Syria 'confirms' Israeli air strike but disputes target - BBC News

31 January 2013 Last updated at 01:18 ET

Israel has not commented on reports of an attack on Wednesday.

The Syrian military says Israeli jets have carried out an air strike on its territory, but denied reports that lorries carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were hit.

It said in a statement that the target was a military research centre northwest of the capital Damascus.

Two people were killed and five injured in the attack, it said.

Lebanese security sources, Western diplomats and Syrian rebels say an arms convoy was hit near Lebanon's border.

The attack came as Israel voiced fears that Syrian missiles and chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militants such as Lebanon's Hezbollah.

On Thursday, Russia's foreign ministry expressed "grave concerns" over the alleged Israeli attacks.

"If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked strikes at targets on the territory of a sovereign state, which grossly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, whatever motives are used to justify it," the statement said.

BBC Middle East correspondent Wyre Davies says none of the reports can be verified, although some well-placed diplomats and military sources say they would not be surprised if Israel had acted, given the recent instability in Syria.

Israel and the US have declined to comment on the incident.

The Lebanese military and internal security forces have not officially confirmed the reports, but say there has been increased activity by Israeli warplanes over Lebanon in the past week, and particularly in recent hours.

Hezbollah fears

The army statement, quoted in Syria's official media, said: "Israeli fighter jets violated our airspace at dawn today and carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in charge of raising our level of resistance and self-defence."

The centre, in Jamraya, northwest of the capital Damascus, was damaged in the attack, along with an adjacent building and a car park, the statement said.

It said that "armed terrorist gangs", a term the government uses to describe rebel groups, had tried and failed repeatedly to capture the same facility in recent months.

The statement specifically denied reports that an arms convoy had been hit.

The Jerusalem Post said the description of the facility fitted that of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, believed to be the state organisation responsible for developing biological and chemical weapons.

Hours earlier, unnamed Lebanese security sources reported that Israeli warplanes had struck lorries carrying missiles towards the Lebanese border

The Associated Press quoted a US official as saying the lorries were carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.

Correspondents say Israel fears that Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah could obtain anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, thus strengthening its ability to respond to Israeli air strikes.

However, an attack on the Syrian side could cause a major diplomatic incident, they say, as Iran has said it will treat any Israeli attack on Syria as an attack on itself.

The attack came days after Israel moved its Iron Dome defence system to the north of the country.

Israel has also joined the US in expressing concern that Syria's presumed chemical weapons stockpile could be taken over by militant groups, although there is no evidence that the convoy was carrying such weapons.

Analysts say Israel believes Syria received a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli air strike in 2007 that destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor.

The US government said in 2008 that the reactor was "not intended for peaceful purposes".

China's coal conundrum as smog worsens - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 22:41 ET By Martin Patience BBC News, Datong, China

Many say this winter's pollution is the worst they can remember

Locals in Datong call it the coal capital of China - and it is not hard to see why. Outside the city you can see enormous mining towers and buildings scarring the landscape.

At one coal pit the bulldozers are hard at work. They push huge mounds of coal close to the waiting trucks. The air is filthy, blackened by the coal dust.

This is a dirty, grimy business but in China it is crucial work. Coal has fuelled the country's economic boom, with consumption tripling in little over a decade.

Currently, China burns almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined. But that is leaving many cities, including Beijing, choking on hazardous smog.

Many people in the capital say the pollution this month has been the worst they can remember.

Hospitals have been over-run by both the young and old suffering from respiratory problems as pollution levels soared passed levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organisation.

One recent study, carried out by Greenpeace East Asia and Peking University's School of Public Health, estimated that air pollution had caused more than 8,000 premature deaths in four major Chinese cities last year.

'Too severe'

Coal accounts for two-thirds of China's energy supply and is the country's main source of pollution, as well as the millions of cars on the road.

But the smog it produces has led many to question the country's economic model.

A sustained effort to reduce China's dependence on heavy industry is now required, says Yang Fuqiang, a former government energy policy researcher and now a senior adviser at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

"We have to change our ways. The pollution caused by coal is simply too severe," he said. "If nothing happens then the public outcry in the cities will keep growing.

"The government needs to restrict the use of coal and develop cleaner and more efficient technology."

In Beijing the authorities have shut down some factories and taken cars off the roads to try to reduce the pollution. People are being warned to close their windows. Sales of air purifiers and facemasks have rocketed and in some shops have simply run out.

In the long-term China is also investing heavily in hydro-electrical power and another renewable energies. It is considered a world leader in green technologies.

But with demand for energy growing year on year, consumption of coal continues to increase.

Expectations

On Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported that the authorities have now set a target designed to curb the growing consumption of energy, and coal in particular.

But any efforts to cap consumption will run into stiff resistance from local governments, which fear restrictions on economic growth.

Many people in the cities, however, want the authorities to take tough measures in order to improve their quality of life. But in the shadow of the coal mines in Datong there are different expectations.

Xu Youwang has been a farmer all his life. The 56-year-old says he can remember a day when all he owned were sheep. He and his neighbours all live in mud-brick houses.

But now he has a washing machine, a TV - and big dreams. "If I had the money I'd buy a car, an apartment, a fridge and a computer," he said.

Farmer Xu expects his life to only get better. And that is the challenge for China's leaders - balancing the aspirations of people like him with more sustainable economic growth

For now, at least, the country's reliance on coal and the pollution that comes with it shows little sign of ending.

'Millions of low-income households' face council tax rise - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 22:47 ET

Millions of the poorest households face council tax rises because most councils in England will pass on a 10% cut in funding from April, research suggests.

A typical bill will rise between £100 and £250 a year, but some could rise as much as £600, according to think tank the Resolution Foundation.

Its report coincides with the deadline for local authorities to submit their plans for changing council tax benefit.

Responsibility for the benefit is being moved from the government to councils.

At the same time, the total spent on the benefit, which is to become known as council tax support, is being cut by 10%.

In Wales, the cut is being absorbed by the government, and not passed on to local authorities.

'Poll tax'

In Scotland, the cost is being shared between councils and the Scottish government, maintaining support for low-income residents.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

There is a wider, highly charged, political context to this issue.

Ministers present themselves as being on the side of those who want to "work hard and get on". They say they are ending the "something-for-nothing culture".

They emphasise that more money is currently spent on benefits than on defence, education and health combined.

While delivering their tough - and they believe popular - rhetoric, ministers do not accept any blame if the poorest are hit the hardest.

The view from government is that there is no need for councils to ask the lowest income households for money. Instead they should find more efficient ways of operating, protect the vulnerable and deliver better value for money for all council tax payers.

Many councils accuse ministers of devolving responsibility for a hugely controversial cut.

The political heat on this has been rising in recent days in council chambers across England.

What seems at first to be an obscure, rather technical, debate about how a benefit is distributed, could soon emerge as a critical issue in the battle over welfare.

But the 326 councils in England could be left with a shortfall if they intend to maintain the level of existing payments.

Some are finding savings from elsewhere in their budgets, in order to protect the incomes of the poorest households.

At least 40 local authorities have decided to maintain current levels of support. Durham County Council and Tower Hamlets are amongst those which will absorb the costs of CTS into their budgets.

The government has also put forward £100m of support for those councils that limit the council tax increase for those on benefits or low pay to 8.5%.

Ministers say the total paid out in council tax benefit doubled under the last government and welfare "reform" is vital to tackle the budget deficit.

They say the changes will give councils the incentive to help people off benefits and into work.

Council tax benefit is currently claimed by about five million households in England - about half get 100% support, meaning they currently pay no council tax at all.

But the Resolution Foundation says that three-quarters of authorities in England are planning to demand a new or higher payment from the lowest income households.

This comes at a time when other benefits may also rise more slowly than the cost of living, and the government introduces an overall cap on benefits.

Continue reading the main story

Council tax support changes

Council tax support (CTS) will replace council tax benefit (CTB) in April

Councils will decide who qualifies for CTS, rather than the government, as under CTB

Councils will have 10% less money to fund CTS, changes that will save £500m a year

Pensioners will be protected and households in Wales and Scotland are unaffected

Because pensioners are fully protected, those of working age are, in many areas, being asked to shoulder a much greater burden.

"Millions of England's poorest households, both in and out of work, are already very close to the edge," said Gavin Kelly of the Resolution Foundation. "They are going to find it very hard to cope."

Some campaigners have likened the change to the "poll tax", in that people are asked for a contribution regardless of their ability to pay.

'Low priority'

The Labour Party says the policy is deeply unfair, and will cause havoc with hundreds of thousands of people unable to pay the bills.

Many in local government fear that councils will be left with a financial black hole, as the cost of pursuing those who do not pay through the courts could be higher than the revenue the authorities will raise from them in tax.

The Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, said: "Paying the tax will be pretty low down the priority list, when you've got to feed yourself and feed your kids.

"That could mean overall collection rates will go down, meaning less money for all council services."

Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said: "Under the last administration, more taxpayers' money was being spent on benefits than on defence, education and health combined.

"We are cutting council tax in real terms for hard-working families and pensioners, and we are on the side of people who work hard and want to get on."

Are you in England? How will you cope with a council tax rise? Please send us your comments using the form below.

US economy shrinks a surprise 0.1% in fourth quarter - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 10:47 ET

The US economy unexpectedly shrank at an annualised rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, initial official estimates indicate.

If confirmed, it would be the first contraction logged by the US economy since the 2009 global recession.

The world's largest economy grew 3.1% in July to September.

The fourth quarter period was dominated by the "fiscal cliff" - the spending cuts and tax rises that had been due to come into force from 1 January.

These were avoided by a last-minute deal between the Republican-dominated Congress and the White House. However, economists warned at the time that fears of an abrupt cut in government spending were undermining business and consumer confidence.

However, part of that deal includes tax rises for the highest-earning Americans and - more significantly for the economy - the expiry of a payroll tax holiday for all US employees, something which is widely expected by economists to further weigh on growth during the current quarter.

Spending cuts

The fourth-quarter shrinkage in economic output comes as a shock to analysts on Wall Street, who had been expecting 1.1% growth according to a poll by news agency Reuters. Not one economist surveyed had predicted an economic contraction.

It will add to pressure on the US Federal Reserve to do more to stimulate the economy. Members of its Federal Open Markets Committee are due to announce the conclusions of their latest policy-setting meeting later on Wednesday, and will have had an advance look at the economic data.

Growth was dragged down by a 22% cut in the federal government's defence spending - the biggest since 1972, when the US was winding down from the end of the Vietnam War - and by the decision of many businesses to halt the rapid rebuilding of their inventories that began over the summer.

Continue reading the main story

These two relatively volatile components of the data subtracted a combined 2.6 percentage points from the overall growth figure.

Consumer spending did pick up, as did business investment, suggesting that the economy may have some underlying momentum. Sales of computers and cars both made positive contributions to the economy's performance.

Residential investment also grew 15%, adding to evidence that the housing market has finally turned the corner.

"Frankly, this is the best-looking contraction in US [gross domestic product] you'll ever see," said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, in a note to clients. "The drag from defence spending and inventories is a one-off. The rest of the report is all encouraging."

The October-to-December period was also negatively affected by Storm Sandy, which caused the closure of many factories and businesses in the New York area, and by a sharp drop in exports.

Growth for 2012 as a whole came in at 2.2%, up from 1.8% in 2011, but still unusually slow compared with previous economic recoveries in the US following recessions in the post-War era.

Debt ceiling

Looking ahead, domestic spending in the current quarter is expected to be dogged by further uncertainty over the federal government's tax and spending.

Workers have already experienced a 2% average cut in their take-home pay, due to the expiry of the payroll tax holiday. That means a household earning $50,000 a year will have about $1,000 less to spend.

The income lost is likely to have been behind a sharp fall in consumer confidence recorded by surveys in January.

Meanwhile, the recently re-elected President Barack Obama and Congress are expected to clash once again in the coming months over the debt ceiling.

The US Treasury is approaching the $16.4tn (£10.3tn) legal limit on its total debt, and must gain permission from Congress to borrow the money needed for it to continue meeting its bills.

Last time there was a stand-off over the issue, in the summer of 2011, the political deadlock prompted ratings agency Standard & Poor's to deprive the US of its top AAA rating, a move that sent stock markets sharply lower.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to extend the country's debt limit until May, deferring the budget debate for a few months at least.

EastEnders' Gemma McCluskie murder: Brother guilty - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 12:16 ET

The brother of former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie has been found guilty of her murder and told he will serve at least 20 years in jail.

Tony McCluskie, 35, of Shoreditch, east London, had admitted manslaughter at the Old Bailey but denied her murder.

Miss McCluskie's torso was found in Regent's Canal, Hackney, last March. Other body parts were found later.

The 29-year-old actress played Kerry Skinner, Ethel Skinner's great-niece, in the BBC soap in 2000 and 2001.

Hacked into pieces

McCluskie was found guilty by an 11-1 majority and given a life sentence.

Miss McCluskie's mutilated body was found floating in the canal in east London on 6 March last year.

She was killed by being hit over the head at least twice and her body was hacked into six pieces using a cleaver and a knife.

McCluskie, a 36-year-old window cleaner and skunk cannabis smoker, claimed to have lost control after a tirade of abuse from his sister.

He said the last thing he remembered was her coming at him with a knife.

But the prosecution said he killed his sister after she lost patience with him and asked him to leave the flat in Pelter Street, Shoreditch, where they lived.

The final straw came when McCluskie left taps running and a sink overflowed in March last year, the jury heard.

The Old Bailey heard that on 2 March McCluskie lugged a heavy suitcase to a local cab firm and was seen taking it towards the canal.

When the cab driver asked what was in his bag the defendant said it was a sound system.

'Warm-hearted'

Miss McCluskie's torso was found a week later when the case snapped open, and her limbs were found in plastic bags a week later.

But her head was not found until six months later when it too was discovered in the water.

Her former co-stars Natalie Cassidy and Brooke Kinsella, had appealed for help on Twitter to find her.

Gemma's father Anthony McCluskie said she had a ''huge personality and zest for life''

Ms Kinsella tweeted: "Thinking of you Gemma. I am so so sorry. Despair of the world we live in sometimes. RIP darling xxx".

Mr Justice Fulford told McCluskie: "I have no doubt that you killed your sister because she was furious with you for letting a sink overflow in the bathroom.

"I unhesitatingly reject your account that she had used bad language towards you or that she had belittled you in the past.

"She was a warm-hearted woman who was loved by a great many people."

He said McCluskie had set about "in a cold-blooded way" to conceal what he had done.

"Your hope must have been that she would never be found," the judge added.

'Zest for life'

Speaking outside the court, Anthony McCluskie, the siblings' father, said it had been an "extremely traumatic" time for the family and his daughter's friends.

He said his daughter was known as Gem Star or Little Gem to some of her friends.

"Small in stature, she was huge in personality with a zest for life," he said.

He said his daughter was "very much loved" and "greatly missed".

"Good night and God bless Gemma," he said.

"We all miss you and love you."

Gemma McCluskie appeared in more than 30 episodes of EastEnders as Kerry Skinner, the great-niece of long-term character Ethel Skinner.

Kerry was a close friend of Zoe Slater and dated Robbie Jackson, who proposed to her. The character left Albert Square when her holiday fling with another boy was revealed.

Most recently Miss McCluskie had worked in two pubs in Shoreditch.

Giffords implores Congress for gun control - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 11:38 ET

"Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important"

Wounded former Representative Gabrielle Giffords has implored Congress to curb gun violence, at the first hearing on the issue this year on Capitol Hill.

The Arizona Democrat, who was shot in the head in a 2011 attack that killed six people, said too many children were dying in shootings.

But the National Rifle Association told the Senate judiciary committee that gun control was not the answer.

The renewed gun-control drive follows last month's massacre in Connecticut.

Twenty children and six adults were killed in the attack at a primary school in Newtown, which shocked a nation with the world's highest rate of gun ownership. Firearms sales in the US have risen since the shooting.

'You must act'

Ms Giffords, who is still recovering after being shot by a mentally ill gunman while meeting her constituents in Tucson, opened Wednesday's hearing saying: "Violence is a big problem.

LaPierre: Government should not dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families

"Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. It will be hard. But the time is now. You must act. Be bold. Be courageous. Americans are counting on you."

Her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, also testified.

The couple, both gun owners, recently launched a political action committee, Americans for Responsible Solutions, intended to combat firearms violence.

Mr Kelly told the panel: "When dangerous people get guns we are all vulnerable, at the movies, at church, conducting our everyday business, meeting with a government official."

Wayne LaPierre, executive vice-president of the NRA, an influential firearms lobby group, told the hearing that gun control measures had failed in the past.

President Barack Obama this month proposed sweeping measures on guns, including a renewed ban on assault rifles and wider background checks on buyers.

But Mr LaPierre said the government's own figures had shown the last assault-weapons ban from 1994-2004 made no impact on lowering crime.

"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals," said Mr LaPierre.

"Nor do we believe that government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families."

Under questioning, Mr LaPierre conceded that his organisation no longer supported universal background checks for gun owners.

The Senate judiciary committee is divided on the White House plans, which face a rocky road in both the Democratic-led Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said on Tuesday that he was "a strong supporter of the second amendment" - referring to a clause in the US Constitution on the right to bear arms.

"And I don't intend to change," he added.

Another member, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, has already introduced a bill, similar to the White House plan, that would seek to ban assault weapons and limit ammunition magazines to less than 10 rounds.

But Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said he believed it would be possible to introduce wider background checks.

Those buying guns from licensed stores and vendors are required to face a background check, but some purchasers buying guns from private sales at firearms shows and online do not need to do so, an exception often referred to as the gun-show loop-hole.

President Obama has called for background checks in both instances, as well as increased reporting by states on those who are not allowed to buy a gun for legal or mental health reasons.

Mali conflict: France says its troops now in Kidal - BBC News

30 January 2013 Last updated at 07:56 ET

French forces say they have entered Kidal in the north of Mali, the last major town they have yet to secure in their drive against Islamist militants.

French forces now control Kidal airport after a number of aircraft, including helicopters, landed there overnight.

Islamist militants were reported to have already left the town and it was unclear who was in charge.

French and Malian forces have been sweeping north, earlier taking Gao and Timbuktu with almost no resistance.

France - the former colonial power in Mali - launched a military operation this month after Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.

French army spokesman Col Thierry Burkhard confirmed that "French elements were deployed overnight in Kidal".

Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, told the Associated Press news agency: "The French arrived at 9:30pm [Tuesday] aboard four planes. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered the town and there was no combat.

"The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead," he said.

'Eradicate terrorism'

Kidal, 1,500km (930 miles) north-east of the capital Bamako, was until recently under the control of the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

With the fall of Kidal, one phase of this crisis may be over but two crucial challenges remain. First, there is unfinished business on the military front. Islamist militant elements who may have taken refuge in the mountainous areas near the Algerian frontier need to be sought out, harried and contained. French forces need to hand the task of garrisoning the main population centres to West African troops.

But France will also have to define its own continuing military role and two international training missions. One for the Malian army and the other for the West African forces must be started without delay.

The second challenge is for Mali itself; to establish democratic governance and to grapple with the problems of Tuareg separatism. The reprisals against alleged Islamist militant sympathisers in Timbuktu tarnished an otherwise successful operation and the Malian army is clearly not welcomed by anti-Islamist Tuareg groups in Kidal. These are just tasters of potential problems ahead.

• 'War of the shadows'

The Islamist militants had taken advantage of a military coup in March last year to impose Sharia in a number of cities in the north.

However, the Islamic Movement of Azawad (IMA), which recently split from Ansar Dine, says it is now in charge in Kidal.

The IMA has said it rejects "extremism and terrorism" and wants a peaceful solution.

An IMA spokesman confirmed the French arrival in Kidal and said that its leader was in talks with them.

However, another rebel group, the secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), is also influential in the area. It is ethnically driven, fighting mostly for the rights of Mali's minority Tuareg community.

An MNLA spokesman told the BBC its fighters had entered Kidal on Saturday and found no Islamist militants there.

The MNLA has also said it is prepared to work with the French "to eradicate terrorist groups" in the north but that it would not allow the return of the Malian army, which it accused of "crimes against the civilian population".

Some reports say Ansar Dine leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, and Abou Zeid of AQIM have now moved to the mountainous region north of Kidal.

The BBC's Thomas Fessy, in Timbuktu, says that taking Kidal will mark the end of the first phase of the French military intervention.

However, he says there will remain the difficult task of chasing the fighters down across the vast desert.

The French foreign ministry on Wednesday urged the Malian government to open discussions with the "legitimate representatives of the people in the north" as well as "non-terrorist armed groups".

The French arrival at Kidal came only 24 hours after securing Timbuktu with Malian forces.

The troops had to secure the streets after hundreds of people looted shops they said had belonged to militant sympathisers.

The retreating Islamist militants were also accused of destroying ancient manuscripts held in the city.

However on Wednesday, Shamil Jeppie, the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project director at the University of Cape Town, said that more than 90% of the 300,000 manuscripts said to be in the region were safe.

Donor pledges

France has been pushing for the swift deployment of an African Union-backed force, the International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma), to take control of Malian towns.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says rebel groups could still strike in Mali or elsewhere

On Tuesday, international donors meeting in Ethiopia pledged $455.53m (£289m) for Afisma and for other projects.

African leaders say the overall budget could be around $950m.

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the meeting impressive progress had been made but that this did not mean the danger was over.

Mr Fabius also said credible elections in Mali would be vital to achieving sustainable peace in the country.

Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Tuesday that he wanted to hold "transparent and credible" elections by 31 July.

Are you in the region? You can get in contact with the BBC using the form below.