had rising birthrates, but by 2009 13 countries saw fertility rates decline and another four had stable fertility rates. The huge cuts in social spending in Greece, Britain, Ireland, Spain and elsewhere are likely to further arrest birthrates, it predicts. It could lead to a double-dip fertility decline, Sobotka said. A typical result of a recession in the past was [a lower birthrate for] two to ve years. Put together with cuts in public spending and you could get [declines] of ve to eight years.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 11

Arab unrest

Assad res rebel citys governor

Clinton says the Syrian regime must allow transition to democracy
Guardian reporters and agencies
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has sacked the governor of the city of Hama, where 200,000 people took to the streets to protest against his regime. State TV announced the removal of the governor last Saturday. Although the report gave no reason for the ring, video footage showed huge crowds of protesters in a central square of the provincial capital calling for an end to Assads rule. The Syrian president signed a decree today relieving Dr Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz of his post as governor of Hama, the state-run Sana news agency announced. Hama was the site of an armed Islamist revolt against Assads father, Hafez al-Assad, in 1982. At least 10,000 people were killed and part of the old city was attened when the army crushed the uprising. An anti-Assad activist said AbdelAziz was viewed as leaning towards the protesters for urging the security forces to avoid further bloodshed after at least 65 people were killed in a crackdown in the city last month. [The governor] is accused of being sympathetic to the demonstrators, said Omar Idibi, based in Beirut. Another Beirut-based activist, Wissam Tarif, said ousting the governor suggested Assad was looking for scapegoats as the protests grow in strength. Shocking video footage has emerged from Homs in which a young man lming gunre in the streets appears to be shot dead in cold blood by the sniper he zooms in on. A clip circulating on YouTube begins with a male voice describing someone shooting to authenticate the video. The caption describes the gunman as a member of the Shabiha, a militia used by the Assad regime. The protests last Friday across Syria were the largest since the uprising against Assads rule began nearly four months ago. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets nationwide, with human rights groups saying that at least 24 people had been killed by security forces on what was dubbed the Friday of departure, a slogan borrowed from the demonstrators against Hosni Mubarak in Egypt at the start of the Arab uprising. Human rights campaigners estimate that more than 1,350 civilians have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March. The government says about 500 security personnel have also been killed. Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, warned Assad he would face more organised resistance unless he allowed a genuine transition to democracy. Last Monday the authorities permitted an unprecedented opposition conference in Damascus amid intense discussion among Syrians and foreign governments on whether the regime is able or willing to implement reforms. Although the meeting was sanctioned by the regime, a number of attendees have since been threatened. We know what they have to do, Clinton said during a visit to Lithuania. They must begin a genuine transition to democracy and allowing one meeting of the opposition in Damascus is not sucient action toward achieving that goal. It is clear that the Syrian government is running out of time. Clinton called for productive dialogue with members of the opposition and civil society, but US diplomats said Washington was not backing any particular plan or strategy for reform in Syria.

Reconciliation talks between Bahrains Sunni-led government and the majority Shia opposition have begun after four months of protests against the regime. The main Shia opposition party, Al Wefaq, decided at the last minute to join the governmentled talks, which opened in the capital, Manama. Parliamentary speaker Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Dhahrani hailed the gathering of about 300 delegates from dierent parties and government-linked groups as a historic opportunity for all of us to overcome this critical stage of the nations history through dialogue. The Sunni monarchy has made token concessions ahead of the national dialogue, including sanctioning an international investigation into the conduct of the security forces. But the government has not relented on opposition demands to free all detainees and clear other demonstrators, including eight activists jailed for life last month. The ercest street ghting seen in central Cairo since the fall of Hosni Mubarak has left more than 1,000 people injured, as popular dissatisfaction with the military-led transitional government boiled over into violence. In what analysts called a critical turning point in Egypts revolution, several thousand people clashed with heavily armed riot police in and around Tahrir Square last week, leading to dozens of arrests. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces blamed sedition and vowed to hunt down those responsible. Protesters chanted demands for the resignation of Egypts de facto leader, Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, as security forces red teargas and rubber bullets into the crowds. There has been growing frustration among many sections of the public over the slow pace of reform since an 18-day uprising toppled Mubarak and ushered in a military junta, which promised to hand power to a democratically elected civilian government later this year. Thousands of people protested in Morocco last Sunday over constitutional reforms they said did not go far enough, but an ocial said they were outnumbered by people demonstrating in support of the changes. Moroccos King Mohammed VI handed over some of his powers to elected ocials in a referendum viewed in other Arab monarchies as a test case for whether reform can hold back the wave of uprisings. The reforms were endorsed by 98.5% of people who voted in the referendum last Friday, said the interior ministry, but opponents say the gures were inated. Protesters marched through a working-class district of Tangier, chanting: The interior minister is a liar!

Family protest ... Syrians in Cairo at citizens in Karm al-Sham on 1 July without any reason and no demonstrations. The cameraman is lming from an upper oor against a background of chanted slogans. Jerky images of the street and balconies are followed by a blurred glimpse of a man in olive green, standing in the shadows, carefully moving forward and raising and ring a weapon followed by a single shot, moaning, and distraught voices pleading for help. The cameramans identity is not known. Foreign journalists and human rights groups are largely banned from Syria and it has not been possible

Gaddas artillery stops rebel advance

Portia Walker Misrata Washington Post
Outside Misrata, the rebel army is stuck. For weeks, the ghters opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddas government have been bogged down in lightly wooded areas surrounding this besieged city, pounded by rockets, struggling to make gains. We are just taking a defensive position now, said Suliman Mohamed Suliman, one of the commanders at the citys eastern frontline. We cant [advance] because we dont have heavy weapons, just light weapons. We need grenades, we need tanks and heavy artillery. In mid-May, Misratas improvised volunteer forces managed to expel Gaddas troops from their city, about 200km east of Tripoli, after weeks of closely fought urban warfare. But their inability to advance comes as Natos military action to protect Libyan civilians, now in its third month, faces increasing criticism. France and Britain announced last week that they were providing more direct aid to rebels. France dropped light arms in the Nafusa mountains in western Libya in June, and Britain said it was oering body armour, police uniforms and communications equipment for rebel-held cities in the east. With the frontlines now more than 25km from Misrata, the shift in terrain and the sophisticated tactics and logistics required have challenged the rebels. In the beginning, it was street warfare; now its changed, said Al Tahir al-Bour, a co-ordinator of one of Misratas military units. Now its more of a logistics war. And Gaddas forces are using heavy artillery.
Leader comment, page 22

12 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

International news Ahmadinejads speech censored by state TV

Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Irans state television has censored a video clip that showed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemning recent arrests of his close allies. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), which is under the direct control of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, transmitted only an edited version of the remarks made by Ahmadinejad after a cabinet meeting last week, removing any mention of his comments over the arrests. In reaction to the broadcasters move, Ahmadinejads official website published the full version of the video, in which the president warned opponents o his cabinet and said detaining members was a red line that should not be crossed. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: If they want to touch the cabinet, then defending it is my duty In the unedited version he said: I will hold myself responsible to defend the cabinet the cabinet is a red line and if they want to touch the cabinet, then defending it is my duty. Ahmadinejad also said the campaign against his allies was politically motivated and aimed at putting pressure on his government. A number of people close to Ahmadinejad and his confidant and chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent weeks after being accused of various charges includ ing corruption and sorcery. Since an extraordinary power struggle emerged between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei in April, state media have challenged the presidents version of events several times. State television shunned the president in April when he was prevented from appearing on a live show in which he reportedly intended to clarify the issues surrounding his confrontation with conservatives. The president was instead given an opportunity to speak to an interviewer on a TV programme that limited his discussions to other issues including Irans foreign policy. A prominent Iranian documentary lm-maker and womens rights activist, whose work includes banned lms about Irans society, has been arrested by unidentied ocials. Mahnaz Mohammadi, 37, was picked up from her home in the capital, Tehran, by security ocers who refused to show a warrant for her arrest and was taken to Evin prison, where many activists are being held. Speaking by phone from Tehran, her lawyer said that Mohammadi had been denied access to her family or proper legal representation and was being kept incommunicado.

Murdered ... a statue of Rak Hariri in Beirut Hassan Ammar/Getty

Lebanese warrants for Hezbollah men

Martin Chulov Beirut Agencies
A Lebanese prosecutor has approved arrest warrants for four members of the militant group Hezbollah who are accused of assassinating the countrys former prime minister, Rak Hariri, in an attack that continues to reverberate more than six years later. The indictments, keenly anticipated for two years, were handed over by the UN-backed special tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to a Beirut judge. The judge now has 30 days to locate the men, whom investigators accuse of detonating the car bomb that killed Hariri and more than 20 others on Valentines Day 2005. News of the warrants drew immediate applause from the recently ousted government in Beirut, known as the 14 March alliance, but Hezbollahs leader later in the week vowed never to turn over the four men. In a defiant speech, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said that even in 300 years authorities would not be able to touch them. He promised that the country would not see a new civil war linked to the ndings of the UNbacked tribunal. Bursts of celebratory gunre and reworks erupted in Beirut immediately after Nasrallahs comments. The four names were disclosed by Lebanese media before the meeting between prosecutor general Sayed Merza, who received the files, and STL ocials had concluded. They are believed to be Hezbollahs current chief operations officer, Moustafa Badreddine, another senior official, Salim Ayyash, and two lower-prole members of the group, Assad Sabra and Hassan Aneiyssi. Badreddine is one of Hezbollahs founding members and a former close condant of the groups feared military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in Damascus more than three years ago. Today, we witness together a distinctive historic moment in the political, judicial, security and moral life of Lebanon, said Hariris son, Saad Hariri, who was ousted as prime minister in January. This progress in the course of justice and the special tribunal is for all the Lebanese without any exception, and it should be a turning point in the history of ghting organised political crime in Lebanon and the Arab world. The issuing of the warrants has placed enormous pressure on the new prime minister, Najib Miqati, whose Hezbollah-dominated cabinet has demanded he disavow the tribunal and cut Lebanons share of funding for it. Just as vehement is the oppositions insistence that he continue to comply with the court. Miqatis inability to serve both agendas will almost inevitably draw in regional players, who are heavily invested in the process, between now and any future verdicts. Syria and Iran strongly back Hezbollah, while Saudi Arabia, the US and France are insisting that Lebanon continues to support the tribunal. Miqati attempted to douse tensions on both sides by urging people to be reasonable and far-sighted. There are those who want to target the country and push us towards strife, he said. The tribunal had been criticised for the slow pace of its work and the limited scope of its investigation, which has focused on the alleged operational cell that carried out the bombing.

Greece bans freedom ships

Jack Shenker Athens
Greece has banned all ships in the Gaza-bound freedom otilla from leaving port, dealing a further blow to activists trying to break Israels blockade on the Palestinian territory. Greek authorities said an international group of vessels planning to sail from its ports and deliver aid to the Gazan population would be stopped, a move that lends the support of prime minister George Papandreous administration to Israels contentious four-year naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. An American boat participating in the otilla was forced to return to shore after it tried to defy the ban and set sail from Athens last Friday. The Audacity of Hope was turned back by the Greek coastguard. Passengers claim Greek commandos pointed machine guns at those on board to stop the boat reaching open water. Campaigners accused Israel of outsourcing its blockade to Greece. Greece sold its body to the banks and its soul to Israel and the United States, flotilla activist Dror Feiler told Israeli news outlet Ynet. I dont think I know that Israel and US pressure caused this. Hamas also condemned the Greek decision, describing it as inhumane and contrary to international regulations and norms. The Greek announcement is the latest in a series of setbacks for the organisers of this summers otilla, which comes just over a year after a similar mission ended in the deaths of nine activists following the boarding of their boat by Israeli military forces. Participants claim that two of the 10 ships in the otilla had been sabotaged by Israeli agents a claim Israel dismissed as ridiculous.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 13

International news

Chomsky censures Chvez on jailed judge

Rory Carroll
Hugo Chvez has long considered Noam Chomsky one of his best friends. He has basked in his praise for Venezuelas socialist revolution and echoed his attacks on US imperialism. Venezuelas president, who has revealed that he had surgery in Cuba to remove a cancerous tumour, turned one of Chomskys books into a bestseller after brandishing it during a UN speech. He hosted the scholar in Caracas and earlier this year even suggested Washington make Chomsky the US ambassador to Venezuela. He may be about to have second thoughts about that, because his favourite intellectual has turned his guns on Chvez. Speaking last week, Chomsky accused the socialist leader of amassing too much power and making an assault on democracy. Concentration of executive power, unless its very temporary and for specic circumstances, such as ghting world war two, is an assault on democracy. You can debate whether [Venezuelas] circumstances require it: internal circumstances and the exUniversity. Afiuni earned Chvezs ire in December 2009 by freeing Eligio Cedeo, a banker facing corruption charges who ed the country. In a televised broadcast the president, who had taken a close interest in the case, called the judge a criminal and demanded she be jailed for 30 years. Afiuni, 47, a single mother with cancer, spent just over a year in jail, where she was assaulted by other prisoners. In January, the authorities softened her confinement to house arrest pending trial for corruption, which she denies. Judge Auni has suered enough, states Chomskys letter. She has been subject to acts of violence and humiliations to undermine her human dignity. I am convinced that she must be set free. Speaking from his home in Boston, Chomsky said Chvez, who has been in power for 12 years, appeared to have intimidated the judicial system. He also faulted Chvez for adopting enabling powers to circumvent the national assembly. A trend has developed towards the centralisation of power in the executive which I dont think is a healthy development.

Accused Hugo Chvez now has too much power, Chomsky believes Getty ternal threat of attack, thats a legitimate debate. But my own judgment in that debate is that it does not. Chomsky, a linguistics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke on the eve of publishing an open letter that accuses Venezuelas authorities of cruelty in the case of a jailed judge. The self-described libertarian socialist says the plight of Mara Lourdes Auni is a glaring exception in a time of worldwide cries for freedom. He urged Chvez to release her in a gesture of clemency for the sake of justice and human rights. Chomsky reveals he has lobbied Venezuelas government behind the scenes since late last year after being approached by the Carr centre for human rights policy at Harvard

Garzn divides Colombia

Marie Delcas Le Monde
The Spanish super judge, Baltasar Garzn, was recently appointed external adviser to the Mission to Support the Peace Process (MSPP) set up by the Organisation of American States. On his rst working day in Colombia, 24 June, the judge visited paramilitary leaders jailed at Itag, near Medelln, then met organisations of the victims of armed conict. In a country that has suered massive human rights violations, the presence of a representative of international law has caused a stir. The judge was originally invited by the centre-right president and former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos to be his consultant on human rights and international criminal law. However, Garzns mission is now under the auspices of the OAS at the request of the Colombian government. Critics of international law see Garzns appointment as an infringement of national sovereignty, while defenders of human rights are concerned about the presidents hidden intentions, suspecting him of seeking endorsement for his policies. The most virulent critic has been the state prosecutor, Alejandro Ordez, who noted that Garzn had been the subject of three disciplinary inquiries in Spain, and was temporarily suspended from the national court. The Colombian right has not forgotten that he rose to fame after issuing an international warrant for the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, and supporters of former president Alvaro Uribe (20012010) fear the Spanish judge might be a little overzealous. The MSPP was set up in 2004 to support negotiations with far-right paramilitary groups initiated by Uribe. The Baltasar Garzn rst aroused the rights wrath when he issued an international warrant against Augusto Pinochet mission supervised the demobilisation of 31,000 soldiers from the United Self-defence Forces of Colombia and is now trying to safeguard the peace process and victims right to truth, justice and reparation. Marcos Romero, a human rights activist, believes Garzns presence in Colombia is conrmation of a different human rights policy by Santos, accepting the presence of international observers. But some Uribistas see Santos as a traitor.

Evangelicals on rise in Brazil

Vincent Bevins
Despite a little rain, the worlds largest gay pride parade, in So Paulo, went off spectacularly, with broad public support. The supreme court had just officially recognised the rights of same-sex unions to the privileges held by heterosexual couples, and another judge soon after signed o on Brazils rst full-edged gay marriage. One aspect of the celebrations, however, ignited controversy. The citys main avenue was decorated with posters, designed by an HIV prevention group, that featured 12 barely clothed male models, styled as Catholic saints, but with come-hither looks and the caption: Not even a saint can save you. Use a condom. The group says the aim was education, but it was hard not to see the campaign as a provocative shot at the religious right. The church itself publicly registered oence at the images, but the real new conservative player on the scene is the evangelical Christian movement, a rising political force that is mounting a threatening assault on the gay rights movement and moving sexual issues closer to the centre of politics. That group had organised a massive March for Jesus just days before the gay pride march, and didnt waste much time getting around to railing against gay marriage. In this Catholic country, more and more are becoming evangelical Christians now probably more than 20% of the population and are more eager to make their version of Christianity a political issue. Despite the persistence of persecution, official mainstream society is relatively accepting of gay culture. Former president Luiz Incio Lula da Silva had as a personal spiritual adviser the gay-friendly liberation theologist Frei Betto, and the de facto rights of same-sex civil unions have been recognised in Brazil since 2004. The church opposes gay marriage but makes less fuss about the legality of civil unions, and the government of new president Dilma Rousseff has made an end to discrimination a priority. But when Rousse faced her rst political crisis earlier this year, as a corruption scandal brought down her chief of sta, Antonio Palocci, she was outmanoeuvred by a political force that would be familiar in the US but is new in Brazil: the evangelical bloc in Congress. It used her moment of weakness to kill an anti-homophobia bill she favoured that had long been planned.

14 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

UK politics

Dilnot reports on mortality, money and care of the elderly

Commissioners say they expect action to revamp care funding
Guardian reporters
Andrew Dilnot, the economist who has spearheaded a government-commissioned report into the funding system for care of the elderly in England, has expressed condence there will be some shift on his proposals by 2014, amid fears his report could be kicked into the medium-length grass. The commissions report calls for a cap of 35,000 ($56,000) on the amount an individual would have to pay on their own care costs during their lifetime. Above that level the state would pay a standard rate for care, regardless of individual wealth. People would still be liable for costs of accommodation and food in a care home, but this would be capped at 10,000 a year. The commission is also calling for a big increase in the threshold of savings and assets above which the state oers no help with care costs. The limit should rise from 23,250 to 100,000, the commission says. Taken together, these recommendations would ensure that no individual would have to spend more than 30% of his or her wealth on care. Many people now risk losing 90% of their savings and assets. Charities and welfare groups urged the government and Labour to seize the opportunity presented by Dilnot to begin a shakeup of the care funding system. An open letter from 26 leading charities declared last Sunday: We expect all parties to deliver on this. While the prime minister, David Cameron, and Labour leader, Ed Miliband, have both expressed their readiness to enter cross-party talks to seek consensus on the issue, the chancellor, George Osborne, is reported to be reluctant for the Treasury to pick up the tab for reform. In a blog on the Liberal Democrat Voice website, the care services minister, Paul Burstow, said: Dont expect to hear the governments nal word on social care. The Dilnot report will mark an important milestone on the road to reform, but there are other questions and more milestones to come. Dilnot appeared condent that his proposals would not end up on a shelf to gather dust, saying he expected the government would now consult on his proposals, with a white paper to be published next spring. I think in the white paper next spring there is every chance we will get to move forward, he said. It may not be that money will be spent in the very short run. By the time there is legislation, it will be very hard to be spending money until 2014, probably. By then, I think, were are almost certain to see some shift. An estimated 20,000 people sell their home each year to pay for their care costs, which exceed 50,000 for one in four people and run to more than 100,000 for one in 10. So-called hotel costs accommodation and food in care homes come on top of this. Supportive measures ... Dilnot has recommended targets for the cost of care and who will pay Getty Images

Key recommendations
A cap of 35,000 on lifetime individual liability for care costs. Food and accommodation costs not capped, but liability limited to 10,000 a year. Assets threshold for cut-off of state support raised from 23,250 to 100,000. New national eligibility criteria for state support, set no higher than current denition of substantial needs. Free care for life for all disabled children and anyone developing eligible care needs by the age of 40. All local councils to oer loans to homeowners to pay care costs.

A life-and-death issue that should rise above party politics

Analysis Jackie Ashley
Mondays report on care for elderly people is a crucial test not merely of the coalition or Andrew Lansley, but British politics. This is not some Westminster battle, but a life-anddeath, misery-or-decency choice about the very basics of life for hundreds of thousands of older British people. Its about lack of money, fear for the future and human dignity. And its like other great issues energy, pensions, the environment that show our system is failing. These are the issues that are longterm, arouse strong passions and can easily be derailed in parliament. They are the big choices political parties duck, and duck again. And we notice. We watch the ducking and the fudge and the scoring of cheap political points. So when Ed Miliband said last Sunday that Labour wanted to work with the Tories and Lib Dems to sort out social care, he was making a big statement. This was the issue on which, remember, the very same Lansley who now needs help cynically capsized pre-election talks on a deal, labelling the Labour plan a death tax. That was shameful. So for Labour to forget it, and try to help now, shows generosity. It is not that we want regular backroom deals. Most politics benets from a good open debate, even a row. But you cannot x the care system, or secure the right energy balance, or a shift in investment towards greener industries, by passing a piece of legislation and returning to a party dogght when an election looms. You have to agree the change and stick with it for decades as with the welfare state after the war. Tony Blair, in a new edition of his memoirs, argues that our political system is broken. It turns good ideas into mush. Special interest groups stop change happening; clever outsiders brought in to help nd themselves rubbished and blocked. They soon give up. But, says Blair, politicians from the same gene pool are too similar and limited. Take what the leftwing thinktank Compass (hardly a nest of Blairites) says about the red/green agenda of radical action on climate change, in a new report: Politics isnt working. The poor get poorer and the planet burns, and our collective inability to deal with either creates a third crisis that of democracy itself. Yet the main parties are stuck on the business-as-usual agenda of debtdriven growth: No wonder peoples faith in politics is declining. What Blair wants from cross-party agreements is very far from what Compass wants. But no real change in tax to clamp down on inequality, or to boost low-carbon growth, can happen unless the main parties all agree it has to. But lets go back to care for the elderly. If we are going to move to a system where the better-o must pay for most of their help but with a cap, after which the taxpayer steps in that is a big promise. It could be both expensive for the taxpayer, as the numbers of over-80s continue to swell, and also mean more people having to sell their homes to pay for their care. Outrage all round. Yet something

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 15

Members of the Dilnot commission will be disgusted if the government shelves their recommendations , a commission member warned. Dame Jo Williams, one of three members of the commission, said: Its time for action. It seems to us that people have already waited for change far too long and want more than talk now. The report is designed to alleviate fears of losing savings and homes. If ministers kicked it into the long grass, the commission would certainly be disappointed, Williams said. But disappointment is not an adequate word; disgusted comes to mind. But disgusted of the Dilnot commission, we hope not to be, she added. Dilnot said that the existing funding system was confusing, unfair and unsustainable. The proposals for change would cost the government an initial 1.7bn a year 0.25% of total public spending which was a price well worth paying. Although the commission wished to see its proposals implemented with pace, Dilnot said, it did not expect immediate acceptance by ministers. Downing Street rejected suggestions that the commissions report had been dead on arrival and would now simply be shelved by ministers. The prime minister welcomes the report, a No 10 spokeswoman said. This whole area is complex, as well as multifaceted. The whole funding issue is not something that can be looked at in isolation. We have always said there is a price tag, but we are not going to back away from the issue. Michelle Mitchell, charity director at Age UK, the biggest older peoples charity, said the report, which applies only to England and Wales, set out a clear blueprint for sustainable reform.

MPs misled over welfare changes and homelessness

Andrew Sparrow
Ministers have been accused of repeatedly misleading MPs about the impact of their 26,000 ($42,000) cap on welfare payments after it emerged that Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, secretly warned the plan would cost more money than it saved and increase homelessness by 20,000. Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pensions secretary, insisted that Pickless comments, set out in a letter from his private secretary to No 10, showed that a succession of ministers havent been straight with the House of Commons. They have either dismissed claims that the cap would increase homelessness, or insisted its likely impact was impossible to quantify. The benefit cap, announced by George Osborne, the chancellor, at the Conservative party conference last autumn, is one of the most controversial of the governments welfare reforms. The welfare bill still has to go through the Lords and Pickless letter will embolden peers seeking to amend it. The letter, sent on Pickless behalf by Nico Heslop, his private secretary, explicitly says welfare cuts could make 40,000 families homeless. Our modelling indicates that we could see an additional 20,000 homelessness acceptances as a result of the total benet cap. This on top of the 20,000 additional acceptances already anticipated as a result of other changes to housing benet, Heslop wrote. The letter was sent in January. Since then, ministers and officials have made a series of Commons statements that Labour believes are hard to square with what Pickles was telling No 10 in private. Those include: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishing an impact assessment in February saying that it was not possible to quantify the cost to local councils of the welfare cap and the likelihood that it will require councils to house some families. Grant Shapps, the housing minister, citing the DWPs impact assessment when specically asked by a Labour MP if he had an estimate of the number of households that would be made homeless as a result of the cap. Maria Miller, a welfare minister, telling Karen Buck, a Labour MP, to get real when asked about the impact of the benet cap on homelessness. I do not accept that the policies we are advocating will have the impact on homelessness that she talked about, Miller said. Chris Grayling, another welfare minister, saying: I do not deny that the benet cap may result in individual cases of housing mobility [ie, people having to move], but I do not believe that the measure will exacerbate [the problem]. Byrne said last Sunday: The idea that you can go out and say that there is no further evidence that you are aware of, four months after the Department for Communities wrote to the prime minister saying there was dierent evidence, is breathtaking.

Strike aects half of schools

must be done, and a mix of new promises on cash, new oversight of private care homes, and enforced insurance to be taken out by younger people seems reasonable. If people are disillusioned with the system, it is partly because it oers no long-term leadership in any fresh direction. Politicians have to start to realise that popularity can come as much from saying: yes, we will help we dont like this, and wed do that dierently, but lets try and move forward. Blairs certainly right about everyone in politics coming from inside the same little bubble, and thus being too timid in their thinking. Whitehall remains a closed world, instinctively hostile to outsiders. Of course, government, like companies and individuals, fails all the time. But its hidden in wae and appendices. The public isnt fooled and the result, again, is cynicism. In all this, nally, we in the media have to take our share of blame. The seesaw reporting that always goes the government yesterday said this, (so) the opposition said that is an idle and binary way of thinking. We pick up stories at Westminster and too rarely follow what happens later, and so monitor what works, and why. We do sometimes approach any outsiders appointed to investigate a tough problem as if they are automatically some kind of corrupt spiv who needs punching. Well, now we have a seriousminded outsider, Andrew Dilnot, with some serious ideas about a very serious social problem, which is long-term and dicult; and a serious oer from the opposition to help. Very interesting. Lets see.

Polly Curtis, Hlne Mulholland and Dan Milmo

One of the governments key arguments for reforming public sector pensions crumbled when it was made clear in a report by Lord Hutton the former Labour work and pensions secretary who wrote the blueprint for the governments reforms that they are projected to become more aordable in the future, not less, as teachers staged the biggest strikes since the 1980s over the plans. The forecast that the cost of paying pensions to 6 million public sector workers will fall by 67bn ($107.8bn) over the next 50 years undermined David Camerons claim that the system could go broke if it is not reformed. More than 2 million pupils missed classes as four breakaway unions staged the rst mass strikes against

the austerity plans. Thousands of parents had to take a day o work with nearly 6,000 schools closed and 5,000 partly closed. In total, half of schools were aected. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: Teachers cant stand back and see their pensions attacked when all the evidence shows they are affordable and sustainable and that their costs are falling. Downing Street said just half of members of the PCS the civil service union took part. Some rival unions also turned on the strikers, accusing them of a tactical error. Figures compiled by government departments suggested that 100,000 civil servants had walked out, reducing services at job centres, tax and benefit offices, ports, courts and airports. PCS insisted 200,000 people took action.
Polly Toynbee, page 21

16 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

UK news News in brief

Murdoch gets green light for BSkyB takeover, but at a price

Dan Sabbagh, James Robinson and Mark Sweney
Rupert Murdoch is likely to end up having to pay nearly 2bn ($3.2bn) more to secure full control of BSkyB, after being forced to wait over a year for regulatory approval to buy the 61% of satellite broadcaster BSkyB his News Corporation does not own. The media mogul proposed a 7.4bn takeover oer in June last year priced at 700p per Sky share, but after objections the takeover bid was referred to the competition authorities by the business secretary, Vince Cable. That triggered an eight-month inquiry, which all but ended when the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, put the finishing touches to a series of undertakings aimed at safeguarding media plurality. They would require the company to spin o Sky News for at least 10 years, capping News Corps shareholding at its current 39.1%. While the process dragged on, Cable was stripped of his power to take the decision after he was covertly recorded by Daily Telegraph journalists as saying he had declared war on Murdoch last December. Meanwhile Skys share price continued to soar, reaching 846.5p last week. Rupert Murdochs company insisted that it would not overpay to buy BSkyB. However, sources close to the Sky board indicated they believed that a deal would be done at the price

British government ofcials approached nuclear companies to draw up a coordinated public relations strategy to play down the Fukushima nuclear accident just two days after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and before the extent of the radiation leak was known. Internal emails show how the business and energy departments worked behind the scenes with multinationals EDF Energy, Areva and Westinghouse to try to ensure the accident did not derail plans for a new generation of nuclear plants in the UK. A project to replace 46 re control centres in England with nine regional sites was condemned as a comprehensive failure in a damning report that says at least 469m ($755m) of taxpayers money has been wasted. The National Audit Oce criticised the FiReControl project as awed from the onset and accused the Department for Communities and Local Government of rushing into it, managing it poorly and failing to follow proper procedure. The project, launched in 2004, was axed in December, with no IT system delivered, and eight of the nine purpose-built regional control centres remaining empty. Patients face increasingly long delays for organ transplants, with the average wait for a new heart rising almost 70% over three years and patients needing a new kidney having to hang on for 20% longer, NHS gures show. More than 7,500 people need an organ transplant and an average of three a day die while waiting, the NHS Blood and Transplant service said, launching a campaign for more people to sign up to the organ donation register. One of Britains top police ocers has warned that the governments police reform programme, combined with spending cuts, risks compromising public safety. Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Ocers, warned that if the introduction of elected police commissioners, the creation of a national crime agency and other changes were mismanaged they risked undermining the historic British tradition of policing.

Pricey purchase? News Corporation insisted it would not overpay Reuters of 875p, which would cost News Corporation 9.3bn some 1.9bn more than the media giant was originally prepared to oer. Hunt said he was aware of the huge interest in the takeover, but thought that the undertakings to spin o Sky News were still sucient to ensure media plurality. He said he had made the undertakings more robust, by ensuring, for example, that it was necessary to have an independent director with senior journalism expertise present at Sky News board meetings where decisions on editorial matters are taken. City experts said Murdoch could agree the terms of a 9.4bn takeover bid as early as 29 July. Observers believe Hunt is keen to give nal conrmation by 19 July, when the summer parliamentary recess begins. Chris Goodall, an analyst at Enders Research, said the two sides were likely to agree on price within a month of Hunts nal approval. Nick Bell, equity analyst at Jeeries, said there was a strong possibility the two sides would reach agreement on price by 29 July to tie-in with BSkyBs nancial results. But it was not clear if the spun-o Sky News would be viable.

Missing girls voicemail hacked by paper

Nick Davies and Amelia Hill
The News of the World newspaper illegally targeted the missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler and her family in March 2002, interfering with police inquiries into her disappearance. Scotland Yard is investigating the episode, which is likely to put new pressure on the then editor of the paper, Rebekah Brooks, now Rupert Murdochs chief executive in the UK; and the then deputy editor, Andy Coulson, who resigned in January as the prime ministers media adviser. The Dowlers family lawyer, Mark Lewis, on Monday issued a statement describing the News of the Worlds activities as heinous and despicable. He said the Dowler family was now pursuing a damages claim against the News of the World. Milly Dowler disappeared at the age of 13 on her way home in Waltonon-Thames, Surrey, on 21 March 2002. Her body was found that September, and last month Levi Belleld was convicted of her murder. Detectives from Scotland Yards new inquiry into the phone hacking, Operation Weeting, are believed to have found evidence of the targeting of the Dowlers in a collection of 11,000 pages of notes kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking on behalf of the News of the World. In the last four weeks the Met ocers have approached Surrey police and taken formal statements from some of those involved in the original inquiry, who were concerned about how News of the World journalists intercepted and deleted the voicemail messages of Milly Dowler. The messages were deleted by journalists in the rst few days after Millys disappearance to free up space for more messages. As a result friends and relatives of Milly concluded wrongly that she might still be alive. Police feared evidence may have been destroyed. The Dowler family then granted an exclusive interview to the News of the World in which they talked about their hope, quite unaware that it had been falsely kindled by the newspapers own intervention. The News of the Worlds parent company News International said: We have been co-operating fully with Operation Weeting since our voluntary disclosure in January restarted the investigation into illegal voicemail interception. This particular case is clearly a development of great concern and we will be conducting our own inquiry as a result. We will obviously co-operate fully with any police request.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 17

Finance

Greek debt plan seen as default

Ratings agency throws spanner into attempt to avoid nancial chaos
Tom Bawden
German and French proposals to restructure up to 30bn ($43bn) of Greek government debt were thrown into disarray after ratings agency Standard & Poors said they amounted to a selective default. The decision placed Germany and France on a potentially disastrous collision course with the European Central Bank (ECB). The proposals would have seen investors inject billions of euros into Greece by rolling over maturing Greek debt into new 30-year bonds. They are part of a broader 110bn rescue package, the details yet to be nalised. The debt-swap proposals were designed to meet Berlins demand that investors bear some of the costs of the bailout. However, because the proposals left bondholders nursing losses, S&P on Monday ruled that they would amount to a default on the debt. This sets up Germany and France for a clash with the ECB. The proposals are contingent on Greece not defaulting on its debt, because the central bank has said it will not accept defaulted bonds as collateral for loans. But any deal that satises German demands is doomed to failure since, based on the S&P ruling, it would trigger a default. Christoph Rieger, head of fixedincome strategy at Commerzbank, added: It is clear that they will have to go back to the drawing table. One side is going to have to give in. It obviously wont be the ratings agencies, so

Collision course ... French and German proposals have been thrown into disarray Getty Images it will have to be the German nance ministry or the ECB. The Financial Times reported that the ECB will continue to accept Greek debt as collateral for loans unless all the major credit rating agencies it uses declare it to be in default. The ECB itself declined to comment on the S&P ruling. It is understood, however, that the central bank will not back down on its rule that bonds that have defaulted cannot be used as collateral. The onus is therefore on the French and German banks to come up with an alternative proposal that will not trigger a default, with the ECB expected to play an advisory role in the process. One source said: The way these things work is you come up with a proposal, the ratings agency puts out its assessment, then the proposal is adjusted, and the ratings agency reassesses it and so on. Im reasonably sure that the details of the French and German proposal could be adjusted in a way so that S&P doesnt view it as a default. S&P said that each of the two nancing options described in the proposal would likely amount to a default under our criteria. A default on Greek bonds would cause havoc across the nancial system, cutting the value of investors holdings and possibly leading to struggling economies such as Portugal and Ireland having their debts downgraded.

What happens next?

Monday 11 July A full meeting of nance ministers from across Europe, with Greece top of the agenda. Friday 15 July Greece must repay 2.4bn ($3.5bn) of debt. Tuesday 19 July Another 900m of debt must be repaid Wednesday 20 July... closely followed by another 1.5bn... Friday 22 July... with another 1.6bn due.

S&Ps warning: what the experts say

Gary Jenkins, head of xed income research at Evolution Securities Just as it was all going so well, S&P just picked up the can ... We said last Thursday that we found it difcult to see how the agencies could avoid issuing a default rating if private participation took the form set out under the French plan and this morning S&P became the rst agency to opine on the proposals put forward by the Fdration Bancaire Franaise (FBF). They have stated that each of the two nancing options described in the FBF proposal would likely amount to a default under our criteria. As not triggering a default was set as a precondition by the FBF, it looks like it might be back to the drawing board. Or the ECB backs down and states that it will continue to accept defaulted bonds as collateral and the FBF ignores its own terms and conditions. We are in such strange and dangerous times that anything is possible. Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners I imagine there are a lot of phone calls being made between the European political elite and the bosses at S&P - the political pressure that is currently being exerted to try and persuade these agencies not to classify any potential restructuring as a default. I bet many in Brussels are currently wishing the ratings agency industry was based in Europe and not the US so that more pressure could be applied. But the reputation of these agencies was battered during the nancial crisis, and so it may be that by (potentially) taking a strong stance on Greece, S&P is trying to repair its damaged image and reassert its independence. Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index The comments from ratings agency Standard and Poors that the rollover of debt to Greece, despite the voluntary nature of it, could be classied as a selective default, has triggered the prot taking in banks somewhat. Despite there being a seeming agreement between the EU, IMF and French and German banks to pave the way for Greece to receive a second bailout, the reactions of ratings agencies is still rather unpredictable. And the comments from Standard and Poors concerning a selective default are likely to keep tensions high surrounding Greece and its peripheral debt laden countries in the near term.

18 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Finance Finance in brief

Former lawyer to head IMF

French minister is rst woman to run global nancial fund
Dominic Rushe New York Angelique Chrisas Paris
Christine Lagarde has become the head of the International Monetary Fund, its board conrmed following a meeting in Washington. The French nance minister is the rst woman to hold the post. She takes over from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, beginning her ve-year term this week. Earlier, the US had ocially endorsed her candidacy. Treasury secretary Tim Geithner called her an exceptional talent whose broad experience would provide invaluable leadership for this indispensable institution at a critical time for the global economy. The UK chancellor, George Osborne, hailed Lagarde as good news for the global economy and for Britain. He said: She has been a strong advocate for countries tackling high budget deficits and living within their means. President Nicolas Sarkozy described the appointment as a victory for France. But privately he was said to complain about the effect on his re-election battle next year, when he been counting on her as a measured presence. Her departure also leaves him vulnerable to attacks that the strong female cabinet presence he promised has evaporated. Sarkozy may also be wary of being too closely associated with Lagarde on the world stage, perhaps fearing that unpopular IMF measures will be associated with him in the eyes of the French electorate. That Strauss-Kahn was Sarkozys political opponent was convenient, as it allowed the French president to keep a distance from unpopular IMF decisions.

The Lagarde le
Born 1 January 1956 in Paris. At 18 a political intern in Washington. Graduated from law school in Paris; masters degree, Institut dtudes politiques, Aix-en-Provence. Best of times: In 2007 she was appointed French nance minister, becoming the rst woman to hold the post in any of the G8 countries. Worst of times: In 2007 a prosecutor called for a judicial review of her decision to intervene in a state dispute with tycoon Bernard Tapie, who won huge damages. What she says: It is a huge challenge that I am undertaking with a great deal of humility. What others say: She is enormously impressive, politically astute and a strong personality. Kenneth Rogo, former IMF chief economist Kim Willsher Observer Lagarde exceptional talent Lagarde, 55, has the support of most European states, and is seen as an ideal candidate to handle the IMF bailout of weak eurozone countries. Many observers felt the time had come for a non-European but India, China and Russia have backed Lagarde. She had the explicit support of states, including Indonesia and Egypt, representing more than half the IMFs 24 voting board members. Her closest rival, Mexican central banker Agustn Carstens, won endorsements from Mexico, Canada and Australia. Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin said: I think she has all the necessary qualities, and we support her candidacy. She will be able to make this key international organisation more dynamic and assure its future reform. Lagardes appointment caps a tumultuous time for the IMF, which has been led by Strauss-Kahns deputy, John Lipsky. Her rst move was to support the IMF-backed plans for austerity measures to tackle Greeces debt. Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, said: I dont think this was the right choice for Europe or the IMF. The IMFs policy in Greece, supported by Lagarde, had failed, and appointing another European sent the wrong signal to the rest of the world. You cant demand that these countries show greater responsibilities while continuing to exclude them from the top jobs.

Japanese scientists have discovered huge deposits of rare earth minerals, crucial for making electronics products such as smartphones, tablets such as the iPad and at-screen TVs, on the oor of the Pacic Ocean near Hawaii. The discovery could have important implications for the production of materials requiring rare earths such as tantalum and yttrium. China produces about 97% of the global supply. Business condence at major Japanese manufacturers tumbled to its lowest level in more than a year as the impact of the earthquake and tsunami became clearer, the central bank said, though it expects improvement later this year. The Bank of Japans quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment shows that the main index for large manufacturers was at its lowest level since March 2010. Bank of America has agreed to pay $8.5bn to settle claims that it sold poor-quality mortgage loans to investors ahead of the housing collapse. The settlement follows legal action from a group of 22 investors. The deal represents the single biggest settlement so far tied to the sub-prime mortgage boom and bust. Chinas economic boom showed signs of easing, with factory production growing at its slowest pace in more than two years in June. While the gures do not indicate a sharp drop-o in economic growth, they were slightly worse than foreseen and raised expectations that Chinas central bank may be less aggressive in tightening monetary policy this year. Investors are sensitive to wobbles in China when recovery in the US and Europe is faltering.

Oil attacks leave Yemen on the edge

Sudarsan Raghavan Washington Post
Months of political turmoil and attacks on electricity plants and oil pipelines have left Yemens economy on the edge of collapse, with the most damaging strike carried out in retaliation for a US counter-terrorism raid. Against a backdrop of protests and military clashes, the country is grappling with electricity blackouts, rising food prices, and fuel shortages so dire that Yemenis can spend days in lines for petrol. In March, tribesmen blew up the main pipeline in Marib province, home to roughly half of Yemens oil reserves. The attack was carried out by a tribal leader, Ali al-Shabwani, whose son was killed in a US airstrike in May 2010. The pipeline helps funnel crude to the nations main oil terminal in Aden for export and rening. With Yemen mired in a popular uprising, the pipeline remains ruptured. Shabwani and his heavily armed tribesmen refused to allow the government access to the site until he gets justice for the airstrike, Yemeni ocials said. Around Sanaa, the capital, the consequences are apparent, including water shortages, high transport costs and soaring food prices in a nation where 40% of the population live on less than $2 a day. Hisham Sharaf Abdalla, the minister of industry and trade, said the economy had lost $4bn to $5bn since February, roughly 16% of the nominal GDP. Yemeni ocials said the nation has lost $1bn in oil revenue alone since the pipeline blast.

Foreign exchanges
Sterling rates (at close) 4 July 1.50 1.54 8.26 1.11 12.50 129.82 1.94 8.60 1.97 10.07 1.36 1.61 27 June 1.53 1.58 8.36 1.12 12.46 129.45 1.99 8.75 1.99 10.31 1.34 1.60

Australia Canada Denmark Euro Hong Kong Japan New Zealand Norway Singapore Sweden Switzerland USA

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 19

Comment&Debate

Democracy is no match for market power

Gary Younge

The economic crisis has only intensied the implosion of political legitimacy. Multinationals, not nation states, now rule

n 24 March the Portuguese prime minister, Jos Scrates, resigned after all the opposition parties rejected his austerity plan, which included slashing pensions by more than 1,500 ($2,200) a month and more cuts in tax benets. His governments collapse triggered an election, which could not take place for another two months. During the interim Scrates stayed on as acting prime minister and reached an agreement with the EU and the International Monetary Fund for a 78bn bailout. The terms? Almost exactly the same as those proposed by him and rejected by the Portuguese parliament six weeks earlier. When the elections nally took place the political class could sense a certain degree of cynicism. The Portuguese president, Anbal Cavaco Silva, warned voters they could not complain about what politicians did at a time of sacrice and serious doubts about our future if they did not take part. But the future had already been decided. With major economic decisions rejected and then imposed by powers beyond their control, there was precious little to vote on. At 58%, turnout was the lowest since Portugal became a democracy. [When people] see the prime minister go to Brussels to announce austerity measures, they understand that the government itself decides very little, the political analyst Marina Costa Lobo told Agence France-Press. The basic assumption about electoral politics in a democracy is that the process connects popular will to political power. In the absence of that fundamental assurance, disaection and the cynicism that comes with it are almost inevitable. In the gap between democratic aspirations and the stasis of the political class, legitimate resentments fester. Where solutions are needed, scapegoats are oered. With a handful of exceptions (including the US), voter turnout is falling across the globe while condence in electoral politics is fading. This is not a new dilemma. The question of how to render democratic engagement viable at the national level within the context of neoliberal globalisation has been a key question for some time. By many measures, corporations are more central players in global aairs than nations, writes Benjamin Barber in Jihad vs McWorld. We call them multinational but they are more accurately understood as postnational, transnational or even anti-national. For they abjure the very idea of nations or any other parochialism that limits them in time or space.

But the nature of the economic crisis has intensied the implosion of democratic legitimacy within nation states and made the consequent contradictions particularly acute. When the Greeks default and how is a matter for the EU, the IMF, the bond markets. The Greeks will nd out with the rest of us. In this context the huge demonstrations on the streets of Athens and elsewhere, while encouraging to the left on an emotional level, seem more like expressions of impotent rage than a strategic intervention. It is telling that the youth protest movement that has emerged around Europe is called the indignant ones. Theyre angry. But there is little sense that they see the polling booths as a means to get even, or that some other route has emerged that might also be eective. This comes more by way of critique than criticism. For now anger may be all that is available. The big question is whether any political force is capable of stemming the tides of globalisation of capital, trade, nance, industry, criminality, drugs and weapon tracking, terrorism, and the migration of the victims of all these forces, writes the eminent sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, who has spearheaded much of the thinking in this area. While having at their disposal solely the means of a single state. his global south, saddled with colonial legacies, overbearing neighbours, interfering sponsors, is no stranger to these democratic decits. In June 2009 the Haitian parliament unanimously passed a law that would raise the minimum wage to $5 a day. Given Haitis endemic poverty and brittle democratic culture, the fact that an elected parliament could pass a law that would earn such popular support was encouraging. The US thought otherwise. According to WikiLeaks, the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy, David Lindwall, insisted the law did not take economic reality into account but was a populist measure aimed at the unemployed and underpaid masses. A series of articles based on the WikiLeaks cables by a Haitian paper, Haiti Libert, in collaboration with the US magazine the Nation, revealed how the US then lobbied alongside factory owners, including contractors for some of the priciest jeans and underwear in the west, to force the 60 cents an hour rate in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere even lower. They pressured the former Haitian president, Ren Prval, to undermine the popular democratic will in the interests of greater prots for garment manufacturers until he created two-tier minimum wage with workers in the textile industry getting just $3 a day. Two years later, during presidential elections, the US was back, interfering even as it preached democracy and good governance. The countrys main party, Fanmi Lavalas, was excluded and turnout was only 24%. The former singer Michel Martelly who has previously allied himself with coup leaders and a convicted human rights abuser was elected with the help of a Spanish marketing company. Martellys victory crudely illustrates the broader nature of electoral politics in a period in which the outcome has little relationship to who wields power. For without that basic connection two key questions arise. Why vote if real power resides beyond democratic control? And why stand if you wont be able to do anything? The rst is answered in the low turnouts. But the second answer comes by way of the transformation of a singer into a politician by way of marketing. This is not to say that voting is necessarily a waste of time. The outcomes of national elections can be relevant but the parameters for that relevance are narrowing to within fairly slim margins. National electorates may chose the protagonists. But increasingly it is global economics that shapes the narrative.

How can we render democratic engagement viable at the national level within the context of globalisation?

20 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Comment&Debate

New Rome is not new Greece just yet

Timothy Garton Ash

Its encouraging to see the US acknowledge the nancial hole that it is in. Its a pity that Americans cannot agree how to get out of it

his week the US celebrated its Independence Day. As we all know, 15 years ago an alien invasion, deploying giant saucershaped warships hovering over earth, was repulsed by the ingenuity, true grit and heroism of US forces, leading a worldwide coalition of the willing. President Thomas J Whitmore declared that the Fourth of July would henceforward be celebrated as Independence Day not just for the US but for the entire world. Its just a movie, of course, but the 1996 blockbuster returns us to a moment when America seemed to rule supreme, all-powerful, irresistible, in life as in the movies. The new Rome, Prometheus unbound, boasting the mightiest military the world has ever seen: here was the hyperpower at the heart of a unipolar world. What a dierence 15 years make. The mightiest military the world has ever seen has since fought two major wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neither of them can be called resounding victories. Iraq, which dominated US debate for so many years, is largely forgotten in the US media. Its history in the American usage of the phrase. Afghanistan is not over yet. The country is still far from basic security, let alone liberal democracy. But, despite mutterings from his military commanders, Barack Obama has declared that American troops will be pulling out according to his preordained timetable. The US, he says, needs to concentrate on nation-building at home. Most Americans seem to agree. The latest Pew poll has 56% of them saying US troops should be brought home from Afghanistan as soon as possible. A recent blog compares Obama with another leader who pulled out of Afghanistan after a decade of military action so as to concentrate on economic and social reconstruction at home. It describes the US president as Barack Gorbachev. Well, hang on. To compare the US in 2011 with the Soviet Union in 1988 is to highlight the huge dierences between them. Maybe a comparison with Britain in 1911 would be nearer the mark. Yet clearly the US is wrestling with its own version of the kind of economic, social and political problems that tend to accumulate whenever a country has been a great power for some time. I sometimes think that the only trouble with the historian Paul Kennedys famous book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is that it was published a quarter-century too early, and picked the wrong rising power. Appearing in 1987, shortly before the Soviet Union collapsed

and Japan went into a decade of stagnation, it could be dismissed by bullish Americans as scaremongering. But imagine it being rst published this year, and identifying China as the rising power. The US carries some of the burdens of strategic overstretch that Kennedy described. The cost to the US of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other post-9/11 operations, has been calculated at nearly four times that of the cost to the US of the second world war, in todays dollars. Because of the tremendous growth of the American economy this translates into a much smaller proportion of GDP: an estimated 1.2% in 2008, as against 35.8% in 1945. But the decade of worldwide armed struggle initially forced on the US by Osama bin Laden but then followed by a war of choice in Iraq has devoured a much larger percentage of Americans time, attention and energies. Even when Washington tries to leave a conict to others, as with Libya, it keeps getting dragged in as, so to speak, the military lender of last resort.

The US is wrestling with the problems that accumulate whenever a country has been a great power for some time
Matt Kenyon

eside strategic overstretch, the US suers from welfare overstretch. In this respect the dierences between Europe and the US are smaller than most people on both sides of the Atlantic imagine. Our self-images differ more than the realities. According to Peter Orszag a former director of the White House Oce of Management and Budget Medicare, Medicaid and social security will account for almost half of American government spending by 2015. The other half is mostly interest payments on the countrys soaring debt and discretionary spending, with about half of the latter going on defence. In some individual states, such as California, the scal picture is even more grim. So public spending has to be cut, yet the countrys own infrastructure shows all the marks of long neglect. Every time I come back to the US, I am struck by the signs of visible decay. Beyond the potholes there are much deeper issues, such as the shortfalls in primary and secondary education. Far from leading the world in the rankings of OECDs programme for international student assessment, the US hovers around the middle. Only its universities are still second to none. To address these deep structural problems America needs decisive political action across party lines. On this, most agree. This is what Obama promised in the brief, unforgettable dawn of 2008-09. This is what he has so far failed to deliver, in part through shortcomings of his own but mainly because it will require something close to an American Gorbachev on steroids to break through the countrys polarised politics. Last week the president vented his frustration at the latest example: partisan clihanging about lifting the countrys debt ceiling. A magnicent constitutional framework of checks and balances, designed to prevent the return of British tyranny, has atrophied into a system that makes reform almost more dicult than revolution. And this, too, is familiar from history. Over time, superpowers acquire dysfunctionalities that they can carry because of their sheer plenitude of wealth and power, rather as a super-strong athlete can carry deciencies in technique. When your strength wanes you suddenly need the technique; but it may be too late to get it back. Beside technique, there is the all-important condence. But the old American can-do optimism is shaken. Of course others are still worse o. The new Rome has not yet become the new Greece. But between the EU and the US it may now be a case of competitive decadence. America denitely still has the edge, but it was a Republican not a Democratic senator I heard say last year this country is going to become Greece, except we dont have the European Union to bail us out. That Americans have obviously now woken up to the hole theyre in is a sign of hope. Less encouraging is the fact that they cannot agree how to get out of it.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 21

Comment&Debate
Comment is free... Have your own say
Steve Bells blog Read the comments that were inspired by this weeks editorial cartoon http://bit.ly/Belltoon More than just Mladic Justice in the Balkans must encompass not just war criminals, but their whole communities http://bit.ly/MoreMladic History is best hands on The British Library-Google tie-up will make thousands of texts available. But nothing beats the thrill of an original document http://bit.ly/HandsonHistory

Strikers expose Tory folly

Polly Toynbee

The pensions protest showed that private and public workers are not separate tribes, but are truly all in this together

he success of last weeks strike was not in numbers always unreliable on all sides but in exposing the government on the gold-plated public sector. Because the coalition does broad-brush bombast, not forensics, the paymaster general Francis Maude was wrong to claim pension costs were rising when John Huttons report shows costs already falling. The Oce for Budget Responsibility and the National Audit Oce say there will be no rise. Why? The public accounts committee credits Labours 2008 raising of civil servants retirement age from 60 to 65, with many public pensions already switched from nal salary to career average cheaper and fairer to the lower paid. All this was done with negotiation. Whats more, Hutton says there is no rush: this can wait until growth is healthier. That leaves only Camerons worst argument: public pensions are unfair because they are better than the private sector, where two-thirds of employees have none at all. But that has become the lightbulb moment, when people suddenly realise just how many employers contribute nothing, while the taxpayer gives generous relief to the richest: FTSE 100 directors get an average 3.4m ($5.5m) pension. Talking to strikers last Thursday, many only recently understood how much will be taken from their pay packets. Many of those on middling-to-below median pay face a hefty pay cut during a second year of pay freeze, with ination at 4 to 5%. I started out reporting on many industrial disputes through the 1970s, observing bitter conicts between sometimes brutish managements and sometimes bullying trade unionists. It would have been quite unthinkable to take sums such as these out of peoples pay, let alone to be cutting the pensions of those already retired. Surprisingly, the unions are less intransigent than you might expect: most accept there will be further cuts. In the decade to 2008, the high pay commission shows how the 34% GDP growth was so unfairly shared that 95% of the people received less while most went to the top 1%. The bottom 10% had nearly 10 times less than GDP growth. This year there were 50 times fewer strike days than in the dying days of the 1970s not 50

days, but 50 times fewer. However, to measure union power by strike days would be a mistake: where unions are strongest, they dont need to strike. In Germany and Scandinavia they are so woven into management and the national structure that co-operation, not confrontation, benets the economy. The 1970s ended in catastrophe for trade unionism. Now Labour needs to frame a new plan to give employees constructive power: Ed Miliband wants employees on remuneration committees, but they should be represented in boardrooms too. Last week the Tories tried to resurrect fears of the bad old 1970s but it didnt work. Cameron tried to paint Miliband as the creature of the unions that elected him: he sidestepped that trap and rightly castigated the governments behaviour over the pensions issue. A bit of history may help: as far as I can discover, no Labour party has ever ocially supported a strike, not the General Strike, nor any miners strike. Labour MP Shirley Williams was pilloried for joining the Grunwick picket line, but it wasnt party policy. Neil Kinnock was tormented for not backing the miners against Margaret Thatcher in 1984, or the six-month-long ambulance strike in 1989-90. Public sympathy usually wanes: for all the Brassed O popular romance, Arthur Scargill started out 2:1 against him and ended with 5:1 against. For Labour, a party aspiring to govern cant stand against an elected government, nor easily back producers against the people. Founded and nanced by the unions, Labour has always stood apart, but of course that makes the party writhe. Last week, according to Peter Kellner of YouGov, the people swung to support the public workers against Cameron by 50:40. But they didnt support the strike, with 50:40 against. The day of protest made its point forcefully, but unions need to nurture that public backing. Miliband says strikes are a sign of failure, but he needs to map out a better bargaining power for fairer distribution of wealth. As for Cameron, his divide-andrule strategy will fail. Had he talked to strikers, he would know how public and private workers are not separate tribes, but in the same households. All use public services and many move uidly between jobs in both sectors: truly all in this together.

22 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

theguardianweekly
Libya

Wishing the way to victory

With the Libyan civil war now dragging on into its fth month, and western involvement into its fourth, the airwaves have been thick with entreaties that Nato should stay the course, as if the only impediment to pursuing a successful intervention these days is faint hearts and empty coers back home. There are others. One is that the rebel army is stuck in the woods, 25km outside Misrata and 200km east of Tripoli. Another is that, despite a stream of high-level defections, rising bread prices, a naval blockade and long queues at the petrol stations, Muammar Gadda has held rm. Describe his ruling clique as you will a family clan, the men of the tent, war criminals but the fact is they are still there, and whats more, they appear to enjoy a measure of support. Assessing how much is an inherently awed activity in a rump state under siege, whose prisons are lled with torture victims. The most signicant impediment to an end of the war is none of the above. At the heart of Natos campaign lies a wish: if only the rebels were better armed, better trained and disciplined, if only one of those bombs were smart enough to nd Gadda himself, the gates to Tripoli would fall open. In this fantasy, the omnipresent face of the dictator is replaced overnight by monarchy-era flags, and the Transitional National Council (TNC) marches straight in. Victory day. All you need to sell are the lm rights. But this is a long way from becoming a reality. Still less does it amount to a policy. The intervention saved Benghazi but it has produced partition and military stalemate. An intervention launched in the name of saving civilians has morphed into a drive for regime change. It is as if a coalition ground force is rumbling towards Tripoli. But nothing is rumbling anywhere. The Libyan rebels demand not just that Gadda go, but that the order he established be replaced. As this involves the fate not just of his own tribe, the Qadhadhfa, but those of two major tribes from which his armed forces are drawn, the Magarha and the Werfella, it is hardly surprising that western Libya is still ghting this one out. This is not to say tribal loyalties are set in stone. But it means that even if the regime was decapitated in an airstrike, it would still continue. It does not mean that the Benghazi rebels would be welcomed with open arms into Tripoli. As the International Crisis Group cogently argued, Natos absorption of the rebels demands that make Gaddas going a precondition for a ceasere and negotiations has been one of the central miscalculations of the whole saga. Reversing out of a course of action that demands nothing less than the immediate capitulation of Gadda and sons, and the tribes from which they derive their power, is going to be painful for Nato. But if Tripoli does not fall, it will have to be done.

8 July 1960

Despite his youth, a heart of steel

New York, July. Are you certain that you are ready for the country, or that the country is ready for you? That, said Mr Truman, was what he had written to Senator Joseph Kennedy. The error passed unnoticed until a reporter asked if that was a Freudian slip. The name of the young man, Mr Truman replied, is John. So it is John Fitzgerald. But wherever he parades himself before the people, this well-bred, coltish son of Harvard is mocked by the reputation of his sire; the race-track owner, liquor salesman, isolationistbanker father who made millions by selling short in the 1929 crash. When he is out of Washington, his handicaps seem to multiply. He has that dry, New England voice which is considered by its owners to be the very overtone of breeding and by everyone else to be as melliuous as a thumb-nail on a paving stone. Kennedy has an exhilarating gift that is known only to the people he has won in main streets and mountain villages. We asked him into Ohio, and we had a lot of doubts, says a veteran State committee man. He came in, gave thirty speeches in three days, and when he left the State was jumping. I never saw so many converted pros or gasping women. It is doubtful if the cublike Jack Kennedy can convince the American people that he is more judicial than Stevenson, more adult than Nixon and politically more hep than Harry Truman. Yet this Boston phlegm goes deep. Beneath his Purple Heart there beats a heart of steel, there is enough of it in him to astonish his admirers today, Mr Nixon tomorrow, and maybe Mr Khrushchev the day after tomorrow. Alistair Cooke
archive.guardian.co.uk

Greece and austerity

Brussels v the people

A funny kind of democracy was on display in Greece last week. Under orders from Brussels and Washington, MPs in Athens passed a slew of stringent measures to raise 28bn ($40bn) in a hurry even while hundreds of thousands of protesting Greeks faced massive amounts of teargas and riot police. After the package was voted through by a wafer-thin majority, politicians were escorted out of the parliament by police. For anyone who has ever worried about the democratic decit in Europe, here it was, laid bare on the rolling-news channels. And those protesters were not a vocal minority; polls suggest that up to 80% of Greeks reject these austerity measures. This is not only criticism; it is an analytical point too. As Alexis Tsipras, head of the far left Synaspismos party, shouted outside the parliament building: You wont go far with all the people against you. The majority of lawmakers inside would probably agree with him. Still, legislating does not make it so in Greece, with its long-standing mistrust of the state, more than anywhere else in western Europe. And what the socialist government has just accepted is just as brutal and radical as any structural-adjustment policy imposed by the International Monetary Fund only it has been forced on Greece by its supposed friends and neighbours in the eurozone. Politically, this will feel like an imposition by European elites on Greeks who missed out on the best bits of the previous decades boom; practically, it will be impossible to pull o within four years without more massive retaliation by the trade unions; economically it will be disastrous. Indeed, the Greek economy is already in depression. The combination of 110bn loan and fiscal austerity accepted by the prime minister, George Papandreou, last year has failed to lift the economy. Greece is being pumped with cash so it can repay its debts to German and French banks. The nanciers are being bailed out, while the economy craters, society is pushed to breaking point and Greek politics becomes ever more combustible.

Corrections and Clarifications

An article about the condition of UK beaches mentioned that in 2010 three of them Blackpool North, Tywyn in Wales and Newhaven in East Sussex were closed because of worries over water quality. These closures were unrelated to water quality: the rst two were shut during engineering works, while at Newhaven there was an issue over public access (Its safe to go into the water as beaches set cleanliness record, 24 June, page 16).

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 23

Reply
No danger of a bubble
I honestly dont see the danger in search engines, namely Google, customising our text queries and thereby, as Eli Pariser suggests, severely limiting us to a selfreinforcing world-view (In our own little internet bubbles, 24 June). Google is still a good, quick rst stop, an easy way of dipping into the huge worldwide glut of cheap information. But for quality ltering and critiquing of information, the discerning user should also rely on the sta of the Guardian and other trustworthy, intelligent journalists and librarians who have the experience and expertise to help us ward o what Pariser calls in his book, The Filter Bubble, a global lobotomy. I assume, however, that Pariser is most worried about those poor unfortunates who will lose their Faustian bargain with technology by becoming so severely personalised by algorithmic observers on Google that they will lose all their powers of discernment. He suggests that as a result they will become myopic, antipathetic and just plain unfriendly, trapped in a world where all their ideas are cloned. Richard Orlando Montreal, Canada

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UN Women and WHO, published by the WHO this year. Jane Cottingham Geneva, Switzerland

A state for Palestine

I do hope that the UK representative to the UN will vote for Palestinian statehood if the matter comes up there in September, and that the UK itself will then also recognise the Palestinian state (Israel warns Palestinians over UN bid, June 24). Hamas is blamed for not recognising Israel, and yet we have not yet recognised Palestine, although the Palestinians declared their state already in 1988, and it has been recognised by some 130 countries, including all the Brics countries. So lets join the world and not slavishly follow Israel and America. I cant think of a single reason why the Palestinian state should not be recognised. When the UN gave away 55% of Palestine to the Zionists in 1947, surely the intention was that two states would result from that? When we talk of the twostate solution, surely we mean that Palestine should be one of those states? If Israel does not like the twostate solution, it must treat the historic Palestine as one single state and give the vote to all the people of that state, including in Gaza and the West Bank. Mikael Grut London, UK Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman threatens that Israel will renounce all past agreements if the Palestinians seek recognition of a state at the UN. On the other hand, prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations could proceed if the Palestinians would unilaterally recognise Israel as the Jewish state. What would that mean for existing Arab-Israeli citizens? That Israel would deport all Muslim or Christian Arab citizens? This is the plan proposed by Lieberman. That Israel refuses to be a democratic state for all its citizens, making an impossible demand on Palestinians to accept removal of Arabs from a Jewish state, suggests that Israel prefers not to negotiate but to acquire Palestinian land and water through creeping annexation. Baylis Thomas New York City, US

Gary Kempston

health services, or safe houses for women and children, or the academic or businesswoman mentoring younger women into careers, or the mother arguing for genderfree curricula, or the collectives advocating womens representation in government, boardrooms and policy development (Lets focus on the aws, 24 June). A fullling career, wonderful children, a lovely home and fabulous grooming? I think that was a margarine ad. Andrea Shoebridge South Perth, Western Australia

renewables, coal and browncoal will certainly play a major and possibly an increasing role in the energy mix. So, while the EU clamps down on turf cutters in rural Ireland, the big energy-producing companies are busy cutting turf here in the Rhineland area of Germany, only a few hundred kilometres away from those wise men in Brussels. This is a clear case of one rule for the small man and another rule for corporate business. But of course that doesnt come as a surprise, does it? Alan Mitcham Cologne, Germany

Briey
Figuratively speaking (17 June) states that the oldest person in the world, 114-year-old Maria Gomes Valentim, was born only eight years before the abolition of slavery in Brazil. In fact, slavery was abolished on 13 May 1888 and the lady must have been born seven or eight years later. Alaisdair Raynham Truro, UK Im afraid that Timothy Garton Ash didnt get it completely right (3 June). The primary ideal that the G20 group should pursue is not a free world, but a sustainable world. Ingo Niehaus San Jos, Costa Rica The piece by Costas Douzinas on the public crisis debates in Athens reminded me of an orator at Speakers Corner here who gave speeches advancing an Aristotelian view that the best way of lling positions of power and responsibility in society is to do so by lottery (24 June). The lottery approach has merit: it would be much fairer in giving all participants an equal chance to lead; and, within certain parameters, by taking the machinations out of it and relying on luck instead, theres every chance we would get better more truly democratic leadership. We should give it another try. Terence Hewton Adelaide, South Australia In recent talks with Taliban representatives, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan (24 June) apparently said: We would like our disgruntled Taliban brothers to come and accept the Afghan constitution, the gains of the past 10 years, democracy and the right of free press and women. Was he trying to oer the Taliban paradise on Earth and stop suicide bombers who only get such rewards after death? Felicity Oliver Ostermundigen, Switzerland

Sex selection confusion

Rather than blindly reporting the stand taken by Mara Hvistendahl regarding the claimed role of western governments and businesses in sex selection in countries like China and India (Claim of western role in sex selection rise, 24 June), Ed Pilkington would have served readers better had he presented information based on more serious research. Skewed sex ratios at birth or in early childhood were observed in India as early as the mid-19th century, and appeared in the early census data of the mid-20th century long before ultrasound technology came on the scene. Female infants were killed or neglected in favour of sons for reasons of inheritance, funeral rites and the cost of dowries (among others). While this son preference is still rife in certain parts of India, in other parts of the country the increased availability of technology has not led to sex-ratio imbalances. In the Republic of Korea (where, by the way, abortion is highly restricted), the increasingly skewed sex ratios at birth observed during the 1980s and 90s were reversed to normal by 2007 following legal and social measures in support of womens rights. A useful reference document is: Preventing gender-biased sex selection: an interagency statement by OHCHR, UNFPA, Unicef,

Fighting turf wars

So the EU is pondering sanctions against Ireland in order to stop turf cutting? And the Irish government has even put a surveillance plane in the sky to spot the culprits (For peats sake, Irish bog cutters defy the EU, 24 June). Thats interesting because here in Germany we also have turf cutters who dig up Braunkohle, something that is only marginally further along the path to coal than peat. The dierence between Ireland and Germany is that German peat (brown coal or lignite) is not dug up by quaint men in cloth caps but rather by diggers the size of a row of houses that use an enormous bucket-wheel to chomp their way through the landscape, even destroying villages and communities, which then have to be relocated. Brown coal burns far less eciently than normal coal (anthracite) and emits high volumes of CO2 in proportion to the energy produced but, despite this, brown coal is used to generate well over one-fth of German electricity (about the same as anthracite). This is an important point considering that Germany has vowed to shut down its atomic power stations and is currently considering which energy sources will replace nuclear. Yes, despite lots of talk of

Sounds like an advert

The archetypal feminist in the 80s and 90s ... ah, that would be the woman lobbying for childcare in her neighbourhood, or women-sensitive

24 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Comment&Debate

More than just bones and blood

Karen Armstrong

Understanding the cult of martyrs can help open our minds to the beliefs of others

Pope must also follow

Alan Wilson Comment is free

hortly after I entered my convent in 1962, the entire community processed to the altar one Sunday evening to kiss a reliquary that, I was told, contained a fragment of Jesuss swaddling clothes. In those early days I was ready to swallow anything but I balked at this. It seemed as preposterous as the claim of Chaucers Pardoner that his pillowcase was a piece of the Virgin Marys veil. For similar reasons, I suspect, some may feel that the new exhibition at the British Museum, Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics and Devotion in Medieval Europe, is not for them. In recent years the museum has performed the immensely important task of helping the public to appreciate cultures, such as Babylonia, Shia Iran and Afghanistan, that play a critical role in contemporary politics; next year, there will be a major exhibition on the Hajj. But unless we come to terms with our own past, we cannot hope to understand the beliefs and enthusiasms of others. Far from being an unfortunate eruption of popular religion, historians such as Peter Brown have taught us that the cult of relics was in fact a serious attempt to explore the full dimensions of our humanity; surprisingly, it has much to teach us today. A ritualised journey to a holy place, where pilgrims encounter the divine, has been an important practice in nearly all religious traditions. The Hajj exhibition will show how crucial the pilgrimage to Mecca has been to Muslim spirituality, and Treasures of Heaven explores the development of Christian pilgrimage. Because Christians were persecuted by the Roman imperial authorities for nearly 300 years, they were unable to build their own cult centres. But by the time Christianity was legalised in 312, they had begun to locate the divine in other human beings, a controversial idea that inspired intense debates about the divinity of Jesus. If a mere man could embody the sacred, what were the implications for the rest of us? God became human, replied Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, so that humans can become divine. Nobody had revealed this divine dimension of humanity more clearly than the martyrs, who were revered as other Christs because they had followed Jesus to their death. Their tombs became the new Christian holy places. The physical remains (reliquiae) of the martyr, whose soul was now with God, were experienced as a direct link with heaven. As friends of God, martyrs could

intercede with Him on behalf of their devotees, in rather the same way as a patron in late Roman society mediated between the mighty and the powerless; the sick could thus nd healing and the destitute comfort. By the sixth century, the landscape of Europe was dotted with countless shrines, each containing a martyrs body or, more frequently, a bone, hair, drop of blood, or even something that had merely touched one of the martyrs relics. This was not simple credulity. Like many art forms, the rituals of the shrine were designed to evoke transcendence. Medieval pilgrims did not question a relics authenticity as we would today, because they had actually felt the martyrs powerful presence for themselves. At the end of an arduous journey weary, fasting, in a state of heightened anticipation they were primed for a transformative experience. We do not handle death very well in modern western society: we prefer to speak of somebody passing away and push the dying out of sight into hospices and nursing homes. But the relic forced pilgrims to come literally face to face with their mortality. They had to overcome their natural revulsion for a corpse by kissing the relic, pushing themselves into a new realisation: because humanity was divine, even dead esh, redolent of our ultimate defeat and corruption, could become pregnant with sacred power. The holy place became an image of the world as it ought to be. The shrine was home to societys rejects. The crippled, the destitute and the mentally ill were all given shelter and employment; they took part in processions in which aristocrats, slaves, rich and poor walked together. The holiness of the patron saint threw into relief the brutality of the late Roman patronage system, and the passio reminded pilgrims that he had been an innocent victim of a cruel imperial power. Finally the profane wealth of an oppressive aristocracy was redeemed in the exquisitely crafted golden reliquaries and transferred from the rich to the realm of the sacred. Like the medievals, we too have our limitations. Do we honour our humanity even our humble esh as sacred? And how do our celebrities measure up to the heroic gure of the martyr? By opening our minds to this initially alien symbolism, we can begin to learn, like Spinoza, the crucial art much needed today of making room in our minds for the other: I have laboured carefully, when faced with human actions, not to mock, not to lament, not to execrate, but to understand.

Although Benedict XVI is on Twitter, hes got a lot of work yet to do

lleluia! The pope has won the race into digital space well, ahead of the archbishop of Canterbury, for one. With his own fair nger the holy man not only typed in a message launching his new media agency, but hit the holy return key. Believe it. Actually hes not the rst pope to tweet, just the rst genuine pope. He already has an altar ego, @Pope_ Vatican, who has told us all about his own eggs benedict and Dom Prignon 60th jubilee in breathy confessional style Time for mass! Big shout out to #Prada for the vestments = fabulous! I love being #Pope watch me live on #ewtn in 5 minutes! If the pope is serious about this, he must be himself better than the army of impersonators out there already. If he gets others to speak for him, he will lose in authenticity anything he may hope to gain by trendiness. Hes entering an environment he cant control, in which any truth claims will be tested, and hes as good as his last tweet. Hes got to learn to keep it short. First big decision. Why is he doing this? Is it to humanise himself, by allowing us all to see the person within the role? Thats a noble aspiration but it does require a willingness to take risks, and a commitment to personal alignment.

I was asked once by a senior ecclesiastic for a bit of help because he was told his internet output made him look vain, arrogant and self-important. I sucked my pencil long and hard before suggesting a rather lame solution Have you thought of being less vain, arrogant and self-important? Next up, his holiness needs to decide who to follow. The eld is currently wide open, as I see his address has issued 1,288 micro-diktats to its current 32,175 followers, but listens to nobody. No, really. It follows nobody. This is a problem because social media is interactive. If you dont listen theres no point turning up. Someone should tell his holiness. If they can get his ear. The pope will need to start following people as well as expecting them to follow him. Anyway, theres a principle in the Rule of St Benedict that the wise abbot listens carefully to the whole community, taking special care to hear the youngest and most challenging. They may be mad, or the voice of God. How could you ever know if you simply suppressed it? I hope, on best Benedictine grounds, he wont only be following the voices of those beholden to him. He will of course follow @stephenfry. Everybody does. Shame he cant follow @rowanwilliams because out there in digital space, where everybody can hear you scream, he doesnt exist. Yet.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 25

Rotten tomatoes Investigating the knock-on eect of all-year-round salad crops Books, page 38

Vanishing lifeline
Water is essential, but Earths growing populations are draining supplies and wells are running dry. Theres no easy solution, says Damian Carrington
ind water and you nd life. This simple maxim guides scientists searching distant planets for aliens. But if the astrobiologists were to reverse their telescopes and look at our own globe, they would nd a conundrum: billions of people living in places with little or no water. That unsustainable paradox is now unravelling before our eyes in the Middle East and north Africa. The 16 most water-stressed states on Earth are all in that troubled region, with Bahrain at the top of the ranking from risk analysts Maplecroft. Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia and Syria follow not far behind. All are built on an environmental Ponzi scheme, using more water than they receive: 700 times more in Libyas case. Arguably the most fundamental of the causes of the Arab springs unrest is the crumbling of a social contract that linked cheap water with subservience to dictators. The regions population is rocketing 10,000 new mouths to feed each day

as grain production plummets. The deep, ancient aquifers that enabled crops to green the deserts are almost exhausted, and the oil that res the desalination plants to make up the loss is dwindling, too. Its a perfect storm of water, food and energy crises, two decades sooner than analysts expected. Across the world warning signs are ashing from the sinking of Mexico City as its aquifers are sucked dry to the docking of freshwater tankers in Barcelona. The worlds population tripled in the 20th century, but the thirst for water grew sixfold, most of it sprinkled on elds. The UN predicts that, by 2025, two-thirds of us will experience water shortages, with nearly 2 billion suffering severe shortfalls. Today China, struck by droughts in its agricultural heartlands, is the worlds biggest importer of virtual water: billions of tonnes of water to produce the food and other goods brought into the worlds most populous nation. China, with other water-stressed nations such as Saudi Arabia and South Korea, has

sought to acquire land in wetter places in order to grow and send food home. The so-called land grabs across the global south are the result. From Australia to Hong Kong to India to Spain, nations caught between the stormy equator and the damp high latitudes are running out of water. Global warming will evaporate more moisture, but this will fall in harder downpours in already wet areas rather than relieve arid lands. Desalination with 14,000 plants built is one solution, but is energy-intensive, expensive and heavy on carbon. Mega-engineering projects, such as Chinas 50-year south-north waterdiversion scheme, might oer relief, but at vast cost. Lack of clean water and sanitation in poor nations remains a problem. Ultimately, Ponzi schemes crash. Fresh or virtual water can be imported from distant rainy nations, but at a price many cannot aord. The ultimate solution is simple but challenging: plug leaks, recycle waste and treasure each drop. Case studies, page 26

26 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Weekly review
Case study: El Paso

One maverick desert city teaches Texas how to beat the drought
When Ed Archuleta rst arrived in El Paso to manage the local water authority, the cotton barons and cattlemen who run this desert city had a blunt message for him. This is Texas: we dont do conservation. Its a good thing Archuleta didnt listen. As a record drought scorched Americas south-west this spring, El Paso went 119 days without rain. The Rio Grande, the border with Mexico, shrunk into its banks. An hours drive out of town, ranchers sold o cattle so they wouldnt have to watch them die. Archuleta saw no reason for panic even though, in his words, the amount of precipitation in the rst rain this year was about as much as someone spitting on a water gauge. Were going to be ne this summer, he said. Were basically drought-proof. The city will be ne next year, too, even if it doesnt rain and the Rio Grande stays low. Under Archuletas lead, El Paso has emerged as a model to other cities in the south-west forced to adapt in a hurry to a world running out of water. The prolonged dry spell and declining snowfalls in the mountains due to climate change are forcing cities into crisis measures. This years drought has for the rst time cajoled cities into water rationing. San Antonio banned all fountains and lawn sprinklers. Galveston asked citizens to avoid lling their swimming pools. Odessa, which could drain its main source of ground water by the end of 2012, is thinking of building a reclamation plant. Its a shock awakening. According to some projections, 900 communities in the south-west could go dry by the middle of the century if there is a serious drought. But Texas is a conservative state, reluctant to talk about climate change. It is also the only western state that does not have a central authority to manage groundwater. In the lone star state, its everyone for themselves. It is basically a pirates approach, said John Matthews, director of fresh water and climate change at Conservation International. The right of capture is the legal framework. If youre able to get it, then its yours. If youre on a river and draw all the water, then its just tough luck for the people downstream. If you deplete an aquifer on your land and that aquifer serves a much larger area, then its just tough luck to the other people. But El Paso, on the border with Mexico and more than 800km away from the state capital, Austin, has always operated a bit outside the norm. It was already confronting a water emergency when Archuleta came to town 22 years ago. The Chihuahua desert city had grown rapidly over the years, because of the Fort Bliss military base and migration from Mexico. The city had two sources of water: the Rio Grande, whose waters are shared with New Mexico and Mexico, and two underground aquifers, which contain both brackish and fresh water. By the time Archuleta took over El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU), the city was close to exhausting its ground water. In some areas of the Hueco aquifer, levels had dropped 20 metres or more. Fresh water was running out, and the share of brackish water was rising. And there were increasing demands on the Rio Grande from the expanding populations of El Paso, Las Cruces in New Mexico and Ciudad Jurez across the border. Archuleta saw two choices: use less water or let the city die. So the water authority encouraged a series of conservation measures. One of the biggest targets was reducing the water sprayed on gardens, which accounts for nearly a third of household use. Over the years, residents were paid $1 per 0.3 metres of sod to replace their lawns with less thirsty varieties of grass, or sand. Neighbourhood associations promoted replacement of thirsty imported plants like palm trees with kinds needing less water. Homeowners were oered rebates to install more ecient air-conditioning systems, which oered big savings over popular swamp coolers, and to swap washing machines and toilets for new low-water models. A few years ago the authority ran a programme handing out free low-water showerheads from school parking lots. At the same time, it invested heavily in treatment plants to recycle wastewater for use on golf courses, cemeteries, school and military parade grounds. It sold the recycled water to industries as coolant, and to local farmers. The city now recycles and sells about 12% of wastewater. The authority also expanded its supply, building a desalination plant the biggest inland facility in the US to treat the brackish water from the aquifer. It pumps water back into the aquifer to replenish it. Next door, a water museum teaches children about the importance of purple water named after the purple pipes that carry the recycled wastewater and how to save water at home by watering their

gardens less, or turning o the taps when theyre brushing their teeth. It does not immediately look as if El Paso is doing without. The mansions that cling to the hills west of town still have swimming pools and lushly tended shrubs but no lawns. Residents are only allowed to water their gardens on alternate days, and only in the early morning or evening hours in the summer. By now, such measures are a way of life. Per capita water use for the city of El Paso has dropped in the last 20 years from 754 litres of water a day to 505 litres, according to ocial gures. Thats barely a quarter of the average daily use in the US. Archuleta now believes that El Paso has reached its limit for conservation. Future plans even allow

Case study: China

Unpalatable cure for a crisis

China needs to reduce food production on its dry northern plains or aquifers will diminish to a dire level in 30 years, one of the countrys leading groundwater experts has warned. Zheng Chunmiao, director of the Water Research Centre at Peking University, said that the worlds most populous country will have to focus more on demand-side restraint because it is becoming more expensive and dicult to tap nite supplies below

the surface. The government must adopt a new policy to reduce water consumption, Zheng said. The main thing is to reduce demand. We have relied too much on engineering projects, but the government realises this is not a long-term solution. Zhengs comments are based on his studies of the aquifers under the north China plain, one of the countrys main wheat-growing regions. He said the water table was falling at the rate of about a metre a year mainly due to agriculture, which accounts for 60% of demand. The water situation in the north China plain does not allow much longer for irrigation, Zheng said. We need to reduce food production, even though it is politically difficult. It would be much more economical to import.

The government will be reluctant to accept such a radical step, which could weaken the countrys ability to feed itself. But it may not have a choice. Over the past 10 years, Zheng estimates the annual water decit in northern China at 4bn cubic metres. This is increasingly made up from underground sources, which account for 70% of water supplies. Although some aquifers remain 500 metres thick, others are emptying at an alarming rate. This has created depletion cones, the deepest at Hengshui, near Xizhuajiang. Before trimming agricultural production, the government will try to improve usage eciency. Plans are now being drawn up to measure and centrally manage the remaining resources, which are currently under the control of regional governments

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 27

Case study: aid drought

Donors avoid unsexy priority

A key development goal to halve the number of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015 will be missed because donor countries have diverted aid money away from unsexy water projects, according to the World Bank and the charity WaterAid. Money for clean water and sanitation has been shrinking as a proportion of global aid budgets, research has shown. Donors are restricting aid to sexier projects such as schools and hospitals even though these need clean water and toilets. If the millennium goals were reached, of the 2.6 billion people without access to sanitation today, at least 1.7 billion would be equipped with decent facilities by 2015. But on current trends only about 700 million will gain such access in the timeframe. It shows how far water and sanitation have slipped down the list of donor priorities, said John Garrett, senior policy analyst at WaterAid, which compiled the research using data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Yet the global sanitation crisis is so massive, this is totally insucient to tackle the problem. The World Bank has recently shown that more than 6% a year is being wiped o the GDP of countries failing to provide citizens with adequate sanitation, because of health eects and the resulting lack of education and job chances. When you think that 2% of GDP is the dierence between growth and recession, we are having the equivalent of three recessions every year in these places. But no one is taking any notice, said Julia Bucknall, the World Banks water chief. We are way o track, and 1 billion people will be let down, Garrett said. Women and girls are hardest hit, a World Bank study shows. Because they are more likely to be responsible for water collection, time spent fetching water is spent away from school. The bank found that a 15-minute reduction in the time spent collecting water increased the proportion of girls attending school in Ghana by between 8% and 12%. Water and sanitation projects shrank as a proportion of total aid from rich to poor countries in the last 20 years, according to research from WaterAid. In the mid-1990s, water and sanitation made up about 8% of global nancial aid, but between 2007 and 2009 the last year for which comprehensive gures are available it was just over 5%. The problem is particularly bad in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Garrett. The UN estimates that every $1 spent on sanitation reaps an economic benet of at least $9, because of improvements to health and because it frees people to be more economically active. Although more aid is being devoted to water and sanitation today in absolute terms than in the 90s about $8bn last year compared with $4bn-$5bn then that comes against a background in which aid spending as a whole has increased markedly. The diminishing proportion devoted to sanitation shows donors unwilling to address what is seen as a dicult, unglamorous area of policy, according to people working in the eld. Bucknall said: More children die of diarrhoea [caused by dirty water or inadequate sewage systems] than die of Aids, malaria and TB combined. I think it is unacceptable that 2.6 billion people dont have a means of separating themselves from their faeces. It is a moral outrage. Fiona Harvey

Freak weather despite the excess demands on it, even the Rio Grande can overow Eric Gay/AP for water use to creep up again an idea that angers environmental groups. And the citys thirst for water means less for everyone else: the farmers who rely on the Rio Grande to irrigate their alfalfa elds, and the ranchers. On George Paradas land, next to the border wall with Mexico, a Rio Grande tributary is now just ankle-deep. Unless the authorities release more water from the river, there will not be enough grass for grazing. His cows are feeding on pods that hang from mesquite trees and are growing thin. But Archuleta does not see how the people of El Paso can do with any less. Conservation eorts have gone as far as they can, which brings him to a far more controversial phase of his water plan: securing future supplies. In recent years the city has bought up 40,470 hectares of land in outlying areas, purchasing the rights to the water underneath. He also foresees the day when it will have to invest in water pipelines, pumping water in from much further away. That is our insurance policy, Archuleta said. With proper management, underground aquifers will still have 75% of their water in 100 years. We decided 20 years ago we had to be prepared for just about everything, Archuleta said. When you live out in the desert like we do, it doesnt hurt to have extra capacity. Suzanne Goldenberg

that often tend to draw up water unsustainably for the short-term benet of the local economy. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission which has the nations most advanced river management network is expected to serve as a model. The government is considering a system similar to ours that will collect data on underground water resources and connect it to our Yellow River monitoring system, said Pei Yong, director of the water regulation division. I think it will start three or four years from now. Even before this begins, controls on underground water use are slowly being tightened. Well digging once a lucrative, ubiquitous and poorly regulated business is already feeling the pinch. Kaifeng Well Drilling, a company in Henan,

charges $15 to $80 for each metre, but it has laid o workers because it gets permission for only two wells a year, compared with about 30 in the 1980s. Business is very bad. Many rms have had to change business, said the director, who only gave his surname, Wang. The controls are very tight now. You only get permission to drill in areas with severe water shortages. Such restrictions are said to have slowed the rate of aquifer depletion, but the situation remains critical. Zheng said much more needed to be done, including demand reduction, water transfers and greater use of desalination plants. We will get there because we have to, he said. If nothing changes, then in 30 years we will face a dire situation. Jonathan Watts

28 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Weekly review

Where revenge is in the blood

A brutal code of retribution is still tearing families apart in Albania, writes Piotr Smolar
o one will ever know how it all started, and in a way the original disagreement no longer matters, now that blood has been shed. But there is still Ismet (not his real name). Ismet will soon be 16, which is a problem. Becoming an adult means he must shoulder the burden of the family legacy and answer for it. He looks unconcerned as he approaches the school gate in a village a few kilometres outside Shkodr, the main town in north-west Albania. But before starting his story, he walks down the road, out of sight of the other pupils. Ismet looks down as he talks. Im not sure what to say. Im being blamed for something I didnt do, he starts. His problems are due to his father. In July 2001 the latter became involved in a dispute with two brothers in a neighbouring village, a confusing tale of land on which his father allegedly encroached. There had not been any previous disputes between the two families, but insults and threats degenerated into violence. After killing the two brothers, Ismets father went into hiding in the mountains for two years. Tried in his absence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and subsequently arrested. The justice of the state had had its say, but not private justice. For the past 10 years the family of the two murdered brothers has been demanding vengeance. Albania, which hopes to make its application for membership of the EU ocial this year, has made a radical break with its communist past. But blood feuds, one of its most deep-rooted customs, are still very much alive, demanding an eye for an eye in an endless spiral of grief. Just an insult or some breach in marital morals may justify bloodshed. The ancestral code of Kanun, which has governed rural life in Albania for ve centuries, still holds sway, particularly in the mountainous north. This complex system of customary laws once governed every aspect of life: inheritance, trade, marriage and crimes. The Kanun has survived for so long because it is a way of preserving cultural and legal identity, says the writer Besnik Mustafaj. In the capital Tirana the anthropologist Nebi Bardoshi describes it as a form of opposition to any form of state law, not just Ottoman law the country having gained its independence in 1912, after four centuries of Ottoman rule. The Kanun is linked to the religion of blood, of which feuding is just one aspect, he adds. The law is based on two pillars: fair treatment between men and reciprocity. This system did not provide for endless escalation. On the contrary, from the outset it left room for mediation, through the council of the elders. A promise of safety (besa) could be granted to some members of a clan. But tradition has withered away and all that remains is the idea of vengeance. After the murder, says Ismets grandfather, Kalter, I went to the home of the two brothers twice. I told them there was no problem between us and their family. I tried to negotiate but they would not even sit down, as required by custom. Kalter welcomes us to the family home where he lives with his wife and Ina, Ismets mother. The house is small but well kept. Ismet will be 16 next

Custom that kills ... caught up in blood feuds, young Albanians often have to ee abroad Dan Chung January and he should be starting at the high school in another village, Ina explains. I dont want to take that risk. We want to send him abroad. Everything has changed in Albania since the end of the communist regime. Organised crime has taken hold and human tracking has ourished thanks to arranged marriages, giving rise to more family strife. Above all many violent disputes have focused on land ownership. Despite the relatively small size of the country the governments authority has been severely challenged. In 1997 the Lottery uprising, a conict verging on civil war, erupted following the collapse of various nancial pyramid schemes. In the ensuing chaos arms dumps were ransacked, the arms boosting the old patriarchal system. With no eective law enforcement, families resorted to the Kanun. Albanians penal code refers to vendetta as premeditated murder, but the courts are still at a loss to know how to cope with this parallel system of justice. Families feel entitled to take vengeance, says Prparim Kulluri, the public prosecutor in Shkodr. Weve seen cases where the relations of a victim have given testimony clearing the accused, so that they can settle the score themselves. In 2006 Liliana Luani, a schoolteacher in the city, started an NGO to look after children suering from the consequences of the Kanun. With increasing numbers leaving the land to look for work in the towns, many young people belong to families embroiled in feuds. Luani knows of 120 cases in and around Shkodr. Her organisation provides tutoring so the children can study at home. Theoretically under Kanun rules children cannot be touched. But the old rules have disappeared since the fall of communism, Luani says. Old conicts have resurfaced, new ones have started, mainly linked to land ownership rights. There was a case in Shkodr where a man tried to kill a three-year-old. According to the National Reconciliation Committee some 1,650 families are living in isolation, locked up inside their homes. The gure is up by 200 on 2010 and 2009, because of families returning to Albania after failing to obtain asylum in a western country, says the chair of the committee, Gjin Marku. It is very dicult to nd any rm statistics to gauge the scale of the problem. In a report in February 2010 the UN Human Rights Council estimated the number of feuds had signicantly dropped over the previous ve years, but admitted that ocial statistics were incomplete. The committee says settling of scores caused 95 deaths in 2010, 75 in 2009 and 9,870 since 1990. The prime minister, Sali Berisha, sees things dierently. A native of Tropoj, he thinks the Kanun has its merits. It acted as a very powerful deterrent imposing incredible self-control. There are very few instances of such feuding, proof that the law of the state prevails, Berisha says. When I entered the government [in 2005] there were 1,800 people in prison; now there are 5,000. Such gures are probably misleading. NGOs, assisted by village elders, are the only bodies making any eort to mediate disputes. Reconciliation between two families is a complex process, subject to strict rules, which may take years. The higher you go up into the mountains, the further back into the past you travel. The more the spirit of vengeance contaminates the next generation, the more the Kanun loses its original meaning. Le Monde

A victims relatives will testify to clear the accused so they can settle the score themselves

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 29

Weekly review

A favela reborn
Renaming a shantytown after Brazils president rouses scorn and hope, writes Tom Phillips
hey call her Dilma Rousse s daughter: a dribbling three-month-old girl, covered in puppy fat and smothered by cooing relatives. But Karen da Silva is no relation of Brazils rst female president. She is the rst child to be born into one of the countrys newest favelas the Comunidade Dilma Rousseff, a roadside shantytown on the western outskirts of Rio de Janeiro that was recently rebaptised with the name of the most powerful woman in the country. Shes Dilmas baby, said Vagner Gonzaga dos Santos, a 33-year-old brick-layer-cum-evangelical preacher and the brains behind the decision to change the name of this hitherto unknown favela. In May, just as Rousse was about to complete six months in power, Santos says he received a heavensent message suggesting the renaming. God lit up my heart, he said. The idea was to pay homage to the president and also to get the attention of the government, of our leaders, so they look to us and help the families here. The poor are Gods children too. Until recently, the 30-odd shacks that ank the Rio-So Paulo highway were known simply as kilometre 31. But its transition to Dilma Rousse has not been entirely smooth. At rst, locals plastered posters on the areas walls and front doors, announcing the new name. But the posters referred to the Comunidade Roussef one f short of the presidents Bulgarian surname. A sign was erected welcoming visitors to their shantytown, but again spelling proved an issue. This time the name given was Dilma Rusself. That mistake has now been corrected, after the preachers wife intervened and took a pot of red nail varnish to the sign. Locals say the name-change is starting to pay o.

Its been good having the presidents names, said Marlene Silva de Souza, a 57-year-old mother of ve and one of the areas oldest residents. Now we can say our communitys name with pride. Before we didnt have a name at all. Dozens of Brazilian newspapers have ocked to the community poking fun at its misspelt sign but also drawing attention to the poor living conditions inside the favela. It has brought us a lot of attention The repercussion has been marvellous. Today things are starting to take shape, things are improving, said Santos, who hopes local authorities will now formally recognise the favela, bringing public services such as electricity and rubbish collection. Still, problems abound. Sewage trickles out from the houses, through a patchwork of wooden shacks, banana and mango trees and an allotment where onions sprout amid piles of rubbish. Rats and cockroaches proliferate in the surrounding wastelands. Ownership is also an issue. Dilma Rousse is built on private land The owners are Spanish, I think, says Santos and on paper the community does not ocially exist. Without a xed abode Karen Rousse da Silva has yet to be legally registered. In May, the Brazilian government launched a drive to eradicate extreme poverty with programmes that will target 16 million of Brazils poorest citizens. My governments most determined ght will be to eradicate extreme poverty and create opportunities for all, Rousse said in her inaugural address in January. I will not rest while there are Brazilians who have no food on their tables, while there are desperate families on the streets [and] while there are poor children abandoned to their own fate. Residents of Rousse s namesake, who scratch a living selling biscuits and drinks to passing truck drivers, hope such benets will soon reach them. A visit from the president may be on the cards. We dream of her coming one day, said the preacher, perched on a wooden bench outside his red brick church, the House of Prayers. It might be impossible for man to achieve, but for God everything is possible.

Letter from Rwanda

Family is split on leaving their valley

Denis Walls
y Kinyarwanda teacher, Theo, was keen for me to meet his parents, who live in a remote part of eastern Rwanda. Getting there involved a bone-jarring journey uphill, which ended when a winding side track nally petered out. We clambered o our motos and proceeded down a steep hill passing sorghum, banana and coee elds. Theo waved to everyone tending their crops and they responded with amakuru toto (how are you, young one) his childhood nickname. I was introduced to several smallholders, most of whom seemed to be aunties and uncles of some kind, then Theo pointed to a house below us. We had arrived. Tharcissie (Mama) and Etienne (Papa) went out of their way to make me feel welcome, preparing a delicious meal of rice, beans and peas with fresh hens eggs. Tharcissie makes the most exquisite baskets, each taking at least three days, for which she receives a meagre $8 from a co-operative in Kigali. Etienne makes an occasional income from selling the coee from his small plantation and they have two cows. They are by no means the poorest people in the valley. Theo disappeared, leaving me to fend for myself in Kinyarwanda with Tharcissie and French with Etienne. We chatted about farming, beer and the governments decision to move all the valley farmers to the top of the hill as part of its land consolidation policy. A neighbour has already accepted the decision and is set to move out. Etienne worries about not being close to his coee plants, but Tharcissie is keen to move, as she doesnt want to spend her old age isolated in the valley. The government has promised to provide housing for all displaced valley dwellers. The idea is then to knock down the valley houses and expand the area of productive farmland. Farmers will then have to go down the hills each day to tend their crops. When Theo returned it was time to head o down the bumpy road. Tharcissie and Etienne accompanied us back up the hill to await the return of the moto drivers. The crowd looked on spellbound as I struggled back into my plastic dust trousers. Then, with murakoze cyane (thank you very much) and murabeho (goodbye), smiles and waves, we were gone.

Whats in a name? Dilma Rousse favela, on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro Tom Phillips

30 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Weekly review

Passing the nuclear parcel

The Yucca Mountain disposal plan has been a asco, write Joel Aschenbach and Brian Vastag
n the desert of Nevada, 160km from Las Vegas, engineers have drilled a tunnel through the heart of Yucca Mountain. The hole is around eight metres wide and 8km long. Its dark in there. The light bulbs have been removed. The ventilation has been turned o. Theres nothing inside but some rusting rails that were supposed to carry 70,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to a permanent grave. Outside, the gates are locked. When members of Congress visited in March, the US government spent $15,000 just to reopen the place for a few hours. Yucca Mountain is a case study in government dysfunction and bureaucratic inertia. The project dates back three decades. It has not solved the problem of nuclear waste but has succeeded in keeping fully employed large numbers of litigators. The mountain dump was a project that came to life slowly and tortuously and is in the process of dying in a similar fashion. Proponents havent given up on it, and it could yet be resuscitated by the courts. The US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit is expected to issue a ruling on a lawsuit, led by the states of Washington and South Carolina, among other plaintis, that contends that the Obama administration lacked authority to kill the congressionally mandated programme. But as it now stands, the Yucca Mountain tunnel is likely to turn into a $15bn Hole to Nowhere. This is Alice in Wonderland. Only in Washington DC could something like this happen, said Ed Davis, a nuclear industry consultant and former president of the American Nuclear Energy Council. The controversy has generated a cloud of recrimination. Last month, a House subcommittee heard the inspector general of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission testify about the results of a probe into the actions of NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko, whom Republican lawmakers have accused of illegal machinations to shut down the mountain depository. The pro-Yucca forces see this multi-decade saga as the ultimate case of not-in-my-back-yard politics. The anti-Yucca camp argues that the mountain is not geologically sound as a toxic waste dump, that its too wet for long-term storage of containers that can corrode, and too vulnerable to earthquakes. Just about everyone agrees that, viewed broadly, the Yucca story has been an epic asco. A report released in April by the Government Accountability Oce estimates that $15bn has been spent on the attempt to nd a place to put the spent nuclear fuel. Everybody in the government seems to have ended up with egg on their face, said Yucca opponent Victor Gilinsky, a former NRC commissioner and former consultant to the state of Nevada. The nuclear energy industry in recent years has been hoping for a renaissance after several moribund decades. Energy from ssion produces no carbon emissions, an attractive feature in an era in which scientists say the burning of fossil fuel is driving perilous levels of climate change. But the waste issue has dogged the nuclear industry for decades. There are currently 75 US power plant sites, scattered among 33 states, where nuclear fuel is kept Train to nowhere ... waste was meant to be moved along this rail line David McNew/Getty Images now the majority leader, fought the project. The mountain turned out to be wetter than expected. Scientists discovered that plutonium from the atomic bomb tests had migrated into the groundwater, indicating that the mountain was not as geologically isolated as hoped. When Barack Obama ran for president, and sought the ve electoral votes of the swing state of Nevada, he vowed to kill Yucca. In early 2009, Steven Chu, Obamas energy secretary, announced that his department did not feel that Yucca Mountain was a workable option. Department of energy spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller said last month: Rather than spend billions of dollars more on a project that faced such doubtful prospects of ever being built, we think the responsible thing to do is to move on to a better solution for the long-term management of our nuclear waste that meets the countrys needs and has the opportunity to obtain the necessary public acceptance. The April GAO report details a lurching, haphazard shutdown of the huge project starting in February 2010. The department of energy terminated the jobs of several thousand federal workers and contractors while hastily abandoning oces in Las Vegas and transferring dozens of truckloads of furniture, computers and other equipment to other department sites and local schools. Last fall, NRC Chairman Jaczko, a former adviser to Reid who was elevated to his post by Obama, ordered the sta to wind down a two-year-old technical review of the Yucca Mountain project. But the inspector general found that Jaczko was not forthcoming with some fellow commissioners and that they did not fully grasp that his administrative actions were a death knell for Yucca. Bells report also described Jaczko as temperamental. Jaczko, while welcoming the reports conclusion that he didnt break the law, pushed back against the suggestion that hes a hothead. Im a very passionate guy and a very intense guy I hold people accountable, he said. I am very comfortable with my leadership and what Ive done with the agency. The next turn of events will likely take place in the courts. On 22 March, the federal appeals court heard oral arguments on a consolidated set of Yuccarelated lawsuits against the administration and the NRC. Barry Hartman, attorney for three of the plaintis, said a clear-cut victory in court could force the administration to revive Yucca. If the administrations position stands, the administration has ushed a lot of money down the tubes, Hartman said. With Yucca Mountain closed, the Obama administration has resorted to the classic manoeuvre for dicult problems: it has assigned the nuclear waste dilemma to a blue-ribbon commission led by grayhaired Washington luminaries. In May, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Americas Nuclear Future made a draft recommendation for a medium-term solution: above-ground storage in concrete containers, or dry-cask storage. But the commission also called for the country to develop expeditiously a permanent storage site in one or more deep geological facilities. It did not specify where such a hole should be. Washington Post

We must move on to a better solution for long-term management of our nuclear waste
in temporary storage, typically in pools of water that cool radioactive material. Such a storage system is not foolproof, as seen in the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, where spent fuel pools allowed radiation to leak out. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan the following year, compelled the department of energy to search for a deep geological repository among potential sites. Powerful politicians found ways to leverage their states o the list of candidate sites. Congress eventually decided that the only place suitable was Nevada, not far from land that had already been irradiated in above-ground atomic weapon tests in the 1950s. In 1987, in what is commonly known as the ScrewNevada Bill, Congress designated Yucca Mountain as the focus of the programme. Utility customers across the US pay a slight surcharge on their monthly bills to fund the waste disposal project money sitting in a $24bn account. But Nevada politicians, including Senator Harry Reid,

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 31

Weekly review

Must-have addiction has to end

Collaborative consumption can help us avoid the futility of shopping, says Leo Hickman
n November 2008, a 34-year-old security guard called Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death at a Walmart store in Valley Stream, New York, by what local papers described as an out-of-control mob of 2,000 frenzied shoppers who had queued overnight in the promise of a slash-price sale. With the crowd outside chanting, Push the doors in, sta climbed on to vending machines to escape the resulting stampede. Even when police later declared that the shop was closed as a crime scene, angry shoppers remonstrated with ocers. One yelled: Ive been queueing since yesterday morning. The bargains on oer included a 125cm plasma HDTV priced at $798. Rachel Botsman retells the event in her book, Whats Mine Is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We Live. Its a sad and chilling metaphor for our culture at large a crowd of exhausted consumers knocking down the doors and ploughing down people simply to buy more stu. Botsman rails in the book against the excesses, futility and contradictions of mass consumption, but she doesnt rehash the usual tropes of anticonsumerism. Rather, her book is a cry for us to consume smarter by moving away from the outdated concept of outright ownership towards one where we share, barter, rent and swap assets that include not just consumables, but also our time and space. The notion of collaborative consumption is not, she notes, new it has been around for centuries. But the arrival of internet-enabled social networking, coupled with geo-located smart phones, has supercharged a concept that was already rapidly gaining primacy owing to the twin pressures of our environmental and economic crises. Echoing the Japanese concept of muda the relentless hunt for, and eradication of, ineciencies in any system collaborative consumption aims to exploit previously ignored or unnoticed value in all our assets by both eliminating waste and generating demand for goods and services that are otherwise idling. Botsman uses the example of motoring to show where collaborative consumption already makes sense. Cars are 90% under-utilised by their owners, she tells me from her home in Australia. And 70% of journeys are solo rides. So we now see car club companies such as Streetcar proving very popular in cities. In Munich, BMW lets members pay for a car by the minute rather than by the hour. And websites such as ParkatmyHouse.com are allowing people to make money from unused space outside their properties. A great example is a church in Islington, London, which was facing nancial trouble. But it started renting parking space out front and it now makes [$113,000] a year from doing so. If the internet and social networking act as lubricants for collaborative consumption, then trust is

But do they come in orange? The way we consume is wasteful China Photos/Getty Images the glue that binds it together. None of this would work if we didnt have faith that the invariably anonymous person at the other end of the transaction will do what they promise; namely, pay for your goods or services, or deliver what they have advertised. Really interesting things are happening with trust at the moment, says Botsman. We dont trust centralised monopolies, but we do trust decentralised systems. So we see peer-to-peer money-lending sites such as Zopa proving popular, in stark comparison to banks. Trust circles are being built online for things such as skill-sharing, space rental and task-running. eBay has shown us that trust-based transactions work online. The US is about 18 months ahead of the UK at the moment with all this, but sites such as TaskRabbit and Hey, Neighbor! are redening what a neighbour is. One of Botsmans most radical ideas is that the rise of collaborative consumption will see the advent of reputation banks. In her book, she writes: Now with the web we leave a reputation trail. With every seller we rate; spammer we ag; comment we leave; idea, video or photo we post; peer we review, we leave a cumulative record of how well we collaborate and if we can be trusted. Soon, Botsman argues, our reputation rating will be as, if not more, important than our credit rating. It is only a matter of time before there is some form of network that aggregates your reputation capital across multiple forms of collaborative consumption. Well be able to perform a Google-like search to see a complete picture of how people behave and the degree to which they can be trusted. Botsmans advice for anyone considering diving into the world of collaborative consumption is to begin by drawing up an inventory of your assets. Gumtree.com estimates that the average UK home has nearly $1,000 worth of unused items collecting dust. But Botsman says to think more laterally: consider the spare storage space you might have under the stairs or in a garage; the electric drill you could rent to neighbours; your unique skills dog-walking, accountancy, shelf-tting you could hire by the hour, or exchange for someone elses skill. But critical mass seems to be just as an important an ingredient to collaborative consumption as trust and the connectivity of the internet. If there arent enough people out there oering or demanding these goods and services, then these systems quickly wither. Yes, youve got to have critical mass for this to work, says Botsman.

Lets move away from the concept of outright ownership towards one where we share

32 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Science

Red Planet comes into sharp focus

After 40 years of missions, understanding Mars could be within our reach, writes Robin McKie
orty years ago, space engineers launched a probe that would play a pivotal role in changing our understanding of our place in the cosmos. On 30 May 1971, Mariner 9 was dispatched to Mars on an Atlas Centaur rocket and in November of that year slipped into orbit around the Red Planet. In doing so, the American robot spaceship became the first man-made object to be placed in orbit around another planet. A few days later, two other spacecraft, Mars 2 and Mars 3, both built by the Soviet Union, followed suit and achieved Martian orbit. In three weeks, the Red Planet had become a scientic hotspot. Thus began a revolution in our understanding of the solar system, a family of planets that space probes have shown to be far stranger and more exotic than expected, with Mars producing the largest number of surprises. Mariner 9 showed it possesses the solar systems largest mountain and its biggest canyon, while ancient riverbeds and streams were discovered at several sites, ndings that have been conrmed and explored in far greater detail by subsequent probes and that continue to maintain hopes that we will one day nd signs of life on another world. Forty years on, Mars is still a place of fascination for humanity, though its investigation has been a rocky business. The story of Mars exploration has been a real rollercoaster, admits Oxford astronomer Professor Fred Taylor, who has worked closely with Nasa on a number of missions to the planet. Once, it seemed destined to support life. Then we thought it was utterly dead and featureless. Then we discovered thanks to Mariner 9 that it had a landscape through which water had poured. After that, craft found its soil contained no signs of biological material. Since then, we have bounced back

and are hopeful life may exist deep underground. As a result, several missions to Mars are being planned over the next few years, with the US, Russia, China and Europe all preparing spacecraft. These will include automated rovers, with one, called ExoMars, that is being built in the UK; craft that drill deep below the planets surface; another that will land on Marss moon, Phobos, and survey the planet from there; and, ultimately, a robot spaceship that will re samples of Martian soil and rocks back to Earth for analysis. Once we get our hands on that, we will have a real chance of nding out if there is life underneath the Martian surface, says David Parker, director of space science at the British National Space Centre. The rst probes arrived at Mars courtesy of the US Mariner 4 in 1965 and Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969. These were y-by missions and took only a few dozen photographs and measurements. From these, Mars looked like the Moon, a dead world. It was a low point, says Taylor. However, all that changed two years later with Mariner 9, which got us our rst proper look at Mars. It was an orbiter and could study the planet for a long time. And yes, parts of it did look like the Moon. But there are also these wonderful mountains, polar caps and valleys as well as dried-up river valleys, which showed water had once own there. Suddenly, Mars looked as if it had a much more Earth-like climate in the past though we didnt know if that was the recent past or the distant past. And we still dont know. It is for this reason that Mariner 9 remains of such importance today. It restored hopes of nding life on Mars and revealed a world of surprising variety. A 4,000km gash was discovered in the side of Mars, Valles Marineris (the Mariner Valley), an A revolution in our understanding ... Mars Express, an artists impression AFP/Getty Images

Space shuttle makes its nal ight

Robin McKie Observer
Atlantiss mission, the 135th ight of a space shuttle, is routine: to carry supplies to the International Space Station. The mission set to launch today will be our last chance to watch the most complex machine ever built, a craft designed to make space travel commonplace but that ended up becoming the most dangerous form of transport ever devised. The story of the shuttle perfectly encapsulates the stuttering history of the US space programme. The rst craft, Columbia, was launched on 12 April 1981, and own by veteran astronauts Robert Crippen and John Young. It was a awless mission that ended, after 37 orbits, when Crippen ew the 36 metre-long craft across the US to land at Edwards Air Force base in California. The ight was greeted rapturously. The shuttles revolutionary engines had survived their roasting while its thermal insulation tiles had ensured the craft endured the searing temperatures of re-entry. The reusable spaceship had arrived. And for the next four years, the US shuttle eet Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis lived up to those expectations. Shuttles ew huge satellites into Earth orbit and carried Sally Ride, the rst US woman into space, along with citizens of West Germany, Mexico, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands. The sight of a gleaming white spaceship skipping eortlessly into orbit became reassuringly commonplace. Space had surely been conquered. The notion was a dangerous delusion, however. The shuttle had been starved of cash during its development and was too heavy for its own good. It had to rely on solid boosters to get it into orbit and needed extra-thick insulation tiles to survive re-entry. A crew escape system was also scrapped. On 28 January 1986, the consequences of these compromises were cruelly exposed. A seal in a booster of the shuttle Challenger failed at lift-o. The spaceship exploded 73 seconds into its ight. Its crew of seven were killed. Remarkably, the shuttle programme survived, though far greater care was expended on launches. Costs soared. Far from making access to space cheap, the shuttle became extraordinarily expensive. Yet it

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 33

Dispatches

immense complex of canyons, more than 6km deep and 100km across. Crucially, from the eastern end of this great rift valley, Mariner 9 sent back pictures of what appeared to be dried-up river beds connected to the bed of a former ocean. Almost overnight, the forbidding impression relayed by earlier missions was replaced by a vision of a planet with a water-rich history like the Earths and, therefore, a place much more suitable to the development of life. So Mars was a warm, wet place when life arose on Earth. Life could have evolved there, and could still be thriving below the surface, safe from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation and nourished by underground water supplies. What was needed now were craft that could nd those life forms, a task that has proved awkward and elusive but which may soon be resolved, say scientists. The rst stab at following Mariner 9 was made when the US embarked on the Viking missions of 1976. These involved two craft being carried to Mars and landed with precision on its surface. Soil was scooped from the surface and analysed in tiny robot laboratories for evidence of biological activity. It was an incredibly expensive undertaking, says Taylor. And it was a great success except that there didnt appear to be any life. People were very disappointed. They wanted to nd life but they didnt. After that, Nasa gave up on Mars for 20 years. Martian studies reached an all-time low until, in 1996, Nasa scientists, led by David McKay, announced they had found possible signs of life on a Martian meteorite called ALH84001. This lump of rock, weighing almost 2kg, fell to Earth 13,000 years ago. Found in the Allan Hills of Antarctica, it is one of an estimated 100 that is reckoned to have come from Mars. Analysis of ALH84001 revealed chemicals that could have been produced by living organisms, as well as rod-shaped structures that looked like terrestrial bacteria, said McKay and his colleagues. Nasa launched the Mars Pathnder mission in 1996, landing a tiny robot rover, Sojourner. The more advanced Spirit and Opportunity robot rovers landed in 2003. The ultimate aim of future missions is returning a sample of Martian soil to Earth, where it can analysed for signs of life. The consequences of nding life on Mars, no matter how primitive it turns out to be, will be considerable. In the next few decades, we should nd answers. In the meantime, Mariner 9, the craft that kickstarted our hunt for life on other worlds in our solar system, continues to orbit Mars, a silent, dead craft whose fuel and electricity have been used up and its work completed. Observer

Genome repair reverses blood disease in mice

Doctors have treated a life-threatening blood disease by repairing aws in the genetic code of a living animal for the rst time. The technique, called genome editing, holds promise for a group of illnesses that run in families and are caused by faults in genes that underpin the immune system, bone marrow and liver. In a report in the journal Nature, a team led by Katherine High at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia describes how genome editing reversed haemophilia B in mice, restoring their blood clotting times to near-normal without any apparent side-eects.

Drugs combo warning

The combined side-eects of commonly used drugs can increase the risk of death and brain impairment in people over 65, according to a study of more than 13,000 people. The study was part of the UK Medical Research Councils Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies project and looked at a specic class of commonly used drugs being taken by people over 65 over a two-year period. The sort of drugs were looking at are used in allergies, depression, cardiac disease, bladder disease, pain relief and sometimes in anti-coagulation, very common drugs, some prescribed, some over the counter, said Chris Fox, clinical senior lecturer at Norwich Medical School, who led the research.

Head-butting dinosaur
A small, two-legged dinosaur that browsed leaves and berries in the forests of the late Cretaceous fought o rivals by unleashing some of the most formidable head-butts ever seen, say scientists. Stegoceras validum, a beast no bigger than a goat, was engaging in headto-head combat to overpower its sexual competitors 72m years ago in what is now North America. The Stegoceras skull is almost like an enhanced motorcycle helmet. It has a sti outer shell and a compliant layer beneath, and then another really sti layer over the brain, said Eric Snively a co-author of the study at Ohio University.

End of an era ... the space shuttle Discovery

still carried out some remarkable missions including those to repair the Hubble Space Telescope and to construct the International Space Station. Then, on 1 February 2003, tragedy struck again. Columbia disintegrated over Texas as it swept towards its landing site in Florida. All seven astronauts on board were killed. In the end it was agreed to resume ights, but to ground the craft once the station had been completed. With the ight of Atlantis, that task will have been achieved and the three surviving shuttles will be given homes at museums. After that, America will have to rely on Russian rockets to take its astronauts into space: an ignominious end for the mission of an extraordinary ying machine. We will not see its like again.

Jerusalem discovery
Israeli archaeologists have discovered part of a 3,000-year-old clay tablet covered with cuneiform script that they say is the oldest written document ever found in Jerusalem. The thumb-sized fragment, which is described as an archived copy of an Akkadian-language letter that Canaanite King Abdi-Heba wrote to the king of Egypt, was placed on display at the Davidson Centre in Jerusalems Old City. It was found in excavations of a site from the First Temple period led by Hebrew University archaeologist Eilat Mazar. Washington Post

34 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Culture

House of love and friendship landlady Anna Madrigal (Judy Kaye, left) with Mona Ramsey (Mary Birdsong) Kevin Berne

Scissors, sex and major queening

Music Tales of the City is now a musical with songs by Scissor Sister Jake Shears, reports Hadley Freeman
ne day in 1991, when Jake Shears was 13 years old and so far from being Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters that he was Jason Sellards and as yet unaware he was gay, he was hanging out with a gay couple, who had taken the youngster under their wing. I think they knew I was gay before I did, he recalls. So, you know, they would turn me on to cool music. One of them handed him a book, saying: I think youll like this. It was Tales of the City, Armistead Maupins much-loved saga set in 1970s San Francisco, involving a hugely diverse group of characters who are all (often unknowingly) linked, and many of whom live in a large guesthouse run by the mysterious Mrs Madrigal. The book is full of stories of bathhouses and break-ups, all told in Maupins genial tone. It was the rst thing Id ever read that had a positive gay perspective, says Shears, and two years later, I came out. Make of that what you will. Twenty years later, Shears is repaying his debt to Tales. As he relates this story, backstage at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, rehearsals are going on across the hall for the musical version of Tales of the City, for which he and fellow Scissor Sister John Garden have written the music and lyrics. The libretto is by Je Whitty, who won a Tony for Avenue Q, and its directed by Jason Moore, who also worked on the coming-of-age puppet parable. Yes, your name has to begin with J to work here, the press ocer dryly conrms. The four Js make a charmingly symmetrical double double act, with the bright-eyed and loquacious Shears and the quieter Garden in one corner, and the adorably excited Whitty and the calmer Moore in the other. Its been extraordinary to see the books come to life on stage, says Maupin, but the really moving thing has been to see how well they all get along they are 28 Barbary Lane. This was the address of Madrigals house, where the characters meet, fall in love and form lifelong friendships. In fact, the genesis of the musical could have come from the pages of Tales itself. Whitty came up with the idea ve years ago on a ight to London. He called Moore who instantly said yes. Whitty then made a mixtape of songs that sounded like the kind of music he and Moore wanted; the only contemporary piece was by the Scissor Sisters, so he called up Shears. How did he get his number so quickly? Oh, we met about 11 years ago when we were both go-go dancers, Shears recalls airily. He enjoyed pulling his clothes o and dancing on bar tops. The rst time we met in New York, I was probably o my face and we both had half our clothes o. That, Whitty says, pretty much describes it. And weve turned it into art! No regrets ever! The other person Whitty had to convince was his literary idol, Maupin. So, nervously, he ew to San Francisco, where the writer lives. But instead of the big box of crazy he was worried about nding, Armistead was so welcoming. We just got stoned within the rst ve minutes and that was it. Maupin originally wrote the books as newspaper articles, so they have an episodic feel, rather than the owing rhythm that musicals need; and, even though its set in the 70s and is full of gay characters, they didnt want to make a camp pastiche. That said, Whitty adds, at times, the show does queen out MAJORLY. And how much do sex and drugs feature in the musical? About 38%, says Garden. If the show goes well, the plan is to bring it to London next. The San Francisco Examiners reviewer said, the audience went wild. After all, they were privy to plenty of inside jokes as well as captivated by the broad and witty characterisations. And added: This love letter to countercultural San Francisco is neither deeply emotionally engaging, nor nuanced its just out-and-out good, rousing fun, with some poignant moments, such as Mouses aecting coming-out song, Dear Mama. Whitty and Moore remember how audiences in London took to Avenue Q. Maupin, too, feels the books were really discovered in England, thanks to Patrick Janson-Smith, the British editor who was a champion of Tales. Plus, Whitty points out, It took Channel 4 to make a TV show out of Tales. American networks wouldnt take a chance on it. London audiences are much less shockable than American ones, theyre less prudey-sue. We had to make the sex scenes in Avenue Q lthier for the London audiences. That could be fun with Tales. Tales of the City is at the American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, until 24 July

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 35

Culture

A cunning form of diplomacy

Exhibition The Government Art Collection is a quiet way to wave the British ag, discovers Laura Cumming
oes art have its uses, other than to civilise, enlighten, stimulate, console? Purists would say certainly not. Art has no function whatsoever. But anyone visiting Londons Whitechapel Gallery, where the Government Art Collection (GAC) is being shown in public for the rst time in its 113-year history, will see that art can be a cunning form of diplomacy. Take one of Bob and Roberta Smiths fairgroundlike signs, brightly painted in chip shop colours and currently hanging in the first tranche of the collection at the Whitechapel (there are several more selections to come). Peas are the New Beans, it says, advancing a silly paradox about legumes, but punning on the bean-counting profession as well, at least if you have a mind to spot this. And plenty have, it appears. Paul Boateng, chief secretary to the Treasury under the second Blair government, hung the painting outside his oce, to laugh the waiting accountants and civil servants out of heaven knows what negativity. Apparently it worked every time: full pictorial eciency. Sir John Sawers, currently head of MI6, previously at the UN, used to invite hostile nations into his oce to dwell upon the beautiful cobalt ground of Claude Heaths Ben Nevis on Blue all dots and doodles (Heath draws with his eyes closed) and just shy of guration. Which was extremely helpful during some particularly heated negotiations on Iran, where the painting was used as a kind of soothing time-out for eyes and mind. Agreement, according to Sawers, was reached an hour later. And so it continues: an Anish Kapoor for the high commission in New Delhi to demonstrate how far Britain and India have come together (world-class artist born in Mumbai, resident in London: perfect symbol); Thomas Phillipss magnificent portrait of Byron posted to the British embassy in Athens, where he remains a hero for taking part in the Greek war of independence. These are works to impress, co-opt and persuade. So the subtitle of this particular selection, At Work, is perfectly apt. It really is as if the artworks are part of the sta, sent out to work as ambassadors for British culture. And viewed this way the works at the Whitechapel are put in political context it no longer seems quite such an aront to the British public to be coughing up for a collection it never actually sees. The GAC supplies not just embassies and consulates but scores of ministerial oces in London as well. Of its 13,500 works, more than two-thirds are displayed at any given time. It is the largest, most widely dispersed collection of British art in the world, and it keeps on moving as governments change and new ministers make their selections. Whats ingenious about At Work is that you see the art but also the implicit self-portrait of the selector. So Boateng chooses Osmund Caines striking group of second world war soldiers from 1940: the whites playing cards in uniform, the blacks separate

Soft power I wonder what my heroes think of the space race (1962) by Derek Boshier GAC and naked. Nick Clegg goes for an outsize thermos flask standing alone at a gloomy picnic, surely a post-referendum choice. Ed Vaizey, current culture minister, shows his contemporary credentials by pushing Tory Tracey Emin. The choices of Sawers and Dame Anna Pringle, our woman in Moscow, are much stronger as art: Walter Sickert, Heath, some bittersweet space-race Pop by Derek Boshier and Bridget Rileys Reection, bought for the British embassy in Cairo partly because her sheaf of stripes was inspired by the colours of tomb walls in Upper Egypt, but also because the abstraction dovetailed felicitously with Muslim culture. All these works were purchased on a shoestring budget. GAC criteria state works must be cheaply acquired, they must act as an extension of the diplomatic service and t with all sorts of unusual environments. The result is a most quirky collection. What you see at the Whitechapel is just how ne a face the collection gives to Britain at home and abroad. Of course, there is no need to put good art on the walls of government buildings. But what this rst show reveals is just how civilised it looks as Britains national image instead of a ag or a framed photo of the latest dictator. Observer Government Art Collection. At Work, is at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, until 4 September

36 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Culture

Stars who are bankable in both east and west Seth Rogen, left, and Jay Chou in The Green Hornet Jaimie Trueblood

Squaring up to Kung Fu Panda

Film While Hollywood woos China, the industry there is eyeing up the west, nds Ellen E Jones
cinemas, and have annual box-oce receipts of up to $6bn which would explain Hollywoods increasing eorts to woo Chinese audiences. Last years remake of The Karate Kid replaced Japanese karate with Chinese kung fu and a California setting for a Beijing location shoot. Seth Rogens version of The Green Hornet passed over more obvious casting choices for the role of the sidekick Kato in favour of Jay Chou, who was little-known in the west, but a bankable heartthrob in the far east. It seems, however, the Chinese lm industry has responded by remembering a teaching of ancient military philosopher Sun Tzu: attack is the best form of defence. Legend of a Rabbit has just opened in China, the rst release from a $700m animation facility developed by the Chinese state. Why is the Chinese government investing so generously in cinema? As Hollywoods international reach proves, a healthy lm industry extending a nations cultural reach can be as useful to a nascent superpower as any number of nuclear warheads. Or, from a perspective less tinged with military motives, Chinas prosperity means it can present its own image to the world, unmediated by Hollywood. Not that it will be easy. The western perceptions of China as an ageless rural country with a repressive red regime remain a dicult obstacle for Chinese lmmakers other than by designing these fantastic tales of martial arts set in ancient China, says Yingjin Zhang, author of A Companion to Chinese Cinema. Raymond Zhou, a lm critic and columnist for the China Daily newspaper, agrees that using cinema to introduce the real China to the rest of the world may present some diculties. Traditional Chinese values are mainly non-confrontational and do not make good movies, he says. Itll take a genius to tell a quintessential Chinese story on screen and be successful all over the world. Could that genius be Zhang Yimou, whose 2002 lm Hero opened at No 1 in the US box oce, making it the second-highest grossing foreign-language lm in US history while his 2004 follow-up House of Flying Daggers grossed a healthy $93m worldwide? Yimous latest lm, The Heroes of Nanking, a bigbudget historical drama about the 1937 massacre of Chinese citizens by Japanese troops, was, Yimou says, made with international audiences in mind. First of all, the story is very international. It has a universal message about humanitarianism, about love and redemption, and also we have Christian Bale. And the other thing is almost half of it is in English. But the real strength of the lm, says its Hollywood-based executive producer David Linde, is that it has an appeal that transcends national borders. What matters for Chinese lm-makers, Yimou says, is not whether they will be able to reach foreign audiences, but whether theyll be able to satisfy their own. The market is growing very fast and well-known directors dont necessarily develop at the same pace. We have an old Chinese saying: It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to make a man. Maybe this will break the limitation on internationally imported lms, so we can have lms from all over the world to full the peoples need. That, of course, is where Hollywood steps in. When The Heroes of Nanking opens in the US, it will likely be accompanied by the rustle of both popcorn boxes and Hollywood screenwriters riing through Chinese history books, on the hunt for suitable western characters.

o, the Kung Fu Panda, may look like an innocuous, chubby animal, but he could turn out to be the most devastating double agent since Mata Hari shimmied her way to infamy in the rst world war. Last month, the sequel to the Chinese-themed, US-made animation broke box-oce records in China, taking $19m in its opening weekend. Its great news for its creators at DreamWorks, mildly irritating news for Chinese animators and intriguing news for the rest of the cinema-going world, coming just as a newly condent China squares up to the original moviemaking superpower. In Hollywood, movies that borrow far-eastern exoticism to entertain western audiences are as old as Manns Chinese Theatre and usually as authentically Chinese. Kung fu movies have been popular in the west since the 70s. What is new, however, is the tempting prospect of more than a billion Avatarappreciating movie fans in mainland China. Already the worlds second-largest economy, China is set to overtake Japan and become the second-largest cinema market after the US. According to the predictions of the China Film Producers Association, by 2015 China will have built more than 7,000 new

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 37

Culture
Reviews
Exhibition
A Million Miles from Home: Folkestone Triennial 2011 Various venues, Folkestone
Migration and exile, place and belonging are among the themes of A Million Miles From Home, the second Folkestone Triennial (until 25 September). The depressed resort and port is trying hard to reinvent itself. Maybe it needs to nd itself rst, and this triennial, curated by Andrea Schlieker for the second time, with 19 new artists projects and commissions, provides several kinds of focus on the place itself and its place in the world. In the National Coastwatch Institution cabin, perched on a cli above Folkestone, the volunteer guards scan the sea. Mumbai-based collective CAMP recorded the view, the constant trac plying the Channel, and the volunteers casual commentary. The result is an almost hour-long lm recorded over a year. French church spires break the horizon, seen through a telescope. The artists in Mumbai recorded the observations and anecdotes of the volunteers via broadband. Its a case of the watchers watched, and we watch too, following near-collisions out at sea, and blokes hauling up lobster pots. Lobsters are giant Jurassic insects, someone says. Id happily stay all day. The P&O ferries go back and forth, also watched by hopeful migrants waiting on the French coast. Living in awful squalor and makeshift encampments, almost within sight of Folkestone, and desperate to nd a new life in the UK, they await their chance on the ferries and trucks passing through the Calais security checks. Danish lm-maker Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsens Promised Land, screened in an abandoned beach cafe, follows the plight of a number of Iranian migrants. Its a story of illegal tracking, dodgy passports, hope and fantasy, ingenuity and yearning. Promised Land makes me will the illegal migrants to get through. But what will they nd if they make it to Folkestone? A horrible monster part camel, part carps skeleton, part rotten idea by Charles Avery, mouldering on the oor of the public library; a shop displaying gorgeous, folkloric village peasant-wear from Kosovo, collected by Erzen Shkololli in his homeland; an overcomplicated and impenetrably dark and confusing installation following a days schooling in Israel, in a suite of rooms next to Boots the chemist. But Folkestone is still Folkestone. The clock above Debenhams department store entrance has been changed, one of 10 around the town that Scottish artist Ruth Ewan has replaced, to tell French revolutionary time an unworkable scheme, introduced in 1793, to decimalise the time and ditch the Gregorian calendar. Each day lasted 10 hours, of 100 minutes each. The decimal clock makes you feel out of whack, just as it threw France into confusion until it was abandoned at the end of 1805. It would cause havoc to shipping, birthdays and assignations on Folkestones deliciously named Rendezvous Street. On the beach, a decommissioned 16th-century church bell, suspended on a wire 20 metres above the beach, tolls among the gulls in the huge sky. Londonbased Norwegian artist AK Dolven has given the bell a new clapper and a new voice. Its the best thing Ive seen her do. The same is true of Hew Lockes motley otilla of model boats some of which he built, others

Sense of rightness Huw Lockes model boats, part of the Folkestone Triennial Manu Palomeque/London News Pictures

he bought on eBay hanging in the nave in the ancient church above the town. The boats jostle each other in the air, all facing the altar. It has a sense of rightness that I havent found before in Lockes work. Meanwhile, Cornelia Parkers Folkestone Mermaid, a naked bronze life-cast of a local resident by the beach, looks out across the Channel, emulating Copenhagens Little Mermaid. Maybe she dreams of migrating. I just wish shed go away. Adrian Searle

deeper into this mystery. Even as it deals with the tangled knots left by conict, Villeneuve never seems deceptive with his storytelling. War has a merciless logic, a former warlord tells Melissa, and this story powers to a climax some might nd contrived but that left me reeling. Jason Solomans Observer

Theatre
Fools in the Forest Thtre de la Ville, Paris
Pack up your goods in the stu of dreams and take a stroll through the woods with Shakespeare, when the moon stirs secret desires. In this world fools and philosophers (generally one and the same), lovers (also fools), poets, banished princes, robbers, elves, imps and even players all meet in the woods. Here men are turned into beasts, and vice versa. Ccile Garcia-Fogel, who you may have seen in productions by Jol Jouanneau, Stuart Seide or Alain Franon, has had the idea of using this rich material to conjure up a theatrical and musical show (touring in the autumn and spring of 2012). The stage is set in a poets camp, with most of the atmospheric eects achieved by cunning lighting and projected woodland images (using a good old slide projector). Garcia-Fogel is accompanied by the singer Thierry Pala, with Pierrick Hardy on guitar and clarinet. Fools in the Forest switches back and forth between two languages, with Shakespeares sonnets sung in English and extracts from A Midsummer Nights Dream acted out in French, between the Bards precious poetry and its celebration of loves crazy race against mortality and the rened, melancholic music of John Dowland. All is not perfect in this performance, which does occasionally ag: Pala is better at singing than acting, and the opposite is true of Garcia-Fogel, but then she does act particularly well. Fools in the Forest is nevertheless well worth seeing for what it is, a gentle musical stroll, which may well lead o into individual reveries. Fabienne Darge Le Monde

Film
Incendies Directed by Denis Villeneuve
From its arresting opening to its shattering conclusion, the Canadian lm Incendies is muscular, emotional lm-making of the highest order, self-condent in its delivery yet always respectful of its characters plight. It starts in slo-mo, to the sound of Radiohead, in what looks like a childrens Quran school, in a desert, where we see boys having their heads shaved by soldiers. One of the boys xes the camera with a chilling stare as hair falls around his feet. The film then switches to a law firm in Montreal, where a mothers will is being read to her grief-stricken twins, daughter Jeanne (Mlissa Dsormeaux-Poulin) and son Simon (Maxim Gaudette). The lawyer Matre Lebel is played by the great Quebecois actor Rmy Girard, from another Canadian family saga, Denys Arcands Les Invasions Barbares. This, too, is a tale of family, identity and, perhaps, forgiveness as the will sets Jeanne, a student of pure maths, o on a quest to discover what happened in her mother Nawals past as she was growing up in the Middle East. The lm cuts from Nawals (Belgium-born actress Lubna Azabal) turbulent past back to Melissa as she, listening to Radiohead on her iPod, sifts the war-ravaged ruins of this unspecied country in the present. Director Denis Villeneuve, adapting a stage play by Wajdi Mouawad, daubs chapter headings in a bold red font across the screen, helpful signposts as we plunge

38 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Books

Rottenness of winter tomatoes

Jane Black welcomes this ne investigation into the cost of all-year-round salad crops
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook Andrews McMeel 220pp $19.99
Lucas Mariano Domingo came to the United States from Guatemala hoping to nd a job that would pay him enough to send money home. But he was soon broke and homeless. And so it must have seemed like a lucky break when Cesar Navarrete, leader of a Florida tomato picking crew, offered him false papers, room, board and a job that, if he did well, could earn him $200 a week. It quickly became clear, however, that this was a false opportunity. Domingo was lodged with three other men in the back of a box truck with no running water or toilet. Food was scarce. Navarrete charged extortionate fees for just about everything. After a hot day in the elds, Domingo was docked $5 to stand naked in the backyard and wash himself with cold water from a garden hose. He was paid irregularly and in small, arbitrary amounts. Worse, Navarrete warned that Domingo or any other labourer who attempted to leave would be severely beaten. It took Domingo nearly three years to escape and even longer before members of the Navarrete family were charged with what Douglas Molloy, the chief assistant US attorney in Fort Myers, Florida, described as slavery, plain and simple. In the 21st century, such horror stories should be uncommon. But over the last 15 years, Florida law enforcement ocers have freed more than 1,000 men and women who were held against their will and forced to do eld work. Barry Estabrook, one of the countrys leading writers on food politics, focused the spotlight on the issue in 2009, when he published a story in Gourmet magazine (an odd but brilliant placement) that argued that anyone who ate a winter tomato inadvertently supported modern slavery. Food writers including me rushed to get in on the story, and food-reform advocates broadened their definition of sustainability to include workers rights. Since then the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which advocates for Florida tomato pickers, has helped shine a national spotlight on the issue of migrant slavery and has won higher pay for migrant labourers and concessions from the big growers. But Estabrook was not content to leave the story there. For him, that perfectly round, perfectly red grocery-store tomato came to represent everything that is wrong with industrial agriculture. Tomatoland is more than the sad tale of one fruits decline from juicy summer treat to bland obligation. It is an indictment of our modern agricultural system. The book takes readers from Peru, the birthplace of tomatoes, to California research labs, Pennsylvania farms and Estabrooks Vermont kitchen, where in one scene he tries desperately to inict damage on a store-bought tomato by dropping it, throwing it, then bowling it across the oor. No dice. (And no surprise, either: early commercial breeders were instructed to imagine the tomato as a projectile in their quest for fruit that could travel long distances.) Most of the action, though, takes place in

Immokalee (rhymes with broccoli), ground-zero to the Florida tomato industry. Ironically, Estabrook explains, the Sunshine State is anything but an ideal place to grow tomatoes. The soil is sand, which lacks nutrients and therefore must be supplemented with chemical fertiliser. The rarity of frosts provides pests and pathogens a haven, requiring growers to spray tons of chemical pesticides. The humidity encourages blights, spots and mould. But Florida does have one key benet: its proximity to customers in densely populated and very cold east coast cities. Estabrooks exposure of the resulting environmental and human tragedies places Tomatoland in the tradition of the best muckraking journalism. There are plenty of shocking statistics: in 2006, Florida growers sprayed nearly 363,000kg of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides on their tomato crops, nearly eight times as much as California growers used for a similar-size crop. But by and large, Estabrook lets people migrant workers, activists and scientists tell the story. In the case of pesticides, there is no tale more heart-wrenching than that of three families whose children were crippled or killed, it was later proved, because of their mothers work in the winter tomato elds. All three women worked at a company called Ag-Mart, whose products include the nearly ubiquitous Santa Sweets grape tomato. The companys advertising boasts, Kids love to snack on this

nutritious treat. Not so the womens newborn babies, all born within seven weeks of one another. Francisca Herreras son, Carlitos, was born with no arms and legs. Sostenes Macedas son, Jesus, was born with a deformity of the lower jaw that put him at constant risk of choking on his own tongue. Maria Meza gave birth to Jorge, who had one ear, no nose, a cleft palate, one kidney, no anus and no visible sexual organs. It was later determined that Jorge was a girl, and she was renamed Violeta. She lived just three days. Most instances of pesticide misuse, Estabrook reports, dont result in charges or fines because workers are afraid to come forward and because of a shameful lack of enforcement. In the case of the deformed babies, agents levelled 88 counts against Ag-Mart, ning the company $111,200. A judge later reduced the ne to $8,400. It took a pro-bono personal injury lawyer to win one family an undisclosed settlement, enough to sustain the little boy nancially for life. Ag-Mart admitted no guilt. Its easy to get enraged reading such stories. But Estabrook is careful to maintain his journalistic distance. The tomato growers and regulators, whom most readers will consider the bad guys, get to have their say. (Sadly, this is a rarity in the ever-growing crop of books on food politics, which embrace an either-youre-with-us-or-against-us sensibility.) But Estabrook also does not allow political spin or

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 39

The man for whom Europe swooned

A Book of Liszts: Variations on the Theme of Franz Liszt by John Spurling Seagull Books 460pp 14 Lucy Parham
My biography is more to be invented than written after the fact so wrote Franz Liszt, and so it has proved to be. Many interpretations of his life, some extremely thorough and scholarly (Alan Walkers) and some more imaginative yet highly entertaining (Sacheverell Sitwells), have appeared since his death in 1886. Now, the bicentenary of his birth in 1811 brings another chance to reassess the life of this great composer, pianist and innovator. Often associated purely with virtuosity, Liszt has never received either the musical adulation heaped on his friend Frederic Chopin, or the sympathy shown to Robert Schumann, suerer of torments. Chopin and Liszt spent much time in Paris together. Chopins mistress, George Sand, had been introduced to him at a party by Liszts mistress Marie dAgoult Liszt warned Chopin about becoming involved with man-eating Sand, but despite this the four often travelled together. Liszt was benevolent and charitable throughout his life, pioneering the masterclass as we now know it, never charging for his lessons and paying for a Beethoven monument in Bonn when funds had run out. Yet we still nd it hard to like him. It could seem to the outsider that he had it all. A long life, prodigious pianistic talent, and more lovers and female attention than many men could hope for. And possibly an ego to match. Liszt was essentially the rst pop star musical celebrity, and as Lisztomania swept across Europe in the 1840s he grew used to, and often bored with, a life of public adoration. Women repeatedly fainted during his sold-out concerts and fought over his silk handkerchiefs and gloves some even kept his cigar butts in their cleavages for months in order to have a little piece of the great virtuoso near their hearts. For his part, he was always particularly drawn to women of a higher social standing than himself: his two major love aairs were with aristocrats Countess Marie dAgoult (the mother of his three children) and Princess Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein, both of whom left their husbands to be with him. And then there is the matter of his devotion to God. A devout Catholic, he had a lifelong struggle with religion he joined a Parisian seminary aged 17, and in his later years took minor holy orders and became known as Abb Liszt. Many facets of his life are open to question. John Spurlings ctionalised biography, A Book of Liszts, takes the composer at his word and interprets, through ctive conversations and scenarios, much of Liszts life to great eect. Creating a series of 15 postcards written from a variety of viewpoints by people prominent in the composers life, Spurling draws the reader into Liszts extraordinary world of women, music and God. The last chapter, in which Liszt takes his nal train journey to Bayreuth to see his daughter Cosima (married to Wagner) and reects on all that he has achieved and neglected namely his children makes for poignant reading: Spurling bases these

pages to great eect on Liszts setting of Via crucis (the Stations of the Cross). A Book of Liszts alternates between chapters of ctionalised and true memoirs, and chapters that resemble a script from a play. More theatrical than scholarly, it will appeal to anyone who enjoyed Benita Eislers similar approach in her novel Chopins Funeral. Those wishing for an in-depth, less fractured study should look to Walkers three-volume biography, but if you are happy with a lighter insight into Liszts life then Spurlings book oers many pleasures.

Muses revenge
Mr Fox by Helen Oyeyemi Picador 278pp 12.99 Justine Jordan
A fairytale marriage can be murder. Helen Oyeyemis fourth novel jumbles together variations on the Bluebeard myth (the usual wooing, seduction, then the discovery of a chopped-up predecessor, should you need reminding) with a meditation on inspiration and intimacy explored through the character of a 1930s American novelist, St John Fox, whose imaginary muse, Mary Foxe, comes to life and starts to talk back to him. Over the course of the book she moves from being words on a page or a voice in the head to a esh-andblood woman with a penchant for trying on hats. She and Mr Fox engage in a battle of hearts and wits, much to the confusion of Mrs Fox Daphne who experiences Mary variously as her husbands insanity, her own haunting, and a conduit for liberation. Mr Fox or Reynardine appears in fairytales and ballads as a spiritual brother to Bluebeard, the deadly bridegroom. St John Foxs marriage to Daphne can be seen through the lter of sinister fairytale domination or the milder tradition of masculine control: I xed her early. I told her in heartfelt tones that one of the reasons I love her is because she never complains. So now of course she doesnt dare complain. Marys beef with St John is more literary: she claims hes a villain and a serial killer because his novels are built around the gruesome murders of women. She wants to chop his head o for a change. But as artist and inspiration, they are also aspects of each other, mysteriously conjoined. Interspersed with this strange love triangle are a series of stories, versions of the courtship-cum-duel of Mary and Mr Fox that range from the playfully metactional to the impressionistic and obscure. In Be Bold, Be Bold, But Not Too Bold, Mary is the shy young ladies companion who sends her stories to the famous novelist (the title is a nod at the refrain running through the fairytale Mr Fox, in which, refreshingly, the heroine Lady Mary triumphs through her curiosity and pluck). We encounter our Mary again as a wistful orists assistant advertising for a fairytale prince, a romantic novelist in hiding from the world and, in one of the novels most charged and eective sections, a damaged young woman in present-day England negotiating the new dangers of a relationship with an older psychiatrist. Reynardine appears variously as a medium for Yoruba ancestors, and a psychopathic killer. As the book progresses, these stories refract away from the core narrative, through the magical realist fable of a boy who searches the world Continued on page 40

Not such a healthy treat at work in the Florida tomato elds Joe Raedle/Getty Images misleading facts to stand unchallenged. When Reggie Brown, the executive vice-president of the Tomato Growers Exchange, protests to him that his industry complies with labour laws and pays competitive wages, Estabrook follows with an account of a 2008 Senate hearing in which committee members demolish the industrys claims that workers earn an average of $12 per hour. For workers to do that, one senator points out, pickers would have to pick 3,000 tomatoes each hour, nearly one per second. Tomatoland doesnt oer xes for the industrys failures. But it does spotlight the people working to change it. Among them: Lady Moon Farms, an organic Florida grower that pays workers an hourly wage and provides them free housing and still manages to compete on grocery-store shelves; Barbara Mainster, a teacher who provides free or low-cost childcare and education for migrant farmworkers children; John Warner Scott, an old-style plant breeder who developed the Tasti-Lee, a tomato that can keep its avour even when shipped. Each of them oers a ray of hope for the industry and for consumers who want a delicious, juicy and guilt-free tomato. But there is still much work to be done. By the end of Tomatoland, a far more obvious solution will present itself to some readers: grow your own. Washington Post

40 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Books Paperbacks
Gambling is really a disease of the brain Although the author himself does not always seem to realise it, this cheerful summary of the brains reward system is a profound experience. David Linden is professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, so he knows what he is talking about, and he explains it early. Shopping, orgasm, learning, highly caloric foods, gambling, prayer, he says, they all evoke neural signals that converge on a small group of interconnected brain areas called the medial forebrain pleasure circuit. Our understanding of this began, Linden goes on to explain, with some luridly unethical experiments. In one of the more laidback laboratories of the 1970s, an American study sought to examine whether one could cure homosexuality by electrically stimulating someones pleasure centres while subjecting them to heterosexual experiences. To this end, researchers implanted electrodes deep inside the brain of a 24-year-old gay male whom they called B-19. Having waited for the surgery to heal, they handed him the controls. As the paper reports, B-19 stimulated himself to a point that, both behaviourally and introspectively, he was experiencing an almost overwhelming euphoria and elation and had to be disconnected despite his vigorous protests. Later, the researchers gave B-19 the button back, but only after hiring him a prostitute, whom he very happily had sex with while they watched. A woman in a dierent trial self-stimulated throughout the day, neglecting her personal hygiene and family commitments. A chronic ulceration developed at the tip of the nger used to adjust the amplitude dial. Having established our respect for the medial forebrain (specically its ventral tegmental area), Linden explains the exact pleasure processes involved in drugs, food, sex, gambling and generosity. These chapters are lled with similarly entertaining fragments from the learned journals. We discover that overdosing on Parkinsons medication can make you a compulsive gambler; that reindeer fight over patches of hallucinogenic urine; that 19th-century Ireland was struck by an epidemic of ether-drinking. None of which dilutes the books academic content. For the most part, what we actually read are accounts of dierent experiments that have been conducted on genetically modied rats. For optimum absorption of the books ideas by general readers, Linden might have dialled down his scientic language by a notch. That said, it is part of the joy of popular science writing that it can lead one to the point of comprehending sentences such as: These ndings with MK-801 pretreatment suggested that LTP and/or LTD of the excitatory synapses received by the neurons of the VTA was induced in rats as a result of taking cocaine. Even now, I feel a tourists pride in understanding that. Yet, though Pleasure is certainly pleasurable, in both its sweet and savoury moments, it is what the book reveals most obviously about addiction that is so utterly compelling. In brief, addiction really is a disease, which you can observe with microscopes, and which should be treated non-judgmentally. Every obese person in the world should read the chapter on overeating to discover the scientic basis for why it is not their fault. Those of us lucky enough to have dierent genes should read it too, if only for the humbling description of how a slimmers body craves food with the intensity of someone actually starving. To be clear, this book has aws. Its thematic structure is repetitive. The concluding section on the future, meanwhile, fails to explore the many new ideas it broaches. I even spotted an error, when Linden includes benzodiazepines on a list of non-addictive drugs. (Surely Valium dependence must be known to any doctor?) But these are details worth forgetting. Pleasure is a superb book. My brain has been changed by reading it. Continued from page 39 to construct a woman out of artworks and a girl who stores her heart in a shrine, and two sparse parables of love and incomprehension between woman and fox. By the end, Oyeyemis narrative has danced a long way from the screwball comedy of 30s Manhattan. One story, My Daughter the Racist, about the spark of female rebellion under occupation by both foreign soldiers and chauvinist society, is a socio-political tale that doesnt seem to sit with the rest of the book at all. Oyeyemi wrote her rst novel as a teenager and is still only 26. Where her previous books explored childhood possession and teenage hysteria, mediated through Cuban mythology, Yoruba storytelling and the Gothic novel, Mr Fox threads a story of love and literary ambition through the texture of fairytales, and sees her extending the range and clarity of her voice to remarkable eect. It is an incredibly selfreexive book, in which the solution to everything is the writing of stories, and structurally it resembles a dropped pack of cards; but its also funny, deep, shocking, wry, heart-warming and spine-chilling.

MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949 by Keith Jeery, Bloomsbury 12.99
The oldest continuously surviving foreign intelligence-gathering service, MI6 was founded in 1909 in response to the spy fever stirred up by sensationalist (and untrue) press reports about German agents inltrating Britain. It proved its worth during the second world war when it supervised the deciphering operations at Bletchley Park. This is the rst time a historian from outside the service has been allowed access to the top secret archives. The result is authoritative and as compelling as any spy novel. Jeery tells how a Soviet agent tried to defect in 1945, promising to unmask British double-agents. Unfortunately, Kim Philby was given the case and the man disappeared. It was as if he had pulled the trigger himself. PD Smith

Hard-wired to enjoy
Pleasure by David Linden Oneworld 256pp 10.99 Leo Benedictus Observer

The Wagon and Other Stories from the City by Martin Preib, Chicago University Press, 9
I never aspired to haul the dead from their death places. I only wanted to be a writer, a Chicago writer. At the age of 40, after years in dead-end jobs, Preib joined the Chicago police department. His rst job was driving the wagon to collect dead bodies, the messy remains of failed life. Preib is clearly not a typical cop. He considers quoting King Lear in a police report and, in between calls, he tells his female partner about how he is inspired by Walt Whitmans work. An eloquent and shrewd observer of city life, he is motivated by a love for Chicago that endures despite the violence, as well as a desire to explain its elusive mystery in prose. These personal essays oer a powerful portrait of the dark side of one of Americas greatest cities. PDS

The Life of an Unknown Man by Andrei Makine, Sceptre, 8.99

Shutov, a scruy Russian writer based in Paris, feels like a man out of time. Dumped by his younger girlfriend, brushed o by publishers and at odds with modern life, he heads back to St Petersburg in the vague hope of rekindling a romance with the glamorous Yana. But Russia, with its tourists, ostentation and new builds, has changed even more than France. Then he meets Volsky, a dying man who enchants him with a grim tale of the Soviet past, focusing on the siege of Leningrad, when frozen corpses littered the streets and people ate wallpaper paste. Volskys life, which takes in heroic performances of the Three Musketeers and the brutal repressions of Stalin, is more compelling than Shutovs grouchy ennui; the result is an interesting look at literature, history and coming to terms with lifes lot. James Smart

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 41

Books

Not just a primitive victim of evolution ... a model of Neanderthal man from the Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany Jochen Tack/Alamy

Unravelling our tangled history

The Origin of Our Species by Chris Stringer Allen Lane 352pp 25 Peter Forbes
If there has been no spiritual change of kind / Within our species since Cro-Magnon Man . . . The poet Louis MacNeice was voicing a commonplace that was accepted by most experts on human evolution until very recently in fact still is by some. The evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould put it like this: Theres been no biological change in humans in 40,000 or 50,000 years. Everything we call culture and civilisation weve built with the same body and brain. The Cro-Magnons were the creators of the cave paintings at Lascaux and Altamira the ice age hunter gatherers whose art astounds us . They were modern humans who entered Europe only about 40,000 years ago, and there, despite the hostile ice age environment, created the rst artistically sophisticated culture. But that wasnt the end of human evolution. Modern genomics has shown us that biological evolution actually accelerated from this point on, especially since the beginning of farming 10,000 years ago. The wealth of cross-referring evidence now available from fossils, archaeology and genomics has made the study of human evolution itself a rapidly evolving topic, and Chris Stringer is in the thick of this ferment. He is Britains foremost expert on

human evolution and, as a palaeontologist at Londons Natural History Museum, has been involved in much of the crucial research. This is probably why in writing this popular account he cannot wrench himself away from the academic arena in which one authority is forever contesting the ndings of another. Such wrangling is unfortunately necessary because if recorded history has, as Eliot wrote, many cunning passages, thats as nothing compared to the waxing and waning of human fortunes, battling with ice ages and natural catastrophes over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. And the evidence, of course, has to be pieced together from analyses of mineralised fragments of the past. Stringer is most concerned with the period from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa, around 195,000 years ago, to their arrival in Europe and the subsequent demise of the Neanderthals. The archaeological record shows Homo sapiens in Africa several times on the verge of a cultural breakthrough, but this is not consolidated until their arrival in Europe. Stringer writes: It is as though the candle glow of modernity was intermittent, repeatedly ickering on and o again. The introduction of farming, first in Iraq and Turkey, was the single greatest event in the evolution of Homo sapiens since its emergence. From farming flowed, in an incredibly short time, population growth, craft, art, religion and technology. New cultural practices led to radical genetic changes, the ability of northern Europeans to digest cows milk being the most dramatic. This followed the adoption of cattle rearing and reverses the idea that genetic mutations have initiated innovation. Just as often, it seems, it has been culture that has led, genes that have followed. Although new fossil and archaeological evidence continues to mount, the driving force in understanding human evolution today, as Stringer empha-

sises, is genomic. It is now possible to compare the genomes of Neanderthals with modern humans and with chimpanzees. This work will go on for many years but already dramatic results are emerging. Stringer has been a strong advocate of the dominant Out-of-Africa theory that modern humans emerged from that continent and entirely replaced earlier human types such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis and the Neanderthals. But while Outof-Africa still holds sway, the picture is losing some of its classical simplicity. Last year, the Neanderthal Genome Project, led by the Swedish biologist Svante Pbo, nally established that modern humans in Europe and Asia (but not Africa) have some admixture of Neanderthal genes, thus ending decades of speculation. And in December last year the same team produced a total surprise: a genomic analysis of human remains from a cave in Denisova, southern Siberia, which proved to be genetically distinct from all known human types. The team declined at this stage to give the nd a Linnean species name, but, by analogy with the Neanderthals, named it Denisovan after the location. The actual Denisovan specimens in Siberia were 30-50,000 years old, and the type predated both modern humans and Neanderthals. Apart from having what is probably a new species to t into the pattern of human evolution, the big shock of the Denisovans is that they also have contributed something to the modern human stock in Melanesia. We now see a pattern emerging of interbreeding between modern humans and earlier types: Neanderthals in Europe and Asia and Denisovans in Melanesia. There will surely be further nds. Especially interesting is east Asia, rst peopled by Homo erectus as long as 1.7m years ago. Stringers book does not quite live up to its magisterial title; the story is still too much in ux for that. But you will need a primer to make sense of the story so far. Here is that book.

42 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Diversions
Notes & Queries
President Hillary Clinton and her dude, Mr President
The Americans have a rst lady, but if they elect a married woman as president, what will they call her husband? HBH her better half. Cynthia Dummett, Basingstoke, UK Either Dude or Dud. Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia Here in Australia, our female prime ministers long-term partner is known as the First Bloke. Hilary Vallance, Sydney, Australia
First Guy? Hillary and Bill Clinton

Maslanka puzzles
Bit them, of course, hence the term tooth and nail. Bryan Furnass, Canberra, Australia Between a rock and a hard place. Ross Kelly, Paddington, NSW, Australia With a saber-tooth tiger very carefully. James Carroll, Geneva, Switzerland They didnt need nails the cave was their house. Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia Let me chew on that. Sally Foster, Edinburgh, UK 1 Pedanticus almost choked on his panino when he read the estate description of a property as deceptively spacious. Why did he feel the walls were moving in? 2 In Arbitraria Kane Clark suggests that those owning up early to serious crimes thereby saving the taxpayer money that could be spent on services have their sentences reduced. But he escapes the tedious criticism that he is soft on crime. How does he do it? 3 HAL the onboard IBM computer monitors a rockets approach to the surface of a planet of radius R and res boosters when a third of the planetary surface is R visible. How far is it from the centre of the planet at that point? [See picture] 4 You add one integer to the reciprocal of a second, and multiply it by the sum of the second integer added to the reciprocal of the rst. The fractional part of the mixed fraction resulting is 14. Whats the integer part? 5 Monty Ball confronts an urn with a huge number of balls with whites outnumbering black 4 to 1. He withdraws 5 balls at random. What are the chances he has 4 whites and 1 black? email: guardian@puzzlemaster.co.uk

The governor of Washington state is Christine Gregoire and her husband is called the First Gentleman. Barbara Long, Seattle, Washington, US Whatsisname. John Ralston, Mountain View, California, US A rst! David Ross, Robertsbridge, UK President Consort, perhaps or maybe a Republican would be First Gentleman, while First Guy would better suit a Democrat. Alaisdair Raynham, Truro, Cornwall, UK I dont know, but a woman seeking the presidency should improve her chances of election by marrying someone whose rst name was Adam (the rst man). Walter H Kemp, Halifax, NS, Canada Bill. Catherine Andreadis, Ottawa, Canada

William, the Duke of Arkansas. John Anderson, Pukekohe, New Zealand Mr Clinton. Though in this particular case, it might be confusing, since ex-presidents retain the honoric. Atul Sharma, Montreal, Canada Hed be her coyboy. E Slack, LIsle Jourdain, France Poor gent. Lynne Weinerman, Mendocino, California, US Second ddle. Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, BC, Canada

Coming for to carry me

Why can a musician play a faultless concerto when a golfer cant play a faultless round? A musician plays with notes and keys but a golfer only plays with clubs. Tony Taylor, Sydney, Australia Because its easier to swing than it is to swing low. Matthew Wood, Belfast, UK

Any answers?
Why does the answer Yes sound agreeable but Yes, Yes doesnt? Dorothy Holmes, Palmerston North, New Zealand What shouting is it all over bar? Doug Nichols, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Send answers to weekly.n&q@ guardian.co.uk or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK

Wordplay
Wordpool
Find the correct denition: PSCHENT a) Eastern Jewish term of opprobrium b) false dealer c) worthless object d) ancient Egyptian headdress

When friction isnt enough

How did cavemen cut their nails? For those on their ngers and thumbs, they used their teeth: for those on their toes, what are friends for? Philip Stigger, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Same Dierence
Identify these words which dier only in the letters shown: ***** (Sly character) C***** (Game)

Nature watch North Kessock

There are various iconic images in the Highlands such as the golden eagle, salmon and red deer stags. While these may be elusive, there is another that is more readily seen the bottlenose dolphins of the Moray Firth. These dolphins are the only resident population in the north of Britain and can be seen in various ways. One is to nd a vantage point such as Chanonry Point on the Black Isle. Another is take one of the many boat trips out from such places as Inverness, Avoch and Cromarty. Last week I chose perhaps an even easier way and visited the dolphin and seal centre at North Kessock, based on the north shore of the Beauly Firth. There is one advantage me that earlier that day two dolphins had been seen from the centre. Many of the dolphins have been given names as they can be individually identied, especially the shape and colour of their ns. This recognition, backed by photographs, is an invaluable aid to the close studies of this population. The video of the Chanonry Point dolphins was mesmerising as they frolicked and leapt out of the water. On the other side of the rth from the centre the underwater hydrophone is situated in the area they feed and pass through the most, and the sound of their clicking and whistling seems to sum up their enigmatic life in the rths. Ray Collier

Cryptic
1979 war lm with its own cosy appeal (10, 3)

Missing Links
Find a word that follows the rst word in the clue and precedes the second, in each case making a fresh word or phrase. Eg the answer to sh mix could be cake (shcake & cake mix)... a) jump stream b) throw benches c) oil stripper d) see dust e) kitchen top f) metal king
CMM2011 For solutions see opposite page

in this centre in that if you do not actually see any dolphins you can watch a video of them taken at Chanonry Point, or listen to their strange noises via hydrophones. The centre is dominated by its panorama window that overlooks the rth: it provides binoculars to watch the seals and dolphins in the sea below. The noticeboard outside, regularly updated by the attendant, informed

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 43

Diversions
Quick crossword
1 5 2 3 4 6

Cryptic crossword by Chifonie

1 Everything payable is legitimate (7) 5 Addict vetoed dodgy ecstasy (7) 9 Keen to get a point for vault (5) 10 Preparing a regiment to shoot (9) 11 The way an attorneys team give way (5,5) 12 Opening to make a small fortune (4) 14 Girl in a mood shows uncertainty (11) 18 Dodgy dealers land in strait (11) 21 Spoil a schedule (4) 22 Body of troops in reserve (10) 25 Advocate having street conned by blockade (9) 26 In fog duck gets damp (5) 27 One forcing payment from performer (7) 28 Rodents in sleeping quarters freeze (7)

Across

10

11 13 14 16 18 17 15

12

10 12

11

13 15 16

14

19 21 24 25 26 22 23

20

17

18

27

28

5 With these dancing is a problem! (3,4,4) 7 Computer geek? (4) 8 Practice of staying faithful to one partner (8) 9 Direct phone access (for presidents?) (7) 11 Harmful agent to animals and computers (5) 13 Rap (5) 14 Terminate a call (4,3) 16 Native American of Montana or Oklahoma (8) 17 Indian musical scale (4) 18 Lewis Carroll creation (living in a burrow?) (5,6)

Across

6 Latin tag found on clocks and sundials, indicating that time waits for no man (6,5) 10 Lottery (5,3) 12 Passenger carrier attached to a motorcycle (7) 15 Show contempt by contorting the face (5) 17 Arched bones extending from the spine (4)
First published in the Guardian 29 June 2011, No 12,834 Last weeks solution, No 12,832

1 Warty amphibian (4) 2 New England state, capital Montpelier (7) 3 Smell great fuss caused (5) 4 Hunting on foot with hounds (8) 5 Secombe, Sellers, Milligan, Bentine etc (3,4,4)

Down

B O T T O M S U P H O O O O M O A N N O Y I M P L A N T L E S L S L T L A U N C H E D S L A Y E P O T B F T Y U M Y U M H U M O U R S A T C N R A C O N K C O N F E T T I O S D U I U N M A H J O N G G U N G E E I V A H E D T O P S E C R E T

1 A conservative asking price for buttonhole (6) 2 Parishioner put down anc (6) 3 In spite of having lifted trophy Labour leader makes retraction (10) 4 Painter departs and wise man turns up (5) 5 Stunt man died? Thats a ruddy disaster! (9) 6 Mood is part of aggressive instinct (4) 7 Turkeys sick and hanging back (8) 8 Despite that has aair with bird (4,4)

Down

13 Amber helps reform one uttering profanities (10) 15 Royal guard initially executes exploit when in drink (9) 16 Sweet girl introduced to expert (8) 17 I report a disturbance in the capital (8) 19 A sign, for example, mounted on a car (6) 20 Girl holds shoddy item to be work of art (6) 23 Bills free to be bitter (5) 24 Investigate fellow found stowing away in hold (4)

S C A B B H L A A U B A D M A T O N E A I S A N A S T R E R I P E O A T W E L L A H M N E S T O N A O E D E P A R

Y E

R M A I G I A C S C Q U I A N R T E D

P S P Y E E E D C M A M C E R U A

A L O A R E B A L T S P T A I N H C O P B E

M I N L O R N D E A R A T N A

S T I N G H I T R G O P B L E L E D N W D O R E A R U P

Last weeks solution, No 25,357

First published in the Guardian 30 June 2011, No 25,362

Maslanka solutions
1 Insecure professionals often feel the need to pimp their language. Presumably it is meant to mean that something looks small but is in fact big. (How often one hears that argument!) Its rather like saying hes not as ugly as he looks. Thanks to Jim Muir for this gem. 2 He increased the sentences for serious crimes by a factor of f, while reducing those that owned up early by 1/f. No sentence was shorter than under the previous regime; so he escaped tedious attacks about being soft on crime. 3 3R. The area of a R spherical R-x cap equals x that of an d open cylinder of the same height and base [See picture]; so for
13 of the area to be visible, x = (2R/3). Then (R - x)/R = R/3R = R/d, giving d = 3R. Moving each letter of HAL by one letter through the alphabet you get IBM. 4 6. [(a + 1/b)(b + 1/a) = ab + 2 + 1/ ab. ab = 4; so (a, b) = (1, 4), (4, 1) or (2, 2). Either way: ab + 2 + 1/ab = 614.] 5 Just over 40%. [Of BWWWW, WBWWW, WWBWW, WWWBW & WWWWB each has chances of 4/5 X 4/5 X 4/5 X 4/5 X 1/5 giving chances of 5 X (4/5)4 X 1/5 = (4/5)4 = 0.4096] Wordpool d) Same Di RAMBO/CRAMBO Cryptic Apocalypse Now Missing Links a) jump/jet/stream b) throw/back/benches c) oil/paint/stripper d) see/saw/dust e) kitchen/roll/top f) metal/bar/king

Sudoku classic Hard

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9. We will publish the solution next week.
Free puzzles at guardian.co.uk/sudoku
Last weeks solution

7 3 8

9 1 4 4 7

5 9 8 1

1 6 5 2 3 7 8 4 9

3 8 9 4 5 1 7 2 6

7 2 4 8 9 6 1 3 5

2 1 8 5 6 3 4 9 7

5 4 7 9 2 8 3 6 1

6 9 3 7 1 4 5 8 2

9 7 2 3 8 5 6 1 4

8 5 1 6 4 9 2 7 3

4 3 6 1 7 2 9 5 8

1 3 6 2 4

3 2 5

6 3 7

44 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Shortcuts
New school? We demand a senior centre
mericas suburbs are home to a rapidly growing number of older people who are changing the image and priorities of a suburbia formed around the needs of young families with children, an analysis of census data shows. Although the entire US is graying, the 2010 census showed how much faster the suburbs are growing older when compared with the cities. Thanks largely to the baby-boom generation, four in 10 suburban residents are 45 or older, up from 34% just a decade ago. Thirty-ve percent of city residents are in that age group, an increase from 31% in the last census. During the past decade, the ranks of people who are middle-aged and older grew 18 times faster than the population younger than 45, according to Brookings Institution demographer William Frey, who analysed the 2010 census data on age for his report, The Uneven Aging and Younging of America. For the rst time, they represent a majority of the nations voting-age population. The political ramications could be huge as older voters compete for resources with younger generations. When people think of suburban voters, its going to be dierent than it was years ago, Frey said. They used to be people worried about schools and kids. Now theyre more concerned about their own wellbeing. Carol Morello Washington Post and economy of country areas. Regional NSW is a great place to live, work and raise a family these grants will provide extra assistance, said the NSW deputy premier, Andrew Stoner. The one-o grants will be payable to individuals or families, provided they sell their Sydney home and buy one in the country. The country home must be worth less than $650,000, something that wont be hard in most rural areas. It will cost the taxpayer up to $50m a year. As much as boosting regional areas, the scheme is also about making Sydney more liveable. The citys population is 4.5 million and predicted to grow by 40% over the next 30 years, putting unprecedented pressure on infrastructure and housing. Alison Rourke

Greying of America ... the politics of suburbia is changing Preston C Mack/Getty Images

that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head. They may have dierent colour skin, but even we have that, he said. Finkelsteins institute runs a programme launched in the 1960s at the height of the cold war space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space. The whole time we have been searching for extraterrestrial civilisations, we have mainly been waiting for messages from space and not the other way, he said. Reuters

Theyre helping Singapore sling

t is often derided as a cultural desert, but a younger generation of Singapore residents is determined to bring an edgier side to the city. They are leading an improvisation drive, chiey culinary, and the results are rarely dull. Borrowing from ideas hatched in New York and Hong Kong, secret dinner clubs are now the menu du jour, some with themes betraying Singapores inherently geeky nature. Co-founded by expatriates Florian Cornu, 26, and Denisa Kera, 36, the Secret Cooks Club bases its dinners on novel technology, philosophy and food-science concepts. A recent vecourse meal, labelled You are what elled you eat, But you can also eat what you are, required quired every guest to send in nd saliva samples. Meals were created based ed upon their DNA. The two selfdeclared nerds wanted to add an n element of excitement to a city y full of potential, but a bit sleepy and dull, Kera said.

Two arms, two legs, out there

ussian scientists expect humanity to encounter alien civilisations within the next two decades, a top astronomer said. The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms ... Life exists on other planets and we will nd it within 20 years, said Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences Applied Astronomy Institute, the Interfax news agency reported. Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Finkelstein said 10% of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resembled Earth. If water could be found there, then so could life, he said, adding

Similarly interested in rebelling against what she felt was a lack of personality, history or unique ambiance in Singapores restaurants, Zina Alam, 27, decided to start her own Bangladeshi-style supper club. Singapore is changing every day, politically and culturally, said the former journalist, whose own change of direction was inspired by a visit to Edinburghs supper clubs. People are a lot more open and adventurous now. Ideas are also emerging beyond the dinner plate. At Blink-BL-NK, an evening out, once a month, where people exchange ideas, participants share their expertise. Recent talks focused on pilgrimages, psychosis and sex the latter two traditionally taboo subjects in a rational, eciency-orientated society, according to one regular attendee, Stella Lee, 28. You wouldnt see this anywhere else in Singapore, she said. Isaac Souweine, co-founder of Blink-BL-NK, said: This city is growing up. A hundred years ago, this place was a swamp. The economic development here happened really fast. Now the cultural development is following. Kate Hodal

Waiting for number 40

rdinarily the sight of a man having the numbers on his licence plate altered at a paint shop would raise questions about whether a crime was being covered up. In fact the man, who did not give his name, had simply got fed up with all the taunts from fellow road users amused by the fact that his licence plate began with the number 39. For reasons that remain hazy, the number has somehow become lodged in the Afghan popular imagination as a sign of pimping and prostitution. All around Kabul unfortunate owners of 39 number plates tell the same story of abuse on the roads of one of the worlds most socially conservative countries. I did not think it would matter when I got my car, said Zalmay Ahmadi, a 22-year-old business student. But when I drive around all the other cars ash their lights, beep their horns and people point at me. All my classmates now call me Colonel 39. Public aversion to the number is such that the citys trac police department, normally a scene of frantic car owners wrestling with the bureaucrats responsible for issuing number plates, is virtually deserted. The problem, workers at the department say, is that they are currently only issuing number 39 plates and there are still another 260 plates bearing the dreaded 39 to allocate. Although many people say they have no idea why the number is so reviled, it is possibly based on the apocryphal tale of a pimp who worked in the western city of Herat who had both a 39 number plate and lived in an apartment numbered 39. Jon Boone

Sydney adopts the hard sell

rom a distance Sydney may seem like one of the worlds most desirable place places to call home: a sparkling harbour, enticing k klin beaches and a climate b bea to die for. Its rated as one of worlds 10 most o l liveable cities. But the government of New South Wales says it will pay residents $7,500 to leave it. Its part of a plan to b boost the population

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 45

International development

Taking it to the farmer

New hopes ... a rice variety on trial at the International Rice Research Institute in Laguna Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

Kenneth M Quinn recalls how he developed his ideas on development

As a new diplomat in 1968, I was assigned not to the chandeliered ballrooms of Europe (as I had hoped) but to the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, as a rural development adviser. The green revolution was just beginning to spread around the world, and a new miracle rice, known as IR-8, developed at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, was entering South Vietnam. American agricultural advisers were introducing this new rice to Vietnamese farmers in the eight villages that were my overall responsibility, hoping that demonstrating higher yields would prompt other farmers to give the new rice a try. Their new approach to agriculture had been adapted from Dr Norman Borlaugs equally miraculous variety of semi-dwarf wheat, which he took to India and Pakistan just a few years earlier. Quite by chance, a dierent part of the US agency for international development (USAid) was working at the same time to signicantly upgrade the old French rural road that ran through all eight of my villages. By mid-1969, the road had been completed through four of the villages. As I went from village to village, I observed a phenomenon that would be the lesson of a lifetime. Wherever the new road went, the new miracle rice was also being utilised, and in fact

was spreading rather rapidly throughout the hamlets of each of those four villages. The transformation of farmers lives brought about by this new rice was truly dramatic. The IR-8 rice had a much shorter growing cycle than traditional varieties. Two crops could now be produced each year, whereas the traditional rice it replaced would only produce one crop. And the yields were much greater. This also left time for enterprising farmers to grow a third crop, of melons or vegetables. The new road also allowed trucks from the capital, Saigon, to come to the farm gate to pick up surplus rice or fruits and vegetables and take them back to large markets. In every village along the new road, I saw life improve. Houses suddenly began to have metal roofs; more radios and even a few television antennas; children looked much better nourished and better clothed; young children, and especially young girls, stayed in school longer, since there was now a rudimentary inter-hamlet taxi service that could transport them to the next level of education; child mortality began to decrease, as mothers could seek medical help for their sick children; and government representatives from the provincial capital found it easier to get to the villages to provide services and information. Where the road improvements stopped, though, so did any increased agricultural productivity. While no sign or physical obstacle kept the new miracle rice from the villages without an improved road, for some reason that was the case. In the villages

without the improved road, houses were still ramshackle; children were poorly clothed and looked less nourished; schools were poorly attended and child mortality remained high: essentially, life was unchanged from 50 years earlier. The lesson I took from this was that dramatic change in the fortunes of smallholder farmers came from the combination of new agricultural technology and improved rural infrastructure. Perhaps most dramatic was that the combination of new roads and new rice also significantly lessened the level of warfare (this was during the Vietnam war) that had so aected the district where I worked. As lives improved rapidly in the four villages along the road, it became much safer to travel there and the number of military incidents decreased. I was so fascinated by the powerful transformation I had witnessed that I wrote to the state department to ask them to cancel my assignment to Europe. I stayed in Vietnam for six years. I took that lesson with me throughout the rest of my diplomatic career, and used the formula of new roads and new rice in the Philippines, as well as in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, to uplift smallholders in the villages in those countries. It was this focus on rural development that brought me home to Iowa after my time as ambassador in Cambodia. I recall my rst meeting with Borlaug in 1999, when he and John Ruan III hired me to lead the World Food

Prize. When Borlaug asked me about my background and experiences, I described for him my time in the Mekong delta in the 1960s and my observation about roads and rice. When I said roads, he interrupted me and, slamming his st on the table, said in a very loud voice, Roads!. I was startled, and thought I had said the wrong thing. He then added: Roads are essential to any type of agricultural development. Even though our backgrounds were very dierent, Borlaug and I were kindred spirits from that moment on. When he died in 2009, Borlaugs reported last words, take it to the farmer, perfectly summed up his life and legacy, and made me think about my own experiences. As a young man, I saw the dramatic, positive inuence of agricultural development on smallholders. Villages remained intact, incomes increased, young children gained exceptional opportunities and benets spread throughout rural society. Increased yields were key to lifting people out of poverty and eliminating hunger all from the new rice and the new roads. Its a lesson that is still appropriate and resonant today. Kenneth M Quinn is president of the World Food Prize

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46 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 Appointments & Courses

MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL (distance learning)
This is a well-established programme, ideal for practising teachers who are looking to upgrade their qualications and enhance their career prospects. It has been designed by a team of highly experienced ELT teachers and researchers with acknowledged expertise in their elds.

Technical Manager Health Promotion and Behaviour Change Communication

Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS2) project, Nigeria. (Based in Abuja Nigeria, with travel within Nigeria as required). Fixed term contract until July 2014.
MannionDaniels: is a specialist provider of professional services in health and social care to public and private sector clients. We are looking for a Technical Manager to lead the Health Promotion and Behaviour Change Communication component of the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS2) project, based in Nigeria. PATHS2 is a six-year DFID-funded project in Nigeria to strengthen and reform the health system, working towards their Millennium Development Goals for sustainable, pro-poor healthcare. MannionDaniels is the consortium member of the PATHS2 programme, responsible for Informed Citizens. The objective is to strengthen the capacity of citizens to make informed choices about prevention, treatment and care for selected health conditions including malaria, childhood diarrhoea and pregnancy. Job Purpose: This role is a Technical Management position dedicated to the implementation of Health Promotion and Behavior Change Communication (BCC). The Technical Manager will be expected to lead on project planning and design of BCC activities to maximize impact, innovation and value for money. The job involves leading a team of public health communication specialists, as well as managing both international and national Technical Assistance. There will also be a signicant amount of liaison with National/State Authorities and other stakeholders. The Technical Manager will ensure focus stays on technical quality assurance, documentation and reporting, and the Monitoring and Evaluation of all activities. Person Specication: We are looking for an experienced Programme Manager in public health/HIV and AIDS. The Candidate will have experience in Communications/BCC work, with an interest in pubic health and new technologies such as mHealth. Educated to Degree/Masters in a related eld or equivalent, the candidate would ideally have experience on youth health issues in Africa, together with international development experience preferably on a DFID (or similar) programme in Africa. Experience of budget and contract management and programme planning is important, and previous work on quality assurance and performance management would be an advantage. To apply please send your latest CV (MS Word format) with a covering email to: Matthew Wiltcher - Head of Operations, matthew.wiltcher@manniondaniels.com. Closing Date: Midnight GMT Sunday 24 July 2011. To nd out more please visit the news page on www.manniondaniels.com

MA Translation Studies (distance learning)

This degree is aimed at graduate linguists seeking to become translators; bilingual graduates in any subject seeking to turn their subject knowledge into a translation specialism; and practising translators seeking to enhance their qualications. It is taught by a team of academic staff and professional translators. Languages include Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Both degrees are characterised by: Opportunities for specialisation. High quality supervision. An emphasis on practice Flexibility.

Admissions are in January and September. Most students complete these courses within three years. There is a two-year fast-track pathway. On-campus versions of the degrees are also available. For further information see w: www.port.ac.uk/slas t: 023 9284 8299 e: humanities.admissions@port.ac.uk

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The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 47

Sport Few goals, but fans are engrossed

Sport blog John Ashdown
With the rst round of xtures now complete one thing seems clear this is likely to be the most competitive Womens World Cup yet. Viewing gures of the tournament have thus far been impressive with almost a quarter of Germanys population watching the hosts beat Canada in the opening game. But plenty of people have been taking time to watch the matches not involving the hosts too: 4.5 million watched North Korea v USA, while 3.7 million tuned in for England v Mexico, making it the second most watched programme of the day in Germany, behind only the news. Only one game has been won by a margin of more than one goal and that, USAs 2-0 victory over North Korea, could have been very dierent had Korea capitalised on their dominance in the rst half. Martas Brazil scraped a 1-0 win over Australia thanks to a superb nish from Rosana, while Equatorial Guinea, in their rst ocial game outside of Africa, gave Norway a scare before slipping to defeat by the same scoreline. The downside of the tight battles between teams has been the lack of goals, with only 14 in the rst eight matches played. But that, Id suggest, perhaps indicates a growing maturity in the tournament. In 2007 the opening game saw Germany hammer Argentina 11-0, and in previous editions there have been a couple of seven-goal thrashings in the quarter-nals not a particularly edifying spectacle for any football competition. Its not due to defensiveness, though in one of the early games played, Equatorial Guinea had 19 shots at goal, Norway 17. Unfortunately 24 of those 36 eorts were o target (including two Norwegian eorts that hit the post). It seems plenty of strikers havent quite yet found their scoring touch. Germanys forwards missed the opportunity to get their eye in when they managed only a single goal in their 1-0 win over a Nigeria side who looked a little limited in their opening defeat to France, who have, along with the hosts, already qualied for the quarter-nals. The French forwards were less goal-shy in their 4-0 win over Canada.

Sports online Find more coverage and news at guardian.co.uk/sport

Roundup Barney Ronay

Thank heaven for baseball, as lockouts hit US sport
The entire NBA season is hanging by a net-string after team owners and players failed to reach agreement. A lockout threatens to shorten or even slam-dunk the entire season. Talks are ongoing but there are plenty of hoops still to go through, most notably a divisive salary cap proposal. One sporting lockout might be unfortunate; two starts to look like a terrible mess: NFL players are also trying to reach agreement after a lockout in March, meaning that 50% of Americas major professional sport is on the sidelines. Americas premier international tournament kicked o with a drab 0-0 draw between Bolivia and hosts Argentina. The following day a goal from Adrin Ramos helped Colombia to a 1-0 win against central American guests Costa Rica, a late replacement for previous special-guests Japan, who withdrew after Marchs tsunami. In La Plata co-favourites Brazil were held 0-0 by a surprisingly competent Venezuela. The nal is in the last week of July.

Time for Haye to go away

Locked out ... LeBron James throws down

Blood, sweat and gears

The start of three weeks of soulsapping, thigh-chang agony: its the Tour de France, which began last week in the Vende region. Belgiums Philippe Gilbert won a thrilling opening stage. Defending champion Alberto Contador ended up 80 seconds adrift after several pile-ups: the rst saw Jurgen van de Walle remount to lead the peloton

with blood dripping down his leg. In the second an Astana team member clipped a rogue spectator, sending more than 20 riders to the tarmac. Blood, triumph and men falling o bicycles: not bad for a rst day.

Just cant stop the Copa

The football season, which never stops, continued to not stop with the start of the Copa Amrica. South

David Hayes bid to take Wladimir Klitschkos heavyweight belts ended up being an inverted process: garrulously combative in the build-up with Haye threatening to knock Klitschkos head o, and then meekly non-combative on the night, with the Haye head taking a pounding from the champions jab in a unanimous points defeat in Hamburg. The Londoner then drew further derision by blaming the defeat on a broken toe, the referee and the crowd. Haye has yet to conrm if he will honour his promise to retire in October.

Guardian News and Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Guardian News and Media Ltd., Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WR, UK Editor: Natalie Bennett. Le Monde translation: Harry Forster. Printed by GPC. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Oce. Annual subscription rates (in local currencies): UK 90; Europe 149; Rest of World 115; US $165; Canada $200; Australia $235; NZ $300 Quarterly subscription rates: UK 23; Europe 37; Rest of World US $41; Canada $50; Australia $59; NZ $75 29;

Sharing is caring Can consumers move away from outright ownership?

Review, page 31

Sport

Djokovic rides crest of new wave

Serb wins rst Wimbledon and breaks through seven-year ranking duopoly
Wimbledon 2011 Kevin Mitchell
Novak Djokovic has begun his first reign at the summit of mens tennis with an emphatic win over Rafael Nadal that could lead to many more appearances in a Wimbledon nal. If the 24-year-old Serb can extend his dominance on the other surfaces of the tour, there might be a seamless handing on of the torch soon. Lending his 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 win poignancy was the win in the womens nal the day before by Petra Kvitov over Maria Sharapova: this is the rst time in the 125 years of the championships that two players from eastern Europe have ruled simultaneously. It might be premature to declare Djokovics win as the start of a new era, but when he beat the muted champion last Sunday his fth nal win against Nadal this season he also wrenched away the Spaniards No 1 world ranking. That will end the seven-year duopoly of Nadal and Roger Federer, whose loss in the quarter-nals to JoWilfried Tsonga was a surprise rather than a thunderbolt, given that the Swiss, 30 next month, has not won a major in 18 months. Federer, who played beautifully, refuses to concede he is on the decline, pointing to a semi-nal win in Paris that ended Djokovics run of 43 matches unbeaten. Federer had a terric French Open before, almost inevitably, he lost the nal to Nadal. But that old rivalry has lost its edge. The nals that will capture the publics imagination from now on will be between Nadal and Djokovic with Andy Murray anxious to break into the upper circle. Beaten here by Nadal last Friday after taking a set, the world No 4 is yet to prove he can match his nearest contemporary, Djokovic, for consistency when it matters. The US Open, where Djokovic faltered last year, provides the next examination of his progress, at the end of August. While Nadal will not be encouraged by his performance last Sunday to believe he can keep the rampant pretender at bay there either, such an admission will never pass his lips. In the past fortnight Nadal has played well but not spectacularly he was cut down in the fourth round by a foot injury that almost put him out of the tournament and the nal was a reection of that form, a perceptible dip from the heights of last year, when he owned all but the Australian title. He was reaching for his 11th major to move within ve of Federers but there is no certainty that the duel between them will ever revisit the intensity of recent years. The emergence of Djokovic since Serbia won the Davis Cup in December has sent a rousing message to the eld that there is a new, some times eccentric and never boring presence at the top of the mountain. The final lasted two hours and 28 minutes but there were passages of almost Shakespearean rollercoaster drama, especially in the second and third sets. The match looked wrapped up after 74 minutes, the time it took Djokovic to x Nadal to the rack over two sets. And then an astonishing lapse in the third, in which Nadal served to love three times in just half an hour, set the court buzzing. Djokovic denied that he had frozen. I went the opposite way, he said. I relaxed too much at the start of the set. I wasnt focused. When youre playing someone like Nadal, he uses his opportunity and he gets back into the match. He deserved to win the third set 6-1, but I made a lot of unforced errors. He nailed it in the fourth, though. When Nadal double-faulted at 4-3 then hit long to drop serve, the excitement turned to a low hum of resignation. Djokovic steeled himself for the kill and got to break with an audacious back-hand volley. This was Djokovics moment. He bounced the ball 15 times before the final serve. Nadal knew there was no room for error. He traded nervously then, to the astonishment and disappointment of his fans, overhit a backhand and the deed was done. At least twere done quickly.

Sealed with a kiss ... Djokovic beat Nadal in four sets Tom Jenkins

Kvitov overwhelms Sharapova

Petra Kvitov, the bright new force in the womens game, will let her tennis do the talking and her smile embellish the story of a country girl from the Czech Republic. She is from a small town near the Polish border, Fulnek, which, she is happy to tell us, is nothing special, 6,000 people, four tennis courts, one football ground and a castle. Just your run-of-the mill Moravian village, then but Kvitov is no runof-the-mill tennis player. The new Wimbledon champion, who played with an irresistible mix of power and intelligence to confound Maria Sharapova last Saturday, is special. She is 21 and getting better faster than anyone in the game. Within moments of her 6-3, 6-4 win over Sharapova which she brought to a thumping conclusion with her only ace in an hour and 25 minutes of absorbing tennis bookmakers had made her favourite to retain her title next year. She cannot wait to come back. KM

Essential reading for the English language teaching community

08 July 2011

Inside this issue ...

English claimed to boost earnings by 25% page 2 How to teach this fractal language page 4 Finding mutual learning online page 5 Learning activities Lower-intermediate: Record-breaking Big Mac eater is still hungry Advanced: Ebooks knock the printed word o the shelf pages 7-8
Employment opportunities ... 70,000 workers will be needed to work in extraction over the next ve years Reuters

Australias boom runs dry of skills

The country needs foreign workers to maintain its surging minerals and energy exports, but tougher English language requirements have exposed gaps in training for migrants, reports Rob Burgess
The minerals and energy boom in Australias remote northern regions, fuelled by Chinese demand for ironore, coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is about to put the Australian labour market in a vise. The government estimates that it will need an additional 70,000 workers over the next ve years to service its resources industries and many will be recruited from abroad. But the universities and colleges that equip foreign students with the skills and English language prociency to enter the job market could struggle to meet this new demand. Australian higher educations once booming international student sector has experienced sharp falls in both student numbers and capacity in recent years that now threatens to exacerbate a worsening skills shortage. To understand the current predicament, its necessary to look back to the mid-to-late 2000s when Australias education export sector was undergoing rapid expansion. Universities that were being starved of cash under the Howard conservative government were enrolling increasing numbers of foreign students to cover their funding shortfall. Competition for students pushed down English language entry requirements, with some institutions accepting scores in the Ielts test of English of as low as 5.0. Things were even worse in the vocational education and training (VET) sector, where bogus colleges sprang up to teach everything from hairdressing to hospitality and cooking. Not only did many colleges have scant regard for English standards, but some oered an easy route to permanent residency in Australia rather than any real education. Eventually, universities began to tighten Ielts requirements after a wave of bad press threatened enrolments. And the bogus VET-sector colleges were brought to heel by then Labor education minister (now prime minister) Julia Gillard in 2009 . Some collapsed, others were shut down. Just when things were back on track, a wave of violence hit Indian students, culminating in a murder in Melbourne in January 2010 and the countrys image as a safe destination was tarnished. That hit education exports hardest of all, and 18 months on universities are struggling to expand their overseas enrolments and the VET sector is losing students. VET enrolments are down 4.3% year on year, English language colleges 18.4% and schools 19.4%. Public perception of international education had also turned negative and last year, in a bid to show that it had immigration through the study route under control, the government cut down the list of jobs that students could train for and then seek as a route to permanent residency. Now the Gillard government has recognised that the skills shortage in the booming mining and energy sectors requires special measures. In its May federal budget, the government promised to speed up requests from employers for the uncapped 457 category skilled migration visas and announced plans to bring in large teams of foreign skilled workers through a new visa class known as enterprise migration agreements (EMAs). At the early stage of the EMA negotiations, the government said: Overseas workers will need to demonstrate English language prociency and the skills and experience necessary to perform the occupation in Australia. But will they have that proficiency? One language college director, who asked not to be named, said there was no way blue collar workers from regional neighbours such as Indonesia or China would have the language skills to allow them to work safely in an Australian environment. Innovative solutions will be needed, and soon. Ian Basser, managing director of recruitment and workforce consultants Chandler McLeod, says that the real skills crisis hasnt hit yet. In about 18 months time youre going to see LNG projects, ports and rail construction start to demand skilled workers, he said. The only place they can come from in those numbers

2 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Learning English

Research backs English for development

Data indicates speakers can earn 25% more but high-value language is preserve of elites
Max de Lotbinire
A study into the economic impact of learning English in developing countries has concluded that the language can increase the earning power of individuals by around 25% and that developing economies need access to English if they are to grow and position themselves in the global economy. The British Council, the UKs education and cultural relations organisation, which commissioned the report from Euromonitor, a leading research organisation, says that it is the rst statistical research into the benets of English in developing countries. The report, which was published last month, gathers data from five target countries: three with linguistic links to Britain through colonialism, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and two with a stronger Frenchlanguage colonial legacy, Cameroon and Rwanda. The data was gathered from existing research and through interviews with businesses and employers in each country. While English skills levels vary among Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan, the researchers found a link between even a moderate competency and higher levels of investment from countries such as the US and UK. In the three countries, investment from English-speaking countries accounts for between 33% and 41% of total FDI. By contrast, largely French speaking Cameroon and Rwanda lose out, with only 2% and 1% of their total FDI coming from English-speaking countries, the report said. But the report also shows that the

Stock rising ... a broker in Karachi, among the minority in Pakistan to benet from English Akhtar Soomro/Reuters benets of English are seen predominantly by urban elites, who have access to a better standard of teaching mostly delivered through private education and higher-paid jobs. Professor Chris Kennedy, director of the Centre for English Language Studies at the UKs Birmingham University, welcomed the report but said that it stopped short of offering insights into the eectiveness of government policies promoting English language learning, such as using English as the medium of instruction in schools, which is hotly debated. The report highlights the benets, advantages and necessity of English in the modern world, but you also need to look at the complexities of the situation when you try to take the results of the report and implement them in policy, Kennedy said. Journalist Zubeida Mustafa, whose book about her native Pakistan, Tyranny of Language in Education, was published last month, says the benets of English in Pakistan are restricted to a tiny minority and have resulted in ineective education policy. English cannot solve our ills. There are not enough teachers who know English and can teach in English. Children cannot comprehend what they are taught, Mustafa said. The articially created demand for English has distorted the language in education strategy. In fact there is no strategy and schools are following a hit-and-miss method mixing English, Urdu and local languages. Michael Carrier, head of the Councils ELT arm, said the report provided the statistical evidence to back up the organisations belief that English had economic benefits for developing countries, but it was a rst step and further research is needed. This helps to confirm my view that we should be investing time and resources in developing countries. We should be doing more to bridge the gap highlighted in the report between urban elites and the rural population, Carrier said. One of the ways we want to do this is by exploiting mobile phone usage. Mobile phone penetration in Africa is over 90% and we can use the technology to deliver lessons and teacher training to rural areas.

Australias boom runs dry of skills

Continued from page 1 is overseas. Bassers rm is working with Australian resources companies to look at sourcing large numbers of employees from India, the Middle East, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. Basser said: Were very focused on the safety of workers and so are the unions. There are cultural and language issues, but the companies are prepared to pay to solve them. The English requirements demanded on 457 temporary visas have been tightened. The department of immigration requires an Ielts test score of at least 5.0 in each of the four test components of speaking, reading, writing and listening, whereas in 2009 applicants had only to show an average score of 5.0, which could mask a deciency in the more demanding skills of speaking or writing. But an Ielts score of 5.0 in each skill is still too low for sta lling white collar roles such as engineers and geologists, according to the academic director of Perths Phoenix college, Lisa Barbagiovanni. Her college has been working with a wide range of mining companies to help with English skills, but almost all with higher paid, more senior employees. It has only once been asked to train technicians a group of welders from Indonesia who had to meet higher Ielts scores when they reapplied for new 457 visas. Most of the colleges mining sector students are likely to have had some formal English tuition in their home country. Often theyre OK for social interaction, but not for writing reports or for writing reports in the way Australian businesses require, she said. Barbagiovanni says her college has had one request for y-in, y-out English teachers a style of work that has become common for mine workers but the client company decided that the plan was too expensive. Perhaps that will change. If the English requirements for EMAs or the expanded 457 visa programme are simply not high enough for the work on oer, English teaching may see a boom of its own.

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 3

Learning English
ELT diary
UK could lose $3.8bn from tougher student visa rules
The British economy could lose up to $3.8bn as tougher student visa rules introduced from last month start to take eect, according to a report commissioned by the minister responsible for the visa changes, Damian Green (pictured below). An impact assessment report by the Home Oce says the new policy will deter bogus students and improve compliance, but the expected 230,000 reduction in the numbers of applicants for the Tier 4 student visa from outside the EU over the next four years will have wider costs. The report estimates that income from fees will be cut by $270m over four years, while up to $3.2bn will be lost because students enrolled at ents private colleges have lost their e right to work part-time and me contribute to the economy. onomy. Private English language nguage training providers, which had 21,000 Tier 4 visa applicants pplicants in 2010, are likely to see applicants drop by 13,000 in 2014, with a net loss $4.8m. The report estimates that the decision to raise the minimum level of English prociency for students from non-English-speaking countries who want to study on degree courses will cut t applicants by 11,000 0 per year. Meanwhile, lobbying by the British Council and the English UK trade association to have the Accreditation UK inspection scheme for private English language programmes accepted by the Home Oce for Tier 4 visa applications has failed. Accreditation UK was not included on a nal list of recognised accrediting bodies published by the UK Border Agency last month. Institutions currently approved by Accreditation UK that want to continue to enrol Tier 4 students will need to gain approved accreditation by the end of 2012. gap at fourth-grade reduced from 24 points in 1998 to 15 points in 2009. However Hispanic children who were classied as English language learners were 44 points behind their white counterparts in 2009.

Class report: po ort: George Murdoch, h, , United Arab Emirates s

Singapore test puts strain on foreign domestic sta

Singapore is conducting a full review of its test of English prociency required by foreign domestic workers following reports that a 26-year-old Indonesian woman attempted suicide after failing the test three times. Migrants seeking work as maids are required to pass the test within three days of arrival in Singapore. Those who fail are repatriated but are allowed to return to retake the test a further two times. Fear of failure and the additional expense of retaking the test are putting workers under stress.

US fails to close Hispanic and white reading gap

The achievement gap between Hispanic and white students in US schools has no closed signinot cantly since t 1990s, accordthe ing to data re released by the US department of education. published in the Figures pu National Asse Assessment of Educational Progress last month Progre show the gap narrowed by three poin in fourth- and points eighth-gr eighth-grade reading between 1 1992 and 2009, the but t overall dierenc remains more ence th 20 points, than equivalent to two e g grade levels. Hispanic stud students from second- or t third-generation identied as not families, id English lang language learners, performed b better, with the

Dubai teachers oer Indian colleagues help by phone

Up to 60 teachers based in Dubai have volunteered to help English language teachers in rural India improve their command of the language without leaving their Gulf state. Under the initiative, organised by the Mumbai-based education charity Pratham, the teachers will be issued with pre-paid SIM cards that they can use to oer speaking practice by phone to teachers in remote villages and slum areas. Max de Lotbinire max.delotbiniere@guardian.co.uk

Chris Tribble searches the words of the Guardian Weekly

Famous rst words

The way in which a sentence begins really matters. Whether its the opening line of the Gospel according to St John: In the beginning was the word ..., or the introduction to a story in this newspaper: Egypt has opened its border with Gaza ..., those rst words are the starting point for the message. While the rst words of a news story set the scene and require very careful selection, once you have moved into the story, there are lots of more mundane sentence beginnings that, although important, are often highly formulaic. Searching through the Guardian Weekly archive, I can identify a top 20 of three-word sentence beginnings that, when taken with the words which follow them, constitute a sort of journalists toolkit. The most frequent of these are: It is a (3,722), This is a (2,677), There is a (2,619), One of the (2,333), and It was a (2,227). On their own these arent that exciting. However, when these combinations are linked up with other words and phrases, they create a mix-andmatch of sentence starts. The most frequent combinations are typically used to summarise a preceding argument or narrative, and to prepare the reader for the next stage in the story. Thus, with It is a we nd: measure of, matter of, shame that, tribute to and kind of; and This is a combines most frequently with: matter of, book about, man who, very important and moment of. There is a typically introduces an existential statement either by the writer, or by someone whose views are being reported. In the Guardian Weekly there appear to be lot of (corruption, risk, noise), sense of (obligation, desperation, despair), great deal, danger that and real danger. One of the is interesting because it is the rst of the three-word combinations that introduces an evaluation. With this phrase, the writer is able to comment on things that (matter), are most striking, most important, most controversial or are most powerful. It was a, in contrast, is the rst to contain a past tense. This phrase combines most often with: bit of, case of, day of, far cry and kind of. So, next time youre stuck for how to start the next sentence, one of these journalistic standbys might come in handy.

What keeps you motivated? The ou positive reaction of students to the selection and creation of really interesting classroom activities. Getting positive feedback from students about your teaching also helps. Best teaching moment? Recently I selected two local newspaper crime reports for an intermediatelevel reading activity. Split into two groups (A and B), the students co-operated to understand and nd interesting details in the article given to them. Afterwards, each student from group A was paired o with another from group B to exchange information about their dierent articles. I was pleased because students became very absorbed in the activity, which boosted their reading, vocabulary and speaking skills. And worst? Not dealing appropriately with a classroom management situation such as a student coming late for class. However, this can be a spur to developing better strategies in future. What have you learned? My students have taught me the importance of being self-condent and adopting a positive attitude. This has enabled them to develop very good communication skills in their mother tongue, which can be transferred to the learning of other languages such as English. They have also taught me the importance of smiling more and being very tolerant when things do not go quite according to plan. Biggest challenge? We recently moved to a new campus where the classrooms are equipped with interactive white boards. Learning how to use this new technology was hard at rst, but it has opened up some exciting new possibilities such as displaying websites on the board. Whats next? I hope to become more involved in professional development activities that will benet other teachers (and maybe, indirectly, students I will never teach). Top tip? Try to be aware of the cultural factors that have an impact on the ways students approach learning and their relationship with you. George Murdoch, 59, from Britain, has taught in Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Sri Lanka and the UK. He teaches at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain

4 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Learning English

Bring chaos theory to your teaching

Opinion Maurice Claypole
A van pulls into a UK service area sporting in foot-high letters the query, Does my broadband look big in this? Nearby, McDonalds announces to the world: Im lovin it. To the learner of English, often brought up on a diet of grammar rules and comfortably dened meanings, such instances of language use, while commonplace, often seem to defy analysis. In particular, it is pointless to debate whether the hamburger slogan represents correct use of a stative verb. If the rule does not match such widespread usage, it is the rule, not the example, that has to go. But why are grammar rules so elusive? Why do so many items of vocabulary seem to defy the attempts of lexicographers to tie them down to anything other than a vaguely dened core meaning? Why does the socio-cultural context of today exert such a powerful inuence on the received meaning of tomorrow? The answer lies in the dynamic nature of language itself and in the complex network of ever-changing patterns that are constantly being expanded and reformed through an ongoing process of interaction, iteration and feedback. Sometimes a simple phrase can, through a process of quasi-repetition, spread from its initial roots to spark o a new generation of inferences. Thus, the example cited above is being used by a British telecoms provider to capitalise on a popular catch-phrase from a 1990s comedy series in which the question, Does my bum look big in this? is repeated in a variety of humorous situations. Learners and teachers generally favour practical solutions to language problems in the form of easy-tofollow guidelines and clear categories that serve to package language structures and utterances for easy consumption. But there are times when we can benet from taking a broader view by considering the language we use in the context of other, more rigorous, scientic disciplines. One view of the world in particular embraces a wealth of perceptions that extend from the beauty of a rose to the violence of lightning, from the magnicence of the fjords to the mysteries of the macrocosm; science, nature and art coalesce in the fantastic world of fractal forms. A fractal is essentially a mathematical construct a formula, is used, it acquires a new valence as a result of external factors such as the context in which it was uttered, the intention of the speaker and the medium in which it occurred. By declaring war on terror, George W Bush had already redened the notion of war, and by similarly declaring a cyber attack to be an act of war, the Obama administration has recently extended this notion still further or more accurately, has provided an additional instance variable within the mathematical boundaries of the set of meanings attributable to the term war. This phenomenon applies to every use of the language and is the generating force behind all forms of peer group discourse, from rhyming slang and Hinglish to nancial jargon, political obfuscation and Twitterese. The dynamic model recognises that by using the language we change it. Once you have used or encountered a word or a phrase in a new context, it takes on associations and meanings it did not have before. Such instances of linguistic iteration frequently fall outside the scope of regular language lessons and yet the patterns they reveal are as commonplace as they are complex. For teachers, it is important to resist the temptation to dumb down or sanitise the language in order to teach it. If a received grammar rule or text-book explanation fails a harsh reality check, then it is time to throw it out, but by contrast, educators should be wary of discarding reallife material by characterising it as slang, regional, jargon, or similar and instead seek to emphasise the eect that context has on meaning and introduce new material from a wide range of sources, even if they appear to conict with one another. Above all, the fractal approach favours a goal-oriented method of teaching combined with a holistic view of language acquisition. It encourages students to explore new paths and expand their language skills by discovering new aspects of English through pattern recognition rather than static language acquisition. The objective is not to tame the chaos of language but to encourage learners to appreciate the dynamic qualities inherent in its use. Rather than being alienated by new instances of self-referential language in practice, students, too, should be lovin it. Maurice Claypole is pedagogical director of LinguaServe and author of The Fractal Approach to Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Fractal inspiration ... by using language we change it Corbis if you like but unlike the Euclidean geometry of perfect circles and triangles, fractals are forms that are present in nature and that embody the key features of self-organisation, self-similarity and dynamism. Human language shares these traits; like the weather, it changes in a dynamic way as seemingly insignicant factors are fed back into a loop of cause and eect in which the magnitude of the outcome bears no relation to that of the input values, a phenomenon which frequently produces unexpected results, the so-called buttery eect of chaos theory. For this reason the dynamic nature of the English language does not properly lend itself to static analysis; it is not governed by simple rules but driven by an ongoing, iterative process of self-referential contextualisation. In other words, English usage obeys a set of laws, but these are complex in nature and often defy prediction. The paradigm used in the fractal approach to ELT concentrates on creative output rather than on a xed initial state of the language. Since the model is rooted outside any notion of formal language structure, it may be counterintuitive to many language teachers, but also opens up new possibilities by placing more emphasis on non-verbal contributors to meaning, acknowledging more grey areas of acceptability, stressing the eeting nature of the spoken language and allowing the teacher to use material that may previously have been disregarded since it did not conform to a previously perceived pattern. Each time a word or expression

If a grammar rule fails a harsh reality check, then it is time to throw it out

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 5

Learning English

Online alternatives open up to students

Free learning content dominates the web but teachers are in demand
Nik Peachey
Demand for English is set to grow and, according to ELT researcher David Gaddol, it will peak at around 2 billion learners in the next 10 to 15 years. Given the scale of learning it is unlikely that traditional, face-to-face language providers will be able to meet this need. The alternative for people who either cannot aord or get access to classroom-based lessons is likely to be online learning. So what does virtual teaching currently oer? For those with no money but plenty of determination there is an abundance of free online content they can access to develop their skills and knowledge. Some of the best-quality content comes from the UKs established providers such as the BBC and the British Council. The BBCs pioneering Learning English website oers a wealth of materials, including interactive quizzes, games, audio based around news articles and even a mini interactive soap opera with animated characters. The British Councils Learn English websites provide a wide range of content for learners from kids through to adults and even caters for students with a keen interest in football through its Premier Skills website. attractive in terms of design and may be powered by advertising and built with freely available tools, but can still oer a wealth of content for learners. Some of the best examples are The English Language Listening Library Online, which has over 1,000 lessons for learners that develop listening skills, and ESOL Courses, which has a huge variety of online materials from song-based lessons to reading and quizzes, all of which are graded according to level. Much of the content on these sites is great for developing knowledge of the language as well as reading and listening skills, but can learners really develop their speaking skills online and what if they want a real teacher? That too is possible, with platforms such as iTalki and Palabea, which oer teachers the opportunity to set themselves up as independent providers teaching one to one or small groups online. These sites use video conferencing applications similar to Skype combined with online whiteboard tools, authentic video materials from around the web and their own homemade materials. They enable teachers and students to connect and schedule classes and in some cases they oer teachers the opportunity to charge for their services as online tutors. These days, though, it seems that anyone can set themselves up as a language teacher using a range of language-exchange platforms such as the Starbucks-funded Livemocha. You just create a prole on the site and include the languages you speak and the languages you want to learn. After that you start building your network of friends. You can do short writing activities or record yourself speaking and then send your work to any of your native-speaker friends. They send you their feedback and corrections and you do the same with their work and together you learn each others language all for free. In many of these community-driven environments teachers are also rated by their students and collect stars or points that they display on their prole. This develops credibility, which in turn enables them to build up a larger network of friends and students. If all of that isnt enough and you prefer more of an out-of-body language learning experience, then you can join a virtual school in the threedimensional world of Second Life. Virtual schools such as Avatar English and Languagelab now employ a mix of teachers and actors who appear as avatars to help guide learners through a range of simulated real life situations. Students can develop communication skills by working as a team on such tasks as tackling an oil rig explosion and the resulting environmental catastrophes or, if you prefer something more conventional, an exam preparation course. And if you dont like the idea of paying for a virtual course you can always take your avatar along to Virtlantis and join a community of language learners who study together for free.

Speak up ... technology connects The Councils Learn English Kids site is truly outstanding, with some wonderful examples of language learning games and stories as well as some nice video clips and advice for parents on how to guide their kids through the materials. Meanwhile, the Councils latest venture embraces mobile learning and it now oers a range of free language learning apps that can be downloaded to hand-held devices. But its not just the bigger organisations that are providing sound learning opportunities for free. Increasingly small companies and enthusiastic teachers are finding that they can produce good-quality learning content. Many of these sites may look less

6 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Learning English

Spelling reformed would rob bees of buzz

The orthography of English continues to defy improvements
Erin McKean Washington Post
The spellers who gathered in Maryland last month for the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee are well beyond i before e, except after c. They are top-notch orthographic athletes, able to rattle off, in order, the letters of words such as tchotchke, schottische and aryepiglottic without a second thought. But what if correct spelling a standard ordering of alphabetic characters, used to represent spoken words didnt exist? At one point, English speakers lived in a world without standardised spelling. According to the Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English, in the late middle ages a word such as through could have as many as 500 variant forms, from recognisable formulations such as thurgh and thorough to more inventive combinations such as orowe, drowg, trghug and trowe. There were pecuniary reasons to use inventive spellings: lawyers clerks were often paid by the inch, and they added superuous letters to words to pad the bill. Typesetters, on the other hand, might spell the same word several dierent ways in the same text to save space. But not everyone was happy with a free-and-easy approach to spelling. In 1582, an English schoolteacher named Richard Mulcaster put together a book of the right writing of our English tung, listing 8,000 words. More than half (elephant, gunpowder and glitter, but not tung) are spelled the same way today. Mulcaster was moved to set down his list because he thought that forenners and strangers ... wonder at English speakers both for the uncertaintie in our writing, and the inconstancie in our letters. There are plenty of people today who would like to see a world without spelling or at least without what they see as the quixotic, inconsistent spelling of modern English. Spelling reformers have pointed out the illogic, ambiguity, overcomplication and general messiness of English orthography for nearly 500 years, and their lack of progress in solving any of these issues has not dissuaded them from trying. The last person to have any signicant eect on the spelling of standard English was probably the American lexicographer Noah Webster, who in 1806s Compendious Dictionary of the English Language managed to shift

I before e ... a competitor ponders during the American Scripps National Spelling Bee Kevin Lamarque/Reuters mould to mold and masque to mask though he lost the ght on women vs wimmen and ache vs ake. But a world in which every English word could take any form would be a strikingly different place. In a best-case scenario, we would write every word exactly as we pronounce it. If orthography faithfully reected pronunciation, new English speakers would have an easier time, and linguists could more easily track changes in the sounds of English across regions and centuries. Without a recognised system of standard spelling, primary education would be turned upside down. No more spelling books, spelling tests or points o for spelling. In place of spelling bees, perhaps wed see contests for the most creative, beautiful or evocative formulations of words, turning spelling from a chore into an art form. Making ambigrams words that can be read from dierent orientations and palindromes would be much easier, too, and English would have even more onomatopoeic words such as oink and meow. In a world without standard spelling, writers would pledge allegiance to different spelling schools. Some would fancy double letters; others would dispense with the silent e or add decorative umlauts; and science-ction writers would use even more of the letters x and q. Fans would copy the spellings of their favourite authors, and your letter choices would identify you as a loyal reader of particular publications. This is not as far-fetched as it sounds: for more than 40 years, the Chicago Tribune advocated the simplied spelling of words such as hemloc, iland, tarif, rime, philosofy, photograf and burocrat. Some were dropped, but the spellings thru and tho were used until the mid-1970s. Computers, however, might have a harder time, with search engines struggling to retrieve the right links. On the plus side, though, wed have no more problems with the Cupertino effect spellcheck softwares tendency to suggest inappropriate words to replace misspellings and words not in its dictionary, such as suggesting Cupertino for co-operation. But a world without spelling would also rob us of the pleasure we get from mastering the complicated, illogical English language. Theres a certain satisfaction to mastering a words such as silhouette or subpoena. English spelling is messy and dicult. As spelling bee competitors understand, thats what we like about it. Erin McKean is the founder of Wordnik, an online dictionary, and a former editor in chief for American dictionaries at Oxford University Press

Scripps nalists face words with a sting

The Scripps spelling bee is the USs oldest academic competition. But with 275 young people in the 2011 contest, its still growing. Two thousand spectators, an 80% increase from last year, gathered at a venue in the suburbs of Washington last month to see kids recite some of the most esoteric words in the English language. Researchers create word lists for the competition by scouring Merriam-Websters Third Unabridged Dictionary and place their best nds in a database, which is then further scrutinised. A team of a dozen then creates digestible sentences for confusing words for a competition that this year started with 11 million kids. So the script was written when Lily Jordan, a contestant from Portland, Maine, got up and asked for a sentence to explain a word that means very large snakes. I have had it with these most forsaken thanatophidia on this most forsaken plane, the pronouncer Jacques Bailly deadpanned. Even Jordan laughed. She also got that word right. Robert Samuels Washington Post

The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11 7

Learning English

News-based materials for class teaching and self study

Lower intermediate No stopping after eating 25,000 Big Macs

1 Thirty-nine years after his first mouthful, a retired prison guard has entered the record books by nishing his 25,000th Big Mac. 2 Don Gorske passed the milestone at a McDonalds restaurant in his hometown in Wisconsin. I plan on eating Big Macs until I die, said the 57-year-old. I have no intention of changing. Its still my favourite food. Nothing has changed in 39 years. I look forward to it every day. 3 Gorskes obsession with the burger two beef patties, sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun started on 17 May 1972 when he bought three Big Macs to celebrate the purchase of a new car. He says he enjoyed them so much that he went back to McDonalds twice the same day, eating nine burgers. He has only gone eight days without a Big Mac since his rst bite. 4 Despite his diet Gorske has been described as healthy by his doctor and he takes regular exercise. 5 However, he did admit to an obsessive compulsive personality, adding he liked to collect the packaging and enjoyed counting his Big Macs because of a love of numbers. 6 McDonalds says there are 540 calories in a Big Mac, which is more than a quarter of the calories a person on an average 2,000-calorie diet would consume. The burger also contains 29g of fat and 1,040mg of sodium, which are both more than 40% of the daily recommended amount. 7 Medical experts do not recommend the Gorske diet. Tara Gidus, a Florida dietitian, said Gorske probably has good genetics to thank for his health, as well as the fact that he didnt order fries and soft drinks with his burger. 8 She said she is less concerned about the bad stu in the Big Mac and more concerned about the good stu hes missing, such as fruit and vegetables. 9 Before tucking into his 25,000th burger Gorske said: I really do enjoy every Big Mac. Original article by Matthew Taylor, rewritten by Janet Hardy-Gould

Don Gorske takes a bite at his record

Lesson plan
Focus: listening, reading, present perfect Materials: article, dictionaries Time: 50 minutes

pairs and check meanings in dictionaries. Establish fast food. 7 mins Write up the gapped headline: No stopping after eating _____ Big Macs. Explain that Don Gorske has eaten a Big Mac every day for a long time. What number might go in the gap? Note their ideas. 5 mins Write the questions below on the board. Read out the rst three paragraphs twice. Students listen and note answers. Paircheck. Give out the article. Students check their answers. Who guessed the nearest number of burgers? 10 mins a How many years ago did Gorske begin to eat Big Macs? b How many Big Macs has he eaten? c How old is he?

Ask the class: Is there anything that you eat or drink every day? Why? For example, I always have a cup of coee in the morning because it wakes me up. Students move around the class, they ask/answer the question and try to nd somebody with the same food habits. Feedback. 8 mins

d On what date did he start eating Big Macs? e How many burgers did he eat on the rst day? f How many days has he gone without a Big Mac? Answers: a Thirty-nine. b 25,000. c Fifty-seven. d 17 May 1972. e Nine. f Eight days.

Write on board: sesame seed bun, pickles, onions, sauce, cheese, fries, soft drinks, fat, calories, packaging. Ask: What type of food is the article about? Students discuss in

Write up these sentences. Students read the rest of the article and complete them. 8 mins a Gorskes doctor thinks hes b A Big Mac has high quantities of c Gidus thinks it is positive that Gorske doesnt d When Gorske eats a Big Mac he Answers a healthy b fat/sodium. c have fries or soft drinks. d always enjoys it.

Students complete the text with the present perfect or simple past. Feedback. 12 mins Gorske (a) _____ (eat) at least one Big Mac every day for thirty-nine years. He rst (b) _____ (start) buying the burgers in 1972 and he (c) _____ (consume) thousands since then. Last month, he (d) _____ (order) his 25,000th Big Mac and he (e) _____ (celebrate) the event at his local McDonalds. Gorske knows the exact number because he (f) _____ (keep) a record of the burgers that he (g) _____ (buy) over the years. Answers: a has eaten b started c has consumed d ordered e celebrated f has kept g has bought Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

8 The Guardian Weekly 08.07.11

Learning English

Download these materials as classroom-ready worksheets at guardian.co.uk/weekly

Advanced Amazon announces ebooks eclipsing print book sales

Adam Gabbatt
1 Amazon, the online retailer, has announced it is selling more ebooks than print books for the rst time, less than four years after it introduced its Kindle electronic book reader. 2 The company said that in the US it has sold 105 ebooks for every 100 print books since 1 April this year. 3 Amazon also released gures for the UK where the Kindle only launched in August 2010 that showed ebooks are now more popular than their hardback relatives. However commentators warned the gures represent volume not value. 4 Je Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, said the company was excited by the response to its Kindle range. Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books, he said. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly weve been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years. an interesting headline. In actual money terms, though, Im not sure that would be true, but principally because some of these ebooks are being sold at very low prices. 8 More than 650,000 ebooks are available at Amazon.co.uk, which said its bestselling ebook titles in 2011 have included The Basement by Stephen Leather priced at 80 cents and The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris, which costs $2. 9 Its a volume not value figure, Denny said . He said traditional booksellers were suering. Every Kindle sold is a potential customer lost. Volumes ... customers are choosing Kindle books more often than print AP 5 The announcement of Amazons US success comes less than six months after its ebook sales eclipsed paperback sales. Ebooks overtook hardback sales in that country in July last year. Now it is outselling both printed forms combined. 6 In the UK, Amazon announced it had sold 242 ebooks for every 100 hardbacks since 1 April 2011. Amazon. co.uk customers are choosing Kindle books more often than hardcovers at a rate of more than 2 to 1, said Gordon Willoughby, European director at Kindle. 7 In the UK, Nicola Solomon, general secretary of the Society of Editors, said Amazons figures were not surprising, while Neill Denny, editor-in-chief of the Bookseller magazine, said ebook sales might not reflect financial success. Its

Glossary
volume (noun) a formal term for a book; also the amount or quantity of something launch (verb) to make a product available to the public for the rst time commentator (noun) a person who is an expert on a particular topic and who talks or writes about it in the media range (noun) a set of products of a particular type

Questions
Before reading
1 Vocabulary from the article. What is the dierence in meaning between these phrases? a an ebook/a print book b an online book retailer/a traditional bookseller c a hardback/a paperback 2 Look at the headline, photo and caption of the article. Answer the questions below. a What would be the full version of the headline? b What does the verb eclipse mean here? What is the original use of the verb? c What do you think the article is about? Write a sentence in your own words to summarise the main point. Compare your sentence with a partner. 3 Write three questions to ask other students about their experiences and opinions of electronic book readers. Ask as many students as possible and report your ndings to the class. For example: In 10 years time, do you think most people will use electronic book readers?

b value of ebooks sold in the US and UK. c volume of ebooks sold with each new electronic reader. d proportion of ebooks to print books sold in the US and UK. 2 On the US version of Amazon people now buy more: a ebooks than other media products combined. b ebooks than all other book formats. c electronic Kindle readers than hardcovers. d hardbacks than other print books. 3 Neill Denny thinks the ebook statistics are unclear because: a many titles are purchased for little cost. b the bestsellers are given away with Kindles. c ebooks are sold in low-priced bestseller collections. d gures are shown in actual money terms. 2 Complete the questions with the words below. Then read the article again and nd the answers. how many, how much, what, when, where, who, why a ___ ebooks are now sold on US Amazon for every hundred print books? b ___ did ebook sales rst overtake print books in the US? c ___ in Europe was Kindle put on the market last year? d ___ is Bezos surprised? e ___ is the proportion of ebooks to hardbacks sold in the UK? f ___ are some ebook titles sold for? g ___ is concerned about ordinary bookshops? Why?

After reading
1 Word building verbs and nouns Complete the table below. Which noun appears in the plural in the article? Verb Noun announce a _____________ introduce b _____________ sell c _____________ warn d _____________ respond e _____________ choose f _____________ succeed g _____________ 2 Complete the summary with the nouns from exercise 1. Since the initial (a) _____ of the Kindle to the UK last year, (b) _____ of ebooks have soared dramatically. The recent (c) _____ of new gures has shown the very positive (d) _____ of readers to this device and it seems that the preferred (e) _____ of many customers is now for ebooks rather than print books. However, the great (f) _____ of this new reading format is not without its downside. There has been a clear (g) _____ from many in the book industry that traditional booksellers will suer. Look at the summary. Which other words are used in conjunction with the nouns?

like to convince student B of the benets and also the increasing popularity of this device. Student B is sceptical and can see the many downsides. Make notes about the arguments you would put forward. 3 Conduct the role play. Refer back to ideas in the article where appropriate. 4 Class feedback. Have any student Bs been converted to electronic readers? Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould

Answers
Before reading 1 a a downloadable digital book; a traditional book printed on paper b a company that sells books on the internet; a bookshop c a book with a hard cover; a paper cover 2 a Amazon announces that ebooks are eclipsing print book sales. b Have overtaken and become more important than. When the moon eclipses the sun etc. While reading 11d2b3a 2 a How many; 105. b When; 1 April this year. c Where; the UK. d Why; Hes surprised because ebooks have overtaken print books so quickly. e What; More than two to one/242 to 100. f How much; As little as 80c or $2. g Who; Neill Denny. They are suering because Kindle is taking their customers. After reading 1 a announcement b introduction c sales d warning e response f choice g success 2 a introduction b sales c announcement d response e choice f success g warning

Activity role play

Work in pairs. Follow the steps below. 1 What are the advantages and disadvantages of electronic readers as opposed to print books? Discuss and note down ideas. 2 Prepare a role play. Student A has bought an electronic reader and would

While reading
1 Read the whole article and choose the correct answers. 1 Amazon has announced new gures for the: a volume of ebooks purchased worldwide.