Government U-turn fails to quell Brazil protests

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Government U-turn fails to quell Brazil protests

Alastair Leithead reports on a night of unrest around Brazil

Brazil protests

Brazilian authorities have failed to halt nationwide protests, despite reversing the public-transport fare increases that sparked the unrest.

Crowds blocked main roads in Sao Paulo and Brasilia, and protesters confronted police in Rio de Janeiro state shortly after the U-turn was announced.

Earlier, there were clashes before Brazil's football team played Mexico in Fortaleza in the Confederations Cup.

Protesters are angry at corruption and high spending on next year's World Cup.

Activists say they have not changed their intention to hold the biggest demonstrations yet on Thursday.

The BBC's Julia Carneiro, in Sao Paulo, says hundreds of thousands are expected on the streets there before another round of matches in the Confederations Cup.

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The continued protests come after the authorities in the two biggest cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, said they would reverse the public-transport fare increases.

Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad said the reversal would be a "big sacrifice" and said other investments would have to be cut.

Rio mayor Eduardo Paes made a similar point, saying the lower transport prices would cost the city 500m reals ($225m; £145m) a year.

The mayors of Cuiaba, Recife, Joao Pessoa and other cities have already announced a reduction in bus fares in response to the protests.

But the protesters were unmoved by the gesture.

"It's not really about the price [of transport] any more," said 18-year-old student Camila Sena, at a protest in Rio de Janeiro's sister city of Niteroi.

"People are so disgusted with the system, so fed up that now we're demanding change."

One demonstration in the city of Belo Horizonte continued for more than 10 hours.

In pictures: Brazil protests

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters in the north-eastern city of Fortaleza on Wednesday after at least 30,000 people rallied there.

Clashes erupted when a protest march was stopped by police. Several people were injured, including police officers.Access to the stadium was blocked for at least 30 minutes, but police later allowed people to get in ahead of the game which started at 16:00 local time (19:00 GMT).

The BBC's Ben Smith in Fortaleza says that during the protest some demonstrators carried banners reading: "A teacher is worth more than Neymar", in a reference to Brazil's star footballer who played and scored against Mexico.

Before the match, Neymar spoke in favour of the protesters, saying in a message on Facebook: "I'm Brazilian and I love my country. I have a family and friends who live in Brazil. For that reason, I want a Brazil which is more just, safer, healthier and more honest.

Analysis

Gary DuffyBBC Brasil, Sao Paulo

The controversy over bus and metro fares was only the issue that got the marchers on to the streets - it all seems much bigger than that now.

The objectives of this diverse protest movement are very broad, such as demanding better education and health services. A sluggish economy and inflation that is affecting the lives of ordinary Brazilians every day can be added to the mix.

Politicians with high salaries giving jobs and flights to relatives are widely scorned. Inequality and the huge cost of hosting the World Cup and the Olympics are key issues raised by demonstrators alongside corruption, crime and police brutality.

Brazil wrestles with wave of protests

"The only way I can represent and defend Brazil is on the pitch, playing football. From now on, I will enter the field inspired by this movement."

Football legend Pele urged demonstrators to end the protests. "Let's forget all this commotion happening in Brazil, and let's remember how the Brazilian squad is our country and our blood," he said.

The current unrest is the biggest since 1992, when people took to the streets to demand the impeachment of then-President Fernando Collor de Mello.

Vice-President Michel Temer cut short a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday to return to Brazil.

President Dilma Rousseff has said she was proud that so many people were fighting for a better country.

Many of the demonstrators have complained of the huge sums spent on construction for the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro.

Are you in Brazil? Are you affected by the issues in this story? Send us your experiences using the form below.

France holds Olympic champion Khalid Skah in custody row

Khalid Skah has accused Norway of smuggling his children out of Morocco illegally

A Moroccan Olympic champion who claims his children were abducted by Norwegian agents has been arrested in France.

Khalid Skah, who won the 10,000m at the 1992 Barcelona Games, was held at Orly airport in Paris, after being sought by Norway for alleged abduction.

For years he has fought a bitter custody battle for his two children with his Norwegian wife.

It has escalated to a diplomatic row, after Norway admitted playing a part in getting the children out of Morocco.

Mr Skah confirmed his own arrest on social media.

His Norwegian lawyer, Brynjar Meling, says Mr Skah has asked for medical attention but is willing to travel to Norway, and is keen to explain his side of the story.

'Escaped by yacht'

Mr Skah has previously accused the Norwegian embassy in the Moroccan capital Rabat of "kidnapping" his children and helping his estranged wife, Anne Cecilie Hopstock, take them out of the country "illegally".

Ms Hopstock had gone to Morocco with the family in 2006, but left in 2007 when her relationship with Mr Skah broke down.

The children, Tarik and Selma, remained in Morocco, but vanished from the family home in 2009 and in 2010 appeared on Norwegian television.

The teenagers described how they ran away from their father's house after he became increasingly strict and locked them in their rooms.

They contacted their Norwegian mother, who got in touch the Norwegian embassy in Rabat.

Diplomats arranged for the children to be picked up from the streets of the city and taken to the Norwegian ambassador's residence, where they stayed until they could be smuggled out of the country on a yacht bound for Spain.

"It was our choice to flee," Tarik said.

Selma added: "We weren't allowed to live a normal life, we weren't allowed to go to school."

Mr Skah deplored the fact that they had appeared on television, saying they had been "manipulated by the Norwegian government and their mother".

Norway admitted on Monday that one of its diplomats had helped hide the children, and two members of its special forces had taken them out of Morocco.

But it said the two commandos were "off-duty" and on holiday at the time, and denied that Norway was involved directly in the smuggling.

Morocco has accused Norwegian officials of breaking the Vienna Convention on diplomatic activity, and called for them to be put on trial.

Both Mr Skah and Ms Hopstock have been awarded custody of the children in their respective countries - though they are now reported to be young adults.

UN condemns 'despicable' al-Shabab attack in Somalia

Footage shows the aftermath of the attack on the UN office in Mogadishu

Somalia: Failed State

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage over a "despicable" attack by Islamists on a UN office in Somalia which killed 15 people.

He also stressed the UN "would not be deterred from delivering its mandate" in Somalia, Mr Ban's spokesman said.

The attackers detonated a car bomb outside the UN mission in the capital Mogadishu, then engaged security forces in a fierce gun-battle.

The al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab later said it was behind the attack.

It had targeted the UN because of its "long, inglorious record of spreading nothing but poverty, dependency and disbelief", al-Shabab said on its Twitter account.

This is the first time the UN offices have been attacked since it recently relaunched its mission in Somalia.

'Act of desperation'

Analysis

Mark DoyleBBC International Development Correspondent

The UN compound in Mogadishu is just a few hundred metres from the airport where thousands of African Union troops are based. It is in the heart of one of the most sensitive and theoretically well-guarded areas of the city. But following the audacious attack the gateway into the compound is now a wreck of twisted metal and rubble.

For more than a year now the Somali government - and its Western and African backers - have been lauding improved security in Somalia. At a diplomatic conference in London in February, hosted by the British Prime Minister David Cameron, there was optimistic talk about the new government which was for the first time in 20 years elected by MPs on Somali soil.

It is true that the militant Islamist al-Shabab group has been forced, by African Union troops, to leave most of their military positions in the city. But this attack shows that opponents of the government still have the capacity to hit a high-profile target which should be one of the best protected locations in the country.

Mr Ban was "deeply concerned and outraged by the despicable attack" on the UN Development Programme office, his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The raid was also condemned by the 15-member UN Security Council, which reiterated its "determination to combat all forms of terrorism".

UN envoy to Somalia, Nicholas Kay, who was not hurt in the attack, told the BBC the world body would continue its mission in helping Somalia build peace and development.

He said Somalia had "turned a corner" after decades of conflict, and al-Shabab attacks like the one of Wednesday were "acts of desperation".

"At this stage our firm intent is to stick to the mission and not abandon Somalia," he said.

He added that one UNDP international staff member, three contractors working for a South African company and four Somali guards were killed in the attack.

All seven al-Shabab gunmen died in the raid and officials said pro-government forces later secured the compound.

The UN has only recently expanded its operations in Mogadishu after years when its Somalia mission was based in neighbouring Kenya because of security fears.

The UNDP office is next to the heavily fortified airport in southern Mogadishu.

Government soldiers arrive to secure the United Nations compound following a suicide bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu, 19 June 2013

The security forces arrived at the scene soon after the explosion. The UNDP compound is next to the airport where the AU forces have a base.

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Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid praised the speed of the security forces' response.

"Somali and Amisom security forces responded immediately to the situation after the initial explosion and have brought the situation under control. Sadly we must wait to hear the full details and confirmation of any casualties," he said in a statement.

"All our thoughts and prayers are with our UN colleagues today. But al-Shabab will not derail the peace process. They will not stop our recovery. Violence will not win."

Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Dheere said the UN had been targeted because it was "enemy number one of the Somali people".

He accused it of "stealing" Somalia's resources, especially its fishing stock, distributing expired aid food and "corrupting" the nation's culture.

Al-Shabab, which had been in control of parts of Mogadishu for more than two years, withdrew in August 2011 under pressure from pro-government forces, but continues to launch occasional suicide attacks in the city.

It has also been pushed out of other cities, but still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside in central and southern Somalia.

The improving security situation has prompted the return of Somalis from the diaspora and allowed UN agencies and foreign embassies to return to the country.

Some 18,000 AU troops are in the country supporting the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who was elected by MPs last September.

His administration is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Uhuru Kenyatta trial moved to November

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has pushed back the trial of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to 12 November.

The decision was taken to give Mr Kenyatta's defence enough time to prepare for his trial, the ICC said.

Mr Kenyatta is accused of orchestrating violence after the 2007 election, an allegation he denies.

The African Union has called for the trial to be halted, saying the ICC was "hunting" Africans.

'Murder charge'

The ICC has refused to drop the charges, saying it pursues justice impartially.

It had rescheduled Mr Kenyatta's trial from 9 July to 12 November after judges ruled that defence lawyers should be given more time to prepare for his trial "due to the delays by the prosecution in disclosing its evidence", the ICC said in a statement.

Mr Kenyatta is charged with crimes against humanity, including murder and rape.

The ICC accuses him of being an "indirect co-perpetrator" in the violence that killed about 1,200 people and left more than 500,000 homeless after the disputed 2007 election.

Mr Kenyatta was elected president in March, beating then-Prime Minister Raila Odinga by 50.07% to 43.28%.

He used the charges to bolster his campaign, accusing the ICC of interfering in Kenya's internal affairs.

Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto is due to go on trial in September on similar charges.

On Tuesday, the ICC agreed that Mr Ruto only needs to be "physically present" at key sessions of his trial.

He had requested to participate in the trial via video link.

Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta were on opposite sides of the 2007 election, but formed an alliance for this year's election.

Mr Kenyatta backed his predecessor, Mwai Kibaki, in the 2007 election, while Mr Ruto supported Mr Odinga.

The names of key suspects involved in violence after the 2007 poll were handed over to the ICC by Kofi Annan, who brokered a power-sharing deal.

He did so after Kenyan politicians failed to set up a tribunal as promised to try those accused of instigating the violence.

Eye-gouge victim Tina Nash's new boyfriend on assault charge

Tina Nash: 'I had to build myself back up'

The new boyfriend of Tina Nash, whose former partner was jailed for life for gouging out her eyes, is facing a charge of attacking her.

Roland Alli, 32, from Plymouth, who denies assault, was remanded in custody by Truro magistrates until 25 June.

The attack allegedly happened on Sunday in Penzance.

Mother-of-two Ms Nash, 32, was blinded by Shane Jenkin as she slept in April 2011. He was jailed last year and told he would serve at least six years.

'Buried alive'

“Start Quote

When I hear my kids I can't see their faces”

Tina Nash

Miss Nash said she had suffered repeated attacks by Jenkin in the year before the eye-gouging attack.

She told the BBC after Jenkin was jailed: "It makes me feel like I've been buried alive. I feel like a ghost. I can have everyone around me but I can't even see my own hand in front of my face.

"When I hear my kids I can't see their faces."

A year later she said she was "coming to terms with it".

She said: "I was in quite a dark place. But I thought 'I've got to get on with my life'. I'm now the same me as what I was before."

Ms Nash has written a book to help other victims of domestic violence and to highlight the help that is available.

"It was so hard because I didn't understand domestic violence until it happened to me," she said.

The book, Out Of The Darkness, describes how she suffered months of beatings and domestic abuse from Jenkin before he gouged out both her eyes, telling her: "You're never going to see your kids again."

She also writes of her life after the attack and how her children have given her the courage to continue.

'Invisible' poor children let down by schools, says Ofsted head

Sir Michael Wilshaw said a spotlight needed to be shone on local authorities that are failing children

Many of the poor children being left behind in schools now are in suburbs, market towns and seaside resorts rather than big cities, England's chief inspector of schools has said.

In a speech, Sir Michael Wilshaw said such pupils were often an "invisible minority" in schools rated good or outstanding in quite affluent areas.

He wants a new team of "National Service Teachers" sent in to help.

Sir Michael has praised big improvements in London schools.

And he says other big cities, such as Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Leicester, have also made great strides.

'Unseen children'

"Today, many of the disadvantaged children performing least well in school can be found in leafy suburbs, market towns or seaside resorts," he said in the speech in London.

"Often they are spread thinly, as an 'invisible minority' across areas that are relatively affluent.

"These poor, unseen children can be found in mediocre schools the length and breadth of our country. They are labelled, buried in lower sets, consigned as often as not to indifferent teaching.

"They coast through education until, at the earliest opportunity, they sever their ties with it."

KEY FACTS

37% of pupils on free school meals (FSM) achieve good GCSEs in maths and English
Among other pupils, 63% do
Schools receive extra money for each pupil on FSM - known as the pupil premium

End of the pier to dreaming spires

Sir Michael told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that many of the 1.2 million children in England on free school meals were not doing well and that "two-thirds of these are white British children".

"Where the problems now are, are in schools, good schools, outstanding schools, in county areas, with small proportions of poor children that are doing extremely badly."

In a new report published on Thursday, he makes recommendations aimed at closing the achievement gap between rich and poor.

"National Service Teachers", he says, should be employed by central government to teach in "schools in parts of the country that are currently failing their most disadvantaged pupils".

And he is calling for smaller, "sub-regional" versions of the London Challenge, the initiative which ran in the capital in the 2000s and is credited with turning around many schools.

Under this Labour policy, schools were encouraged to help each other, with successful schools, heads and teachers working with those in less successful schools with similar intakes and circumstances.

The chief inspector also:

Confirmed that schools will not be rated as outstanding by inspectors if pupils on free school meals fall significantly behind others

Warned that schools will be inspected earlier than planned if poorer children there are not doing well
Called for data to be published on progress made in primary schools by children between reception and age seven
Recommended ways of closing the achievement gap in further education or on apprenticeships

In England, the government has committed itself to closing the achievement gap.

The gap is seen in the national figures for 2011-12, which show that only 37% of 16-year-olds eligible for free school meals got a GCSE in maths and English at grade C or higher, compared with 63% of other pupils that age.

The coalition introduced an extra payment for schools - known as the pupil premium - for each pupil who receives free school meals.

This was about £600 and is rising to £900 in September.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "Closing the unacceptable attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is at the heart of our reforms. That is why we introduced the pupil premium, worth £2.5bn per year by 2015, to target additional funding for disadvantaged pupils.

"Ofsted itself has increased its focus on how schools use the pupil premium to narrow gaps in their inspections."

The spokesman added that other changes, to exams and the curriculum and the academies programme, would lift standards too.

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg, said his party's plans were to increase collaboration between schools to improve standards, as Sir Michael recommended, but those of the government encouraged schools to "go it alone".

"This gap narrowed under Labour and Michael Wilshaw is right to say that our policies, such as London Challenge in which successful schools helped struggling ones, were key to this," he said.

"Labour will ensure all schools work together to raise standards for every child."

'Isolated communities'

Mary Bousted, Association of Teachers and Lecturers: "[Rural] schools need extra help and extra interventions"

Mary Bousted, head of the teachers' union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the underachievement of poor rural children was not a new problem.

It had been highlighted in a 2008 report but had not been the focus of government attention "for too long", she told BBC's Breakfast programme.

One of the main factors was the isolation of schools and communities, particularly in coastal areas, where there were low wages, high worklessness, children not prepared for learning and children being moved in and out of schools, she said.

Such schools needed extra help and interventions, she added.

She also spoke of the "hidden" poor who were being taught in leafy suburbs among mostly children from affluent homes.

These schools often lacked the expertise or experience of inner-city schools of working with deprived children, she said.

'Regular testing'

Platanos College in Stockwell, south London, is one of the London schools to have turned itself around. Some 60% of pupils there receive free school meals.

Deputy head teacher Michael Rush said that in 2000, just 11% of pupils achieved five GCSEs at C grade or above.

Last year, 80% of all pupils achieved five good GCSEs including English and maths, with teenagers on free school meals only a few percentage points behind at 77% - way above the average for pupils on free school meals nationally.

Mr Rush said: "If you look at our intake, we don't have an option not to target the disadvantaged kids as they make up a high proportion of our students.

"We have had to look seriously at how to close the gap and raise the achievement of all children."

He said the school's strategies included having good information about children's abilities through regular testing and then targeting them with the right support.

Children are grouped by ability and there is an emphasis on getting the basics of English and maths right, plus extra classes at weekends and in the holidays - especially for the GCSE years.

Mr Rush said data was important - with the school educating children and parents about the various levels - and that all pupils were set "very challenging targets".

Five children, four adults hurt in crash near Rhoose school

Five children and four adults have been taken to hospital following a serious car crash outside a school in south Wales.

Emergency services were called to Fontygary Road, Rhoose near Rhws Primary school at 08:50 BST after a car overturned.

Police said four people are being treated for "significant injuries". It understood no one has died.

The 61-year-old male driver of the car is assisting police with inquiries.

“Start Quote

The road was choc-a-bloc with kids arriving for school - there was a huge crash and loads of screaming.”

Rhoose resident

A South Wales Police spokesman said: "At this stage the collision is not believed to be a deliberate act."

Among the adults hurt is the driver of the car and school lollipop lady Karin Williams.

Resident Glenys Watson told how the daily school run descended into what looked like "a war zone".

"Parents heard the bang and thought it was a gun," she said. "They didn't know what happened."

"A few of the mums are turning up and taking their children home. They are all traumatised."

Another resident told BBC News she heard reports of a black car swerving before hitting a bollard and "going up in the air".

"Apparently the driver had a coughing fit and slammed on the accelerator instead of the brake," she said.

“Start Quote

The lollipop lady was trapped... all I could see was her jacket from under the car”

Eye witness

"The lollipop lady was escorting a number of kids across the road at the time."

An eye witness who called emergency services said: "I was walking my dog when I turned a corner and saw a car in mid-air.

"The road was choc-a-bloc with kids arriving for school - there was a huge crash and loads of screaming.

"Children were lying injured in the road and parents and passers-by were running to them to help.

"I called the emergency services and there were off-duty paramedics and parents assisting the injured.

"The lollipop lady was trapped... all I could see was her jacket from under the car.

"Children who saw it were ushered into the school and they are being kept inside while the rescue operation was going on."

The lollipop lady's broken stick was lying on the road next to the overturned Audi A3.

A woman who works in a nearby dog grooming parlour described the scene as "chaos".

The lollipop lady's broken stick was lying on the road next to the overturned Audi A3

The air ambulance, three rapid response vehicles and five emergency ambulances were sent to the scene, where there were "multiple casualties".

The Welsh Ambulance Service confirmed six patients have been taken by ambulance to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

Four of them were children with head or abdomen injuries and fractures, and two were adults with fractures.

Another two adults and a child, all with minor injuries, were taken to Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend by ambulance.

Police said the road remained closed and emergency services were still at the scene.

"The school, which is open, is contacting parents and the Vale of Glamorgan Council is offering support to both school and pupils," a spokesperson added.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said: "I am very concerned to hear about this morning's incident in Rhoose and I am being kept fully informed of developments. Clearly, our thoughts are with those involved."

Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns said it was a "terrible incident".

"My heart goes out to those affected. I am liaising with police over communication and support," he said.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or who gave assistance following the collision is asked to contact the South Wales Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit by calling 101.

Rhoose is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 15 miles outside Cardiff. It is situated between the towns of Barry and Llantwit Major.

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