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Russia says Assad wants peace, as Syria vows no let-up
02/07 | 23:46 GMT
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Russia said on Tuesday that President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed in Syria, as his regime pounded the city of Homs for a fourth day and vowed no let-up.
DAMASCUS (AFP) - Russia said on Tuesday that President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed in Syria, as his regime pounded the city of Homs for a fourth day and vowed no let-up.
As several European nations pulled their ambassadors from Syria, a top US senator called for the arming of rebels fighting Assad's rule and Washington said it was exploring options for providing humanitarian aid.
Tank and artillery fire rained on Homs, killing at least 15 civilians, activists said, as the interior ministry vowed to keep up its onslaught against "terrorist groups".
Scene: 'God help us' - appeal from Syria's Homs
"There are about four blasts every five minutes," said Abu Rami, an activist in Homs reached by AFP by telephone from Beirut. "The humanitarian situation is dire. No one can move around."
An interior ministry statement carried by the SANA news agency pledged that "operations to hunt down terrorist groups will continue until security and order are re-established in all neighbourhoods of Homs and its environs."
More than 6,000 people have died in nearly a year of upheaval in the Middle East country, as Assad's hardline regime seeks to snuff out a revolt that began with peaceful protests in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov flew into Damascus to a hero's welcome on Tuesday, with thousands of cheering, flag-waving Assad supporters lining the route of his motorcade.
Russia, which along with China over the weekend vetoed a UN resolution condemning the government crackdown, has staunchly stood by its last ally in the region, a key buyer of Moscow's military hardware that hosts a strategic Russian naval base.
"We (Russia) confirmed our readiness to act for a rapid solution to the crisis based on the plan put forward by the Arab League," said Lavrov, adding Syria was ready to see an enlarged Arab League mission in the country, Russian news agencies reported.
"We have every reason to believe that the signal that we've brought here to move along in a more active manner along all directions has been heard," he said.
Timeline: Diplomatic moves against Syria
"In particular, President Assad assured (us) that he is fully committed to the task of a cessation of violence, from whatever source it comes."
The 22-member Arab League deployed an observer mission to Syria in December to oversee a plan to end the bloodshed, but it was suspended a month later amid increasing violence on the ground.
It has since put forward a new plan for Assad to hand his powers to Vice President Faruq al-Shara and for the formation of a national unity government to oversee the preparation of democratic elections.
Shara, a veteran regime diplomat with a career that stretches back to the rule of Assad's late father president Hafez al-Assad, attended Tuesday's talks with Lavrov, the official SANA news agency said.
Lavrov did not specify which of the two Arab plans he was referring to in his comments Tuesday, although SANA quoted Assad as interpreting the reference to be to the earlier one.
Lavrov said Syria was pressing ahead with the reform programme Assad promised in speeches last year and would soon announce the timetable for a referendum on a new constitution to replace the current one that enshrines the dominance of his Baath party.
SANA said Assad would receive the text drawn up by an appointed panel on Wednesday.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland voiced scepticism over Assad's promises.
"You can understand that the international community as a whole would be pretty sceptical... instead of focusing on ending the violence, what we seem to have is a re-upping of this same offer that Assad has been making for months and months and months," she told reporters in Washington.
In Washington US Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate in the 2008 election won by President Barack Obama, said it was time for Washington to think about arming the rebels.
"We should start considering all options, including arming the opposition. The blood-letting has got to stop," he said.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the US was consulting with allies to discuss how to provide humanitarian aid.
"We are exploring the possibility of providing humanitarian aid to Syrians," he said, admitting that no "mechanisms" currently existed for delivering such aid.
Said State Department's Nuland: "Some of these proposals that people are brooding about could not be done without foreign military intervention -- as we have said, we don't think more arms into Syria is the right answer."
A day after the United States closed its Damascus embassy, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain joined Britain and Belgium on Tuesday in recalling their ambassadors to Syria for consultations.
Turkey, a former Assad ally which shared Western anger over the Russian and Chinese vetoes, said it would launch a "new initiative" with like-minded countries which "stand by the Syrian people, not the regime."
And the six Arab states of the Gulf announced that they had decided to expel Syria's envoys and withdraw their own from Damascus in protest over the "mass slaughter" of civilians.
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Times editor apologises for email hacking
02/07 | 16:52 GMT
LONDON (AFP) - The editor of The Times apologised on Tuesday to a blog-writing detective who was unmasked by a former reporter of the newspaper who allegedly hacked his email.
LONDON (AFP) - The editor of The Times apologised on Tuesday to a blog-writing detective who was unmasked by a former reporter of the newspaper who allegedly hacked his email.
James Harding told an inquiry into British press standards that he "sorely" regretted the intrusion and expected "better of The Times".
Detectives are investigating claims that the journalist, Patrick Foster, accessed the email of detective Richard Horton in 2009 to unmask him as the author of the anonymous NightJack blog about the workings of the police.
The case has attracted scrutiny because The Times' sister paper, the News of the World, was closed in July amid a public outcry when it emerged that the Sunday tabloid had hacked the voicemail of a girl who was later found murdered.
Harding admitted to the inquiry last month that the Rupert Murdoch-owned Times had issued one of its reporters with a formal warning for professional misconduct because he had gained unauthorised access to an email account.
The inquiry has heard that The Times fought a High Court battle to name Horton as the writer of the NightJack blog after the reporter told his managers he had tried to access an email account.
Foster no longer works for The Times.
"In the last couple of weeks I have learned a great deal more about what happened in this incident," said Harding, who was recalled to the inquiry to give evidence about the hacking claims.
"As editor of the paper, I am responsible for what it does and what its journalists do.
"So I want to say at the outset that I sorely regret the intrusion into Richard Horton's email account by a journalist then in our newsroom.
"I am sure that Mr Horton and many other people expect better of The Times. So do I.
"So on behalf of the paper, I apologise."
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry, known as the Leveson Inquiry, to examine the culture, ethics and practices of the press after the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World.
UK News
Times editor apologises for email ...The heroes of India's quest to wipe out polio
02/08 | 05:06 GMT
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Later this month, India will be removed from a dwindling list of countries where polio is considered endemic, a huge achievement made possible by people like Madara, a 76-year-old street hawker.
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Later this month, India will be removed from a dwindling list of countries where polio is considered endemic, a huge achievement made possible by people like Madara, a 76-year-old street hawker.
At a temporary immunisation camp in a slum in the northern district of Ghaziabad, 23 kilometres (14 miles) from New Delhi, he is busy at work shepherding boisterous children into queues.
All around, social workers break open tiny bottles containing a polio vaccine, selecting children from the thronging crowd of toddlers and babies and squirting two drops into their mouths.
Madara, a stick-thin resident from a nearby slum, says he began volunteering to help with the vaccination efforts six years ago when he realised he could use his authority as an elderly figure to encourage participation.
"I decided to get involved because I wanted to do something for the future of our children here," Madara told AFP.
Most of the youngsters, whose parents are often rag-pickers or hawkers, live in the nearby tarpaulin-covered homes, a cramped zone of shanties where sanitation and awareness about hygiene is poor.
Polio, which can be deadly and also causes deformed limbs, spreads via the fecal matter of victims, making slums particularly high-risk areas.
Lured by the offer of bright plastic whistles and paper masks, children were keen to leave their homes, forming a disorderly crowd around the vaccinators as they dispensed the drops to infants and under-fives.
India last reported a fresh polio case more than 12 months ago after monumental efforts by millions of social workers and volunteers who have administered 900 million doses of the vaccine in the last year alone.
If all pending lab tests for the virus return negative as expected, the World Health Organisation will remove India from its list of "polio endemic" countries this month, leaving just Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria in this category.
As well as polio camps like this one in Ghaziabad, teams have travelled door-to-door, educating families about the illness and delivering the vaccine.
They have put up makeshift booths in crowded public areas such as train stations, bus stands and markets, and in other locations, including construction sites where they can catch migrant workers and their children.
A "vaccination on wheels" service was rolled out across the north Indian state of Bihar in which social workers jumped on trains and vaccinated all the children onboard.
In 2008, when floods devastated the state, vaccinators were even sent out in boats.
"We had to make a very detailed, dynamic map of the area and send workers in boats to try and get across to stranded families," Lieven Desomer, head of the polio unit at UN children's agency UNICEF in India, told AFP.
As well as the problems of access, the government and international agencies behind the immunisation drive faced problems of ignorance and prejudice.
Vaccinators were attacked, anxious parents would hide their babies from social workers, and there was particular resistance from the Muslim communities in the north of the country.
"There was a general perception that the vaccine was not clean or safe because it came from the West, and that somehow, taking it would make their women and children infertile," UNICEF's Desomer said.
India's crushing summer heat also caused difficulties because vaccines have to be kept at a low temperature to prevent them expiring.
Five years ago, campaigners decided to ensure that vials were only carried in special carriers equipped with ice packs.
Desomer credited "the dogged persistence" of the Indian government for the fall in infections, and said that in 2011 alone, the state contributed 80 percent of the $264 million committed to the fight against polio.
The results of years of innovation, human endeavour, as well as planning and spending, are reflected in the number of infections.
In 2009, India accounted for half of all cases in the world, but infections plummeted to 42 in 2010 and none in the last 12 months.
"It is an amazing achievement. I sometimes feel like I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming it," Desomer said, while cautioning against premature celebrations.
"We have to remain vigilant and continue immunisations. Complacency at this stage would be a huge mistake," he said.
India will only be judged to have eradicated the disease if it stays polio-free for another two years.
Health/Medicine
The heroes of India's quest to wipe out ...Contador vows to pursue career despite doping ban
02/07 | 21:39 GMT
PINTO, Spain (AFP) - An indignant two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador said on Tuesday he "totally disagreed" with his two-year doping ban and vowed to pursue his career at the highest level.
PINTO, Spain (AFP) - An indignant two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador said on Tuesday he "totally disagreed" with his two-year doping ban and vowed to pursue his career at the highest level.
"I am going to continue cycling. I am going to continue practicing it cleanly, the way I have my entire life," he told a news conference at a hotel in his hometown of Pinto just south of Madrid.
"My mood right now is not the best but I know this will make me stronger in the future," he added in his first public comments since the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down its sanction on Monday.
"I cannot understand the sanction that has been imposed on me. As for the decision, I totally disagree."
Contador, 29, said his lawyers were looking into a possible appeal, which must be lodged within 30 days.
"My lawyers are looking into all the possibilities. We will continue to fight until the end," he said, wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt unbuttoned at the collar.
Considered the most gifted racer of his generation, Contador was handed the ban following a positive test for the banned substance clenbuterol.
Backdated to August 2010, when he announced the news of his positive test weeks after his third yellow jersey triumph, the ban means Contador can return to competition on August 6, 2012.
As well as ruling him out of this year's Tour de France and the Olympic Games in London, he will be stripped of several wins including his 2010 yellow jersey which will now be handed to runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.
Contador's determination to carry on means he may compete at the Tour of Spain which starts on August 18, a race he won in 2008.
Contador said he has not yet decided if he will take part in this year's race and his "priority" is to stay with his current team, Saxo Bank.
"I still don't know what my programme will be after my suspension. I have to organise my future but that does not depend only on me. What I know for sure is that I want to continue to win the biggest races," he said.
Contador is one of only five men to have won all three major cycling races.
Two months after his positive test, the Spaniard, claiming he was the victim of a contaminated steak eaten during the Tour de France, had said he would consider quitting if banned.
If he is to find any kind of succour from the CAS decision, it is that doping experts believe he did not ingest clenbuterol intentionally. They deemed the Spaniard was likely a victim of a contaminated food supplement.
Contador said he had committed no crime and yet had been hit with the heaviest penalty of a two-year ban.
The Spaniard said he even gave evidence with a polygraph, or lie detector.
"That is five hours sitting in a chair answering questions like a real criminal," he said.
"There have been speculations, leaks, it has been a real torment. But the hardest thing has been to see my family, the suffering they have had, my wife, for what they have accused me of."
Contador was repeatedly applauded by supporters who chanted his name at the end of the press conference.
He thanked his fans and his sponsor for their support, after Saxo Bank chief Bjarne Riis told the news conference he backed the cyclist "100 percent" because he clearly did not deliberately take drugs.
"We as a team, supported by all our sponsors, continue to support Alberto. Our trust in Alberto is still 100 percent intact," said Riis.
The loss of Contador could have huge ramifications for his team.
Run by Riis, a former Tour de France winner who owned up to cheating with drugs to win the race in 1996, Contador is the team's marquee rider in stage races.
But more importantly, his WorldTour ranking points are crucial.
Affiliation to the WorldTour series -- via a system governed by ranking points, financial viability and sound ethical principles -- guarantees entry to cycling's biggest races.
On his own, Contador has racked up a massive amount of the points required by the team for entry to the series.
The sport's ruling body, the International Cycling Union, was due to ask its licences commission on Tuesday to gauge whether Saxo Bank has the right to remain in the UCI WorldTour.
