div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/77344?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Arefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nations%3A1924475ch=Global+developmentc3=GU.co.ukc4=Global+development%2CUnited+Nations+%28News%29%2CRefugees+%28News%29%2CInternally+displaced+people+IDP%2CIvory+Coast+%28News%29%2CSyria+%28News%29%2CCongo+Democratic+Republic+of+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CMali+%28News%29%2CAfrica+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCharitiesc6=Mark+Tranc7=2013%2F06%2F19+09%3A36c8=1924475c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+yearsc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FGlobal+development%2FUnited+Nations" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Conflicts in Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali push number of displaced people to more than 45 million/ppThe world is in the throes of its most serious refugee crisis for almost 20 years, as conflicts in Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, the UN's refugee agency has said./ppIn its a href="http://www.unhcr.org/51bacb0f9.html" title=""global trends report (pdf)/a, UNHCR said more than 45.1 million people were displaced last year, the largest number since 1994. This includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers, and 28.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs) – those forced to find refuge within the borders of their own countries./pp"These truly are alarming numbers. They reflect individual suffering on a huge scale and they reflect the difficulties of the international community in preventing conflicts and promoting timely solutions for them," said António Guterres, UN high commissioner for refugees and head of UNHCR./ppThe number of 28.8 milion IDPs is the highest level in more than two decades, mainly because of the war in Syria. The three-year conflict, which has claimed 90,000 lives, has led to 4.25 million Syrians being internally displaced and more than 1.6 million refugees, concentrated in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Last week the UN launched its a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/jun/07/un-syria-appeal-humanitarian-needs?CMP=twt_gu" title=""biggest appeal/a – $5bn (£3.2bn) – as it warned that half of Syria's population will need humanitarian aid by the end of the year./ppGlobally, some 7.6 million people last year fled their homes, 1.1 million of them refugees; 6.5 million internally displaced. This is equivalent to a new refugee or internally displaced person every 4.1 seconds./ppAfrican countries have emerged as pioneers in addressing the problem of IDPs. In December, the a href="http://www.internal-displacement.org/kampala-convention" title=""Kampala convention/a, the world's first legally binding instrument to outline the obligations of governments to protect and assist IDPs, came into force./ppSigned, although not necessarily ratified, by 37 of the 53 members of the African Union, the convention binds governments to provide legal protection for the rights and wellbeing of those forced to flee within their countries because of conflict, violence, natural disasters, or development projects./ppUnder the convention, governments must gather data and identify IDPs to understand where they are and what they need, provide personal identification documents, trace families and help reunite them, and consult IDPs in decisions on their needs./ppChildren under 18 comprise 46% of refugees. A record 21,300 asylum applications submitted during 2012 were from children unaccompanied or separated from their parents./ppCountries bearing the biggest burden of refugees tend to be in the developing world. Pakistan last year continued to host more refugees than any other country (1.6 million), followed by Iran (868,200) and Germany (589,700). Developing countries host 8.5 million refugees (81% of the world's total compared with 70% a decade ago)./ppAfghanistan remains the largest source of refugees, a position it has held for 32 years. One of four refugees worldwide is Afghan, with 95% located in Pakistan or Iran. Somalia, another war-ravaged country, was the second-largest source of refugees in 2012, although the rate of outflow has slowed as the country has a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/may/03/london-conference-vision-somalia-forward" title=""stabilised/a. Iraqis were the third-largest refugee group (746,700), followed by Syrians (471,400)./ppAs for solutions, voluntary repatriation provides the most durable response, followed by local integration and resettlement to a third country, although this option is open to few refugees./ppAccording to the report: "Voluntary repatriation is the durable solution for the largest number or refugees. It requires the commitment of the country of origin to protect and to reintegrate its own citizens back into their home communities."/ppOver the past 10 years, 7.2 million refugees were repatriated, but only 836,500 were resettled. Last year, more than 500,000 were able to return home. The main countries of return were Afghanistan, Iraq, Ivory Coast and Syria. Most of the Afghans and Iraqis had been in exile for many years before their return. Of the repatriating Syrian and Ivorian refugees, most returned after only one or two years in exile, but with the prospects for continued violence in Syria and DRC, returns to these countries are likely to be poor./ppThe world's four largest refugee camps are in Kenya, known collectively as a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/mar/24/dadaab-refugee-camps-living-in-crisis" title=""Dadaab/a, home to about 500,000 refugees. Nyaragusu camp in Tanzania is the world's fifth-largest camp, home to 68,100 refugees, mainly from DRC./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/unitednations"United Nations/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/refugees"Refugees/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/internally-displaced-people"Internally displaced people/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ivory-coast"Ivory Coast/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria"Syria/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/congo"Democratic Republic of the Congo/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mali"Mali/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa"Africa/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/marktran"Mark Tran/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7d58cd/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fglobal-development%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nationst=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+years" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fglobal-development%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nationst=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+years" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fglobal-development%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nationst=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+years" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fglobal-development%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nationst=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+years" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fglobal-development%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frefugee-crisis-world-worst-united-nationst=UN+warns+of+worst+refugee+crisis+in+nearly+20+years" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665322132/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d58cd/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665322132/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d58cd/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665322132/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d58cd/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/idbXF_nhsYU" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/78423?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Ahamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talks%3A1924474ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Afghanistan+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CHamid+Karzai+%28News%29%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CNato+%28News%29%2CTalibanc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUSA+HSBCc6=Reuters+in+Kabulc7=2013%2F06%2F19+09%3A28c8=1924474c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pactc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FAfghanistan" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"President accuses Washington of 'inconsistent statements and actions' with regard to bilateral security agreement/ppAfghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has suspended talks on a security pact with the United States, accusing Washington of mixed messages regarding a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/us-peace-talks-taliban-afghanistan" title=""peace talks with the Taliban/a./ppKarzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told Reuters the president made the decision "because of [the US's] inconsistent statements and actions in regard to the peace process"./ppNegotiations on a bilateral security agreement (BSA) began earlier this year. If completed the BSA would define the shape of the US military presence in Afghanistan for years to come./ppA collapse in negotiations regarding a similar pact in Iraq led to the US pulling all troops out of the country./ppThe US embassy in Kabul said it was preparing a statement on the announcement./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/afghanistan"Afghanistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hamid-karzai"Hamid Karzai/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/taliban"Taliban/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7d9dc7/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fhamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talkst=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pact" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fhamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talkst=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pact" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fhamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talkst=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pact" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fhamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talkst=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pact" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fhamid-karzai-suspends-us-afghanistan-talkst=Hamid+Karzai+suspends+talks+on+US-Afghanistan+security+pact" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665229006/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d9dc7/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665229006/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d9dc7/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665229006/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7d9dc7/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/gog0s4X1CLQ" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/5485?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Abarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-gala%3A1924452ch=Culturec3=GU.co.ukc4=Barbra+Streisand%2CShimon+Peres%2CIsrael+%28News%29%2CJudaism+%28News%29%2CReligion+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CCulture%2CWorld+news%2CMusicc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Harriet+Sherwoodc7=2013%2F06%2F19+08%3A29c8=1924452c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peresc66=Culturec72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FCulture%2FCulture%2FBarbra+Streisand" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Singer courts controversy by criticising ultra-Orthodox attitudes to women before Israeli president's 90th birthday gala/ppPerhaps it lacked the raw sexuality of a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3IzpazVl-I" title=""Marilyn Monroe's breathless birthday ode to JFK/a more than 50 years ago, but Barbra Streisand's tribute to the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, on Tuesday evening had a sombre power that enthralled the audience of 2,000./ppAt Peres's request, the Jewish-American diva sang Avinu Malkeinu – Our Forefathers – to mark the president's 90th birthday at a gala celebration in Jerusalem that included video tributes from Barack Obama, Bono and Vladimir Putin./ppIn the front row at Jerusalem's international convention centre were Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Sharon Stone; Robert de Niro sat a row behind. Streisand, dressed in a simple black outfit, sang first in Hebrew before launching into People, her signature number./ppPeres – the world's oldest head of state – said it was "worth waiting 90 years to hear such a heavenly voice"./ppThe birthday bash wasn't just a frivolous celebration, but the start of the Presidential Conference, a gathering of global figures in Jerusalem to discuss weighty issues such as leadership in tomorrow's world./ppDespite the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/08/hawking-israel-boycott-furore" title=""furore over the physicist Stephen Hawking's decision to boycott the conference/a in protest at Israel's treatment of Palestinians, about 5,000 politicians, diplomats, academics and cultural figures are attending Facing Tomorrow, the name of the three-day event./ppStreisand, 71, who is also performing at two concerts in Tel Aviv this week during her first concert tour of Israel, promised that she had "something special planned" for Peres's celebration. She was due to be joined onstage by her son, Jason Gould, and sister, Roslyn Kind, with whom she was to sing duets./ppStreisand, a lifelong supporter of Israel, described the country as "a shining beacon of hope in the world" after landing at Ben Gurion airport in her private plane on Saturday, accompanied by her pet dog and a 150-strong entourage./ppHowever, she quickly courted controversy by criticising ultra-Orthodox attitudes to women after being awarded an honorary doctorate from Jerusalem's Hebrew University. "I realise it's not easy to fully grasp the dynamics of what happens in a foreign land, but it's distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of the bus, or when we hear about Women of the Wall having metal chairs thrown at them when they attempt to peacefully and legally pray, and that women can't sing in public," she said. "To remain silent about these things is tantamount to accepting them."/ppUltra-Orthodox custom forbids women to pray aloud or wear traditional prayer shawls, and encourages gender segregation in public spaces. a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/victory-israel-women-western-wall-pray" title=""Streisand visited the Western Wall, the revered Jewish site in Jerusalem's Old City and the scene of monthly feminist protests for the past 24 years, on Monday/a./ppStreisand – who as a child attended an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn, New York – praised Hebrew University's mix of Jewish and Arab students. "Jews and Arabs sit together in classrooms, sit together in the cafeteria and learn from the same professors," she said. "I wish the world was more like the hallways of Hebrew Universitynbsp;… [it] is proof that people can live in peace." Streisand, a longtime supporter of the US Democratic party and of gay rights, has sold around 145m records over her 50-year career, and won two Academy Awards, eight Grammys and five Emmys. About 32,000 fans are expected to attend her concerts in Tel Aviv on Thursday and Saturday. Peres, who has been Israel's president for the past six years after serving twice as prime minister, turns 90 on 2 August. The next oldest head of state, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, turns 90 next February./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/barbra-streisand"Barbra Streisand/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shimon-peres"Shimon Peres/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel"Israel/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/judaism"Judaism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/religion"Religion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/harrietsherwood"Harriet Sherwood/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7c6a91/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fculture%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-galat=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peres" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fculture%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-galat=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peres" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fculture%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-galat=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peres" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fculture%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-galat=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peres" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fculture%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbarbra-streisand-shimon-peres-israel-galat=Barbra+Streisand+echoes+Monroe%27s+birthday+tribute+for+Shimon+Peres" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665688357/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c6a91/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665688357/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c6a91/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665688357/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c6a91/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/kS2KgNjHsWw" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/49084?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aclimate-change-developing-countries-world-bank%3A1924446ch=Environmentc3=GU.co.ukc4=Climate+change+%28Environment%29%2CGlobal+development%2CEnvironment%2CClimate+change+%28Science%29%2CScience%2CGlobal+climate+talks+%28environment%29%2CWorld+Bank+%28Business%29%2CWorld+news%2CEconomics+%28Business%29%2CGlobal+economy+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CSea+level+%28environment%29%2COceans+%28environment%29%2CNatural+disasters+and+extreme+weather+%28News%29c5=Credit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CClimate+Change%2CEthical+Living%2CCharitiesc6=Fiona+Harveyc7=2013%2F06%2F19+08%3A03c8=1924446c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=World%27s+poorest+will+feel+brunt+of+climate+change%2C+warns+World+Bankc66=Environmentc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FEnvironment%2FClimate+change" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Droughts, floods, sea-level rises and fiercer storms likely to undermine progress in developing world and hit food supply/ppMillions of people around the world are likely to be pushed back into poverty because climate change is undermining economic development in poor countries, the World Bank has warned./ppDroughts, floods, heatwaves, sea-level rises and fiercer storms are likely to accompany increasing global warming and will cause severe hardship in areas that are already poor or were emerging from poverty, the bank said in a report./ppFood shortages will be among the first consequences within just two decades, along with damage to cities from fiercer storms and migration as people try to escape the effects./ppIn sub-Saharan Africa, increasing droughts and excessive heat are likely to mean that within about 20 years the staple crop maize will no longer thrive in about 40% of current farmland. In other parts of the region rising temperatures will kill or degrade swaths of the savanna used to graze livestock, according to the report, Turn down the heat: climate extremes, regional impacts and the case for resilience./ppIn south-east Asia, events such as the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2010, which affected 20 million people, could become commonplace, while changes to the monsoon could bring severe hardship to Indian farmers./ppWarming of at least 2C (36F) – regarded by scientists as the limit of safety beyond which changes to the climate are likely to become catastrophic and irreversible – is all but inevitable on current levels, and the efforts of governments are limited to trying to prevent temperature rises passing over this threshold. But many parts of the world are already experiencing severe challenges as a result of climate change, according to the World Bank, and this will intensify as temperatures rise./ppJim Yong Kim, the bank's president, warned that climate change should not be seen as a future problem that could be put off: "The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heatwaves, and more intense cyclones./pp"In the near-term, climate change – which is already unfolding – could batter the slums even more and greatly harm the lives and hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth's temperature."/ppThe development bank is stepping up its funding for countries to adapt to the effects of climate change, and is calling for rich countries to make greater efforts at cutting greenhouse gas emissions./ppRachel Kyte, vice president of the World Bank, said it had doubled its aid for adaptation from $2.3bn (£1.47bn) in 2011 to $4.6bn last year, and called for a further doubling. She said the bank was working to tie its disaster aid and climate change adaptation funding closer together./ppAid from the bank to help poor countries cut their greenhouse gas emissions and pursue environmentally sustainable economic development stands at about $7bn a year, and is backed by about $20bn from regional development banks and other partners./ppThe report's authors used the latest climate science to examine the likely effects of global warming of 2C to 4C on agriculture, water resources, coastal ecosystems and fisheries, and cities, across sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-east Asia./ppKyte said the effects would be to magnify the problems that developing regions experience. More people would be pushed into slums, with an increased risk of disease. "We are looking at major new initiatives [in] cities; cities need billions of investment in infrastructure, but many developing cities are not really creditworthy," she said./ppShe pointed to Jakarta, where rising sea levels and decades of pumping freshwater from underground sources beneath and around the city were increasing its vulnerability to flooding. Choices would need to be made soon in many cities on how to stem the likely effects, but Kyte warned that the plans must be future-proof, citing Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, which has been forced to rethink its flood preparations despite spending $2bn on them./ppGreen campaigners emphasised the need to try to avoid 2C of warming, which scientists stay is possible if countries bolster their ambitions to cut greenhouse gas ambitions in the near future./ppStephanie Tunmore, climate campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: "Fossil fuels are being extracted in burned in the name of development and prosperity, but what they are delivering is the opposite./pp"Some major impacts from climate change are already unavoidable and rich countries must urgently support the poor and vulnerable to adapt. But massive increases in the future costs of adaptation and damage can only be avoided by investing in a clean energy future now."/ppThe World Bank has come under fire in the past for funding coal-fired power plants in some developing countries. However, it said the move was the result of old policies and was being phased out./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change"Climate change/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/scienceofclimatechange"Climate change/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/global-climate-talks"Global climate talks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/worldbank"World Bank/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics"Economics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/global-economy"Global economy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/sea-level"Sea level/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oceans"Oceans/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/natural-disasters"Natural disasters and extreme weather/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/fiona-harvey"Fiona Harvey/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/66372?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Acqc-nhs-cover-up-maternity-ward%3A1924396ch=Societyc3=Guardianc4=NHS+%28Society%29%2CHealth+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CUK+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CHealth+Societyc6=Ben+Quinnc7=2013%2F06%2F19+01%3A05c8=1924396c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=NHS+watchdog+covered+up+maternity+unit+review%2C+says+reportc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FSociety%2FNHS" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"NHS watchdog suppressed internal review into unit where police are also investigating deaths/ppThe NHS watchdog engaged in a "cover-up" by suppressing an internal review into a maternity unit where police are also investigating the deaths of at least eight mothers and babies, an independent report has found./ppManagers at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) moved to protect its reputation by deleting the review, which highlighted key failures in its inspections at the unit, according to early leaks of the report, due to be published this week./pp"We think that the information contained in the report was sufficiently important that the deliberate failure to provide it could properly be characterised as a 'cover-up'," consultants from Grant Thornton have concluded./ppThe CQC, which commissioned Grant Thornton, apologised and said the findings reveal just how poor its oversight of University Hospitals Morecambe Bay (UHMB) was in 2010, but insisted that there is no evidence of a "systematic cover-up"./ppThe consultants had been commissioned to look into the CQC's activities in relation to University Hospitals Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust , which faces more than 30 compensation claims over deaths of, or injuries to, mothers and babies./ppParents of children who died at the maternity unit in Furness general hospital have been given advance copies of the report, which reportedly describes a CQC official as saying that he was ordered by a senior manager in March last year to destroy his review because it would expose the regulator to public criticism./ppOfficials who discussed how to handle the findings of the review included one senior manager who stated: "Are you kidding me? This can never be in a public domain nor subject to FOI [a Freedom of Information request]. Read my lips."/ppThe consultants from Grant Thornton were informed by the official who wrote the internal CQC report that he had been told his work must be deleted because it was damaging to the watchdog./ppThe official said he felt he was "being put in a very difficult position" and asked to do something that he felt was "clearly wrong", according to the Daily Telegraph, which saw copies of the report./ppThe Grant Thornton report says the same manager "said that he felt very uncomfortable about the apparent weight that was being given in the meeting to the potential media impact and reputation damage his report findings might cause CQC. His view was that the focus instead should have been on patient safety and the protection of service users."/ppIn a statement , the CQC said it had promised to publish the report once it had been considered by a meeting of its board and expressed disappointment that it had been leaked./ppThe watchdog said: "The report shows how CQC provided false assurances to the public and to [healthcare regulator] Monitor in 2010. We were slow to identify failings at the trust and then slow to take action. We should not have registered UHMB without conditions. We let people down, and we apologise for that."/ppBut it added: "There is no evidence of a systematic cover up or of any collusion between CQC and the Public Health Service Ombudsman, but the example of how an internal report was dealt with is evidence of a failure of leadership within CQC and a dysfunctional relationship between the executive and the board. There is evidence of a defensive, reactive and insular culture that resulted in behaviour that should never have happened."/ppThe CQC also said out that there has been a complete change of its executive team since the events detailed in the report, and that there had been substantial changes to its board./ppThe police investigation into infant deaths at the maternity unit followed the 2011 inquest into the death of Joshua Titcombe, nine days after his birth at the hospital in October 2008./ppThe inquest ruled in June 2011 that Joshua died of natural causes but midwives had repeatedly missed opportunities to spot and treat a serious infection./ppDavid Prior, the CQC's chairman, said that the publication of the report "draws a line in the sand for us"./ppHe added: "What happened in the past was wholly unacceptable. The report confirms our view that at a senior level the organisation was dysfunctional. The board and the senior executive team have been radically changed."/ppThe chief executive of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, Tony Halsall, resigned last year, saying that "considerable progress" had been made in addressing issues faced by the trust. Its interim chairman at the time said that Halsall had often "found himself in the position of taking responsibility for issues when others should have been alongside him."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/nhs"NHS/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/health"Health/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/benquinn"Ben Quinn/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/74261?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aclimate-uk-weather-summer-rain%3A1924350ch=UK+newsc3=Guardianc4=Weather+UK+%28News%29%2CMet+Office+%28News+-+not+every+forecast+-+substantive+stories+about+them+only%29%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Leo+Hickmanc7=2013%2F06%2F18+08%3A31c8=1924350c9=Articlec10=Featurec13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continuec66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FWeather" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Forecast that Britain could be in middle of 10-20 year 'cycle' of wet summers delivered following gathering at Met Office/ppDon't worry, summer is on its way – but you might have to wait until 2023./ppAs the prospect of another gloomy Glastonbury and wet Wimbledon looms, leading climate scientists have warned that the UK could be set for a further five to 10 years of washout summers./ppThe grim conclusion was delivered after an unprecedented gathering of scientists and meteorologists at the Met Office in Exeter to debate the range of possible causes for Europe's "unusual seasonal weather" over recent years, a sequence that has lasted since 2007./ppMany will have hoped for news of sunnier times ahead. But after experts brainstormed through the day they delivered the shock finding that the UK could be in the middle of a 10-20 year "cycle" of wet summers. The last six out of seven summers in the UK have seen below-average temperatures and sunshine, and above-average rainfall./ppStephen Belcher, head of the Met Office Hadley Centre and professor of meteorology at the University of Reading, stressed that the finding was not an official long-term forecast and does not automatically mean the UK will now have a further decade of wet summers. But, he said, the scientists' conclusion was that the chances of this occurring are now higher than they first thought./pp"Predicting when this cycle will end is hard," said Belcher, who led the meeting of 25 scientists. "We have seen similar patterns before – in the 1950s and the 1880s – and we have hints that we are coming towards the end of this current cycle. However, it might continue for the next five to 10 years. There is a higher probability of wet summers continuing. But it's very early days in trying to understand why this is happening."/ppThe scientists must now address what "dynamical drivers" are causing this cycle, Belcher said. The meeting debated a range of possible interconnected reasons for the unusual weather of recent years, including this year's cold spring and the freezing winter of 2010/11. The most likely cause for the wet summers, he said, was the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation, or AMO, a natural pattern of long-term changes to ocean currents./ppOther candidate causes that could be "loading the dice", as Belcher described it, include a shift in the jet stream, solar variability and fast-retreating Arctic sea ice. Aggravating all of these factors could be the influence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere./ppDr James Screen, who studies how melting sea ice impacts on the jet stream at the University of Exeter, said: "There has been a lot of talk about declining Arctic sea ice playing a role in our weather patterns, but really that's just one aspect of changes in the Arctic climate – which has seen rapid warming compared to other parts of the world. Those changes mean there is less of a difference in temperature between the Arctic and tropics, which could impact the position of the jet stream."/ppThe scientists also debated how melting sea ice should be better incorporated into climate models, as well as how observational data – for example, deep-ocean temperatures – could be improved to help their understanding of the potential relationship between climate change and the recent run of inclement weather and record-breaking extremes./ppLen Shaffrey, a climate modeller based at the University of Reading who is also currently investigating possible links between Arctic sea ice retreat and European weather, said: "There are some fascinating science questions emerging about the influences on our weather, for example, from natural variations in ocean temperature. There is also some evidence that the record low amounts of Arctic sea ice have influenced patterns of European and British weather, but this evidence is not yet conclusive either way."/ppThe scientific debate about the role of the jet stream – the fast "river" of meandering, 10km-high air which greatly determines UK weather - is intensifying. This week researchers from the University of Sheffield published a study in the International Journal of Climatology showing how "unusual changes" to the jet stream caused the "exceptional" melting of the Greenland ice sheet during the summer of 2012. Scientists say they must now determine what is causing these "displacements", as they are known, in the jet stream./ppTourist bosses were trying to find silver linings. David Leslie, a spokesman for the tourism agency Visit Britain, said people did not come to the UK for the weather alone. "The weather here is as unpredictable as anywhere else," he added./pp"The days of the UK being seen as a foggy, wet destination have passed. Hot, cold or mildly pleasant, the weather is not a deterrent for overseas visitors coming here to enjoy Britain's tourism offering, which remains the best in the world."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/weather"Weather/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/met-office"Met Office/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/leohickman"Leo Hickman/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d77b48c/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fclimate-uk-weather-summer-raint=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continue" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fclimate-uk-weather-summer-raint=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continue" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fclimate-uk-weather-summer-raint=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continue" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fclimate-uk-weather-summer-raint=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continue" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fclimate-uk-weather-summer-raint=Met+Office+meeting%3A+UK%27s+spell+of+awful+summers+is+set+to+continue" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665672259/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77b48c/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665672259/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77b48c/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665672259/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77b48c/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/qUBZTOMj9i0" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/41402?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aexplosions-russian-fire-military-depot%3A1924438ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Russia+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Associated+Press+in+Moscowc7=2013%2F06%2F19+07%3A56c8=1924438c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=AUSc65=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+military+depotc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FRussia" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Fireballs erupt into sky and more than 6,000 people evacuated from vicinity of Chapaevsk base in Samara region/ppExploding shells set off a fire that triggered more blasts at a military depot in southern Russia, injuring about 30 people and causing the evacuation of more than 6,000 from a nearby village, investigators and emergency workers said./ppNo cause has yet been determined for the fire at the Chapaevsk military depot in the Samara region on Wednesday. The federal authorities said it was set off by the "involuntary" explosion of shells./ppRussian munitions, which frequently date back to the Soviet era, have exploded several times in recent years and the resulting fires usually rage for days. In October a soldier caused a devastating fire at an ammunition depot by dropping a cigarette butt. In other cases shells have exploded during munitions disposal./ppThe emergencies ministry said about 30 people had sought medical help and 11 of them were taken to hospital, while more than 6,000 people were evacuated from the village of Nagorny. More than 600 emergency workers were trying to put out the fire, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website./ppThe Interfax news agency said the shells at the Chapaevsk base had a range of less than half a mile./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia"Russia/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7c1fe3/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fexplosions-russian-fire-military-depott=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+ammunition+depot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fexplosions-russian-fire-military-depott=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+ammunition+depot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fexplosions-russian-fire-military-depott=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+ammunition+depot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fexplosions-russian-fire-military-depott=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+ammunition+depot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fexplosions-russian-fire-military-depott=Explosions+rock+Russian+village+after+fire+at+ammunition+depot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665225839/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c1fe3/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665225839/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c1fe3/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665225839/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7c1fe3/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/uynCn-oNiII" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/70450?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Abrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramble%3A1924424ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Brazil+%28News%29%2CProtest+%28News%29%2CAmericas+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=2013%2F06%2F19+05%3A26c8=1924424c9=Articlec10=News%2CAnalysisc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=AUSc65=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protestsc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FBrazil" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Politicians warned of being 'on wrong side of history' as anger swells about state of nation and World Cup extravagance/ppAs demonstrations continued in Brazil for another night, President Dilma Rousseff attempted to co-ordinate a government response among senior officials who have been stunned by the scale of protests./ppKeeping the pressure on the authorities, an estimated 50,000 people flooded Cathedral Square and other main streets in São Paulo for the second night running and rallies were reported in two other cities./ppThis followed Monday night's demonstrations in at least a dozen cities, which drew a quarter of a million people on to the streets. /ppInitially driven by opposition to a bus price hike, the marches have a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/brazil-protests-authorities-back-foot"rapidly swollen to incorporate a range of grievances/a, including police brutality, inequality, corruption, dire public services and the extravagent preparations for next year's World Cup./ppFaced by the biggest show of public frustration in more than 20 years, officials are struggling to grasp what is happening./pp"It would be pretentious to say we understand what's going on," Gilberto Carvalho, Rousseff's secretary general, told a congressional hearing. "If we are not sensitive we'll be caught on the wrong side of history."/ppAfter bloody clashes on the streets last week, when police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators and journalists, Rousseff moved on Tuesday to placate the protestors. /pp"The voices of the street want more citizenship, health, transport, opportunities," said the president, who cut her political teeth in the 1960s as a Marxist guerrilla opposed to the military dictatorship. "My government wants to broaden access to education and health, understands that the demands of the people change." /ppRousseff – who faces re-election next year – also convened a series of high-level meetings on Tuesday with her predecessor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and regional governors from São Paulo, RIo de Janeiro and Rio Grade de Sul. /ppAccording to the domestic media, she particularly praised the restraint of the police in São Paulo during Monday night's demonstrations – which was in marked contrast to the violence of their response the previous week. She is also reportedly pushing for a reduction of bus fares./ppBut with more protests planned in the coming days regional leaders are nervous. The governor of Minas Gerais, Antonio Anastasia, has asked the state to provide personnel from the National Force to strengthen public security in the face of the unrest. The government has agreed to dispatch 150 personnel, according to the Folha de São Paulo website./ppLucio Flavio Rodrigues de Almeida, a sociology professor at the Catholic University of São Paulo, said the authorities had so far responded only with repressive actions against protests that had morphed in character and size and were being organised by an amorphous social network rather than political parties./pp"The strong repression, especially in São Paulo, increased the strength and sympathy for a protest movement that has successfully compared the spending on infrastructure for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup with small investments in public transportation," he said./ppThe vast majority of the protesters have been peaceful and many reported feeling elated at the mass and spontaneous movement to shake the government into action. On Tuesday marchers bore banners that called for reform, exclaimed "Dilma Out" and demanded an end of corruption./ppOne group attempted to break into the city hall, prompting police to use pepper spray to block their passage. Other demonstrators formed a human chain to hold back the attackers, chanting: "No violence!"/ppTelevision coverage of the protests – the sixth in São Paulo – showed a shop being looted and fires burning in the city centre. A TV van was overturned and set on fire and public transport was temporarily disrupted when protesters occupied and damaged a station control room and threw stones at a train./ppPolice said four people had been arrested in connection to the thefts of merchandise. It stressed that these were "isolated incidents caused by a small minority"./ppCrowds also gathered on Tuesday in Florianópolis, the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Sao Goncalo, and in Maringá, in northern Paraná state. Solidarity protests have been staged in several European countries including Britain, Portugal, Spain and Denmark./ppBrazilian football players taking part in the Confederations Cup expressed support for the demonstrations. The Chelsea defender David Luiz said it was natural for people to express their opinion, while the midfielder Givanildo Vieira de Souza, known as Hulk, said the protesters were trying to improve things in the country./pp"I come from the bottom of the social ladder and now I have a good life. I see these demonstrators and I know that they are right," Hulk told a press conference in Fortaleza. "We know that Brazil needs to improve in many areas and must let the demonstrators express themselves."/ppBigger demonstrations are planned for Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and a wider number of municipalities than anything seen so far./ppemAdditional reporting by Marcela Bial. The Associated Press contributed to this report./em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/brazil"Brazil/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest"Protest/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/americas"Americas/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7a77b9/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramblet=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protests" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramblet=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protests" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramblet=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protests" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramblet=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protests" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Fbrazil-protests-continue-authorities-scramblet=Brazilian+politicians+struggle+with+how+to+respond+to+another+night+of+protests" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665313968/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7a77b9/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665313968/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7a77b9/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665313968/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7a77b9/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/70OIZBU-0CQ" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/63398?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Atyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentences%3A1924379ch=Businessc3=Guardianc4=Banking+reform+%28Business%29%2CGeorge+Osborne%2CBonuses+executive+pay+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CBanking+%28Business+sector%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies+%28UK+consumer%29%2CPolitics%2CRegulators%2CUK+news%2CMoneyc5=Personal+Finance%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CBudget%2CInvestments+%26+Savingsc6=Jill+Treanorc7=2013%2F06%2F19+12%3A01c8=1924379c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27c66=Businessc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FBusiness%2FBanking+reform" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Commission led by Andrew Tyrie recommends jailing reckless bankers for and enforcing a wait for bonuses/ppGeorge Osborne is facing pressure to radically overhaul Britain's banks by introducing a new law to jail bankers for "reckless misconduct" and force bankers to wait up to 10 years to receive their bonuses./ppThe proposals, among the key measures recommended in a a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/professional-standards-in-the-banking-industry/news/changing-banking-for-good-report/"major report by the parliamentary commission on banking standards/a, also include a call on him to consider breaking up the Royal Bank of Scotland. They come ahead of the chancellor's crucial set-piece Mansion House speech to the City on Wednesday night./ppThe chancellor is urged to restore confidence in the financial system by making top bankers more accountable for their actions in the wake of the 2008 bank bailouts, the Libor rigging scandal, and the shoddy treatment of customers mis-sold payment protection insurance./ppThe senior Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, who led the commission, said the 80 or so recommendations were intended to "change banking for good". They also include giving regulators new powers to halt bonus payouts and pensions for bosses of any banks that have to be bailed out by the taxpayer in the future./pp"It is not just bankers that need to change. The actions of regulators and governments have contributed to the decline in standards," Tyrie added./ppSet up in the wake of Barclays' £290m fine for rigging Libor a year ago and counting former chancellor Lord Lawson and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby among its members, the commission also uses its 550-page report to call for:/pp• A revamp of the way bankers are authorised to work in the City and to make top bankers more accountable after so few of them were sanctioned following the 2008 banking crisis./pp• An audit of the number of women on trading floors, on the grounds that employing more female traders could reduce risk./pp• New measures to foster high street competition, including an investigation into whether bank accounts numbers can be made portable in the same way as mobile phone numbers./pp• Giving everyone a right to a simple bank account./pp• And an overhaul of the "court" of the Bank of England, giving it a new board of directors./ppThe Treasury is ready to make amendments to the finance bill to adopt the recommendations. It consulted last year on the possibility of criminal sanctions for directors of failed banks but has yet to publish its conclusions./ppIn the past, the commission's report said, top bankers had "donned blindfolds" as they knew they could not be punished for wrongdoings they could not see. When they could "not claim ignorance, they fell back on the claim that everyone was party to a decision ... the Orient Express defence"./ppThe report, which will be supplemented today by seven more hefty volumes, reopens the debate about the future of 81% taxpayer-owned RBS by calling on Osborne to review, by September, whether it should be broken up into a good and bad bank. Tyrie warned the government it may need to be "bold" on the future of RBS and consider the merits of all options to break it up and sell it off, including splitting it into a number of smaller banks in order to boost competition on the high street./pp"The current state of RBS creates problems for banking competition and for the British economy. Further restructuring may well be needed. The government may need to be bold," Tyrie said./pp"Political considerations must be put to one side," and parliament needed to be told of any "insuperable" obstacles to a break up./ppOsborne is expected to use his Mansion House speech today to signal a sell off the government's 39% stake in Lloyds Banking Group but he is not thought likely to endorse the idea by the cross-party commission to shut down UK Financial Investments, the body set up to look up after the taxpayers' stakes in the bailed-out banks./ppThe commission described UKFI as a "fig leaf" to hide political interference by the chancellor, who yesterday insisted he had not personally forced Stephen Hester to resign as boss of RBS last week to clear the way for the bank's privatisation./ppThe commission, though, said the government had interfered in the running of both bailed-out banks. "On occasions it has done so directly, on others it appears to have acted indirectly, using UKFI as its proxy," the report said./ppOsborne is also facing pressure from business secretary Vince Cable to back away from any quick sale of RBS while Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, is telling him to "resist the temptation for a loss-making fire sale". Balls said: "The government must look at the whole range of options for the future of RBS to ensure the taxpayer gets its money back and there is no return to business as usual."/ppThe report does not recommend a full-blown competition investigation into the banking industry, which is dominated by the big four of RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC – an option that Cable is thought to regard as important./ppPat McFadden, a Labour MP who sat on the commission, said: "Our report is aboutnbsp;tackling the cultural and standards failings in banks. From running unacceptable risks with other people's money to PPI mis-selling, money laundering and Libor interest rate rigging, these failings have been a betrayal of the taxpayers who bailed out the banks and the majority of good honest people who work in the industry."/ppA Treasury spokesman described the report as "very impressive", saying: "The government publicly welcomes the commission's recommendations on increased personal responsibility especially at a senior level, increased professional judgment by regulators and better functioning markets. We will report before the summer recess."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking-reform"Banking reform/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/georgeosborne"George Osborne/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/executive-pay-bonuses"Executive pay and bonuses/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking"Banking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks"Banks and building societies/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/regulators"Regulators/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jilltreanor"Jill Treanor/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d78db44/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Ftyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentencest=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Ftyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentencest=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Ftyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentencest=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Ftyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentencest=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Ftyrie-report-banking-reform-jail-sentencest=Banking+commission%3A+Bankers+should+be+jailed+for+%27reckless+misconduct%27" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665676617/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d78db44/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665676617/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d78db44/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665676617/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d78db44/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/E-fEjME8S_E" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/24742?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aus-peace-talks-taliban-afghanistan%3A1924138ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Taliban%2CAfghanistan+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CHamid+Karzai+%28News%29%2CUS+military+%28News%29%2CObama+administrationc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Elections%2CUSA+HSBCc6=Emma+Graham-Harrison%2CSpencer+Ackerman%2CDan+Robertsc7=2013%2F06%2F18+03%3A18c8=1924138c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=USc65=Taliban+peace+talks%3A+%27Peace+and+reconciliation%27+negotiations+to+take+place+in+Qatarc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FTaliban" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"'Peace and reconciliation' milestone comes after US drops request for formal rejection of al-Qaida as precondition to talks/ppThe US is to open direct talks with Taliban leaders within days, it was revealed on Tuesday, after Washington agreed to drop a series of preconditions that have previously held back negotiations over the future of Afghanistan./ppIn a major milestone in the 12-year-old war, political representatives of the Taliban will shortly meet Afghan and US officials in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to discuss an agenda for what US officials called "peace and reconciliation" before further talks take place with Afghan government representatives soon after./ppThe move came on the day that Nato forces handed official control of nationwide security to Afghan troops. Less than 12 hours later the US confirmed that four US personnel died at Bagram air base near Kabul, in what was thought to be a mortar attack. The Taliban claimed responsibility./ppEarlier the Taliban, in a statement announcing their plans for peace talks and an office in Qatar, said they would not allow anyone to threaten or harm other countries from Afghan soil – a move senior US administration officials described as an important first step to the Taliban severing ties with al-Qaida./ppThe US has agreed that a formal rejection of al-Qaida by the Taliban leadership would now be a "negotiating aim" rather than a precondition for talks. It will also seek a commitment from the Taliban to end its insurgency in Afghanistan and recognise women's rights in the country./pp"This is an important first step but it will be a long road," said one senior US official. "We have long said this conflict won't be won on the battlefield, which is why we support the opening of this [Doha] office."/ppWhite House officials say they believe the Taliban delegation at the talks represents the movement's leadership, and includes more radical groups such as the Haqqani network. Officials said the US would have a direct role in the talks starting starting this week in Doha, but the substantive negotiations over the future of Afghanistan would then be led by the Afghan government./ppSpeaking later, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, said: "The United States will be supporting a process that is fundamentally Afghan-led … We can play a role in talking to the Taliban as well in supporting that peace process – and because we have issues of our own to bring up with them."/ppA Taliban spokesman said the group was opening the Doha office to "reach understanding and initiate talks with countries of the world for the purpose of improving relations with them", and to support a peaceful, political solution to end the "occupation of Afghanistan"./ppThe proposal for a Doha office has been on the table since 2011, and several senior Taliban figures have been living in Qatar for many months now, but the group had not publicly embraced plans for peace talks./ppIn Kabul, Afghan president Hamid Karzai said he hoped the opening of the Taliban office would bring the start of talks between the High Peace Council he set up to lead government negotiation efforts, and the insurgents./ppHowever the Afghan leader, who has long been lukewarm about efforts to set up a Taliban base in Qatar, also called for any negotiations to move back to Afghanistan as soon as possible. "We hope that our brothers the Taliban also understand that the process will move to our country soon," he told a news conference in Kabul, although US officials stressed that moving talks to Afghanistan would take time./ppKarzai also announced that Nato forces had handed official control of nationwide security to Afghan troops on Tuesday. Foreign soldiers will still be fighting on the ground and supporting Afghans with air power, medical evacuation and other key capacities until the end of next year./ppBarack Obama is understood to have informed G8 leaders of the breakthrough at a dinner at the Northern Ireland summit on Monday night./ppThe deal on talks with the Taliban was partly brokered by Pakistan and the emir of Qatar after "months of diplomatic spadework" also involving Germany, Norway and the UK. In 2011, Hillary Clinton suggested that Taliban leaders would have to renounce violence for a peace process to work./pp"Over the past two years, we have laid out our unambiguous red lines for reconciliation with the insurgents: they must renounce violence; they must abandon their alliance with al-Qaida; and they must abide by the constitution of Afghanistan," she said. "Those are necessary outcomes of any negotiation. This is the price for reaching a political resolution and bringing an end to the military actions that are targeting their leadership and decimating their ranks."/ppBut on Tuesday, that position appeared to have soften somewhat. "We don't expect them to break ties with al-Qaida [immediately]," said one of the US officials speaking on an off-the-record conference call. "That is an outcome of the process." He said the expected Taliban statement opposing the use of Afghan soil for foreign attacks was "a first step in distancing them from international terrorism"./ppThe Taliban also appeared to have softened on their long-term demand that foreign troops leave before talks can start. Karzai, despite his misgivings about overseas talks and initial opposition to the Qatar office visited the Gulf state twice this year, apparently paving the way for Tuesday's breakthrough./ppAfghan president Hamid Karzai, who has always said he would prefer talks to take place in Afghanistan, was initially lukewarm about the Qatar plans, but has visited the state twice this year, apparently paving the way for today's breakthrough./ppemAdditional reporting by Mokhtar Amiri in Kabul and Spencer Ackerman in Washingtonbr //em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/taliban"Taliban/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/afghanistan"Afghanistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hamid-karzai"Hamid Karzai/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-military"US military/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-administration"Obama administration/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/emma-graham-harrison"Emma Graham-Harrison/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/spencerackerman"Spencer Ackerman/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dan-roberts"Dan Roberts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/63921?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Amichael-hastings-runaway-general-dies%3A1924412ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=US+news%2CStanley+McChrystal%2CUS+military+%28News%29%2CObama+administration%2CMediac5=Not+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CUS+Electionsc6=Staff+and+agenciesc7=2013%2F06%2F19+03%3A51c8=1924412c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=AUSc65=Michael+Hastings%2C+The+Runaway+General+journalist%2C+dies+in+car+crashc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FUnited+States" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Report by Rolling Stone reporter brought down Stanley McChrystal, who was the top US general in Afghanistan/ppThe award-winning journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings – who wrote a Rolling Stone story that brought down a top US general – has died in a car accident in Los Angeles./ppHastings won a Polk award for magazine reporting for his Rolling Stone cover report The Runaway General. The story was credited with ending General Stanley McChrystal's career after it revealed the military leader's candid criticisms of the Obama administration. Hastings also wrote for BuzzFeed./ppRolling Stone ran a report late on Tuesday confirming Hastings had died in a car crash that morning and praising him as a "fearless journalist". /ppMcChrystal was the top US general in Afghanistan when Hastings documented the general making remarks like: "Are you asking about Vice-President Biden? Who's that?" and, along with his aides, a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-runaway-general-20100622"criticising the Obama administration's handling of the war/a and their civilian commanders in the White House./ppBarack Obama, announcing McChrystal's removal in light of the story, said: "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be met by – set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system."/ppRolling Stone said that in all his work Hastings had a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michael-hastings-rolling-stone-contributor-dead-at-33-20130618"refused to "cosy up to power"/a./pp"While other embedded reporters were charmed by McChrystal's bad-boy bravado and might have excused his insubordination as a joke, Hastings was determined to expose the recklessness of a man leading what Hastings believed to be a reckless war."/ppMatt Farwell, who worked with Hastings on some of his recent pieces, told Rolling Stone:  "As a journalist he specialised in speaking truth to power and laying it all out there. He was irascible in his reporting and sometimes/often/always infuriating in his writing: he lit a bright lamp for those who wanted to follow his example … He always sought out the hard stories, pushed for the truth, let it all hang out on the page."/ppHastings is survived by his wife, the writer Elise Jordan./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/stanley-mcchrystal"Stanley McChrystal/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-military"US military/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-administration"Obama administration/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/45869?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Arepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortion%3A1924410ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Abortion+%28News%29%2CUS+politics%2CRepublicans+%28US%29%2CUS+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Dan+Robertsc7=2013%2F06%2F19+02%3A31c8=1924410c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=AUSc65=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortionsc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FAbortion" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Act would jail doctors for up to five years for abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy but is unlikely to become law/ppThe US House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday night that would jail doctors for up to five years if they performed an abortion on a woman after 20 weeks of pregnancy./ppAlthough the White House has promised to veto the legislation in the unlikely event it passes the Senate and campaigners argue it would be unconstitutional anyway, the symbolic vote served as a reminder of the strength of anti-abortion sentiment among Republicans./ppMany political strategists had thought the party would focus less on abortion in future after performing badly among women voters in the 2012 presidential election, but the House Republican leadership backed the bill, which sought to capitalise on national outrage at the recent conviction of a Pennsylvania doctor for murdering live-born babies./ppIn a vote largely along party lines, 228 voted for the so-called Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and 196 voted against. Six Democrats and six Republicans voted across party lines. The bill's title reflects disputed medical claims that a foetus in the second trimester of pregnancy is capable of feeling pain./pp"After 20 weeks the unborn child reacts to stimuli that would be recognised as painful if applied to an adult human, for example, by recoiling," said the a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr1797rh/pdf/BILLS-113hr1797rh.pdf"text of the bill/a [PDF]./ppPro-choice campaigners argue that not only is this claim misleading but that such legislation would violate supreme court rulings that abortion rights are protected under the US constitution./ppIn comments that attracted ridicule on Monday, the Texan Republican Michael Burgess defended the bill by appearing to suggest that foetuses masturbate. "Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby and they have movements that are purposeful," he said. "They stroke their face. If they're a male baby they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure why is it so hard to think that they could feel pain?"/ppThe House Speaker, John Boehner, rejected suggestions the symbolic bill would damage Republican attempts to broaden their reach among women. "Listen, after this Kermit Gosnell trial [in Pennsylvania] and some of the horrific acts that were going on, the vast majority of the American people believe in the substance of this bill and so do I," he said./ppThe bill would ban abortion from being performed "if the probable post-fertilisation age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater, except where necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury"./ppAnyone violating the act would be subject to a fine or imprisonment for up to five years./ppRepublicans added a late amendment that would also exempt women who had been raped despite claiming such cases were rare./ppOn Monday the White House said it would oppose the legislation first proposed by the Arizona Republican Trent Franks which it said would "unacceptably restrict women's health and reproductive rights and is an a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/113/saphr1797r_20130617.pdf"assault on a woman's right to choose/a [PDF]"./pp"This bill is a direct challenge to Roe vs Wade and shows contempt for women's health and rights, the role doctors play in their patients' health care decisions and the constitution," added the administration. "If the president were presented with this legislation his senior advisors would recommend that he veto this bill."/ppNonetheless abortion rights are under growing attack among state legislatures across the US and the passage of the bill is likely to embolden anti-abortion campaigners and reignite one of the most controversial flashpoints in US politics./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/abortion"Abortion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/republicans"Republicans/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dan-roberts"Dan Roberts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7b568a/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortiont=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortions" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortiont=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortions" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortiont=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortions" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortiont=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortions" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F19%2Frepublicans-pass-bill-criminalise-abortiont=House+Republicans+pass+bill+to+criminalise+some+abortions" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/5_j1HvWn8pM" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/38242?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Atraffic-light-health-labels-food%3A1924351ch=Societyc3=Guardianc4=Health+%28Society%29%2CFood+and+drink+industry+%28Business+sector%29%2CSupermarkets+%28business%29%2CRetail+industry+%28Business+sector%29%2CBusiness%2CSociety%2CHealth+policy%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2CPolitics%2CBritish+food+and+drink%2CLife+and+style%2CUK+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CHealth+Societyc6=Denis+Campbellc7=2013%2F06%2F19+12%3A00c8=1924351c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Food+packaging+%27traffic+lights%27+to+signal+healthy+choices+on+salt%2C+fat+and+sugarc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FSociety%2FHealth" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Supermarkets and some food producers agree to nutritional labels but critics call for refuseniks 'to be named and shamed'/ppstrong /strong/ppTraffic light-coded food labels indicating how much fat, salt and sugar an item contains are to appear on most food that is eaten in Britain in a move hailed by health campaigners as ending shoppers' confusion over what to buy./ppAll the main a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/mar/10/health.food1" title=""supermarket chains and some of the biggest producers of snack foods, such as PepsiCo and Nestlé, have agreed with ministers to use front-of-pack nutritional labels/a coloured red, amber or green on some or all of their products in an effort to make it easier for consumers to choose healthier options./ppThe traffic-light labels, which many food campaigners and medical organisations have long called for, will be part of a new hybrid nutritional labelling scheme that combines them with guideline daily amounts (GDAs), which senior doctors have criticised as deceptive and utterly baffling to most consumers./ppThe new labels are intended to help shoppers know at a glance whether a product contains a low, medium or high amount of fat, saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories. Big supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks Spencer, Waitrose and the Co-op, will start using them "imminently", though some may take "a few months to rebrand their packaging", the Department of Health said./pp"People will be able to use the colours to understand the level of nutrients in the food they are eating. The labels are not designed to demonise foods with lots of reds but to have people consider what they are eating and make sure it's part of a balanced diet./pp"Businesses that have signed up to using the new label today already account for more than 60% of the food that is sold in the UK," a spokesman added./ppThe move follows research that found consumers are confused when more than one scheme is used, reducing their ability and inclination to use the information./ppHealth problems associated with being overweight or obese cost the NHS more than £5bn a year. A 2011 report found that 61% of the adult population in England is overweight or obese – higher than almost all other developed countries. It also found one third of 10- to 11-year-olds and almost a quarter of four- to five-year-olds are overweight or obese./ppMars UK, McCain Foods and Bernard Matthews are also among the food producers to have signed up to the scheme, though the multinationals Coca-Cola, Cadbury and United Biscuits have refused. Coca-Cola's decision has surprised some food campaigners, given its recent high-profile campaign intended to reinforce its pledge that "we want to be part of the solution" to the growing global obesity epidemic./ppThe widespread adoption of the hybrid labels represents a significant change because, until now, only a few supermarkets – including MS, Waitrose and Sainsbury's – have used traffic lights. The Co-op began using them in 2006 before changing in 2011 to labels that incorporated both them and GDAs. McCain Foods is the only major producer to already use colour coding to help guide consumers' choices./ppGDAs, which supermarkets such as Tesco have always used, purport to tell consumers what proportion of their recommended daily allowance of fat, salt or sugar the product contains, according to official government advice about the maximum amount of each that is good for health./ppBut they have come under fire for misleading shoppers by only giving the GDAs for one biscuit in a packet or one serving of a tin of soup, for example, rather than the entire product thus potentially letting shoppers underestimate what is in them./ppThe public health minister, Anna Soubry, said shoppers were confused by existing food labels: "Research shows that, of all the current schemes, people like this [hybrid] label the most and can use the information to make healthier choices." More manufacturers should adopt the labels, she said./ppThe consumer group Which? welcomed a "big step forward" and the British Heart Foundation said the "first-class scheme … will make it easier for shoppers to scan the shelves and make more informed choices about what's going in their trolley"./ppBut Diane Abbott, shadow public health minister, and the Children's Food Campaign (CFC), an alliance of health, education and children's groups, called on ministers to "name and shame" firms that shunned the scheme./pp"It isn't tenable for any food company, which claims to be socially responsible, to refuse to adopt the scheme," said Charlie Powell, CFC director../pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/health"Health/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/fooddrinks"Food drink industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/supermarkets"Supermarkets/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/retail"Retail industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/health"Health policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy"Public services policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/british-food-and-drink"British food and drink/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/deniscampbell"Denis Campbell/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/44627?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Arupert-murdoch-split-empire-news-corp%3A1924369ch=Mediac3=Guardianc4=Rupert+Murdoch+%28Media%29%2CNews+Corporation+%28Media%29%2CMedia%2C20th+Century+Fox%2CWall+Street+Journal+%28Media%29%2CThe+Times+%28Media%29%2CPublishing+%28Books%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Press+Media%2CUnclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weeklyc6=Dominic+Rushec7=2013%2F06%2F18+10%3A02c8=1924369c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=USc65=Rupert+Murdoch+splits+empire+but+keeps+faith+in+tomorrow%27s+newspapersc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FMedia%2FRupert+Murdoch" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Mogul to hive off entertainment and publishing assets but believes newspaper businesses will emerge stronger than ever/ppRupert Murdoch's News Corporation will be split in half on Wednesday as the mogul hopes to build two new empires out of his vast portfolio of assets. It is likely to prove the octogenarian's final major corporate move, and once again he is betting he has seen an opportunity others have missed./ppThe profitable entertainment assets – including the 20th Century Fox movie studio and the Fox broadcast network in the US – will form 21st Century Fox./ppThe company's publishing assets, including HarperCollins and its troubled newspaper division, will trade under the old News Corp name./ppShareholders have long pressed for a split, disenchanted with the returns from publishing, particularly newspapers, as the shift to digital readership eats into profits. Murdoch resisted but caved in after the phone-hacking scandal shook his company to its foundations, leading to the arrest of senior executives and the closure of the News of the World./ppNow he argues that the future for newspapers is bright. The collapse of print advertising, he believes, is a bump on the road to a digital future from which his assets, including Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal and the Times newspapers, will emerge stronger than ever./ppTechnically, both companies will be listed on New York's Nasdaq stock market, but shares will not start trading properly until 1 July, when Murdoch's decision will face its true test./ppAnalysts and shareholders are overwhelmingly in support of the split because it delivers a standalone 21st Century Fox, home to The Simpsons, Avatar and the X-Men film franchise. In the quarter ended 31 March, News Corp reported operating income of $1.36bn (£871m), nearly all of it from 21st Century Fox assets./ppCable television generated $993m in operating income, up 17% on the same period a year earlier. Filmed entertainment pulled in operating income of $289m thanks to films including Life of Pi and Ice Age: Continental Drift. Broadcast TV suffered as American Idol's ratings collapsed but operating income of $196m represented a 14.6% rise on the same period last year./ppIn publishing, the tale of woe continued. Operating income collapsed nearly 35% to $85m (£54m) and News Corp spent another $42m dealing with the ongoing legacy of the hacking scandal. That bill is only likely to increase as the company works to settle a US justice department investigation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The new News Corp will start with $2.6bn in cash but the expected FCPA fine will wipe out a substantial portion of that./pp"Rupert has a very bullish view of newspapers. He says he's ready to do it all again," said Rich Greenfield, analyst at BTIG. "He's got a lot to prove."/ppOther analysts predicted a sharp selloff for the new News Corp when shares start trading. "It's the bit no one wants anyway, and it faces considerable legal uncertainty in an industry in secular decline," said one. Rival newspaper groups such as the New York Times have been slimming down their assets./ppOthers such as Gannett have been diversifying away from publishing by buying other media assets. News Corp is making a bold bet that it can go it alone as a dedicated publishing company./ppNot all analysts are negative. In a note to investors, Bernstein's Todd Juenger was "bullish" about the near-term. Murdoch had struck an "unsurprisingly optimistic tone, declaring that 'knowledge is the most valuable commodity in the world'". He noted that Robert Thomson, the spin-off company's chief executive officer, had promised a "permanent start-up mentality" and saw "opportunity everywhere"./ppBut Juenger was most struck by the interest in the split from investors and analysts at a presentation in New York. "Standing room only in a huge ballroom. It was a clear sign many investors are seriously considering holding (or adding to) their New News shares," he wrote./ppWhatever happens, from today Murdoch is back to his roots as the chairman of a business he loves, and gambling – perhaps for the last time – that his vision can beat the naysayers./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/rupert-murdoch"Rupert Murdoch/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/news-corporation"News Corporation/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/20th-century-fox"20th Century Fox/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/wallstreetjournal"Wall Street Journal/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/thetimes"The Times/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/publishing"Publishing/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/dominic-rushe"Dominic Rushe/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/77596?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aputin-assad-power-vacuum-syria%3A1924363ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=G8+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CSyria+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CVladimir+Putin%2CDavid+Cameron%2CPolitics%2CBashar+al-Assadc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Patrick+Wintourc7=2013%2F06%2F18+09%3A22c8=1924363c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoidedc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FG8" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"British hopeful that peace talks to end civil war can go ahead, but divided Syrian opposition remains a big stumbling block/ppstrong /strong/ppThe Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is willing to see the removal of the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, but only if it leads to a balanced government and not a dangerous power vacuum of the kind that followed Saddam Hussein's removal in Iraq, British officials believe after two days of intensive talks at the G8 summit./ppPutin blocked any reference in the subsequent communique to the removal of Assad, but British officials believe the talks have opened the way for a peace settlement if more can be done to organise the Syrian opposition forces politically and militarily./ppTalks over the terms of the communique lasted until 3am. The Russians accepted the need for UN weapons inspectors to visit Syria to check on western claims that Assad has used a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/14/us-evidence-syria-chemical-weapons" title=""chemical weapons/a./ppBut Putin flatly refused to have any reference in the communiqué to the nature of delegations that should be sent to the planned Geneva peace conference, insisting that this was a matter for both sides./ppBritish officials insisted that in private Putin had declared no personal allegiance to Assad, but needed assurances that Syria would not turn into an ungoverned space on Russia's borders if he were removed. David Cameron in his press conference at the end of the summit made repeated calls for Assad's allies to realise that a strong army and security state would be preserved during a transition, words designed to reassure them that they would have a future after Assad./ppBritish officials admitted that the Syrian opposition was still a work in progress. They had been unable to agree a negotiating mandate for a new peace conference./ppThe G8 communique made no reference to Assad, but called for peace talks to be resumed as soon as possible. Cameron said the main breakthrough was an agreement that a transitional government with executive powers was needed, together with a deal to call for an investigation into chemical weapons use. "We remain committed to achieving a political solution to the crisis based on a vision for a united, inclusive and democratic Syria," the final communique read. "We strongly endorse the decision to hold as soon as possible the Geneva conference on Syria."/ppPutin struck a defiant tone in public, telling the west that sending weapons to rebels could backfire one day, while he defended his own military contacts with the Syrian government./pp"There are different types of supplies. We supply weapons based on legal contracts to a legal government … And if we sign these contracts [in the future], we will supply [more arms]."/ppIn the final document, G8 leaders also called on the Syrian authorities and the opposition to commit to destroying all organisations affiliated with a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/al-qaida" title=""al-Qaida/a, a reflection of growing concern in the west that Islamist militants are playing a more dominant role in the rebel ranks./ppCameron, who chaired the summit, said separately after the talks that the west believed strongly that there was no place for Assad in a future Syria. "It is unthinkable that President Assad can play any part in the future of his country. He has blood on his hands. You can't imagine a Syria where this man continues to rule having done such awful things to his people."/ppHe appealed to Assad's acolytes to abandon the president, insisting the need for the retention of a strong security force showed they would have a future role in Syria. He said the aim was "to learn the lessons of Iraq by ensuring the key institutions of the state are maintained through the transition and there is no vacuum. To those who have been loyal to Assad but who know he has to go and who want stability in their country, they should take note of this point."/ppIn the house of Commons, John Bercow, the speaker, said it would be "undemocratic and inappropriate" if the government declined to hold a full parliamentary vote if ministers decide to arm the Syrian opposition. The speaker issued his warning after William Hague told MPs that the government would consult parliament but declined to explain the nature of the vote./ppBercow told the former Labour minister Peter Hain, who raised the matter on a point of order: "I have the sense that the government are hinting that they would not dream of executing a policy decision of the kind that is being considered without first seeking a debate in the house and a vote on a substantive motion. That would obviously be the democratic course. I think it is the democratic course on a substantive motion that the government have in mind. I am not sure that there was any other idea ever in their mind, but I feel sure that if it was in their mind, it was speedily expunged as undemocratic and inappropriate."/ppRussia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, speaking on the sidelines, said earlier that any debate about Assad's role in the resolution of the conflict was unthinkable, adding he would not tolerate an outcome that led to Assad's capitulation. "This would be not just unacceptable for the Russian side, but we are convinced that it would be utterly wrong, harmful and would completely upset the political balance," Ryabkov said./ppIn a further development, the French president, François Hollande, opened the door to Iran attending a Syria peace conference, but reiterated that there was no future for Assad./ppParis had previously ruled out Iran taking part in the proposed conference, saying Tehran had no desire for peace, but a new Iranian president, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/15/iran-presidential-election-hassan-rouhani-wins" title=""Hassan Rouhani/a, was elected on Friday./pp"There will no future for Syria with Assad. The Russians are not yet ready to say or write it, but when we speak of transition ... it's difficult to see how he (Assad) could be responsible for it," Hollande said.British officials said they did not rule out Iran attending talks, but needed to know more about the new president and what he would do about the Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces in Syria./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/g8"G8/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria"Syria/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/vladimir-putin"Vladimir Putin/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron"David Cameron/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/bashar-al-assad"Bashar al-Assad/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickwintour"Patrick Wintour/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d780c49/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fputin-assad-power-vacuum-syriat=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoided" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fputin-assad-power-vacuum-syriat=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoided" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fputin-assad-power-vacuum-syriat=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoided" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fputin-assad-power-vacuum-syriat=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoided" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fputin-assad-power-vacuum-syriat=Vladimir+Putin+may+allow+Assad+to+go+if+power+vacuum+in+Syria+is+avoided" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665211546/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d780c49/kg/342-363-391/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665211546/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d780c49/kg/342-363-391/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665211546/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d780c49/kg/342-363-391/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/C2Sn9BbndSo" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/33006?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Ajulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassy%3A1924362ch=Mediac3=Guardianc4=Julian+Assange+%28Media%29%2CMedia%2CEcuador+%28News%29%2CAmericas+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CUS+embassy+cables%2CUS+news%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CUS+national+security+defence+defense%2CWikiLeaks%2CSwedenc5=Unclassified%2CDigital+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Esther+Addleyc7=2013%2F06%2F18+09%3A16c8=1924362c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bidc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FMedia%2FJulian+Assange" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"WikiLeaks founder fears moves are under way by the US to prosecute him on espionage charges over cable releases/ppJulian Assange will not leave Ecuador's embassy even if Sweden drops its extradition bid over accusations of sexual assault, because he fears moves are already underway by the US to prosecute him on espionage charges, he has said./ppOn the eve of the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/17/julian-assange-five-more-years-ecuador" title=""anniversary of his seeking asylum in the embassy /ain Knightsbridge, Assange said he believed a sealed indictment had already been lodged by a grand jury in Virginia, which could see him being arrested and extradited by Britain to the US to face prosecution over the WikiLeaks cable releases./pp"The strong view of my US lawyer is that there is already a sealed indictment, which means I would be arrested, unless the British government gave information or guarantees that would grant me safe passage," the WikiLeaks founder told a small group of news agencies./pp"We know there is an ongoing investigation in the US and we know I am a target of the federal grand jury. There is a 99.97% chance that I will be indicted. So if the Swedish government drops their request [to go to Sweden] tomorrow, I still cannot leave the embassy. My lawyers have advised me I should not leave the embassy because of the risk of arrest and extradition to the US."/ppThe foreign secretary, William Hague, and his Ecuadorean opposite number, Ricardo Patiño, met on Monday to discuss the ongoing diplomatic stalemate, but were unable to reach agreement. Ecuador argues that having been granted political asylum, Assange should be allowed to board a plane to Quito unimpeded but the British authorities have insisted they will not let him leave without acting on the Swedish warrant. The two countries agreed to set up a legal working group in an attempt to arrive at a solution to the impasse./ppAsked if he regretted seeking asylum because of the resulting stalemate, Assange said: "Strategically, it has been exactly what I hoped for."/ppLiving and working from a small room in the embassy was less stressful than the 600 days he spent on bail wearing an electronic tag, Assange said, although he admitted that it took "diligence" to stay healthy with limited access to natural light. "You can get rickets by not having any sunlight – it is not healthy to be in this position."/ppBut he shrugged off reports that he had been ill during his time in the embassy, describing health stories about a chest condition as "lung-gate". Assange said that when he sought asylum he had believed he would be in the embassy for between six months and two years, a timescale he still considered realistic./pp"My case could be swiftly resolved if Sweden were to guarantee that I would not be extradited to the US or if the British government would guarantee to veto any such extradition to the US," he said./pp"While I remain hopeful that a diplomatic solution can be reached, or that the Swedish and US authorities will cease their pursuit of me, it remains the case that it is highly unlikely that Sweden or the UK will ever publicly say no to the US in this matter."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/julian-assange"Julian Assange/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/ecuador"Ecuador/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/americas"Americas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables"The US embassy cables/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-national-security"US national security/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/wikileaks"WikiLeaks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/sweden"Sweden/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/estheraddley"Esther Addley/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d77d9d0/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmedia%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fjulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassyt=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bid" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmedia%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fjulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassyt=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bid" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmedia%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fjulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassyt=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bid" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmedia%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fjulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassyt=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bid" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fmedia%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fjulian-assange-will-not-leave-embassyt=Assange+will+not+leave+Ecuador+embassy+even+if+Sweden+drops+extradition+bid" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/I_TcklwSEnw" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/29990?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Aundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulation%3A1924339ch=UK+newsc3=Guardianc4=Police+and+policing%2CDamian+Green%2CMark+Kennedy+%28news%29c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Rob+Evans%2CPaul+Lewisc7=2013%2F06%2F18+08%3A31c8=1924339c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandalc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FPolice" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"New approval procedures for using spies will be required under legislation announced by minister for policing/ppMinisters have announced proposals to tighten up the regulation of undercover police following a succession of scandals over the infiltration of protest groups./ppDamian Green, the minister for policing, told MPs on Tuesday that under the plans to be brought before parliament the police spies would be deployed only following approval from an outside body./ppIn a second reform, the use of the spies would only be authorised by chief constables. Previously, officers as junior as a superintendent had the power to deploy spies. The officers infiltrated political groups over many years./ppThe announcement of the new legislation follows a long-running Guardian investigation that revealed abuses by the spies in an undercover operation monitoring political campaigns since 1968./ppThe investigation showed that the undercover police routinely formed long-lasting, intimate, relationships with the activists they were sent to spy on. At least two police officers had children with activists while they worked undercover./ppPolice have also conceded that it was common practice for the agents to adopt the identities of dead children to develop their fake personas./ppThe controversy began two and a half years ago when the Guardian revealed details of the seven-year deployment of the police spy Mark Kennedy, who lived among climate change campaigners and who had several relationships with women upon whom he spied, one of which lasted six years./ppThree senior judges later found that Kennedy might have acted as an agent provocateur./ppCalled before the home affairs select committee, Green said that any covert deployment lasting more than a year would need to be authorised by the office of surveillance commissioners, which monitors covert operations by state agencies./ppThe watchdog, led by the retired judge Sir Christopher Rose, has been criticised for failing to rigorously invigilate the use of many kinds of surveillance by government bodies, ranging from the police to local councils. Under the plans, the office would have to be notified before any operation was begun./ppGreen said: "Undercover police operations are vital in the fight against terrorism and serious organised crime. However, covert powers must be used proportionately and only when necessary."/ppHe said the new measures would "provide enhanced judicial oversight of all undercover police deployments"./ppThe proposed legislation brings into force proposals by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary last year, in a report into Kennedy, who infiltrated environmentalists for seven years./ppSir Denis O'Connor, then chief inspector of constabulary, said the level of authority needed to deploy an undercover police officer for several years in a protest group was less than was required to plant a listening device in the car of a drug dealer./ppUnder present rules, a warrant from the home secretary is required for a wire tap, but police can take on new identities, living in the homes of their targets, with nothing more than a signature from a superintendent./ppO'Connor described the discrepancy as surprising, and said "serious consideration" should be given to legislation that would make undercover policing as accountable as other forms of intrusive surveillance./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/police"Police/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/damian-green"Damian Green/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/mark-kennedy"Mark Kennedy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/robevans"Rob Evans/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/paullewis"Paul Lewis/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d7754b6/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulationt=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandal" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulationt=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandal" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulationt=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandal" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulationt=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandal" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fuk%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fundercover-policing-faces-tighter-regulationt=Undercover+policing+faces+tighter+regulation+after+Mark+Kennedy+scandal" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665210704/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7754b6/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665210704/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7754b6/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665210704/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d7754b6/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/94KiSb59N0c" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/14908?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Abrazil-protests-authorities-back-foot%3A1924347ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Brazil+%28News%29%2CProtest+%28News%29%2CAmericas+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CWorld+Cup+%28football%29%2CSport%2CFootballc5=Unclassified%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=2013%2F06%2F18+08%3A04c8=1924347c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+footc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FBrazil" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"New generation radicalised as protests sparked by fury at bus fare hike mushroom into vast rallies against failing public services and cost of World Cup/ppBrazilians woke up with a mix of euphoria, fear and confusion after the country's biggest night of protest in more than 20 years radicalised a new generation and left the established political class wondering how to react./ppVast demonstrations, in some cases of more than a 100,000 people, swept through at least a dozen major cities on Monday night, with protesters calling for better public services and an end to corruption./ppWith organisers now planning further protests, the authorities appear to be uncertain what to do next. Although police in some regions cracked down hard, President Dilma Rousseff praised the marchers./pp"Brazil woke up stronger today," Rousseff said in a televised speech on Tuesday. "The size of yesterday's demonstrations shows the energy of our democracy, the strength of the voice of the streets and the civility of our population."/ppThe scale is still being assessed. There are estimates of more than 100,000 in Rio, 50,000 in São Paulo and Belo Horizone, as well as many thousands elsewhere. Although these figures are contested, the combined total is likely to be bigger than any demonstration since former president Fernando Collor de Mello was forced from office in 1992./ppAn increase in bus fares was the spark last week that ignited much of the country, but the huge protests on Monday night were about far more than transport costs. "Far more than the rise in bus fares, this was a mostly peaceful demonstration against a broken transport system, insecurity and heavy investments being made in preparation for the mega sports events that are not mirrored by improvements of our precarious infrastructure," said Paula Paiva Paulo, one of the groups behind the demonstrations./ppMany participants said they joined after seeing images of the police violence against protesters in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia last week./ppBruna Rodriguez was one of many students who joined a rally of tens of thousands in Belo Horizonte, which led to violent clashes with police when the protesters attempted to enter the football stadium where a Confederations Cup match was taking place between Nigeria and Tahiti./pp"The police were brutal. Although we were chanting 'no violence', they shot people with rubber bullets and punched and beat them. The vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful, even though the Brazilian media are trying to show we were all vandals. That's not true," she said./ppShe is now planning to join the next march on Thursday. "It's important to fight for our rights. Brazil is a mess. We spend billions on new stadiums, but don't have good hospitals or schools even though we pay some of the highest taxes in the world."/ppMarcos Barros joined the protests after learning that his friend, Sergio Silva, had lost the sight of one eye after being shot with a rubber bullet during protests in São Paulo last week./pp"He was a photojournalist just doing his job," he said. "It is outrageous that police, who are only supposed to target the legs and then under extreme circumstances, would shoot anyone in the eye, let alone a photographer." Others expressed relief and excitement about being able to express their frustration and desire for a better Brazil./ppTatyana Cardoso, a 32-year-old medical assistant in São Paulo, said she had never taken part in a major protest before. After seeing the violence at first hand last week, she felt obliged to participate./pp"I think our police, unfortunately, are not prepared to deal with this kind of situation," she said. "I joined because I'm tired of the corruption in Brazil. There's so many wrong things and nobody does anything. We will host the World Cup, but we don't have a decent public transport, for example. Now I'm feeling extremely happy because I think the citizens discovered that something can be done."The demonstrations coincide with the Confederations Cup – a test event for six of the 12 new or expensively renovated stadiums for next year's World Cup. While football is almost a religion in Brazil, the World Cup has focused resentment on a range of issues, as people question a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embeddedv=ZApBgNQgKPU" title=""why such huge sums are being spent on stadiums/a for an international event when the country still lacks basic healthcare and education for millions of its citizens./ppHackers from the Anonymous group disrupted the government's official World Cup site and changed the home pages of government websites to call on citizens to take to the streets./ppDuring the protests, placards, graffiti and chants focused on social inequality, a shortage of doctors and teachers, shoddy public infrastructure, corruption, evictions for the World Cup and Olympics, overspends on stadiums and widespread frustration that – 28 years after the dictatorship and 10 years since the Workers' party took power – Brazil is still being run on behalf of an elite./ppThe marches started peacefully and remained that way for the vast majority. One demonstrator joined the protest in São Paulo bearing a banner reading: "I'm 82. I haven't come here to play." But there were also numerous clashes, as well as fires lit, windows smashed and fighting at the legislative assembly in Rio. State security officials reported 20 officers and nine protesters were injured there, according to O Globo newspaper./ppMost of the targets were political: government buildings, regional assemblies and official residences. But there was also evident frustration towards the wider establishment. Windows were smashed at banks and notary offices. The mainstream media, particularly the dominant Globo news group, have also been criticised for their links to those in power, control over football broadcasting schedules and coverage of earlier unrest. Some Globo reporters appear to have removed the icon cubes from their microphones after online calls to target the station./ppFrom their organisation via social networks to their size, the demonstrations bore a resemblance to mass demonstration in other nations. But the comparison with Turkey or the Arab Spring only goes so far, according to historian Marco Antonio Villa. "We live under a system of broad democratic freedoms. Unlike Turkey, we don't have regions involved in a political struggle. Unlike the Arab Spring, there is no theocratic dictatorship to fight against," he said. "In each city here, there is a different cause. But there is a general feeling of exhaustion, of anger, of being fed up with the incompetence, corruption of those in power who had turned their back on the nation."/ppSome local governments are now offering concessions to the protesters. Officials in the southern city of Porto Alegre and Recife in the north-east have announced plans to lower bus fares./ppFor Rousseff, the demonstrations should be a wake-up call. Although her ratings are still high at 57%, according to thea href="http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2013/06/1292560-rousseff-administration-has-57-approval-after-8-decline-says-datafolha.shtml" title="" latest Datafolha poll/a, they have slipped for the first time since she took office in 2011. The economy is moribund and inflation has pushed prices up by more than 15% over the past 20 months. "My government hears the voices clamouring for change, my government is committed to social transformation," Rousseff said. "Those who took to the streets yesterday sent a clear message to all of society, above all to political leaders at all levels of government."/ppemAdditional research by Marcela Bial/em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/brazil"Brazil/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/protest"Protest/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/americas"Americas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/world-cup-football"World Cup/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/terms-of-service"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639023/s/2d77a945/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/twitter/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fbrazil-protests-authorities-back-foott=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+foot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/twitter.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/facebook/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fbrazil-protests-authorities-back-foott=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+foot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/facebook.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/linkedin/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fbrazil-protests-authorities-back-foott=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+foot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/linkedin.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/gplus/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fbrazil-protests-authorities-back-foott=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+foot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/googleplus.png" border="0" //anbsp;a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/share/email/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guardian.co.uk%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fjun%2F18%2Fbrazil-protests-authorities-back-foott=Brazil+protests+catch+authorities+on+the+back+foot" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/social/email.png" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665671887/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77a945/kg/342-363/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/165665671887/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77a945/kg/342-363/a2.img" border="0"//aimg width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/165665671887/u/49/f/639023/c/34708/s/2d77a945/kg/342-363/a2t.img" border="0"/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/theguardian/rss/~4/N7g5U0cgrz0" height="1" width="1"/

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/42221?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Ateenagers-killed-by-passenger-train-hertfordshire%3A1924344ch=UK+newsc3=Guardianc4=Rail+transport+%28UK+news%29%2CTransport+UK+news%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Haroon+Siddiquec7=2013%2F06%2F18+08%3A00c8=1924344c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Teenagers+killed+by+passenger+train+in+Hertfordshirec66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FRail+transport" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Pupils at Hertswood Academy in Borehamwood were hit by a First Capital Connect train/ppSchool staff and the friends of two pupils in Hertfordshire killed after they were hit by a passenger train, have paid tribute to the teenagers./ppCharleigh Disbrey, 15, and an 18-year-old Mert Karaoglan were hit by a First Capital Connect train near Elstree and Borehamwood station on Monday night./ppThe site of the accident is not open to the public and police are not treating the deaths as suspicious./ppBoth teenagers were pupils at Hertswood Academy, in Borehamwood./ppThe school's headteacher, Peter Gillet, said: "At the start of the school day today we were contacted by British transport police to inform us of an incident that had occurred overnight involving two of our students./pp"As a close community, obviously we are devastated by this tragedy. Both students were talented, hard working and well respected members of our academy. Our thoughts are with their families at this most difficult time."/ppA school friend, who did not want to be named, said: "We didn't know for certain if they were going out together but they were close friends. She was a talented girl, she came across as very happy, she was always caring about other people. It was a shock for everyone./pp"Mert had just finished his A-levels. He was very talented with the camera and was going to do graphic design. He was a stills photographer and I just think he was down to earth. He was very humble and he always seemed quite chilled out. He was a good guy and had a good way with people."/ppThe school said it was counselling those affected by the tragedy and would monitor the wellbeing of students over coming days to assess whether further support was needed. Police officers were also at the school yesterday helping to comfort students and staff./ppCharleigh, known to friends as CJ, was a musician whose videos had been seen thousands of times on YouTube. On an online talent site the GCSE student wrote about her ambition to inspire people with her music. She said: "I write and compose my own music all the time! I sing, act and play the piano/keyboard. I am very determined and don't get put off easy. I want to change the world with my music. I will never give up trying to achieve my dream. Music is my life, my passion, my dream and my everything. I want to be an inspiration./pp"I have been the lead role in every school play I have ever done. I write my own plays and am working on a 10-minute one at the moment. I don't wish to be famous for the money . I want to be famous because I want people to relate to music. I want to be someone's inspiration, I want to make someone feel like they're not alone. I am very determined! I never, ever give up."/ppThe teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency services. Gary Sanderson, from the East of England ambulance service, said: "On arrival, it was evident nothing could be done."/ppSuperintendent Phil Wilkinson, from British transport police, called it a "tragic and acutely sad incident". He said his officers were continuing their investigations but not treating the deaths as suspicious./ppFirst Capital Connect said there had been two drivers but no passengers on board the train, which was going from St Albans to Sutton. Roger Perkins, a spokesman for the train company, said: "We have been giving our full support to our employees who were at the scene and will do all we can to help the emergency services in their investigation."/ppFriends of the dead teenagers took to social media to express their shock at the news and pay tribute to them./ppPaige McDonald wrote on Facebook: "RIP CJ Mert'. CJ was a beautiful, young talented girl that will be truly missed. Gone but not forgotten'. We all lovemiss you."/ppa href="https://www.facebook.com/RIPmertandcj?fref=ts" title=""On a tribute page set up on Facebook, Robert Twiner wrote: "RIP to my beautiful cousin CJ. We are thinking about you every second." /a/ppFlowers and cards were left at the school gates and site of the incident. By the end of the school day, about a dozen bunches of flowers rested against the school fence. One read: "CJ and Mert. Two such amazing people that will never be forgotten. I'm going to miss you so much CJ. RIP. Love you."/ppBritish transport Transport police appealed for anyone who had witnessed the incident or had information to get in touch./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/rail-transport"Rail transport/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/transport"Transport/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/haroonsiddique"Haroon Siddique/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.25.4/5535?ns=guardianpageName=Article%3Ainternet-service-providers-child-abuse-images%3A1924332ch=Technologyc3=GU.co.ukc4=ISPs+%28Internet+Service+Providers%29%2CTechnology%2CChild+protection+%28Society%29%2CChildren+%28Society%29%2CSocial+care+%28Society%29%2CMaria+Miller%2CPolitics%2CUK+newsc5=Unclassified%2CDigital+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CSocial+Care+Society%2CChildren+Societyc6=Nicholas+Watt%2CJosh+Halliday%2CJuliette+Garsidec7=2013%2F06%2F18+07%3A26c8=1924332c9=Articlec10=Newsc13=c19=GUKc47=UKc64=UKc65=Web+firms+pledge+%C2%A31m+to+help+block+child+abuse+imagesc66=Newsc72=c73=c74=c75=h2=GU%2FNews%2FTechnology%2FISPs" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Culture secretary says leading internet service providers have agreed to change approach and work more closely with police/ppInternet service providers have signed up to a fundamental change in their approach that will involve working more closely with the police to seek out and block "absolutely abhorrent" images of child abuse, the culture secretary, Maria Miller, said on Tuesday./ppLeading companies have pledged £1m to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which will intensify its work with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop) to identify illegal images of child abuse before they are widely distributed online./ppMiller was speaking after a summit with some of the world's largest internet service providers (ISPs), which were summoned by the culture secretary because of concerns in government that they are failing to take adequate steps to crack down on images of child abuse./ppIndustry sources expressed irritation with the government's criticism as they noted that Ceop's budget has been cut by 10% this year. One source, who described the meeting as fractious, said: ./pp"The Home Office opened with some encouraging noises about international efforts but generally speaking the politicians there fundamentally (or wilfully) misunderstand the technical and legal aspects to the subject. Little discussion was given to the measures put forward by industry and any discussion of practical steps was closed down. We'll meet again in a month."/ppAnother source said that the government only invited Ceop after protests from the industry. The source said: "It's very dangerous for the government to put all its eggs in the IWF basket as Ceop does a lot of important work on the behaviour and tracking down of paedophiles."/ppBut the culture secretary hailed the agreement, which will see the IWF working directly with the police to seek out illegal images rather than waiting for a complaint before acting. The government estimates that there are 1 million unique users of images of child abuse online, but only 40,000 reports of illegal images are made each year to the IWF, the Cambridge-based charity founded in 1996 by the internet industry that collates warnings about illegal sites./ppBritain's main ISPs – Virgin Media, BSkyB, BT and TalkTalk – have agreed to provide £1m to help the IWF in its work with Ceop, which has been incorporated into the National Crime Agency./ppMiller told The World at One on Radio 4: "What has been agreed today is a fundamental change in the way that the industry will approach child abuse images and removing them from public view. It is important that we have made this change, that the IWF will be proactive not reactive for the first time, so it can actively seek out the sorts of images that people find absolutely abhorrent./pp"It does mean that more of those images can be removed."/ppMiller added in a statement: "Until now, action has only been taken by the IWF when a child sexual abuse image is reported. Now, for the first time, the IWF has been asked to work alongside Ceop to search for illegal and abusive images and block them. This will mean more images of child sexual abuse will be tracked down and acted against./pp"The abuse of children is absolutely abhorrent – and that child is further violated every single time an image is circulated and viewed. The IWF and Ceop already do important and valuable work. This agreement will mean these organisations will no longer be limited to reacting to reports received. They will now have the remit and the resources to take the fight to the criminals perpetrating these vile acts."/ppThe summit also addressed the problem of "peer-to-peer" communication, in which child abusers distribute material by email to avoid detection. Miller said that work would continue to try to crack down on such distribution./ppIn one of the first steps after the summit, the industry has agreed to introduce "splash" pages by the end of the month. This will mean that if someone seeks to access a page of illegal images that has been blocked, a warning message will appear telling the user they have tried to access indecent or illegal content. At the moment an error message appears when users try to access such images./ppMiller denied that the government was not taking the issue seriously after Jim Gamble resigned as chief executive of Ceop in 2010, following its incorporation into the National Crime Agency./ppThe culture secretary said: "We take it very seriously indeed. That is why Ceop is now part of the National Crime Agency and that is why we have 50% more staff working within Ceop. It is absolutely vital that their work continues and can reflect the scale of the problem."/ppIn a statement, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media said of the extra £1m they have pledged over the next four years: "The companies will work together with government, IWF and Ceop to establish how best these funds can be spent to tackle the availability of online child abuse content. ISPs have a zero-tolerance approach to this material. This funding will help to target those individuals that create and distribute the content."/ppMiller will arrange another meeting after the industry reports back to her within a month. She praised the industry for taking steps already to offer greater choice of parental controls for new customers./ppThe companies that attended the summit were Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Facebook, BT, BSkyB, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, Vodafone, O2, EE and Three. Officers from Ceop and officials from the IWF also attended./ppA Virgin Media spokesperson said: "We welcome the opportunity to restate our zero tolerance of child abuse material and efforts to combat this has our full support. Virgin Media and the industry created the IWF for this very purpose and it has successfully removed thousands of abusive images over the past decade. We have today committed to increase its funding going forward./pp"Ceop also deserves credit for its work in tracking down and prosecuting the creators and distributors of this material. It is crucial this global problem is tackled at source so everyone must now work together to ensure the IWF and Ceop are empowered with sufficient resources and the clear legal framework they need to expand their activities. This effort will have our full commitment."/ppPeter Davies, the Ceop chief executive, said: "The Ceop centre has today contributed to the meeting with government officials and industry representatives, exploring opportunities to inform everyone's understanding of the threat posed to children online./pp"With offending linked to indecent images of children (IIOC) and online child sexual exploitation so high in the public's mind, it is essential that we all work together to provide a positive, consistent and structured approach to prevent ISP platforms and/or services being used for these purposes. Ceop has worked with many service providers over the last seven years and has a strong reputation for not merely dealing with high volumes of referrals from the public, but carrying out cutting-edge proactive investigations./pp"While we have excellent partnerships and co-operation with most service providers, we must acknowledge there is scope for a change of pace and that more can always be done. We will continue to offer our knowledge and expertise to support a collaborative approach to make the internet as safe an environment as possible. This will include helping the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to develop their ideas. We will be providing more information on the threats to children when we launch our upcoming thematic assessment on child sexual exploitation and abuse."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/isps"ISPs/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/childprotection"Child protection/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/children"Children/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/social-care"Social care/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/maria-miller"Maria Miller/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/nicholaswatt"Nicholas Watt/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/josh-halliday"Josh Halliday/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/juliette-garside"Juliette Garside/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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